Editor Karen A. Romanko writes to tells us her latest anthology, Jack-o’-Spec: Tales of Halloween and Fantasy, has just been released by her Raven Electrick Ink.
She offers this description: “Jack-o’-Spec: Tales of Halloween and Fantasy features the many faces of science fiction, fantasy, and horror Halloweens: steampunk Halloweens, post-apocalyptic Halloweens, alternate history Halloweens, outer space Halloweens, and noir Halloweens, not to mention new speculative takes on Halloween perennials, such as haunted houses, witches, ghosts, vampires, and, of course, jack-o’-lanterns. Twenty-six authors have contributed short stories, flash fiction, and poetry to the anthology, transporting us to the mysterious realm of the Pumpkin King, introducing the trick-or-treating Norse gods, or describing a lover’s visit on a brief reprieve from Purgatory.”
The table of contents is:
“Defying Gravity” by Jude-Marie Green (fiction)
“Bad Reputation” by Jill M. Riga (poem)
“Incursion” by Leslie Brown (fiction)
“Deceiving the Dead” by Kendall Evans (poem)
“Forty-Eight Hours a Year” by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy (fiction)
“The Two Houses” by Gregory L. Norris (fiction)
“Who Killed the Pumpkin King?” by Michael M. Jones (fiction)
“Halloween Hunchback” by Bruce Boston (poem)
“Visitations” by Elissa Malcohn (fiction)
“All Souls’ Day” by Shannon Connor Winward (poem)
“Unwanted Children” by Paul L. Bates (fiction)
“Monsters” by Geoffrey A. Landis (poem)
“The Experiment” by Cliff Winnig (fiction)
“Halloween (The Planet)” by Robert Borski (poem)
“Sugar Skulls” by Samantha Henderson (fiction)
“Dia de los Muertos/LA” by Nancy Ellis Taylor (poem)
“The Lacquered Box” by John F.D. Taff (fiction)
“Tricks and Treats” by Alexandra Seidel (poem)
“The Leaves” by James S. Dorr (fiction)
“The Chant of the Black Cats” by Lyn C.A. Gardner (poem)
“The Day after Halloween” by Joe Nazare (fiction)
“Lanterns” by Alexandra Seidel (poem)
“Traditions” by Marge Simon (fiction)
“Autumn Jitters” by Daniel R. Robichaud II (fiction)
“Death in a Harlequin Suit” by Karen A. Romanko (fiction)
“The Night Ol’ Jack Came Back” by Jason S. Ridler (fiction)