apex magazine

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ByVajra Chandrasekera

The Jackal’s Wedding

It ended when Jack found her heart in the midden. It was undigested and wet with saliva, buried in thorny durian husks.

ByBogi Takács

Recordings of a More Personal Nature

The air inside the small Temple chamber was cool despite the heat of summer, and the thin turquoise curtains kept out errant flies. Even the sacred symbols painted on the walls with bold blue and red strokes radiated tranquility.

ByLynne M. Thomas

Blood on Vellum: Notes from the Editor-in-Chief

Welcome to Issue 54 of Apex Magazine. In this issue, my penultimate as Editor–in–Chief, I’m sharing some bittersweet stories and poetry along with a good laugh.

ByGary A. Braunbeck

First Intermission: The Day the Movies Came Knocking at My Door or “I’m Ready for My Close–up, Mr. DeMille!”

At some point in their careers, most writers indulge, however briefly, in the fantasy of selling one of their stories or novels to the movies or television. Nothing wrong with that. If you sell an option for a year, you…

ByLynne M. Thomas

Interview with Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough’s novels include the Webmage and Fallen Blade Series, and a forthcoming young adult series called School for Sidekicks. A member of the Wyrdsmiths writing group, he is known to walk Neil Gaiman’s dogs, and particularly dotes on his physics professor wife and numerous cats.

ByDouglas Hulick

A Hammer with an Edge: Swords in Fantasy Literature

Back in my early days, when I was still discovering fantasy literature, Robert E. Howard was the first author I remember reading who used swords for something other than hewing down his protagonist’s foes.

ByKelly McCullough

Shatter

With a scream, Sean sat bolt upright throwing off the covers. Eight months after the accident, the crimson dreams still wrenched him from his sleep at least once a night. He staggered to his feet. From past experience he knew that if he stayed in bed, the nightmare would return.

ByMari Ness

An Assault of Color

The curses were the loveliest, and most satisfying, to paint. She could see them in her mind, even before she picked up a brush, pulsing and glowing with color in careful, delicate patterns.

ByDamien Angelica Walters

a magazine cover with a woman on a bike.

Grey in the Gauge of His Storm

Every lining has a cloud, be it a worn spot, a mended seam, or an unraveled thread. They are neither perfect nor impenetrable, no matter how much we wish it so. People will tell you that damage makes the fabric stronger.