Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta

breezy night—
a faint chanting
turns the corner

— Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta

moonlit picnic caskets open one by one

— Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta

Patricia Hawkhead

cold snap the remains of our days

— Patricia Hawkhead

Joshua Gage

blood moon
the witchfinder’s granddaughter
chants in Latin

— Joshua Gage

family crypt

the iron spike 

in the witch’s skull

— Joshua Gage 

Nitu Yumnam

horror movie
his grip on my hand
tightens

— Nitu Yumnam

Sherry Grant

a glint
of scissors
goodbye letter

— Sherry Grant

Mona Bedi

harvest moon
the scarecrow talks to me
in dad’s voice

— Mona Bedi

dusk fall

sounds of laughter

from an empty swing

— Mona Bedi

Jackie Chou

sultry summer night
the geisha doll
waving her fan

— Jackie Chou

art museum

Mary Magdalene

returns my gaze

— Jackie Chou

Mark Gilbert

the dead look behind the eyes

— Mark Gilbert

at the windows

the faces of those

who once were neighbors

— Mark Gilbert

Rowan Beckett

egg laying a little blood on the dew

— Rowan Beckett

wormhole the womb of god

— Rowan Beckett

Chris Langer

first kill
the wood floor creaks 
with anticipation

— Chris Langer

Joshua Gage

bonfire
the shriek of the witch
as the nails sink in

— Joshua Gage 

haunted house

the spectre’s reflection

in my Bordeaux

— Joshua Gage

Daipayan Nair

sliced lemon 
mom’s fresh pair 
of eyes

— Daipayan Nair

Tomislav Sjekloća

first kiss she shapeshifts

— Tomislav Sjekloća

grandpa’s cabin

mounted head

of the hunter

— Tomislav Sjekloća

Anna Cates

midnight
among the roses . . .
touch of his claw

— Anna Cates

Melanie Alberts

feeding
on rose petals
captive bride

— Melanie Alberts

Tracy Davidson

weeping blood 
in every photo 
a shadow at my shoulder

— Tracy Davidson

Vandana Parashar

nightmare
my tongue too twisted 
to shout

— Vandana Parashar

Hemapriya Chellappan

it’s not a branch 
tapping me 
on my shoulder

— Hemapriya Chellappan

killing moon—

the banyan tree throws 

its ancestral shadow

— Hemapriya Chellappan

Joshua Gage

volcano ash
on the VHS tape
worn static

— Joshua Gage 

typhoon

the secrets my dead wife

whispered to the waves

— Joshua Gage

John Hawkhead

holding a torch for her resurrection man

— John Hawkhead

witch trial

the wagging tongues

of the flames

— John Hawkhead

Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

milk & honey & the sweat of your gun

— Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

fistful of stones

now tell me

who is god

— Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

Eavonka Ettinger

his DNA
underneath her buried
fingernails

— Eavonka Ettinger

mildew

where his lips

used to be

— Eavonka Ettinger

Terrie Jacks

gnarled tree
the limbs twist toward
illicit lovers

— Terrie Jacks

Mariel Herbert

cloudless sky
above a dead mall
a banshee wails

— Mariel Herbert

Curt Linderman

falling leaves
refusing to land
upon her cloak

— Curt Linderman

Chad Lee Robinson

shackles the glow of coals

— Chad Lee Robinson

John Hawkhead

roman holiday
all roads lead
to a coffin

— John Hawkhead

stained concrete

tracing the dark knot

of a rope-worn beam

— John Hawkhead

Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

antique mirror watching her reflection fade

— Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

Alan Summers

shadows in the corner moving to police sirens

— Alan Summers

rain falling away from the politician

— Alan Summers

Keith Evetts

full moon
the way she grows her hair
everywhere

— Keith Evetts

going through

his last phase

electric chair

— Keith Evetts

Pippa Phillips

seeing faces
in things that aren’t faces
a villain in her bedtime story

— Pippa Phillips

end of the world following the lamplight into the wilderness

— Pippa Phillips

Kimberly Kuchar

screaming kettle locked-in syndrome

— Kimberly Kuchar

Roberta Beach Jacobson

lowering
the nightshade . . .
suspicion

— Roberta Beach Jacobson

Kirsten Cliff Elliot

windburn
the stonemason’s hands
weightless in mine

— Kirsten Cliff Elliot