Plague and madness cannot kill us, they can merely slow us down. We’d intended to have this announcement ready closer to the new year, but what even is time anyway in a world as unhinged as this?
Cover art by Matt Blairstone
Good news is, the extra time has let us give due consideration to the over one thousand submissions sent in for the BRAVE NEW WEIRD anthology; and if you were in any way concerned about the State of the Weird in 2023, rest assured its quality (and quantity) is as sterling as ever. The New Weird is horrifically healthy.
***Just to clarify: this is not the Table of Contents. We will cull the final ToC from this list of sixty, sculpting something that speaks to a wide range of voices, subject matter and tone, and hits that sweet spot of +/- 70,000 words, and showcases independent publishers and writers from across the Speculative fields.
This year, we're going to be giving out awards to releases, as well. Several full anthologies and magazine issues will be receiving a BNW Award, and several publishers will be honorably mentioned in our pages. Those aren't represented on this shortlist, so you'll need to stay tuned for the winners!
Even though most of these stories will not be in the final BRAVE NEW WEIRD Volume Two, each of these creators deserves a huge slap on the back for their contributions to another excellent year in Weird Fiction:
The Shortlist
Akis Linardos - Daughter, Mother, Charcoal
Alexander James - The Tumour Room
Amitha Jagannath Knight - My Mother, The Exoskeleton
Andrew Kozma - Mr. Balloon
Anemone Moss - Everything You Dump Here Ends Up in the Ocean
C.H. Pearce - Jimmy Flip Brings His Little One To Work, And It Comes My Turn To Hold It
Chelsea Pumpkins - If Anyone Could Catch the Moon
Chris Kuriata - Family Not Going To Heaven
Colin Hinckley - A Fire, A Wave
D. Matthew Urban - The World of Iniquity Among Our Members Is the Tongue
Daniel DeRock - Guest Opinion: We must take action regarding the [REDACTED] High School janitor
David Simmons - Food is Poison
Eirik Gumeny - A Balanced Breakfast
Elena Sichrovsky - Embryo
Ephiny Gale - Nowhere, Australia
Geneve Flynn - A Box of Hair and Nail
Gordon B. White - Godhead
Gwendolyn Kiste - Melting Point
Hailey Piper - The Girls with Claws that Catch
Hussani Abdulrahim - The Library Virus
Ivan Zoric - Our Roots Will Dry Out in the End
Ivy Grimes - The Swallowed
J.A.W. McCarthy - Seldom Place
Jacob Steven Mohr - Truth Serum
Jennifer Marie Brissett - The Healer
Jordan Kurella - The Wreck of the Medusa
Judith Shadford - Endless Yearning
Karlo Yeager Rodríguez - Up In the Hills, She Dreams of Her Daughter Deep In the Ground
Kelsea Yu - China Doll
Kev Harrison - Crawlspace
Kim Harbridge - Summer Soup to Cure Magical Thinking
KS Walker - River Bargain Baby
Kurt Newton - Lawn For Sale
LC von Hessen - Transmasc of the Red Death
Lex Chamberlin - Cherry's Strawberry Revenge
Lindz McLeod - Turducken
M Olivas - The Prince of Oakland
M. Regan - Abbadon, 1861
Mark Galarrita - Kuya
Matthew Mitchell - Release the Horse
Michael Bettendorf - As the Music Plays Groovy
Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas - Lullaby for the Unseen
Osahon Ize-Iyamu - Chop Chop Chop
Patrick Barb - The Scare Groom
Patrick Malka - Show Me
Perfect Kiss Strickoll - punctum (o baked alaska for you i am a former american)
Premee Mohamed - Quietus
Rachael K. Jones - The Sound of Children Screaming
Rajiv Moté - The Troubling History of Boddington’s Inlet
Ryan Marie Ketterer - East Marion
Samantha H. Chung - Baby
Samir Sirk Morató - PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE (Refrain)
Simone le Roux - The Man Outside
Steve Neal - Ipomoea Sanguineus
Susan L. Lin - House of Reverie
Thomas Ha - In That Crumbling Home
Tim Major - Far From the Tree
Will McMahon - Notes on the Burning Place
Z.K. Abraham - The Typewriter
Zohair - Quietus
Congratulations to everyone on this list, and a heartfelt, exhausted thank you to everyone who submitted, on their own behalf, or on behalf of their peers.
We’ll announce the final Table of Contents…well, sooner than later. Remember, time→what is→even→anyway. You won’t have to wait too long.