Part of Series
A stowaway suffers the grim watery consequences of her deceit, but what will happen in the magical blue depths? Privilege, a family dynasty, and a revered national tradition combine in a macabre tale of justice. A strange group gathers around a grave, each with their own morbid and selfish agenda. A junkie agonizing for his next fix takes on a last-resort clandestine mission only to face a reality his drug-addled dreams could have never constructed. Shroud 15 features these stories as well as a review of the talented MOURNING IS THE NEW BLACK by Stephanie Wytovich, and interview with talented artist Gak, and more. Full table of contents: THE JOY OF FEAR AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH, Tim Deal; MASQUE, by Tom Johnstone; GRAVE TENDING, by Roy C. Booth and Axel Kohagen; MOURNING IS THE NEW BLACK: A Review of Mourning Jewelry by Stephanie Wytovich by Sydney Leigh; VINES ARE IN HER WARDROBE, by Stephanie M. Wytovich; TEMPEST, by Corey E. Klinzing; DARK EFFIGIES: An Interview with Gak; THE GOD OF DEAD DREAMERS, by W.P. Johnson.
Authors
Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been showcased in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 8 & 15, as well as many others. Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, and an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University. She is a recipient of the Elizabeth Matchett Stover Memorial Award, the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant, and has received the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for non-fiction writing. Wytovich is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press, and her nonfiction craft book for speculative poetry, Writing Poetry in the Dark, is available now from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Her 2023 poetry collection, On the Subject of Blackberries, is out now. Follow Wytovich at http://stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter and Instagram @SWytovich and @thehauntedbookshelf. You can also find her essays, nonfiction, and class offerings on LitReactor.
Shawna L. Bernard, better known as Sydney Leigh, is a writer, editor, and English teacher native to the North Shore of Massachusetts. Her short fiction, poetry, and reviews have been published in various anthologies and magazines, including Shock Totem, The Library of the Dead, Shroud, Darkness Ad Infinitum, Enter at Your Own Risk: The End is the Beginning, Demonic Visions 1-4, Widowmakers, and more. She currently works for Villipede Publications and as the Chief Editor of Eldritch Press’ Novel Division. She is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association. She recently edited Michael Bailey’s Inkblots and Blood Spots, a collection of short stories and poetry illustrated by British Fantasy Award-winning artist Daniele Serra and with an Introduction by the legendary Douglas E. Winter. Her short fiction has been appeared in audio format on The Wicked Library and is due to be podcast on Tales to Terrify as part of their annual Stoker Awards celebration. In 2015, “Baby’s Breath” was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction and won the Best Horror Short Story Award in the Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll. The first two episodes of a show she co-hosts with her local writers group called “The Taco Society Presents” (a nod to Peter Straub’s Ghost Story) can be found online at the following links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnbyU... (Episode 1) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gje5Q... (Episode 2). Forthcoming work is due to appear in Chiral Mad 3, Our World of Horror, the HWA Poetry Showcase Volume II, and the third volume in the Quick Shivers series from the DailyNightmare.com. You can find a full bibliography of her work on her website at http://thespiderbox.shawnaleighbernar.... She is currently working on her first novel.
