GossamerWight Literary Magazine

A colour graphic showing jumbled wooden letter and number pieces top and bottom, with the words 'TEMPORARiLY CLOSED' diagonally spread across the middle.

Submissions have closed for our 'Thresholds' anthology.

Hugs to our submitters 🤗

Next opening: 1 April.

#LiteraryMagazine #Writing #WritingCommunity #Microfiction #FlashFiction #ShortStory #Poetry #GraphicNarrative #Horror #Weird #Supernatural #Spectral #Speculative #Dystopian #Fantasy #Gothic

Whistle: Aztec death whistle horror is good fun, but offers few surprises A group of American high school friends discover an Aztec death whistle and, for reasons best known to them, give it a blow at a party.

"Whistle"—An Aztec death whistle horror. Synopsis: A group of teenage outcasts finds an ancient Aztec 'Death Whistle'; when blown, its haunting sound summons each of their future deaths, forcing them to race against a lethal curse before it claims them all. theconversation.com/whistle-azte...

Vinegar Valentines: how cruel Victorians sent insulting cards to their unwanted suitors The vile Victorians were funnier than they looked, using brutal Valentine’s Day cards to mock people they didn’t fancy much.

'Vinegar Valentines: how cruel Victorians sent insulting cards to their unwanted suitors' theconversation.com/vinegar-vale...

Substack is packed with incredible stories that are hard to find. FicStack.com pulls hundreds of fiction/poetry pubs into place so readers can explore and writers can grow. Built by me, with social magic from @sylvienneethara.bsky.social

#POETS

#ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSIONS CLOSE 28 FEB.

Theme: "Thresholds"

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#Anthologies #LiteraryMagazine #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #Microfiction #FlashFiction #ShortStory #Poetry #GraphicNarrative #Horror #Weird #Supernatural #Spectral #Speculative #Dystopian #Fantasy #Gothic

#ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSIONS CLOSE 28 FEB. Theme: "Thresholds" #GossamerWight #LitMag.

#Anthologies #LiteraryMagazine #Writer #Writing #WritingCommunity #Microfiction #FlashFiction #ShortStory #Poetry #GraphicNarrative #Horror #Weird #Supernatural #Spectral #Speculative #Dystopian #Fantasy #Gothic

George Orwell called for a new way of thinking about science Orwell argued that you don’t have to be a scientist to think more scientifically.

George Orwell called for a new way of thinking about science. theconversation.com/george-orwel...

The healing power of poisonous plants Evolution has created plants with the power to kill and heal.

The healing power of poisonous plants
theconversation.com/the-healing-...

How politics, technology and the environmental crisis turned these movies into horror films in 2026 In the right context, films can move across many different genres in the span of their lifetime, depending on the audiences that watch them.

How politics, technology and the environmental crisis turned these movies into horror films in 2026
theconversation.com/how-politics...

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. Finally... №12: "Emma Stead's 'The 7:42 to Paddington' turns a mundane commuter routine into a dark, comic meditation on friendship, mortality, and the way we might all ignore the grotesque when it slips into the ordinary." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №11: "Benjamin Macnair's 'Subjects' is a sleek, unsettling tale that uses the glossy trappings of reality TV to expose the darkest economics of hope. Comparable with the 'Black Mirror' and 'The Twilight Zone' TV series." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №10: "Gary Mucklow's 'BetterYou' spins a sleek, techno-noir moral about the seductive tyranny of algorithmic self-optimisation—a cautionary tale for our age of data-driven life-coaching apps." James Priestley, Editor-in-Chief, GossamerWight.

How interwar fiction made sense of an increasingly noisy world Noise first became a public health issue in interwar Britain – called the ‘age of noise’ by dystopian author Aldous Huxley.

How interwar fiction made sense of an increasingly noisy world theconversation.com/how-interwar... #AldousHuxley #GeorgeOrwell #HGWells #VirginaWoolf #JeanRhys #Huxley #Orwell #Woolf #Booksky

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №9: "Malcolm Timperley’s ‘Heat Treatment’ is a clever, unsettling critique of how modern medicine might unintendedly re-ignite old wounds in treating the body while neglecting the lingering, haunting shadows in our minds." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis, our new study suggests The author’s vocabulary narrowed a decade before diagnosis – a clue that could transform early dementia detection.

Terry Pratchett’s novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis, our new study suggests
theconversation.com/terry-pratch...

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №8: "Alice Leroy's deft blend of atmospheric description and quiet, lingering melancholy in 'Jackie Side by Side' presents an elegiac seaside story that unfolds into a slow-burn fusion of grief, memory, and uncanny reunion." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №7: "Gillian Lionberger's 'What is Lost in Place of Matrimony' eviscerates the time-honoured traditions of marriage. In this stark, ritual-laden tableau, the protagonist is compelled to perform a macabre rite of passage..." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №6: "Raymond Brunell’s dystopian vignette, 'Preliminary Screening,' thrusts the reader into the sterile glow of an AI-run hiring platform, where events turn into a Kafkaesque interplay between the protagonist and the system." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

English PEN’s annual PEN Lecture invites a leading writer to reflect on the current state of free expression, and to explore the resonance—or dissonance—of the words of the PEN Charter, the guiding principles of the PEN movement... their current reality. www.englishpen.org/posts/events... #PEN

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №5: "Through hyperbolic courtroom-like drama and mathematically charged imagery, Kelchworth's 'Interrogation of Numbers' satirises our faith in quantification while revelling in the seductive cruelty of reductionist logic." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

Seren Books January Sale. 50% off with the code JAN50 until 11 January 2026

Happy New Year! We’re back at our desks and our site-wide January Sale is back too 🎉 Use the code JAN50 to claim 50% off all books on our website until Sunday 11 January 2026 (excluding pre-orders and subscriptions) www.serenbooks.com/books/

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №4: "'Oldilocks' gives us a new chapter in the lush, kitchen-bound fable, presented by Toby Cotton in verse form—a delicious, unsettling meditation on memory, obsession, and the thin line between comfort and catastrophe." James Priestley, GossamerWight.

Deadline for abstracts is 30 January 2026

#CallforPapers #CfP #GothicStudies #Gothic

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №3: "Nadia Kuligowski’s ‘Refresh Your Inbox Again’ is a free-flowing, long-form introspection on trauma and recovery, surreally exploring the pathway to self-agency amidst what lingers after survival." Toby Cotton, Poetry Editor, GossamerWight.

Come Down to a Lower Place – a Lovecraftian Korean tale about the oppression of female workers and their bodies Born from the misogynistic and racist imaginings of HP Lovecraft, a new Korean monster fuelled by feminine rage counters this legacy.

"Lovecraft’s legacy (therefore) entails a somewhat delicious irony in this book. Bin-o-jae is Cthulhu repurposed to draw attention to women’s very real pain and the potential power of unleashing their anger in collective action." #Lovecraft #Lovecraftian #Cthulhu

theconversation.com/come-down-to...

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №2: "In ‘Affirmations’, Lydia Cline subverts the traditional affirmation to conjure a darker being that is ill-concealed, suppressed, or lost. In ‘Toxoplasma Gondii’, she recontextualises the behaviour-altering parasite within a modern domestic setting."

How George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four predicted the global power shifts happening now Orwell is feted for the farsightedness of his geopolitical vision as long ago as the 1940s. But a lot of writers were thinking along similar lines.

How George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four predicted the global power shifts happening now
theconversation.com/how-george-o...

Must add this to our “To read” list for 2026.

Okay, I know it's still January but The Bone Temple is an early and solid contender for film of the year. The horror is horrific, the #folkhorror elements are strong but more than anything else it's Ralph Feinnes' performance that shines through. A masterpiece

Everyday Eerie Anthology — GossamerWight Literary Magazine A compilation of thought-provoking flash fiction, short stories, and poetry that transport us from the everyday, or ordinary, into the otherworldly, or uncanny.

Everyday Eerie Anthology: bit.ly/4a2fbCU. №1: "Jeremiah Pitt’s ‘A Fine Promotional Garment to Repel Insects and Protect from the Elements’ affects a dryly mordant tone to comment on the convergence of catastrophe and consumerism in the Anthropocene." Toby Cotton, Poetry Editor, GossamerWight.