My short story “Creatures” will be published in the next issue of Midwestern Gothic!
I am especially excited for several reasons:
1. “Creatures” is part of the collection I’m working on. “The Herd,” which will be in this year’s Water~Stone Review, is the title story of said collection.
2. “Creatures” is Scott’s favorite story. Or maybe it’s in a tie with “Wild Animal,” which appeared in the spring Storm Cellar–wow, it’s a good year for Scott’s favorite stories.
3. This story is about as Midwestern and as gothic as it gets. There is a major creep factor at play. I think it’s appropriate that it found a home in Midwestern Gothic.
4. “The Herd” serves as an umbrella to all the other stories in the collection, and no two stories are as linked as these two.
5. Midwestern Gothic is a really cool journal! They are shining a light on this old bread basket of ours in the middle of America, and gosh darnit, it’s about time somebody did it!
Midwestern Gothic is a quarterly print literary journal out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, dedicated to featuring work about or inspired by the Midwest, by writers who live or have lived here. Midwestern Gothic aims to collect the very best in Midwestern fiction writing in a way that has never been done before, cataloging the oeuvre of an often-overlooked region of the United States ripe with its own mythologies and tall tales.
Don’t be fooled by our name. Gothic fiction is often defined as the inclusion of deeply flawed, often “grotesque” characters in realistic (and, oftentimes unpleasant) settings/situations. At Midwestern Gothic, we take to heart the realistic aspects of Gothic fiction. Not every piece needs to be dark or twisted or full of despair, but we are looking for real life, inspired by the region, good, bad, or ugly.
As mission statements go, that’s a good one, but heck, I’ll give these guys points just for putting “oeuvre” and “tall tales” in the same sentence. I also had the pleasure of meeting Jeff and Robert at AWP. Would I sound too Midwestern if I said it was “nice” to meet them? And did I mention they published a number of Scott’s photographs? (Scroll down until you see the Super 8 sign.)
Pray For Rain
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to celebrating.
