Our Analytics & Contributors
Issue I
Demi Ev
Demi Ev lives in mainland Greece, and has recently graduated with a degree in English Language and Literature. In her spare time, she writes for an online journal, and is currently working on a collection of short stories centered on the macabre.
Dereka Smith
Dereka Smith is a burgeoning Mississippi poet based in Houston, Texas. Her affair with poetry began in high school, in the fertile ground of the South's literary heritage. She is currently working on her first poetry collection “Swamp Girl” which explores the grotesque and whimsical side of the human experience through her own life's journey as a young AA woman living in the Deep South of America.
J. Camarena
J. Camarena is a published author who focuses on the emotions hidden away in dark corners and only spotted in shadows. Her days are spent with far too much coffee and a multitude of books. She is currently working on a novel in the hopes of finishing it in 2025.
Suzanne Bjornson
Suzanne Bjornson holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology from Pacific Lutheran University and is currently working on her MFA in Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. Her work can be found in MicroLit Almanac, Monstrous Femme, and soon to be in Chill Mag. When not writing or working, she can be found exploring the PNW, or cuddling with her cat.
Richard Mosher
Richard Mosher is a recent MA English student who lives in Upstate New York. They have done work for the Harpur Palette and After Dinner Conversation, and are looking to share their work with new audiences.
Hannah Burns
Hannah Burns (she/her) is a queer writer from the South, where she lives with her wife and their two cats, Cheese and Toast. On Instagram, you can find Hannah's bookstagram at @hannahreadslit. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in Nowhere Girl Collective, Screen Door Review, Feminist Spaces, Venus Hour Magazine, and StreetLit.
H.H. Howells
Heledd Haf Howells is an upcoming 23-year-old Welsh poet who writes in highly emotional moments. As she shares her most vulnerable, honest thoughts, she creates a space for her audience to get lost in raw humanity.
Issue II
poems
Winter’s End - Nate Debar
A Ballad for the Tortured - Mia Soto
A Boomerang Child - Ramzi Albert Rihani
Intruder, In This Winter Country - Laurie Koensgen
Blood Moon - Stephanie M. Wytovich
I Am Not Long for This World - Mahailey
Oliver
Fruit Etymology - Monique Quintana
prose
The Raven of the Western Ridge - Shoshana Groom
Frozen Hearts - Hannah Mencer
The Parasite’s Symphony - River J. Myers
Lobotomy - Wyley Frohlich Jungerman
Postmortem - Robin Page Copas
Flesh Avoids Rot - M.W. Adams
non-fiction
Frost Makes Wasps Bite - Micayla De Jesus
Issue III
Shannon Marzella
Shannon Marzella is a queer poet who holds an MFA in Poetry from Western Connecticut State University. Her young adult novel, Girl in Shadows, was published by Nymeria Publishing in 2021, and her poetry has been published in several journals including Sky Island Journal, Stonecoast Review, Ghost City Review, White Stag Publishing's Spirit anthology, Coffin Bell, and Mulberry Literary.
Spencer Keene
Spencer Keene is a writer and lawyer from Vancouver, BC. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in a variety of print and digital publications, including SAD Magazine, Sea to Sky Review, Candlelit Chronicles, and 7th-Circle Pyrite. Find more of Spencer's work at www.spencerkeene.ca.
Austin Thornton
Austin Thornton is a possible human, a self-identified “very very serious” writer studying at Oregon State University, and the winner of OSU’s Writing in Culture Award (2023). Poetry, nonfiction, and fiction from this author is featured in PRISM Magazine, The Daily Barometer, and *82 Review. A novel is in progress, but more short stories and poems will be procrastinated with.
Emily Alexandra
Emily is a Northern Irish writer, currently studying creative writing at Edge Hill University in North West England. She writes dark fiction, stage plays and the occasional blogpost.
Kate M. Sine
Kate M. Sine is a poet based in Southern Maryland with her husband and their four cats. She has her Bachelors in English from Frostburg State University and has works published in HNDL Magazine, Coop Zine, Gypsophila Zine, and Scraps Magazine.
Makayla Envanovich
Makayla Evanovich is a twenty-two-year-old academic and creative writer focused on psychedelic horror poetry from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has recently obtained a Bachelor’s in Arts in English from Point Park University where she focused her research on analyzing horror literature from the lens of psychoanalysis and disability studies. She plans on reentering academia within the next few years to obtain a Masters degree in English Literature
Momina Raza
Momina Raza is an M.Phil. English Literature scholar at Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has appeared in QAARMZ, The Bridge Magazine, and Scranton Women's Leadership Center. Raza has won the coveted South Korean Scranton Essay Contest. For essay writing. With a keen interest in Gothic studies, she is drawn to the eerie, the grotesque, and the sublime—where beauty and horror blur into one. Fascinated by what lingers in the shadows, she explores themes of longing, transformation, and the uncanny in her work. Her love for the occult, especially tarot reading, deepens this connection, offering her a language of symbols and intuition that often weaves itself into her writings. A devoted cinephile, she finds solace in horror films—the flickering glow of a screen illuminating haunted houses, eldritch creatures, and spectral lovers. But for her, horror isn’t just a genre; it’s a way of seeing the world, of finding meaning in the eerie and the unknown. When she isn’t writing, Momina can be found shuffling tarot cards under candlelight or in the quiet company of her feline companions, who seem to understand her love for the strange and the unseen.
a.d.
a.d. is drawn to the sacred, the profane, the mysterious and the mythological, which provides inspiration for her work. She is a Pushcart-nominated bisexual poet and visual artist, and her poetry is published or forthcoming in Querencia Press, THINK, Anti-Heroin Chic, Aôthen Magazine, Sublimation, PISSOIR!, DOG TEETH, and elsewhere. Meanwhile, her visual art, mainly photography and self-portraiture, is or will be featured in SCAB, Welter, RESURRECTION Mag, Audi Locus, Hominum Journal, Antler Velvet, Bleating Thing, and other outlets. Tumblr & Twitter: @godstained
Kaci O’ Meara
Kaci O'Meara is a Glasgow born poet, writer and photographer. She mainly writes gory, and emotional poetry to express herself. She has over 30 published poems and runs an writng newsletter called The Ghoulish Gazette.
Johnathan Todd
Johnathan Todd, a creature of the macabre whose voices demand an audience.
Audrey Duplantier
Audrey grew up reading Agatha Christie novels, devouring the Nancy Drew series, and eagerly waiting for her turn to tell captivating mysteries. She specializes in thrillers, often with speculative elements and enjoys writing horror, sci-fi, and the occasional comedy. Audrey recently published her debut short story, a crime thriller for a feminine-rage themed anthology and is currently working on several new projects. She lives in St. Louis and spends her time watching horror movies and distributing books to local little free libraries in her neighborhood. Audrey can be found drafting her first novel with her energetic orange cat, Olive by her side.
Issue IV
Maya Cheav
Maya Cheav is a Cambodian-American writer and artist from Southern California, as well as the author of the poetry chapbooks, LYKAIA (Bottlecap Press, 2023) and TAN’S DONUTS (Chestnut Review, 2025). Her poems and flash fiction have been featured in Stone of Madness, ALOCASIA, Scapegoat Review, The Weaver, Across the Margin, and elsewhere. Her work has received a Best Small Fictions Nomination. She was a top 10 finalist for the 2023 Palette Poetry Chapbook Prize, guest judged by Danez Smith, as well as a 2024 Tin House Workshop alum, under the faculty mentorship of Roy G. Guzmán. She is currently a 2024-2025 poet in residence with Collections of Transience.
J. Camarena
J. Camarena is a published author with pieces featured in various literary magazines. Her days are spent with far too much coffee and a multitude of books. She is writing her first novel.
Alba V. Sarria
Alba V Sarria is a multi-award winning horror poet & surrealist flash fictionist with 40+ publications. Their book Night Life: A Folk Horror Poetry Collection received 13 award nominations & honors within its first six months of publication, including being a Featured Book at the 2024 national Gaithersburg Book Festival and a 1 year exhibition term at the FDA's Muirkirk Art Gallery. Other awards Alba has received are the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award in Free Form Poetry, Polaris 1st in Fiction, William Heath Award, and Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Short Fiction CM.
Dominick Antonelli
Dominick Antonelli is a college student and amateur author who enjoys writing in his free time.
Beth Sherman
Beth Sherman’s writing has been published in more than 100 literary magazines, including Flash Frog, Gone Lawn, Tiny Molecules, 100 Word Story, Fictive Dream, and Bending Genres. Her work is featured in Best Microfiction 2024 and she’s the winner of the Smokelong Quarterly 2024 Workshop prize. A multiple Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net nominee, she can be reached on X, Bluesky or Instagram @bsherm36.
Ella Newell
Ella Newell is a twenty-one-year-old English - Creative Writing student at North Carolina State University. She is from Charlotte, NC, where she lives with her three younger sisters, two dogs, and cat. Her writing features themes of coming-of age, nostalgia, and womanhood! Her short story "Mermaids" was a finalist for the 2024 James Hurst Prize for Fiction!
Heidi Hinda Chadwick
I’m a Writer, Creative Life Coach, Performer, Book Doula, Trauma-Informed Educator & Artist, and Founder of The Creative Genius, based in Manchester, UK. I'm also the Dom of Writing The Revolution ~ a place for writing the taboo, erotic, desires, kink & creativity, the things unsaid, what we censor and our ravenous hungers! I adore the writings of Mona Awad, Bora Chung, Kirsty Lomas, and Sayaka Murata. Also, the dark, feminism of Mariana Enriquez and Ottessa Moshfegh. Think ordinary people in odd worldly situations. I’m deeply passionate about Eros, Creativity, Sexuality, Kink, the Nervous System & Creative Living, Mental Health, Midwifing your Midlife, Tarot, Horror Movies, and Macabre and Folky Feminist Bad Ass Literature. I publish essays on life, creativity and the 'not beautiful', and I’m currently enjoying writing strange tales seeped in reality. I’m a storyteller, curious about being human. I write short stories and novellas. I’m a professional content writer, Elephant Journal writing mentor, and a member of Manchester Women’s Writers Group. I believe that creativity is the revolution; creative expression and freedom of voice is what we dearly need in these times! I’ve been published in ‘Agave’, ‘SheHub’, ‘Conscious Dancer’ and ‘GoDates’, a winning writer for ‘Elephant Journal’, and write on Substack. I’m also a Nomadic Tarot Reader & avid Cross-Stitcher! I’m a contributor for: The Covid Life Book. Amanda Beck-McKim The Journaling Book. Routledge. Linda Monk & Eric Maisel
Ella Jacob
Hi! I‘m Ella, 20 years old and from Germany! My family once came here from Bosnia and I absolutely love writing about the history of our country in creative ways. At the moment, I‘m studying to be an English and history teacher. My stories have always been part cursed fairytale based on a historical background, which combines the two things i love most (other than my cat).
Sam Alex
Sam Alex is a Canadian writer whose work has been published in various online and print journals over the past fourteen years. Most recently, her writing appeared in the Red Ogre Review anthology At the Ogre’s Table. She frequents the forests.
Heather Brown Barrett
Heather Brown Barrett is an award-winning poet in southeastern Virginia. She mothers her young son and contemplates life, the universe, and everything with her writer husband. She is a Cherokee Nation Citizen, a member and regular student of The Muse Writers Center, a member of The Poetry Society of Virginia, and a former board member of Hampton Roads Writers. Her work has appeared in Literary Mama, The Ekphrastic Review, Yellow Arrow Journal, formidable Woman sanctuary, Black Bough Poetry, OyeDrum Magazine, and elsewhere. Her poetry is featured on the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail as part of The Poetry Society of Virginia’s Poetry on the Trail project. Her first collection of poetry, Water in Every Room, was a semi-finalist for the 2024 Lefty Blondie Press First Chapbook Award and was recently published with Kelsay Books. Visit her website: heatherbrownbarrett.com
Nathan DeBar
Nathan DeBar is young poet from rural Leakesville, Mississippi, and splits time between there and Athens, Georgia. He holds an M.A. in Greek and Latin from the University of Georgia and enjoys reading works from ancient times but has a particularly affinity for 19th century Victorian novels and the Romantic Poets. His poetry has appeared in or is forthcoming in Middle Mouse Press, Waves of Words Literary Magazine, The Solitude Diaries, COOP: Chickens of Our Poetry Zine, Floating Acorn Review, Persephone Literary Magazine, Venus, Darling Magazine, Kaleido Zine, Haikuniverse. His prose has been featured in Styx Papers Lit Mag and A Sufferer’s Digest. The link to all of his fiction can be found at his Linktree: @Nate.debar.
Maryam Raza
Maryam Raza has done her MPhil in English Literature from Kinnaird College for Women, University, Pakistan and is a Lecturer at the Institute of English Studies, University of the Punjab, Pakistan. Weaving romanticism and mythology in her work, Ms. Raza’s poetry has found place in Pakistan and abroad. In exploring the genre of confessional poetry, her poems celebrate dreams and latent emotions. Other than poetry, she has presented and published research articles, both, nationally and internationally. Her current research interests are embedded in Feminism and Music Studies. Raza also has a book chapter publication on Pakistani Anglophone poets.
Brynn Atkins
A student of the Classics and a lover of the macabre
Micayla De Jesus (TSD staff)
Micayla is a student of linguistics with a growing curiosity about the impact of media consumption on thought, culture, and identity. Her academic work often explores the intersection of language and power, with a special interest in how narratives—both spoken and visual—shape our understanding of the world. Beyond her studies, Micayla finds deep inspiration in history and philosophy, often turning to forgotten or underappreciated art for creative fuel. Writing has always been a grounding practice for her, offering space to reflect, question, and imagine. She gravitates towards fiction that challenges norms or quietly resists categorization, and she enjoys crafting stories or analyses that draw out complexity in seemingly ordinary moments. Whether unpacking the emotional weight of a single line or tracing thematic undercurrents across a work, Micayla seeks out the layers beneath the surface. When not writing or studying, she is often lost in the details of an old painting, a half-remembered poem, or the pages of a novel that no longer circulates widely. She believes in the quiet power of art to endure, even when it goes unnoticed, and in the importance of revisiting what has been lost, overlooked, or undervalued.