Product Description:
The Winter 2023 issue of Underland Arcana, edited by Mark Teppo. Filled with strange stories and wondrous adventures.
Details:
1. 144 pages of weird fiction, creepy horror, speculative science fiction, and wide-eyed fantasy.
2. Stories by Fayaway & Hermester Barrington, David Daniel Froid, David Bradley, Jason Washer, Roni Stinger, J. P. Oakes, A. P. Howell, Eric Witchey, Kiya Nicoll, and Erik Kollmer.
3. One of these stories is a first sale. Congratulations to that author. We’re delighted to bring them into this world.
4. A smartly dressed rabbit graces the cover. This fellow has places to go.
5. A really creepy story about . . . well, we don’t want to spoil it.
6. Ghosts! This one has ghosts.
7. And poetry. This one has some poetry as well.
8. Also, a bit of despair. And melancholy. And maybe a little dread.
Ordering Info:
Print & Ebook | Ebook
Notes from the Head Office:
Welcome to issue nine of Underland Arcana, the first issue of our third year. It’s a bit of a milestone. We’ve been doing this long enough now that there is some routine, and there are enough issues that we can point at the archive and say, “Why yes, it reads like this.” With this assurance—oh heck, let’s call it confidence!—we thought we might start providing a little editorial note to accompany each issue. Some manner of explanation, if you will, but not so much as to divert your attention overlong from the stories. That is why we are here, after all . . .
I’ve been fascinated with the Tarot for a long time, and I certainly don’t pretend that I am an expert in their regard. Barely a devotee, but surely an eager one, nonetheless. Like all occult objects, they are both more and less than they appear. You can put a lot of faith in them. You can make adorable little earrings out of them. You can use them to plot a novel (says the guy who has, on more than one occasion). In all cases, they reflect and reveal more readily than anything else. I love how they give us permission to make shit up, which is, frankly, the secret tool in every creative arsenal. That eternal response of “Yes, and . . .”
The standard marketing flap for Arcana runs like this.
Underland Arcana offers four aspects of this perpetual spark: the numinous, the esoteric, the supernatural, and the weird. These are the ways that hope manifests. These are the ways we keep ourselves engaged. These are the ways by which we learn how to fight monsters. We stand with cup, shield, sword, and stick. This is the iconography of Arcana. These are the four quarters of the whole. These are the ways we heal, harbor, howl, and hum.
Though it may be hex, herd, howl, and hum. I keep changing my mind. Regardless, the project has always been a bit of a moving target. Is it horror? Is it fantasy? Is it science fiction? The answer is “yes.” It’s also confounding and weird and experimental. Because these things need homes too, you know. And so, as we wander into the third year of Arcana, know that the project will keep changing its spots. It will learn to swim. It knows how to curl up into a ball. You can’t scoop it, and you certainly can’t dance to it.
By the way, with this issue, I now have a story in the Arcana archive for each of the Minor Arcana cards of the Tarot. This was a milestone I was waiting for.