Apex Magazine Issue 148

by Lindz McLeod, Lesley Conner (editor), Wil Magness

Strange. Surreal. Shocking. Beautiful.

APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards.

We publish every other month.

Issue 148 contains the following short stories, essays, reviews, and interviews.

EDITORIAL
Musings from Maryland by Lesley Conner

ORIGINAL SHORT FICTION
One by One by Lindz McLeod
Jackie and Xīng Forever by Wil Magness
A Ten Thousand Year Survey Into Seven Stomachs of an Ishta by Allison Thai
I found an old god in the woods by Monte Lin

FLASH FICTION
Halfway Alive, Halfway Living by Colton Kekoa Neves
Someone to Feed You by Abigail Kemske

CLASSIC FICTION
Rage Against the Venting Machine by Russell Nichols
Notes From a Pyre by Amal Singh

NONFICTION
A Keening for Churile by Zin E. Rocklyn
The City is Solarpunk Noir. Please Don’t Call it Cyberpunk by Rob Cameron
Words for Short Fiction Review by AC Wise
Book Roanne Lau’s The Serpent Called Mercy by Leah Ning
Book Sam Asher’s Really Shockingly Bad Things and Other Stories by Leah Ning

INTERVIEWS
Interview with Author Lindz McLeod by Marissa van Uden
Interview with Author Allison Thai by Marissa van Uden
Interview with Cover Artist Vibhav Singh by Bradley Powers

209 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 4, 2025

About the author

Lindz McLeod is a queer, working-class, Scottish writer and editor who dabbles in the surreal. Her short prose has been published by Apex, Catapult, Pseudopod, DIVA, Nightmare, and many more.
Her longer work includes the award-winning short story collection TURDUCKEN (Spaceboy, 2023), as well as SUNBATHERS (Hedone Books, 2024), QUEEN O'NINE TAILS (Hedone Books, 2025), THE UNLIKELY PURSUIT OF MARY BENNET (Harlequin, 2025), WE, THE DROWNING (Android Press, 2026), THE MISEDUCATION OF CAROLINE BINGLEY (Harlequin, 2026), the collaborative anthology AN HONOUR AND A PRIVILEGE (Stanchion, 2025), and more. Her work has been taught in schools and universities, displayed in a museum, turned into avant-garde opera, and optioned for TV.
She is a full member of the SFWA, the former club president of the Edinburgh Writers' Club, and is in her third year of a PhD in Creative Writing. She lives in Edinburgh with her talented fiancée and their two extremely photogenic cats, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Dane.

Reviews

[Patrick Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stories and poems in this one! "Notes from a Pyre" by Amal Singh was fascinating--combining something universal with fantastic aliens. "I found an old god in the woods" by Monte Lin was short but to the point. Both highlights, but my absolute favorite is Allison Thai's "A Ten Thousand Year Survey Into Seven Stomachs of an Ishta." Dark, intriguing, well-paced, and a jaw-dropping ending (pardon the pun). (also, the story is not for those with weak, err, weak stomachs) (again, pardon the pun)

[Βιβή Κανάρη · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really enjoyed it, from the wonderful, first story till the end.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Ten Thousand Year Survey Into Seven Stomachs of an Ishta" was my favorite! And will be ogling Solarpunk Noir as a genre, that was a interesting essay. 👀