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Cosmic Horror Monthly #66
Cosmic Horror Monthly #66, December 2025
CHM is a monthly magazine dedicated to publishing the best cosmic horror and weird fiction short stories.
This month’s collection of cosmic horror and weird fiction edited by Jolie Toomajan features stories by Siobhan Gallagher (“The Crossing of Abrythine Lake”), Thomas C. Mavroudis (“Grackle Day”), and more!
This month’s collection of cosmic horror and weird fiction edited by Jolie Toomajan features stories by Siobhan Gallagher (“The Crossing of Abrythine Lake”), Thomas C. Mavroudis (“Grackle Day”), and more!
- GenresHorror
119 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 26, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 19, 2026
CHM ends 2025 with a good collection of stories, my favorite being "Verdurllion", which deserves some consideration for best-of-year collections.
The first two stories both end abruptly on a note of terror and/or dread, and both would benefit from revealing just a little bit more. Still, they were engaging and interesting.
IT MOVES WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING by Aaron Romano is a tale of a haunted house shared with an unearthly presence that seems to emanate from the dirt floor basement. Pets die, items moved, keys hidden, until one night something is seen. THREE STARS.
THE CROSSING OF ABRYTHINE LAKE by Siobhan Gallagher is a blend of fantasy and tentacled horror. A scientist moves near a lake to observe and document some strange events.
Tentacles surround an island, which is visited daily by gnomes. THREE STARS.
THE SPURS DRAW BLOOD AND SO MUCH MORE b Ali Maloney A weird western tale of an illiterate cowpoke wandering across a desert carrying a wax cylinder of some import and eventually escaping a moss encrusted, mushroom field. He enters an odd building, deciphers the scroll somewhat and finds his mission. Very imaginative and symbolic (I think). I didn’t quite make sense of it. THREE STARS.
VERDULLION by Kyle Toucher A longer story about three hippie-types who pair up over their shared interest in the mystical and occult. Loomis, the male, recovers an ancient artifact and together with Minerva the fortune-teller and her sister Katija they resurrect a warlock. Too bad those things don’t come with a rulebook. FOUR STARS.
FOURTH by Daniel Roop A teenage daughter reunites with her absentee father, who left when she was eight years old. He returns with an invitation to find out a tradition/ritual/responsiblity passed down through generations. Grim. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
HER DAUGHTER’S FACE by Nalini Jacob-Roussely How much do daughters resemble their mothers? And, have they sufficiently expressed their gratitude? Nasty. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
GRACKLE DAY by Thomas C. Mavroudis A young couple move into a countryside rental and suddenly partial carcasses of small rodents and animals begun to appear around their property. Is it an offering or a warning? I would have preferred a more conclusive ending. THREE STARS.
NO WOMAN BORN by C.L. Moore Part 2, continued from Issue #65. This classic story was originally published in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION December 1944, and is a clear example of the vision of author Moore. A singer/stage performer has an accident and is reconstructed inside a metal armature. The story raises plenty of thought-provoking questions about the essence of a being, the ability of machines to resemble humans and perform similar functions, etc. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
The first two stories both end abruptly on a note of terror and/or dread, and both would benefit from revealing just a little bit more. Still, they were engaging and interesting.
IT MOVES WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING by Aaron Romano is a tale of a haunted house shared with an unearthly presence that seems to emanate from the dirt floor basement. Pets die, items moved, keys hidden, until one night something is seen. THREE STARS.
THE CROSSING OF ABRYTHINE LAKE by Siobhan Gallagher is a blend of fantasy and tentacled horror. A scientist moves near a lake to observe and document some strange events.
Tentacles surround an island, which is visited daily by gnomes. THREE STARS.
THE SPURS DRAW BLOOD AND SO MUCH MORE b Ali Maloney A weird western tale of an illiterate cowpoke wandering across a desert carrying a wax cylinder of some import and eventually escaping a moss encrusted, mushroom field. He enters an odd building, deciphers the scroll somewhat and finds his mission. Very imaginative and symbolic (I think). I didn’t quite make sense of it. THREE STARS.
VERDULLION by Kyle Toucher A longer story about three hippie-types who pair up over their shared interest in the mystical and occult. Loomis, the male, recovers an ancient artifact and together with Minerva the fortune-teller and her sister Katija they resurrect a warlock. Too bad those things don’t come with a rulebook. FOUR STARS.
FOURTH by Daniel Roop A teenage daughter reunites with her absentee father, who left when she was eight years old. He returns with an invitation to find out a tradition/ritual/responsiblity passed down through generations. Grim. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
HER DAUGHTER’S FACE by Nalini Jacob-Roussely How much do daughters resemble their mothers? And, have they sufficiently expressed their gratitude? Nasty. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
GRACKLE DAY by Thomas C. Mavroudis A young couple move into a countryside rental and suddenly partial carcasses of small rodents and animals begun to appear around their property. Is it an offering or a warning? I would have preferred a more conclusive ending. THREE STARS.
NO WOMAN BORN by C.L. Moore Part 2, continued from Issue #65. This classic story was originally published in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION December 1944, and is a clear example of the vision of author Moore. A singer/stage performer has an accident and is reconstructed inside a metal armature. The story raises plenty of thought-provoking questions about the essence of a being, the ability of machines to resemble humans and perform similar functions, etc. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
February 14, 2026
A good mix of stories, none of them particularly scary, some of them not what I would classify as cosmic/weird horror.
My favourite stories were:
- The spurs draw blood and so much more by Ali Maloney: a cool, creepy fungal odyssey through a dark gate.
- Verdullion by Kyle Toucher, which follows a budding young magician who is taken under the wing of a couple of tricksy women to find an ancient relic.
- Grackle Day by Thomas C. Mavroudi is a shallower version of Almond's Skellig (remember that book?) but it was nice and creepy all the same.
Overall this was fine, I might pick it up again in the future but it didn't scratch that itch that only Ligotti has managed to fill.
My favourite stories were:
- The spurs draw blood and so much more by Ali Maloney: a cool, creepy fungal odyssey through a dark gate.
- Verdullion by Kyle Toucher, which follows a budding young magician who is taken under the wing of a couple of tricksy women to find an ancient relic.
- Grackle Day by Thomas C. Mavroudi is a shallower version of Almond's Skellig (remember that book?) but it was nice and creepy all the same.
Overall this was fine, I might pick it up again in the future but it didn't scratch that itch that only Ligotti has managed to fill.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews