News of the Weird
Jun 29, 2025 12:10 pm
Dear Friends of Undertow,
I hope that you are all managing to keep well during these mad times. Everything feels daunting, and oftentimes pointless. I believe writing and publishing and contributing to a vibrant arts culture is an essential act of rebellion and activism and, dare I say ... hope. We persist.
Weird Horror magazine generally publishes twice a year, Spring and Fall. Due to already having 2 other Fall releases—Thomas Ha's Uncertain Sons, and The Best Weird Fiction of the Year—the Fall issue of Weird Horror will be out early. Next week in fact. If you are a subscriber, you'll receive issue 11 in July. (Please do let me know if you've moved since this the Spring mailing.) You can get a subscription at this link, and I'll mail issues 10 and 11 together:
Due to continuing financial challenges with the magazine, I've had to reluctantly drop both the interior illustrations and Lysette Stevenson's The Macabre Reader. I want to thank all the artists who have contributed to the magazine, and I especially want to thank Lysette Stevenson for 80—80!—amazing reviews over 10 issues.
As you may know, we are based in Canada. I use a shipping service that partners with the U.S. Postal Service. Since the announcement of tariffs, shipping has become quite problematic. Not only have rates increased, but I have to fill out more paperwork with each shipment detailing precisely where my books were manufactured. Administratively, it's become a time sink. So, for the time being I will likely be using Ingram/Lightning Source to fulfill orders direct from their printing facilities in the U.S. and abroad.
Speaking of Canada. For the first time ever I've received some recognition from the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, in the form of an Aurora Award Nomination for my anthology Northern Nights. If you're a member of the CSFFA please consider voting for Northern Nights in the Best Related Work category. NOTE - I'm told the cover art is ineligible because it was previously used on another project. But you can still vote for the anthology.
Thomas Ha's marvellous debut—Uncertain Sons and Other Stories—drops Sept. 16. Pre-orders are open. Please check out this short interview with Thomas about the book:
And, of course, you can pre-order the book:
Finally, I'm nearly done reading for The Best Weird Fiction of the Year. I've contracted stories for about half the book, and am whittling down my shortlist. I am hopeful of announcing the final table of contents soon. I'm very excited for the book. It will showcase the broad range and diversity of weird fiction. It will ship in November and you can pre-order here:
Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement.
Warm Wishes,
Michael (and the Undertow team)
Undertow Publications