Editorial

Welcome to the twenty-second issue of Baffling Magazine.

This issue is on the theme of “strange forms” and has a whopping twelve offerings—eleven from authors new to Baffling and one returning author, Bogi Takács, whose 2022 story “Four Glass Cubes (Item Description)” would also have been at home in this issue. Eir story “Crowdfund Your New Citizen Body: A Performance” is the perfect introduction to the issue.

The issue includes a handful of stories that play with varying degrees of strange structure, like “Death is a Drag Queen” by Cailín Frankland, “Putting on Its Face” by Chris Clemens, and “Emotional Assistance Manual For Tactical War Machines” by J.D. Harlock.

Elsewhere in the issue, we have stories of strange and eerie embodiment, like “The Shape of a Fox” by E. Saxey, “The Eidolon” by Marc Ruvolo, “Belletristic Lover” by U.M. Agoawike and “I Think She Is Starting to Suspect Something” by Yeonsoo Julian Kim.

And then some stories do both: “Am I a Woman, Am I a Bird of Prey” by Ayida Shonibar, “The Only Piece Left” by Meagan Kane, and “Doppel Doppel Gang Gang” by Phoenix Alexander.

And the wonderful cover by Drew Shields is of course inspired by Xauri’EL Zwaan’s story, “ReproTech RealWomb User Manual.”

Thank you so much to those supporting us at our Patreon. We couldn’t do it without you.

Enjoy the issue!

dave ring
Editor, Baffling Magazine