Editorial

Welcome to the twentieth issue of Baffling Magazine.

This issue is on the theme of “monstrous” and has eight offerings—six from from authors new to Baffling and two returning authors (Avra Margariti and Megan Baffoe).

We kick things off with our introspective and jarring cover story, Nigel Faustino’s “Best Face Forward,” which inspired the creepy illustration by Chancellor Stokes. Follow that with two alluring monsters, one written from within (Divya Kernan’s “Carmilla, or, the Making of a Girl”) and one written from without (Megan Baffoe’s “The Rain Woman). Then, two authors who combine the monstrous with the mundane in striking ways: Gillian Knox’s “Libra Season” and Morgan Wilson’s “Things You Learn As A Werewolf (That Will Come In Handy Later).” We close with a trio of stories that find the monstrous in unexpected places: the fantastic “Horn, Heart, Seed” by Joe Koch, the literary “But Depart Into The Wild Mountains” by Caro Jansen, and the mythopoetic “Claret and Gold” by Avra Margariti.

This issue marks five years of Baffling! The longevity of a magazine is always uncertain—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