Issue #14 of The Lovecraft eZine will be published on May 10.  This will be the previously mentioned female-themed issue; all stories are by women authors!  One criticism of Lovecraftian fiction is that most of the characters are male, and with this issue I hope to do my small part to change that.

And coincidentally, it seems I’m not the only one thinking about this lately.  Silvia Moreno-Garcia (editor of Innsmouth Free Press) will be on a panel discussing Lovecraft and women at the upcoming H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.  (By the way, ladies, she could use your help.)  There’s also a new Italian book about Lovecraft’s treatment of the feminine: Lovecraftian Archetypes: the eternal feminine.  And Kristen Bobst over at Comediva just posted a whole bunch of “Feminist Cthulhu” posters — funny stuff!

So I think that now is a perfect time to do this “feminist” issue of The Lovecraft eZine.  Spread the word, and I hope you enjoy the issue on May 10, and the short preview below.

Lovecraft eZine issue 14 cover art, by Galen Dara

The awesome cover art (right) is by Galen Dara.  The May issue stories are:

A Beer and Tentacles, by Holliann Kim – Alan looked hurt. “Of course not, Gina. I can’t take back what happened, look, I’m sorry. I’ve apologized over and over again about that. But you were my best friend for so long, I don’t know of anyone else that I can trust. Please.”  Gina flinched at the words “best friend,” but she swallowed another sip of beer and recovered her composure. “Okay, out with it then.”  “You’re going to think that I’m crazy.”  Alan sighed. “I’m seeing tentacles. Everywhere…”

Now She Preys Through Endless Days, by Jenna M. Pitman – She had been ageless but now she was young. She had been formless but now she was beautiful. She had been banished first and then she was stranded. They had cut her off from her power and set her adrift among the worlds, condemned to an eternal life of silence and isolation and impotence. And they had intended that to be forever but they had underestimated her…

Fiesta of Our Lady, by Ann K. Schwader – A Lovecraftian poem.  I’m so honored to publish a poem by Ann — she is a very respected poet, recognized by S.T. Joshi and many others.  She recently published Twisted in Dream, a book of (what else?) Lovecraftian poetry.  About Fiesta of Our Lady, Ann writes: Coatlicue is one of the bloodier female deities in the Aztec pantheon (are there any nice ones?), and it just struck me that Yig might have been one of her children. She is the mother of other gods, so why not?  I really enjoy digging into mythology to find the Secret History of the Mythos – it’s amazing how often you can find something useful.

God Serum, by Wendy N. Wagner – The boy pointed out a trail along the floor, dark, tacky, damp. “I think that’s its trail.” He moved ahead, staying within the circle of Annika’s light, his own glow too faint to reveal the ground ahead.  She breathed as shallowly as she dared. The hideous smell, the weight of the darkness, the sense that somewhere something waited: it was far more terrifying than any raid she’d ever led on a mushroom city. She hoped she didn’t tremble like the boy did…

Drive, She said, by Tracie McBride – Tony hasn’t been a taxi driver for going on 14 years without developing a sixth sense about his fares. This one, he decides, is trouble with a capital T. Without a word, she slides into the front passenger seat bum first and swings two stiletto-clad feet inside after her. Her glossy leather skirt rucks up her thighs as it squeaks across the cheap vinyl upholstery. Her blouse is perilously low-cut. Between her breasts nestles a silver scimitar-shaped pendant. A tiny black tattoo adorns one slender ankle…