Welcome to 2022, and welcome to this announcement!
Eight issues in, The Deadlands has found a really good underworld vibe, exploring death through fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Ultimately, we want to explore death from every possible angle and culture, but if we’re actually going to do that, we need to reach beyond our own internal, unconscious biases. We need to broaden our perspectives and that means guest editors. Please welcome Nicasio Andres Reed onboard as guest fiction editor for our June 2022 issue.
Fiction submissions for Nico’s issue will be open from February 1-28, through Moksha. We will still be open to regular submissions, but will have a separate portal set up for fiction submissions for Nico’s issue. You will have to choose wisely, dear writers—don’t submit to both stacks at once.
Guidelines will be generally the same—but as we get closer to opening for this issue, Nico will have some specifics for you, such as this gem to get you started: “straight-up comedy or satire would be a very hard sell for me, and anything approaching the subject of death from a non-white, non-Western view would be especially welcome.”
Below, take the time to explore Nico’s influences when it comes to stories about death—and get hype! It’s happening! Welcome to The Deadlands, Nico! We know your stay will be a good one.
Nicasio Andres Reed is a writer, poet, and essayist whose work has appeared in venues such as Shimmer, Fireside, Lightspeed, and Uncanny Magazine. He’s read slush for Strange Horizons, edited manuscripts for award-winning authors, and read every Animorphs book at least twice. He lives in Tagaytay, in the Philippines, and looks forward to reading even more about death than usual.
Influences
Novels & Novellas
- Wounded Little Gods by Eliza Victoria
- The Likeness by Tana French
- Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
- Dead Boys by Gabrielle Squailia
- A Ruin of Shadows by L.D. Lewis
- The Impossible Resurrection of Grief by Octavia Cade
- The Death of Ivan Illych by Leo Tolstoy
Non-Fiction
- Autumn Light by Pico Iyer
- The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
- They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
- On Fear by Mary Ruefle
Short Stories
- We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It by E.A. Petricone
- Peristalsis by Vajra Chandrasekera
- Asphalt, River, Mother, Child by Isabel Yap
- Unfurl/ed by Jes Rausch
- Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler
Theater, Movies & TV
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
- Flatliners
- The Terror
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
Songs
- “Putting the Dog to Sleep” by The Antlers
- “I Fell in Love With a Dead Boy” by Antony and the Johnsons
- “Crossbones Style” by Cat Power
- Gnossienne No. 1 by Erik Satie
- “Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT Remix)” by Metric