Welcome to Encounters Magazine
Encounters
Magazine is a bi-monthly digital publication featuring science
fiction, fantasy, horror and paranormal short fiction.
Each
issue of Encounters is available from our Web site in various formats
such as PDF, EPUB and MOBI. Issues are also available for download
on the Kindle and
Nook ebook readers and various other mobile platforms. Single copy
price is .99 cents and the subscription rate for 6 issues is $5.00.
Mail all queries to encountersmag@blackmatrixpub.com.
Here's the cover and some short excerpts
from the stories in Issue #07 of Encounters - on sale now.
Currently
availabe in PDF format. We are working on the conversions to EPUB and
MOBI.
Orders will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your purchase.
TOUCHSTONE
by Edward Ahern
The secret chambers of the house also took form. Cunningly
hidden accesses led to rooms within the inner hive. The monolith itself
was approached through a concealed passageway bristling with man traps.
A final walkway of raw ash planks lead just up to the outcrop.
Ed devoted the nights of Felicity’s occasional absences to
crafting the material John had smuggled in for him. The night of her
last absence he spent with the stone. In the hissing lantern light the
outcropping’s blacks and reds and yellows seemed to swirl dust into his
lungs. As the intimate installation progressed Ed developed a palsy.
After he finished Ed blacked out, and woke up vomiting
blood.
TURTLES
by Sean Monaghan
It was grainy and jerky. It showed what Erina assumed was
the hoop; a long poorly lit structure curving off into the distance.
"This is long range?" she said. On the outer surface of the hoop she
could see what looked like buildings, rising up several stories. That
would be what he was talking about the robots constructing.
"No, not long range."
As she watched the video, the view kept closing on the
structure. Then speckles began appearing in the space to the right.
"Turtles?" They were moving very slowly, flicking into existence, then
drifting towards the hoop.
"Thousands of them. Coming right out of the anomaly."
"I can't see the anomaly."
"It's invisible, but it's there."
The speckles grew into spots into shapes distinguishable
as the same as the turtle she was still holding. "How are they
propelling themselves?"
"See, this is where we need you."
A LEGACY OF THE
TWILIGHT YEARS
by Mike Jansen
“What have you found so far?” she asked him, trying to
avoid the wide, staring eyes of the dead woman and failing miserably.
“The victim’s name is... was Mai Lin Vries. Almost two
hundred years old. Cause of death... Better see for yourself.” Chen’s
voice trembled slightly.
Min swallowed, then looked down from those staring eyes
and found the bloody ravages of a neck, torn and broken with vicious
strength. Claws seemed to have ripped deep through flesh, bones and
cartilage from her neck down to her abdomen, which seemed strangely
empty.
INFATUATION
by Damien Keith
"So you're telling me you haven't met any women you
connect with?" she asked with a hint of surprise and disbelief. "I
imagine there are plenty of women who are attracted to you."
"Possibly," he said as he shifted nervously under her
gaze. "I … I guess I'm just not attracted to them, not a member of
their tribe."
"Their tribe?" she repeated, shifting back in her chair
and folding her arms.
"My own theory," he said with a smile. "No matter how far
we advance technologically, most people are still Neanderthals running
with a pack. This country sells itself as valuing individuals but every
aspect of it is set up for tribes. If you're not part of the tribe with
the most members or the most power, you're going to get stepped on.”
"So who is your tribe Mr. Kent?" she asked as she, once
again, leaned forward onto her elbows.
AN
ARCHITECTURAL EASTER EGG
by L. Lambert Lawson
They climbed well into the short night, as the sun bobbed
in space, hidden behind the bulk of the Earth. The factory town below
shrunk, its shacks and shops and fence and factory blurring together
into an amorphous blob of utilitarian architecture.
"Stop here," Serhiovich said. "According to the diagrams,
there's a door somewhere close." He scanned the rock and dirt.
"A door? You think there's a door in the mountain?"
"You don't?
"You think we're just going to stumble upon the secret,
hidden door to my father's secret, hidden room? Do you think my father
was an idiot?" As she spoke, she punctuated each word by slamming her
heel into the dirt. On the last two words, a dull clanging filtered up
through the dirt. "Oh," she said.
IMPERFECT
RELATIONS
by Gerri Leen
She heard the crunch of leaves from the forest behind her,
knew that he was coming. She didn't turn, just sat on the edge of
the cliff that rose behind the town. Her position--legs dangling
over the side, sword still in its scabbard--was a gift to her enemy, a
sign that she had not come to fight.
He walked slowly, as if he too wanted to make it clear he
hadn't come to fight. Sitting next to her, he scooted over to the
edge until his legs also dangled. She turned to look at him
fully, met the bright blue eyes that were twins to her own.
"It's been a long time, Maura." He looked down at
the house they'd grown up in. "I haven't been back here in
years."
|
|
|
ENCOUNTERS
MAGAZINE
Issue #07
AVAILABLE NOW
Issue #08 is scheduled for release
on July 1, 2013
Issue #06
Free Issue Download
We are now offering a special
promotion. Encounters #05 can be downloaded for free from our site.
Click on the cover image below to get your free PDF copy...
... or, if you prefer, you can download a copy in EPUB format for display on the
Nook and compatible platforms or as a MOBI file compatible with the
Kindle.
Other News
03/24/2013
As our guidelines
state, we offer a free one year subscription in PDF format to all
writers who have a story published in Encounters. We are now expanding
the free one year subscription to any writer or artist who submits
material for review, whether we publish it or not.
Book Reviews
We
are now accepting books for review from small press publishers and
independent authors. We will not review books from major publishers,
they get enough publicity already. Authors or publishers can submit
their books for review in PDF or EPUB format.
We
will not publish negative reviews of any book or anthology, only
recommendations of books we think are worth a read. We will begin
publishing reviews in the July 1st, 2013 issue.
|
