The second year of Fiction Vortex is coming to a close, and we're happier than a leprechaun on a rainbow slide. It has been a fantastic year, and we're capping it off with a strong lineup of stories.We've got alien spies, paper weapons of mass destruction, tired old superheroes, some conspicuous birds, and a twist on Greek mythology. It's one of our best issues ever.The second year of Fiction Vortex is coming to a close, and we're happier than a leprechaun on a rainbow slide. It has been a fantastic year, and we're capping it off with a strong lineup of stories.We've got alien spies, paper weapons of mass destruction, tired old superheroes, some conspicuous birds, and a twist on Greek mythology. It's one of our best issues ever. As we close out 2014 and head into our third year of publication, we want to thank the amazing authors and readers who have made this possible. We absolutely love stories that make us think and take us to new places. So you can imagine why we're exceedingly proud of Fiction Vortex.

This year’s Fiction Vortex Horror Contest has some of the best short fiction horror we’ve ever seen. Entries ran the gamut from personal to apocalyptic. Filled with strangeness and terror, madness and fear, these stories are a tour to the dark places of the imagination.This year’s Fiction Vortex Horror Contest has some of the best short fiction horror we’ve ever seen. Entries ran the gamut from personal to apocalyptic. Filled with strangeness and terror, madness and fear, these stories are a tour to the dark places of the imagination. Guided by expert writers who build tension upon fear and lure us into places of wonder and fright these stories that do not end at the final word but haunt the reader for days like a dark secret memory.

We're continuing our tradition of providing great stories, and this issue we've got some war poetry, some transdimensional rock creatures, and a nice supernatural western. Because why not?I was having dinner at the Daily Sunrise when I was suddenly cast to State Street in Schenectady, with the date being 1937. Within a few hours I was being interrogated by a librarian, a police officer, and a detective. Everyone seemed as puzzled as I was as to what had happened. Eventually, I discovered that Professor Collins of RPI had been at the bottom of it all. This is a time travel story that will amaze you.

We have conclusive proof in this issue that the May issue was more than just a fluke because we have yet another month's worth of fantastic stories to deliver. This issue has some great surprises, too. Fiction Vortex publishes science fiction and fantasy. All stories in this issue appeared on FictionVortex.com during June 2013.We have conclusive proof in this issue that the May issue was more than just a fluke because we have yet another month's worth of fantastic science fiction and fantasy stories to deliver. This issue has some great surprises, too. While some seem to fit into traditional genres, such as alien invasion, fairy grove visitation, and haunting ghosts, there are also a few that defy description. For instance, what genre covers a botanist who finds more than he bargains for while searching for Ghost Orchids? There's a story that seems to be a general dystopia until you realize it's dealing with the most dystopic medium of all: reality television. And of course, how do you classify a story where the language changes as the story progresses?Now perhaps you can see why we're so proud of these stories.Of course, being the narcissistic sociopaths (say that ten times while drunk) that we are, we couldn't just let the fiction writers have all the fun, so you'll also see a few writing tips from me and the Editor-in Chief, Mike Cluff, near the end of this issue. They involve vehicular manslaughter and malicious fairy hit squads, so at least they should be interesting.Fiction Vortex publishes science fiction and fantasy short stories from writers around the world. All stories in this issue appeared on the FictionVortex.com site during the month of June 2013.

This month, Fiction Vortex is celebrating Halloween with a special all-horror issue. It's still speculative fiction, just with extra scares and mental scars. We know, as well as you do, that true terror isn’t from the dark corners of the world, but from the dark recesses of your mind, and that beneath a thin layer of imagination the true monsters are quite human.This month, Fiction Vortex is celebrating Halloween with a special all-horror issue. It's still speculative fiction, just with extra scares and mental scars. We could give you detailed descriptions of monsters. We could supply a supernatural scapegoat to pin the source of your fears upon. Yet in the end we know, as well as you do, that true terror isn’t from the dark corners of the world, but from the dark recesses of your mind, and that beneath a thin layer of imagination the true monsters are quite human.Fiction Vortex publishes speculative fiction weekly online: FictionVortex.com.