Authors in This Issue
Christopher Ruz and Rich Larson posted on the same forum circa 2010, reconnected a decade later, and decided to write a scary story. Christopher is based in Melbourne, Australia, and writes at the intersection between horror and contemporary fantasy. His debut novel, a supernatural thriller set inside the twisted world of UK finance, arrives in 2027. Rich, based in Canada, is best known for his SF novels Ymir and Annex, plus collections Tomorrow Factory and Changelog. His work has been translated into over a dozen languages and adapted into an Emmy-winning episode of LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS. Both authors are delighted to have you along on this weekend trip to the woods.
Andrea Kriz is a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, currently doing research in brain genetics. Her short fiction has previously appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and Lightspeed, among others, and been translated into French in Galaxies SF. Her debut short story collection, Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism, was published by Interstellar Flight Press in 2024. You can find her online at https://andreakriz.wordpress.com/, on X/Twitter @theworldshesaw, and on Bluesky @andreakriz.bsky.social. Her latest story explores the divine in DNA, inspired by Kobayashi Issa’s famous haiku.
Like his forthcoming novel, a tall tale called Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman, Dale Bailey’s most recent collection, This Island Earth: 8 Features from the Drive-In, is themed around stories inspired by the best titles of the worst movies you’ve (mostly) never seen. Dale’s work has won the Shirley Jackson Award and has been a finalist for the World Fantasy, Nebula, and Bram Stoker Awards. You can find him online at dalebailey.com and in the classroom in Lenoir-Rhyne University’s MFA in Creative Writing program. Here he pens the story of a late-night radio DJ.
Lois Metzger is the author of five novels for young adults, including A Trick of the Light, named an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults and a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. She has also written two nonfiction books about the Holocaust for middle-school readers and edited five books of original stories, and her short stories have appeared in anthologies all over the world. You can find her online at loismetzger.com and on Facebook and @MetzgerLois on X. In her first story for Asimov’s, she writes about how exciting life is when you make new friends, especially when they seem so glamorous and fun-loving and—well, friendly.
Leah Cypess is the author of the middle grade series Sisters Ever After, the early chapter book series Miriam’s Magical Creature Files, and the middle grade book Future Me Saves The World (And Ruins My Life). Leah has also written four young adult fantasy novels and numerous works of short fiction. She is a four-time Nebula Award finalist and a World Fantasy Award finalist. You can learn more about her and her writing at www.leahcypess.com. Leah’s latest for us is a chilling time loop story, with a narrator who doesn’t seem to realize she’s in a time loop.
Stephanie Feldman is the author of the novels Saturnalia, a Locus Award finalist, and The Angel of Losses, a Crawford Award winner and Mythopoeic Award finalist. Her first short fiction collection, The Night Parade and Other Stories, arrives in October 2026. In her latest story, a young girl takes a midnight journey to free her haunted sister.
David Ira Cleary’s short stories have appeared in Asimov’s, Interzone, The Third Alternative, The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, and elsewhere. His novella “My Year as a Boy” (Asimov’s January/February 2023) was reprinted in The Year’s Top Robot and AI Stories 5, edited by Allan Kaster. He lives in Oakland and can occasionally be found on Facebook (david.cleary.908) In his new story, Marius the cat detective learns about love and loss.
Lawrence C. Connolly’s books include the collections This Way to Egress, which features the eponymous tale of psychological horror that was adapted for the Mick Garris film “Nightmare Cinema”; and the Bram-Stoker-nominated Voices, which features his best stories from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Twilight Zone, Year’s Best Horror, and others. His latest novel, Minute-Men: Execute & Run, based on a concept developed with his brother Christopher, is a globetrotting adventure that combines military science fiction, gaming, medical suspense, and superhero action. His new story takes place on the edge of a post-industrial town, where the past smolders and strange shadows come to life.
Tegan Moore has published in many excellent magazines including F&SF, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, and Reactor; this is her fifth story in Asimov’s. She lives in the Pacific Northwest on a small farm where she is only sort-of jokingly preparing for the apocalypse.
Eric Del Carlo has been selling his science fiction and fantasy since 1990, appearing in Asimov’s, Analog, and Clarkesworld. He has authored several novels, including the Wartorn series with Robert Asprin, as well as collaborating with his father Vic Del Carlo on the urban fantasy The Golden Gate Is Empty. His most recent solo novel is The Cold. His fifth story for Asimov’s is another “space opera punk” story. Here, during the canonization process for a nonhuman school chum, a man recounts their time spent fighting a plague outbreak.
Esther Friesner, Ph.D. is the author of over forty novels and more than two hundred short stories, in addition to poetry, nonfiction, and having edited eleven anthologies. One of her two Nebula-Award-winning stories, “Death and the Librarian,” appeared in the December 1994 issue of Asimov’s. She is best known for her YA series, Princesses of Myth, from Random House, and even more so for creating and editing the Chicks in Chainmail anthology series for Baen Books. Of this tale, Esther tells us, “Sometimes the most frightening horror stories are those we are never told. . . .”