OTHERSIDE

ISSUE 3 IS HERE! And completely free to read! We're SO excited for you to read this issue 🧡 It's bleak and beautiful and heartbreaking... and, as always, spectacularly queer. Give it a read, tell a friend, help us spread the word! Read it here: othersidespec.com/issues/issue-3/

Portals #1 is ALMOST HERE! Get excited for some incredible trans horror! We're celebrating with a new trans pride version of our latest t-shirt. Proceeds from sales of these shirts support Trans Lifeline, just like sales of Portals #1. Snag yours today! otherside-shop.fourthwall.com/

this gorgeous art really pairs well with my poem, published in @othersidespec.bsky.social read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/masqu...

Portals #1 is ALMOST HERE! Get excited for some incredible trans horror! We're celebrating with a new trans pride version of our latest t-shirt. Proceeds from sales of these shirts support Trans Lifeline, just like sales of Portals #1. Snag yours today! otherside-shop.fourthwall.com/

Subs close for '26 on Nov 1: speccolorwaysinverse.carrd.co#guidelines 📜 Speculative. Poems. Drippin' activated curiosity, antipossessive exploration, eryday out dis 🌍🌌, with/out narrative, tantalizingly unexpected, imaginative in form play as well as evoking emotion . . . POSSIBILITY

ALOCASIA #21 is here w/ more queer planty writing as fall goes fallow and we begin to refreeze w/ Chella Courington, Tyler Lemley, Shon Mapp, Lawrence Schimel, Chloe Lim, Jax NTP, Kite Marsh, Cassandra Urquhart, Sumitra Singam, and Mary Beth Becker ALOCASIA.org

We’re so excited to have been selected for this fantastic initiative from @chillsubs.bsky.social… and in such great company, too! Huge thanks to Chill Subs and CLMP. We can’t wait to get to work!

We've officially shared all of Issue 3—except for the letter from our editors. In this issue's editorial, our co-founders talk about how we're handling AI spam, the joys of queer creativity, this issue's incredible TOC, and so much more! 🧡 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/lette...

also ALSO we're open for novella submissions right now more info here: www.neonhemlock.com/submissions

21. “As seen through the hole of the hag stone:” by Sienna Tristen in @othersidespec.bsky.social Vibrantly depicts four strange and vibrant places with an evocative mix of long lines and short sentences. I loved gazing through this poem's hag stone. othersidespec.com/pieces/as-se...

Issue 3 is HERE! This issue's nonfiction selection is special. We're thrilled to share an essay by @hvmator.bsky.social, our Year 1 cover artist, about the figure pictured on each OTHERSIDE cover... but also about art, the body, and much more. 🎨 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/why-d...

Our submission window for Issue 4 is CLOSED! Thank you to all who submitted! As always, we aim to send out all responses within 30 days, likely sooner. If you missed this window, fear not! We are changing our schedule for Year 2, and the next open window will be in December. Mark your calendars!

Final hours!

So thrilled to see Crystal Koo's "One Floor, One Phoenix" featured in this stellar lineup! This one is "a challenging story about a woman who refuses to learn her lesson, and the emotional carnage in her wake" (and we think you're going to love it) 🐦‍🔥

When it came time to choose the perfect closing story for Issue 3, we knew it needed to be @cyrusafisher.bsky.social’s “Wine-Dark,” a lush study of guilt and grief (and giant sea-monsters). Let this one break and mend your heart today. 🍷 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/wine-...

Today is the final day to submit a piece to our EXPLORATION themed winter issue! If you're a queer writer, don't self-reject, send in your last-minute submissions—we're interested in explorations of all kind... internal, external, metaphorical, literal! Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines/

17. “Ganymede” by Gospel Chinedu in @othersidespec.bsky.social This poem defies description; it’s deft and strange, filled with cyborgs more human than the humans around them. At once devastating and lovely, Chinedu’s verse captured my attention instantly. othersidespec.com/pieces/ganym...

Our general submissions close TOMORROW! If you are a queer writer, get your exploration-themed stories and poems in by October 21 @ 11:59pm Eastern. Don't self-reject! This is a broad theme; if you aren't sure your piece fits, send it in and let us decide! Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines/

ISSUE 3 IS HERE! @kymdeyn.bsky.social's “Tiktaalik Rosae, or, If We Were the Earliest Example of a Link Between Fish and Tetrapods Would You Climb onto the Mudflats with Me?” is the most charming and best-titled poem you will read today, guaranteed. 🐟 Read here: othersidespec.com/pieces/tikta...

Issue 3 is OUT NOW! We know you're going to love today's piece, "His Face, in the End, Inches from Mine," by @elijah.mea.rs. And by "love," we mean "you might be too busy crying to admire all the incredible details of this gorgeous story, sorry." 🔥 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/his-f...

next is “this is c(lone)-pop” in @othersidespec.bsky.social! 🧪⭐️🤍 which was also recommended by @mariahaskins.com in @locusmag.bsky.social othersidespec.com/pieces/this-...

Worried your work isn’t exploration-y enough? Try us anyway! This is a loose theme. We’re interested in explorations of new worlds and strange places. But we’re also interested in explorations of the self, the body, love, science, folklore, family… anything and everything! Seriously, go wild! 🔭 🗺️

If you've received a Hold notice from us and are wondering what's up: we're looking to make sure that Issue 12 meets our goal of 50% Canadian content. Our current Hold list is smaller than typical, we normally keep ~25 stories and ~15 poems for our editor's to fight over. We're short by ~5 in each.

ICYMI, we are OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS for Issue 4! The theme: EXPLORATION 🪐🗡️ Submissions are open until October 21st! With this theme, we're interested in stories that explore new worlds, the self, ideas, relationships... anything! Don't self-reject! Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines/

What an incredible blessing to help others in a way I didn't see coming from qilinpress.bsky.social (Frances Lu Pai Ippolito) and in my name while I'm still here! I'm breathless with gratitude. Please share Application open 1/18/2027!

did you know that a disproportionate amount of our books are relevant for spooky season? use code BOO for 33% off ebooks until nov 14th yes that date is arbitrary spookiness does not truly have an end point but i had to pick something www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks

ISSUE 3 IS OUT NOW! “The Illuminated World” by @rebeccacider.bsky.social is a story about the softest, gentlest candle-lit apocalypse. And, while it happens to be this issue's shortest story, it's also a worldbuilding masterclass in only 1000 words. 🕯️Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/the-i...

Our monthly free newsletter is here! This one talks about our new issue, our current open submissions window, some fun secret news, and an upcoming livestream: on the 30th, our co-founders will be playing Lethal Company while answering your questions and celebrating Portals! Read on for the details!

ICYMI: I have a very new, very short story in @othersidespec.bsky.social about the most hardworking spacecraft test dummy ever.

Issue 3 is HERE! Spend your morning with “Ivan Ivanovich” by @kristinaten.bsky.social, a quiet, surreal story about alienation, imitation, the illusion of safety, and the very best spacecraft test dummy of all time... all in only 1500 words! 🚀 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/ivan-...

ICYMI, we are OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS for Issue 4! The theme: EXPLORATION 🪐🗡️ Submissions are open until October 21st! With this theme, we're interested in stories that explore new worlds, the self, ideas, relationships... anything! Don't self-reject! Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines/

Issue 3 is OUT NOW on our website! And if you're looking for the perfect almost-Halloween read... you're in luck. @algaeross.bsky.social's “The Monster at the End of this Film” is a love letter to monster movies and final girls. 🎥 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/the-m...

ISSUE 3 IS HERE! In “trans/formative,” @nicowritesbooks.bsky.social explores what it might mean to unmake our bodies and reassemble them into something new and strange and beautiful instead. 🫀 Read the full poem here: othersidespec.com/pieces/trans...

10. “obsolesce” by @macey.bsky.social in @othersidespec.bsky.social Gorgeous & strange & precise. One of the most vivid poems I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. I read it over & over to discover new turns of phrase, new images, new moments of brilliance. othersidespec.com/pieces/obsol...

I promise you that this story would blow your tits clean off, if only they hadn't been turned to stone

ISSUE 3 IS HERE! The perfect addition to your fall reading list, @rjaurand.bsky.social's “This Is Not a Place of Honor” combines vampires, vikings, and nuclear semiotics. Oh, and desperate sapphic yearning for a woman who died a thousand years ago. 🩸 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/this-...

Worried your work isn’t exploration-y enough? Try us anyway! This is a loose theme. We’re interested in explorations of new worlds and strange places. But we’re also interested in explorations of the self, the body, love, science, folklore, family… anything and everything! Seriously, go wild! 🔭 🗺️

In light of some magazines pulling scummy things on creators lately, I’m doing a little thread on short story rights. I don't want anybody getting taken advantage of. Also, if you're new, this stuff can be confusing!

i couldn't be happier that this story is reprinted in OTHERSIDE. thanks for giving my communal eco-grief story a second home 🌰🩸🫶

We are now OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS from all 2SLGBTQIA+ authors! Issue 4's theme: EXPLORATION. Send us stories and poems that interpret the concept of exploration in abstract or literal ways, internal or external, strange and surreal—don't self-reject 🪐🗡️ Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines/

Issue 3 is OUT NOW! And the first reprint in this issue is a special one. @spicycloaca.bsky.social's “BLIGHT” is a wrenching, layered examination of an Appalachian community and their neighbors: a grove of dying chestnut trees. 🌳 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/blight

Issue 3 is HERE! And we are SO happy to share and celebrate these amazing stories and poems. “The Clay King” by @armori.bsky.social is both creation myth and love poem, bittersweet and beautiful. 👑 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/the-c...

We are now OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS from all 2SLGBTQIA+ authors! Issue 4's theme: EXPLORATION. Send us stories and poems that interpret the concept of exploration in abstract or literal ways, internal or external, strange and surreal—don't self-reject 🪐🗡️ Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines/

Just under 15 hours left to get print copies of our first two issues with free shipping from @bookshop.org! Don’t miss out! Every print issue is meticulously designed, lovingly illustrated, and packed with 30,000 words of brilliant queer SFFH. 💜

ICYMI, Issue 3 is OUT NOW on our website! Mina Yeh’s heartbreaking and hopeful “Field Notes on Liturgical Rites, Co-Authored Li and Albrecht” insists that love can work miracles, literally. 📝 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/field...

amazon AI says queers can’t have boobs butts or balls, especially if they are highly stylized lines on a canvas. please pay artists directly. peace and love

Prefer print? Get FREE shipping on Issues 1 -2 from @bookshop.org today for Anti-Prime Day! Each issue includes 15+ speculative stories and poems by 2SLGBTQIA+ creators for only $14.99! Thank you for supporting queer art. Issue 1: bookshop.org/p/books/othe... Issue 2: bookshop.org/p/books/othe...

Happy Banned Books Week AND Anti-Prime Day! We've spent this week fighting with Amazon, who blocked Issue 3... because a stylized illustration of a statue = porn, at least if you're a queer publication. The best way to support us is directly. Code ANTIPRIME gets you 15% off subscriptions this week.

Issue 3 is OUT NOW on our website! In “One Floor, One Phoenix,” @crystalkoo.bsky.social examines the ugly intersections of technology and shame. We can't tell you more without spoilers; you're just going to have to read this one for yourself ASAP. 🐦‍🔥 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/one-f...

I bought a copy of this to read on my kindle and have been slowly making my way through so as to let each fantastic piece take up the space it deserves in my mind Last night I read This Is Not a Place of Honor and damn... I'm gonna need to sit with that one for a while!