Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field. The stories in the May issue swing back toward dark SF. Jeremy R. Butler channels the adventure and dangers of deep space mining with his “Recipe Collecting in the Asteroid Belt.” Annalee Newitz explores love and particle physics in “Twilight of the Eco-Terrorist.” The classic reprint is Will Ludwigsen’s chilling “In Search Of” where the answers to all your questions are better left unknown. Apex presents two poetry selections this month. The first is “Black, Red, White” by Rachel Swirsky. The second is Elizabeth McClellan’s “The Walking Man Goes Looking for the Sons of John: Six Cantos.” Finally, Monica Valentinelli gives fans and writers some important tips on how to enjoy the world of literary fan conventions with “Grab Your Badge. Ready, Set, Meet!” Apex Magazine is edited by award-winning author and editor Catherynne M. Valente. Learn more: Apex Magazine #24

Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field. Their April issue begins the first of their new expanded editions. More great content for one great price! Eugie Foster returns to the pages of Apex with the Japanese-flavored "Biba Jibun." Michael J. Deluca marks his first appearance with the rather fantastical dark story "The Eater." Relive the horrors of Mike Allen’s Nebula Award-nominated "The Button Bin." Rose Lemberg’s poem "Thirteen Principles of Faith," Jennifer Pelland’s Nebula Award-nominated story "Ghosts of New York," (Dark Faith), and the history of the Nebula Awards by Michael A. Burstein round out a robust and hefty issue of Apex Magazine. Apex Magazine is edited by award-winning author and editor Catherynne M. Valente. You can subscribe to the online magazine here: Apex Magazine

Toronto-based ChiZine Publications will be re-launching their online speculative fiction ‘zine, The Chiaroscuro/ChiZine.com, as well as creating the ChiHub, an online navigation page from which all things ChiZine will originate. The project will institute an upgraded, streamlined design for both ChiZine.com and the hub page, courtesy of CZP designer Erik Mohr and coder Barry King. “We’ve been toiling at this behind the curtain for some time now,” remarks CZP Co-Publisher Brett Alexander Savory. “As both the magazine and publishing house grow — and they are, more and more every day — fine tuning our online presence and making everything more accessible becomes key. Thankfully we have an epic team to make it possible.” The Chiaroscuro/ChiZine.com was first launched in 1997 by editor and published author Brett Alexander Savory, joined in 1999 by poet and editor Sandra Kasturi, in an effort to expand what Kasturi calls “the ever-shrinking world of Canadian dark literature.” The online ‘zine thrived with Savory and Kasturi at the helm, garnering a prodigious following for its unique content and free distribution model. It was in 2008, after considering the publication of a ChiZine anthology, that the pair decided to expand into print publishing with the launch of ChiZine Publications alongside the long-running ‘zine. “We’re pretty insufferable right now,” jokes Kasturi in the current issue of Rue Morgue. “We figured there’d be a small audience for what we’re trying to do, but the recognition has been a really great surprise. It’s like getting everything you ever wanted handed to you on a plate.” Not only will this current launch set the groundwork for the future overhaul of ChiZinePub.com, what Savory is calling the “mega-issue” of ChiZine will feature heavily as well. The issue will contain nearly 200 short stories and poems from various spec-fic alumni, who have previously featured in the ‘zine, or were contest judges, including contributions from Neil Gaiman, Stewart O’Nan, Mike Carey, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Gary Braunbeck, Tom Piccirilli, Sarah Langan,Tim Lebbon, Bruce Boston, Marge Simon, and Robert J. Wiersema, just to name a few. It will also mark the start of ChiZine.com’s three-month donation drive, which aims to raise enough money for the magazine to continue publishing at its current rate of seven cents per word for short fiction and $10 per poem.