There is in the hear a place of perfection, where everyone lives by the same rules, strife does not exist, and life is nice and predictable. We call it Utopia. But does it, can it exist? Join Penumbra as we explore the extremes of Utopia and the people who live in it.

Theme:  Arthurian Legend

Stories:

“X-Cal” by Michael Ryder

“La Dame du Lac” by A.D.R. Forte

“The Chorus to Nixy’s Swan Song, Allegro” by Trent Walters

“The Knight of the Ice Moon” by Pat Bowne

“A Kingdom for a Horse” by Aidan Doyle

Final Issue

“Alien Pick-Up” by Gini Koch

“Uplifting” by Michael Haynes

“Not the Wrong Planet” by Mickey Hunt

Theme: Paranormal Adventures

“When I Had Eyes, I Didn’t See” by Anna Yeatts **Featured Story**

“Hauntings” by Laura E. Price

“I Promise” by Liz Colter

“The Woman on the Bench” by Stephanie M.Loree

“No Body” by John P. Murphy

“A Cold Welcome” by Floris M. Kleijne

“Extra Innings” by Joe Iriarte

Theme: Lewis Carroll

“Catch Your Death” by HL Fullerton **Featured Story**

“Saturday Night at the Wonderland Club” by Jennifer R. Povey

“Drink Me” by DeAnna Knippling

“Going Among Mad People” by Elise Tobler

Theme: Pain

“So Inflamed, I Have Left” by Anaea Lay **Featured Story**

Where do you go when you’re no longer wanted?

“Bird Science, and That of Loneliness” by Sara Puls
Of silence, solitude, and the songs of sirens.

“Foam and Yellow Sand” by Jamie Lackey
Letting go of the past isn’t always an easy thing.

“Balance Sheet” by Richard Thomas
A father’s love for his child knows no limits.

- See more at: http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16_71&products_id=807&zenid=0fa42db832dd53cbd7603c4c10d8c89c#sthash.Qrn74Rl4.dpuf

Theme: Hyperspeed

Mr Dash Saves the World by Gini Koch *Featured* 

Voices in the Black by Jeff Stehman 

Interstellar Tech Support by Sarina Dorie

Theme: Isolation

“Turn a New Page” by Kat Otis
When the only reality you know is virtual, how do you know what to do...

“Murmuration” by Jennifer Noelle Welch

Birdwatcher Clara became a recluse after her husband’s death, but the birds dashing themselves to death against her windows had a message to bring...

“Self Help” by Jennifer Rachel Baumer **Featured Story**
Sarah believes her routines keep her husband safe from harm, but he thinks she’s just OCD...

“Crimson Collapse” by Chris Phillips
Only plastic wrap stands between a young couple’s miracle and complete disaster...

“Malfunctions in the New Garden” by Marge Simon and Bruce Boston
Cain and Abel always survive in the story of humanity...

“Transported” by Amber Hayward
Three years alone can make you forget the things you need the most...

“The Horned Horror” by Tim McDaniel
If you think a unicorn can’t ruin a teenage boy’s life, think again...

Origin Story by Lindsay Morgan Lockhart
The first foundation for every great superhero story...

Dating Man’s Destiny Arrives by Eric James Stone
The first time you realize that every superhero’s talent matters at some point in the war...

Alien on the Runway: An Alien Series Prequel by Gini Koch
The first meeting between a previously unidentified superhero and the aliens who will teach him...

The Saviors by Jon Lasser
The first tragedy that superheroes cannot prevent...

Photon Girl Ascending by Rachael K. Jones
The first acknowledgment of a superhero’s mortality...

For Tomorrow by Richard Zwicker
If you were the only person on earth...

Electric Hatsuyume by Deborah Walker
If robots could dream...

Bluegrass and the Third Law of Robotics by Peter Wood
If music could reach a robot’s soul...

Replaced by William R.A.D. Funk
If man could craft his own successor...

Robot Mothers by Adam Gaylord
If robots learned to procreate...

Death Warrant by Michael Haynes
Ever wonder why the pen is mightier than the sword?
The Skin Stealer by Daniel Ausema
Not all the monsters at the Villa Diodati were fictional...
Gray Ebenezer by Brynn MacNab **Featured Story**
If you kill someone who doesn\'t deserve to live, is it still murder?
Firefly Girl by Miranda Suri 
An ancient curse in Venice opens up a man\'s mind—and his heart...
Servant of the Aswang by Samuel Marzioli
Heroes don\'t exist in this world...only monsters...

The Anubis Gift by Cathy Douglas
The gifts of the gods are not always what they might seem...

The Call of the Benu by Carol Holland March
At the end of the world, two lovers await the coming of the Great Phoenix...

The Path of Nephthys by Catherine M. Walter
One of the gods’ greatest mysteries finally explained...

The Scholar and the Books of Thoth by Brian Trent
The vengeance of the gods may be swifter than a serpent...

Granny\'s Time by Gary Cuba
Sometimes it takes more than modern technology to survive the harshest Winters

In the Gray Light of Dawn by Scott Brendel
Sometimes the greater clarity comes just after Winter’s storm is done.

Preacher Man by Kate Hall
On the unforgiving streets of Chicago, Winter speaks with the Devil’s voice.

Dog Days by Michael Mina
Winter makes escape from anywhere difficult, especially when ordered to do so by Death.

Contrafactum by Sean Logan
A rare recording of a lost masterpiece ushers in Winter’s grip, not only upon the listener’s soul, but the world in which he lives.

Theme: Family Traditions

Stories:
Roadkill by Celina Summers
A holiday gift from our EIC—a creepy little story that\'s just a bit squirrelly.

Comet Man by Marina J. Lostette
Families in turmoil can sometimes be saved by advice from the most unlikely sources.

Little Green Soldiers by Patrick Hurley
When a curse is made flesh, the purity of a girl\'s soul sends his plans awry - and his existence.

Black Friday by Jaimie M. Engle
There are far scarier places to spend Black Friday than in Wal-Mart.

Legion by Sarah L Byrne
When an experimental treatment goes awry, a woman takes evolution into her own hands.

Ae Fond Kiss by William Meikle
Death cannot take one man\'s holiday tradition away.

Mom by K. M. Tonso **Featured Story**
Sometimes traditions aren\'t nostalgic. Sometimes they\'re deadly serious.

Theme: Gaslight Fantasy

Stories
Carie\'s Way by Johan P. du Plessis
A girl becomes an instrument of murder but may prove more deadly than her master could guess.

Heaven\'s Shutting Gate by A. Nikki Inkcraft
A time traveler must eliminate Jack the Ripper before he kills - but that means finding his identity first.

Leonora by Elise Forier Edie **Featured Story**
When a curse is made flesh, the purity of a girl\'s soul sends his plans awry - and his existence.

Pictures in Coal by Michael T. Banker
A street urchin creates art on the streets of her oppressed town, and brings hope to a man who no longer believed in it.

The Iron Tang of Blood by Jamie Lackey
A dying girl\'s lost hope drives her to an unthinkable atrocity - and an act of the ultimate compassion.

Theme: Alfred Hitchcock

The Doll is Dead by Bo Balder
You thought dolls were creepy before this story? Just wait until after you read this. Even Hitch would consign all the dolls to the flames after this gleeful little tale.
All The Devils by Randal Keith Jackson **Featured Story**
Sometimes the gateway to hell lies within a dinner engagement. But sometimes, the gateway to hell lies within a man’s soul. In Hitch’s world, it’s a bit of both.

Nietzsche’s Children by William R. Eakin and Ron Wolfe
Neitsche and vengeance reunite a pair of college lovers after twenty-seven years, and Hitch could have made that get-together even more explosive.

The Little Man Who Wasn’t There by B. J. Leesman
Ever wonder what Hitchcock might have done with a time machine? Here’s a possible scenario right off Hitch’s own storyboards.

Articles/Interviews:

Back of Beyond: Alas, Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow by Lori Basiewicz 
Goodbye

The Stargate Brings Sonny Whitelaw to E-publishing by Andrea Colasanto
Stargate:SG-1 and Stargate: Universe author Sonny Whitelaw brings her Draco Award winning novel, The Rhesus Factor, to the growing e-publishing market. Penumbra finds out why.

Theme: The Fae

Stories:

Beware Fairy Books by Lisa Nohealani Morton
Things you want to know if you ever get caught in the wrong Fae library.

Things I Wish I’d Known Before Drinking the Faerie Wine by Amanda C. Davis
Things you want to know if you go to the wrong Fae party.

Queen Mab Goes Forth to Conquer by Brenda Anderson
Things you want to know before accepting that Fae commission.

Virtual Joy by David Elliott
Things you want to know before joining a banshee Facebook group.

The Beloved Changeling Who Was Neither by Randy Henderson **Featured Story**
Things you want to know about the bargains of the Tuatha dé Danann.

A Ferry Spell in Port Moon C by H.L. Fullerton
Things you want to know when you’re arrested for having a dead fairy in your locker… sort of.
Articles:
Back of Beyond: Beware the Fairy Queen by Lori Basiewicz
Things you want to know about the real Fae of literature and legend.

Who Knows the Animator? by Andrea Blundell
Things you want to know about Jacques Muller as the Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Animator revisits Toontown for upcoming book cover design.

Theme: Revolution
Stories: 
‘The World In Front of Me’ by Chris Pavesic 
‘Sweet Home’ by Alex Gorman 
‘Company Man’ by Martin Roe *Featured* 
‘Chrysanthemum’ by Sarah Stanton 
‘When Animals Spoke’ by Edoardo Albert

Theme: Japanese Mythology and Hannah Adcock and J.M. Scott and Arthur Lorenz and Stewart C.Baker and Kendra Leigh Speedling and more...

Theme: HG Wells and Gordon cash and Samuel Marzioli and HL Fullerton and Shannon Fay and Jenny blackford and more...

Lane Robins and Lindsey Duncan and Michael Hoges and Elizabeth Porter Birdsall and B.Morris Allen and Helen Jackson and more...

Melanie rees and Marina J.Lostetter and Hridi Kneale and Heidi Kneale and Jamie Lackey and more...

Theme: Space Opera and Brain Griggs and Nathaniel Lee and Bruce Golden and Matthew S Rotundo and Beth Cato and more...

The end of the world is nigh, and the zombies have come for us all. A few brave souls stand between life and death, ready to defend life as they know it.

‘Midnight Visitors’ by Samuel Marzioli
‘Oh The Places You\'ll Hide --A Brief Guide for the Library Specialist After the Undead Uprising’ by Megan Engelhardt 
‘Last Man Standing’ by Anatoly Belilovsky
‘A Three Percent Chance He\'ll Ever Know I Lied’ by Jude-Marie Green *Featured*
‘Business Is Dying’ by Dantzel Cherry
‘What Remains’ by Beth Cato
‘Bleeding Heartland’ by Christopher Cornell
‘Baby Girl’ by Clayton Kroh *Rising Talent*

What do a house, a ghostly hitchhiker, Guy Fawkes, a giant slide, and cows have in common? A tribute to Ray Bradbury written through the glorious eyes of childhood and innocence.

A House In The Woods” by Samuel Marzioli

“Livestock” by Sean Houlihan

“The Slide” by Davyne DeSye

“The Driver” by SS Chapman **Featured Story**

Guy” by T.D. Edge

From the earliest moments of human history, humanity has been driven to find new lands, new worlds, and new places. Join Penumbra as our writers explore the far edges of space, alternate realities, and medieval landscapes. Something is out there, and it\'s not always what we expect.

Penumbra celebrates its first anniversary with tales of heart and terror inspired by the musings of Edgar Allan Poe. Grab some popcorn and read our favorite tales, along with an interview by artist Jared Konopitski. Just make sure to keep the lights on so you don\'t get too scared.

In a world filled with spirits, dreams, and gods, a visionary can find truth. Inspired by Native American culture and lore, these stories will take you to a new place of magic and wonder.

In the dark of night and the bright of day, dreams come to everyone. Whether we yearn for a new life, whether we wish for the touch of forbidden pleasures, they are all dreams. Until the day they become real.

“The Dragon of the Apocalypse” by Larry Hodges

“Mr. Kick-Ass Werewolf President” by Sandra Dorie

“The Warhol of the Worlds: A Radio Drama as performed by The Toontown Theatre On the Air” by Gary K. Wolf  

“Price of Allegiance” by Alex Shvartsman

“A Luscious Kurdistan Strawberry” by SS Hampton, Sr

December 2014

November 2014

October 2014

September 2014

August 2014

July 2014

June 2014

May 2014

April 2014

March 2014

February 2014

January 2014

December 2013

November 2013

October 2013

September 2013

Penumbra is the speculative fiction e-mag published monthly by Musa Publishing. At Penumbra, the Muses are clustered in the part of the psyche caught between the darkness and the light. Whether that results in hardcore science fiction or fantasy humour, psychological horror or a Steampunk poem with a twist is out of the Muses' control.  That control is in the hands of the author.

Penumbra publishes speculative fiction that always culminates in something unexpected - a flash of humour in the darkest tale or a fantasy piece that goes against the tropes - always something that hovers right on the periphery of the eclipse.

Download your favorite titles and read them offline, anytime and anywhere

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines and newspapers from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from {{magCount}} best-selling international titles.

Name

Please fill out this form if you need any help regarding publishing your content on Magzter

Since we launched, Magzter has been committed to partnering with global organizations to provide the greatest possible newsstand technology & service to our customers. Whether you are looking to offer magazine subscriptions to your customer database or just want to learn more, Magzter is committed to helping your business grow. To find out more, please fill out the questionnaire below:

Penumbra eMag - December - 2012

Get Penumbra eMag along with 8,000+ other magazines & newspapers

Get Penumbra eMag

Magazine Description

In this issue