It is with great joy and enthusiasm that Carlos, Terrie, and I bring you the inaugural issue of Tales from the Moonlit Path. 8 years was long enough to wait for this resurrection. Some of you may remember us from the past. We ran from 2005-2010 and published many fine stories and poems. For this issue, we received well over 100 submissions and choosing ten of the best was indeed, a difficult endeavor.
Why are we back? Simply put, we love horror. Atmospheric horror, gory horror, cheesy horror… we can’t get enough of it.
What else do we love? Horror writers! Why? Because let’s face it, you guys are cool. Yeah maybe you dress a little funny or you don’t get along with the neighbors so much. We don’t mind. We know you love to binge watch creepy Netflix shows and Halloween is probably your favorite holiday.
(Personally, I keep a sound-activated skull that plays the original Halloween theme hanging from my front eve well into December. Okay, January (maybe February)… it’s my version of never taking down the Christmas lights.)
Why do we love horror so much? Why do we love to create fear in the hearts of our readers and also to be scared? For writers, it’s about attempting to tame what otherwise can’t be controlled. What do you fear the most? Chances are, you’ve written about it. But it’s more than that, too. It’s about living, for just a few minutes, outside of the daylight. Beyond what is fully luminesced and clear. It’s about finding a perverse thrill that something else might be there with you in the dark. And even if you can’t see it, you wonder – with both delight and terror – if it can see you.
It’s Halloween. Do you know where your spirits are?