Dissections:

The Journal of Contemporary Horror

We are happy to present the twenty-first edition of Dissections.

Our twenty-first edition includes poems by Michael A. Arnzen, Rachel Birchley, Holly Day, Donna Hooley and Gina Wisker; stories by Andrew Hart and Jess O'Donnell; critical articles by Lawrence C. Connolly and LindaAnn LoSchiavo; and artwork by Will Jacques, Gill Robinson, and Bill Wolak.

Dissections is an international horror and dark fantasy e-journal that provides a rich opportunity for academics, critics and creative writers and artists to publish alongside each other. We welcome essays on 20th and 21st century horror and dark fantasy, including film, fiction and images. We also publish some short creative fiction, poetry and artwork. Dissections is peer-reviewed and ‘published’ twice yearly.

It is edited by Gina Wisker and Michelle Bernard in Cambridge, UK.
Artwork on this page by Deena Warner.
Editorial Board: Michael A. Arnzen, Frances Auld, Brian Attebery, Clive Bloom, Lawrence C. Connolly, William Hughes, Nickianne Moody, Stephanie Moss, Xavier Aldana-Reyes, Marie Mulvey-Roberts, David Sandner, Andrew Smith, Angela Tenga, Linda Holland-Toll, Graeme Wend-Walker and Gina Wisker.

Note from Gina and Michelle
This year, 2026, is an important year for Dissections. In 2006, several of us who helped found it sat around the pool at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, ICFA. At that point, we were in Fort Lauderdale, and created Dissections, or the idea of it, that evening. By the end of the year, the first issue was ready to come out, thanks to contributions, the enthusiasm, and the help of some of those founding members, and particularly Michelle Bernard, who worked with me, Gina, to bring it together. After the first issue in 2006, it has come out twice or once a year ever since, in March, at the time of the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts. We always have a reading by the pool or the lake in Florida for anyone who contributes or reads it, or just likes reading, and there will be another of these, this time led by Graeme Wend Walker, in March 2026, in Orlando, Florida, at the ICFA.
Sadly, during this year, we have lost two of our Dissections friends – the writer Arthur J. Hlavaty, who leaves behind regulars Bernadette Brodsky and Kevin Maroney (Bernadette in the lead, while Kevin gallantly has sorted out tech issues last minute a couple of times all the way from Florida). We have also very sadly lost Curt Standler. Curt was always at the readings out by the lake, as well as Words and Worlds readings, where he and Sharon presented and acted in full costume their slightly risqué medieval rhyming playlets. We were very sorry to hear of the loss of Curt (who once came down in the lift for a Dissections by the pool reading dressed as a bug….) and our deep condolences go to Sharon.
If you are at the ICFA 2026 when this comes out, we hope you have a wonderful time, and if you are at the conference for the Society for the Study of the American Gothic, led by Jeffrey Weinstock, in Salem, at about the same time in March 2026, we also hope you have a great time there.
At the end of July 2026 in Hull in the UK there is the International Gothic Association conference, so perhaps we’ll see you there. We thought it would be a good idea for this anniversary year of its inception, 2026, if at the end of summer 2026, we have an online reading for those who contribute, would like to contribute, have once contributed, who visit the ICFA, or who just like to be part of the group and read something or listen.
We are now also looking towards the bumper 22nd edition of Dissections, which will come out in March 2027, so, for next year's Dissections we would like to ask you to think what you might contribute and who you might invite to contribute and what you might like to have reviewed or offer to review.
So if you would like to do any of this, please write to us on our Dissections emails: ginwskr@aol.com and michelle.bernard64@gmail.com
Looking forward to a bumper Dissections for 2027 and a reading late 2026 (please get in touch via the Dissections emails). Meanwhile, enjoy this issue. Thanks as ever to everybody who sent wonderful work in, whether you are regular Dissections contributors or new, and from me and all of us to Michelle for her hard work co-editing and putting it all together over the year, and finally to Nicholas Alexander for helping to host it online. Best wishes for the rest of 2026!
Very best wishes,
Gina and Michelle

Call for Papers for Twenty-Second Edition

Dissections is calling for submissions for its twenty-first edition.
We invite submissions of essays, short creative fiction, poetry and artwork.

Submission Guidelines

We only accept electronic submissions

Get to know Dissections before you submit
You may read Dissections and decide your work would not fit the style.

Keep a record of exactly what you have sent and when.

If you submit material to us, you will be acknowledged immediately but must be prepared to wait at least 4 months for a response about possible publication. We apologise in advance for this and thank you for your patience. We like to read submissions carefully.

Please submit text in Word or PDF format only.
Please submit images in JPG, JPEG, PNG or GIF format only.
You may submit your work via e-mail or, for larger pieces exceeding 1Mb, please send a CD-ROM containing your submission to our postal address below.

Dissections does not accept erotic or pornographic work, unless it is clearly essential in terms of the cultural engagement or the exploration of horror and dark fantasy.

Please note: We regret that we are unable to give you any financial remuneration or feedback on your work or enter into any correspondence about rejected work.

Please also note: We do not accept unsolicited reviews and are not looking for new reviewers.

If you decide your work is right for us, please send your essays, poems, stories (stories can be up to 5,000 words in length), or images to:

Dissections
Gina Wisker: GinWskr@aol.com
and
Michelle Bernard: michelle.bernard64@gmail.com

Please remember:

o It can take 3-4 months for us to reply.
o We cannot give any feedback on your work.
o There is no payment for work published in Dissections.

© 2006 by Dissections Please contact us if you wish to use portions of our content.

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