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havenspec.bsky.social
Haven Spec Magazine
@havenspec.bsky.social
3.8K followers 180 following 350 posts
Online SFF magazine featuring stories for the 21st century! We publish six issues a year, two of which are focused on the climate crisis. Editor: Leon Perniciaro.

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havenspec.bsky.social
We're over the moon to announce that Jessica Peter / @jessicapeter.bsky.social has joined us as our new Poetry Editor!

Welcome! Welcome Welcome Welcome!
Image shows a snippet from the Haven Spec website of Jessica Peter's bio and image. The text reads as follows: Jessica Peter writes dark, haunted, and sometimes absurd short stories, novels, and poems. A social worker and health researcher, she lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her writing can be found in Apparition Literary, The NoSleep Podcast, Flame Tree, and Cosmic Horror Monthly, among other places. She also co-edited Howls from the Scene of the Crime: An Anthology of Crime Horror (Howl Society Press, May 2024). You can find her on Bluesky at @jessicapeter.bsky.social, or at www.jessicapeter.net.
October 2, 2025 at 3:38 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
Please join us in welcoming our newest associate editor, ghazal (@bugsighs.bsky.social), who is pitching in to read all of your delightful stories!

Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah!
Bio of ghazal, Haven Spec's newest associate editor, which reads: ghazal is an Iranian writer and translator. They are a puppetry postgrad and an avid fan of books, fashion, horror, and cats (big animal enthusiast overall). They've worked with several magazines based in Iran and are now trying to get their grubby little hands on THE WORLD. You can find them never checking instagram on @sighbugs. Also included is their image, which shows them looking down studiously as if in concentration.
September 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Poetry Highlight👀

ICYMI, the poem "Cryptid Sister" by @hvpatterson.bsky.social is free to read!

Fill your grief with dead and crawling things and embrace the weird in this poem of what's lost and what's found.

Poem:
buff.ly/7gERvR1

Issue:
buff.ly/sTRxEtv
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: H.V. Patterson Title: Cryptid Sister Excerpt: The summer Mom died, I summoned you From vulture feathers, From discarded cicada husks, From car-wrecked armadillos, Legs surrendered to the eternal, burning sky.
September 20, 2025 at 1:20 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "Restaurant Space for Lease" by @vivianhchou.bsky.social is free to read!

Come meet some shady realtors, make a pact with ancient evils, and learn how to make calamari the hard way!

Story:
buff.ly/UV4fzpN

Issue:
buff.ly/sTRxEtv
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Vivian Chou. Title: Restaurant Space for Lease. Excerpt: I get my killer recipes from my Vietnamese mom, and my distrust of people from my Chinese dad. Maybe it's not healthy, but least it kept me out of the crypto craze. "For the last time, Clarissa, this space is not cursed," Tanya says. "But it's the only affordable space in this overpriced town." Her words echo through the restaurant space, empty of furniture save for the built-in bar and hostess station.
September 17, 2025 at 4:15 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Poetry Highlight👀

ICYMI, the poem "Dawn Witching with Crows" by @devzmiller.bsky.social is free to read!

Join the birds and cast your spells in this sapphic poem about witchy crows from our March issue!

Poem:
buff.ly/sJ8pVxr

Issue:
buff.ly/A4NJnnk
An excerpt of the poem "Dawn Witching with Crows" by Devin Miller, slated for Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 19, March 2025. The text reads: Softly lift the tools of your secret witching. Make no noise your mothers will hear, no telltale scrape of knife on stone; keep your setup silent. Answer no questions. The background is the issue's cover art, titled Daydreamer, by Abi Stevens Art.
September 16, 2025 at 1:05 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Poetry Highlight👀

ICYMI, the poem "Anchor Spindrift" by @popelizbet.bsky.social is now free to read!

Nothing lies beyond the ocean's reach in this tale of hope and heartache as inevitable as the rising tides.

Poem:
buff.ly/KTg9O5p

Issue:
buff.ly/sTRxEtv
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Elizabeth R McClellan. Title: Anchor Spindrift. Excerpt: When they carved the desk, a necessary place to keep paper from molding and aging, they cried as they stripped curves from the world. Flat surfaces repelled their sodden flesh like oil vomiting out water. A necessary compromise with
September 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "Host" by @catherinemccarthy.bsky.social is free to read online!

Hear the whispers and discover the circle of stones, but be careful not to lose yourself in this story from our March issue!

Story:
buff.ly/OBx4dXE

Issue:
buff.ly/A4NJnnk
An excerpt of the short story "Host" by Catherine McCarthy, published in Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 19, March 2025. The text reads: This morning the golden hour is a quantum leap, each wave a time-lapsed sequence, each colour shift, through violet to red, over in a heartbeat. He sits at the foot of the tallest megalith, digs his heels in firm among the pebbles, and leans back, spent. The tide rolls in ever closer, until it licks at the stones, causing those at the water’s edge to decrease in height with each surge. An act of slow drowning. He watches...and waits. The background is the issue's cover art, titled Daydreamer, by Abi Stevens Art.
September 13, 2025 at 1:20 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "Brother, What Is Your Name?" by @leannehoward.bsky.social is free to read!

A sisterhood of brewers and their magic beer await you on the mountaintop. Find yourself again with every drop you drink!

Story:
buff.ly/SBhFiBf

Issue:
buff.ly/sTRxEtv
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Leanne Howard Title: Brother, What Is Your Name? Excerpt: The publican greets me warmly; perhaps I am the first monk he's seen in a long time. But I decline his offer of a brew. I'm sure it's come from up there, from the mountain, from the Sisterhood. People say their beer makes princes cry. People say their beer can do a lot of things.
September 12, 2025 at 1:20 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "Coming Home to Leviathan" by @saganyee.bsky.social is free to read online!

Fall back into your memories, but be careful not to dive too deep lest you sink forever in this piece from our March issue!

Story:
buff.ly/nzZvcls

Issue:
buff.ly/A4NJnnk
An excerpt of the short story "Coming Home to Leviathan" by Sagan Yee, published in Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 19, March 2025. The text reads: Kath stands barefoot in the surf, staring out over a calmly rolling sea. The sun blazes over the long stretch of beach, with its half-naked tourists lounging about on rainbow bath towels and collapsible loungers. She’s wearing a skimpy bikini because she knows it will piss off the woman behind her. Everything is just as she remembers it, and more. It’s amazing how much detail the tripper can pull out of a hacked memory. The background is the issue's cover art, titled Daydreamer, by Abi Stevens Art.
September 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "Fish Upon A Star" by @arfrederiksen.bsky.social is now free to read!

The night sky is heavy with wishes—some we hope come true and some we'd rather forget—can the starfisher find yours?

Story:
buff.ly/6EZM4Bi

Issue:
buff.ly/sTRxEtv
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: A. R. Frederiksen. Title: Fish Upon A Star. Excerpt: Before he died, my dad fished stars for a living. Sucked them straight out of the sky with a glorified mechanical fishing rod. Of all the possessions that I inherited, the starfisher was dad's truest legacy. I picked up where he left off, expanding on his star smuggling business as he would've wanted. All I had to do was find the people who'd wished on stars when they were children and offer them one of two options: pay me to keep their star in the sky or pay me to fish it free.
September 9, 2025 at 1:05 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Poetry Highlight👀

ICYMI, the poem "Bandits of Dream City" by @sharangbiswas.bsky.social is now free to read online!

Dream to remember and dream to forget in this strange and vivid little poem from our March issue!

Poem:
buff.ly/qQGRoQ3

Issue:
buff.ly/A4NJnnk
An excerpt of the poem "Bandits of Dream City" by Sharang Biswas, published in Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 19, March 2025. The text reads: In my dreams, we’re burglars Our fingers ooze through castle walls of toffee and cloud like a warmed spoon through the toffee-walnut ice-cream I churned on your birthday The background is the issue's cover art, titled Daydreamer, by Abi Stevens Art.
September 8, 2025 at 1:07 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "Visions of Althea" by @alexwoodroe.com is now free to read!

Bone ships ply the inky waters where ghosts and monsters wait. Hope and grief and the end of days invite you to embark!

Story:
buff.ly/pGQxU4p

Full Issue:
buff.ly/sTRxEtv
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Alex Woodroe. Title: Visions of Althea. Excerpt: I’d often wondered what the world would be like if we could sink into the depths and draw our power directly from wherever spawned these creatures, whatever wells they drank from. Chase them to their beds, stir them in their sleep. I dreamed that maybe in some world, Althea and all those gone down into the water like her, still lived below and searched for answers for us. Searched for more of a future for humanity, for something other than this.
September 6, 2025 at 3:58 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "Handsomest Gentlest" by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social is free to read online!

An old black dog awaits you in the forests of death, and he is wagging his tail. Find him in this story from our March issue!

Story:
buff.ly/tZXy7pu

Issue:
buff.ly/A4NJnnk
An excerpt of the short story "Handsomest Gentlest" by M. R. Robinson, published in Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 19, March 2025. The text reads: My daddy said eleven was too old for crying. But my daddy wasn’t there, and even if Black Shuck was the wickedest devil to ever walk this world, he didn’t seem to mind when I pressed my face into his side and smeared snot across his fur. “I want to go home,” I sobbed. “I don’t want to be dead. I want to go home.” The background is the issue's cover art, titled Daydreamer, by Abi Stevens Art.
September 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Poetry Highlight👀

ICYMI, the poem "she brings me waves, she brings me wind" by @angelvleal.bsky.social is now free to read!

Discover hope, loneliness, and wonder in this tale of a transfemme sailor who cries out to a sea goddess.

Read it now:
buff.ly/z38SOFX

Issue:
buff.ly/sTRxEtv
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Angel Leal. Title: she brings me waves, she brings me wind. Excerpt: i know her because her hair drags with homesick stars & her hands are rough like a sailor's. i know her loneliness looks like a fish struggling in a man's net & her freedom
September 3, 2025 at 4:05 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
👀Fiction Highlight👀

ICYMI, the short story "A True Account of a Pre-Teen Blob " by @reasie.bsky.social is free to read online!

Test the bonds of family and the human form in this piece from our March issue!

Story:
buff.ly/Tfi0GUU

Issue:
buff.ly/A4NJnnk
An excerpt of the short story "A True Account of a Pre-teen Blob" by Marie Vibbert, published in Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 19, March 2025. The text reads: I wished my whole body would bruise. I could roll like a meatball off the car seat, out the door and down the highway. I could be a wonderful monster. "We’re never going back," Mom added, joyful and sadistic. Milly gripped her book tighter against her flat chest. We never knew when the horrible things Mom said would be true. The background is the issue's cover art, titled Daydreamer, by Abi Stevens Art.
September 2, 2025 at 4:11 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
Good luck to @mariness.bsky.social at the Hugo Awards tonight! And to all the nominees! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥
A photo of a page from the Hugo Awards booklet listing the poetry nominees for this year's special poetry category.
August 17, 2025 at 3:58 AM
havenspec.bsky.social
ICYMI, the short story "Restaurant Space for Lease" by @vivianhchou.bsky.social is free to read!

Come meet some shady realtors, make a pact with ancient evils, and learn how to make calamari the hard way!

www.havenspec.com/restaurant-s...

Issue:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Vivian Chou Title: Restaurant Space for Lease Excerpt: I get my killer recipes from my Vietnamese mom, and my distrust of people from my Chinese dad. Maybe it's not healthy, but least it kept me out of the crypto craze. "For the last time, Clarissa, this space is not cursed," Tanya says. "But it's the only affordable space in this overpriced town." Her words echo through the restaurant space, empty of furniture save for the built-in bar and hostess station.
July 30, 2025 at 5:44 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
ICYMI, the poem "Cryptid Sister" by @hvpatterson.bsky.social
is free to read!

Fill your grief with dead and crawling things and embrace the weird in this poem of what's lost and what's found.

www.havenspec.com/cryptid-sister

Issue:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: H.V. Patterson Title: Cryptid Sister Excerpt: The summer Mom died, I summoned you From vulture feathers, From discarded cicada husks, From car-wrecked armadillos, Legs surrendered to the eternal, burning sky.
July 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
Today's the last day to vote on the Hugo Awards, and the poem Ever Noir by @mariness.bsky.social is on the ballot!

Give it a read and, if you feel so inclined, give it a vote too!

Read:
www.havenspec.com/ever-noir

Vote:
seattlein2025.org/wsfs/hugo-aw...
Image snipped from the Hugo Awards website at https://seattlein2025.org/wsfs/hugo-awards/2025-hugo-award-finalists/. The text lists the finalists for the Hugo Award for best poem and reads as follows: Best Poem: Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead (Titan). “Ever Noir” by Mari Ness (Haven Spec Magazine, Issue 16, July 2024). “there are no taxis for the dead” by Angela Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 58). “A War of Words” by Marie Brennan (Strange Horizons, September 2024). “We Drink Lava” by Ai Jiang (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 56). “Your Visiting Dragon” by Devan Barlow (Strange Horizons, Fund Drive 2024).
July 23, 2025 at 2:49 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
ICYMI, the short story "Brother, What Is Your Name?" by @leannehoward.bsky.social is free to read!

A sisterhood of brewers and their magic beer await you on the mountaintop. Find yourself again with every drop you drink!

www.havenspec.com/brother-what...

Issue:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Leanne Howard Title: Brother, What Is Your Name? Excerpt: The publican greets me warmly; perhaps I am the first monk he's seen in a long time. But I decline his offer of a brew. I'm sure it's come from up there, from the mountain, from the Sisterhood. People say their beer makes princes cry. People say their beer can do a lot of things.
July 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
ICYMI, the poem "Anchor Spindrift" by @popelizbet.bsky.social is now free to read!

Nothing lies beyond the ocean's reach in this tale of hope and heartache as inevitable as the rising tides.

Read it now:
www.havenspec.com/anchor-spind...

Issue:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Elizabeth R McClellan. Title: Anchor Spindrift. Excerpt: When they carved the desk, a necessary place to keep paper from molding and aging, they cried as they stripped curves from the world. Flat surfaces repelled their sodden flesh like oil vomiting out water. A necessary compromise with
July 16, 2025 at 6:16 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
Please welcome our newest associate editor, K.A. Roy / @kayleigharoy.bsky.social!

I'm searching for a metaphor that implies difficult but ultimately rewarding work made easier through cooperation. Mountain climbing? Beekeeping? Mountain beekeeping? This is why we need readers like K.A.!

Welcome!
This picture is snipped from Haven Spec Magazine's website and contains K.A. Roy's bio and image. The bio reads: K. A. Roy (she/her) haunts the suburbs of Chicago alongside her family and three cats. Her stories have been featured at From Beyond Press, Shotgun Honey, Creepy Podcast, Malarkey Books, Spindle House, and more. Her work has been shortlisted for Brave New Weird through Tenebrous Press. She is represented by Eric Smith at Neighborhood Literary. Find her at kayleighroywrites.com.
July 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
ICYMI, the short story "Fish Upon A Star" by @arfrederiksen.bsky.social is now free to read!

The night sky is heavy with wishes—some we hope come true and some we'd rather forget—can the starfisher find yours?

Read it now:
www.havenspec.com/fish-upon-a-...

Issue:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: A. R. Frederiksen. Title: Fish Upon A Star. Excerpt: Before he died, my dad fished stars for a living. Sucked them straight out of the sky with a glorified mechanical fishing rod. Of all the possessions that I inherited, the starfisher was dad's truest legacy. I picked up where he left off, expanding on his star smuggling business as he would've wanted. All I had to do was find the people who'd wished on stars when they were children and offer them one of two options: pay me to keep their star in the sky or pay me to fish it free.
July 15, 2025 at 5:19 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
ICYMI, the poem "she brings me waves, she brings me wind" by @angelvleal.bsky.social is now free to read!

Discover hope, loneliness, and wonder in this tale of a transfemme sailor who cries out to a sea goddess.

Read it now:
www.havenspec.com/she-brings-m...

Issue:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Angel Leal. Title: she brings me waves, she brings me wind. Excerpt: i know her because her hair drags with homesick stars & her hands are rough like a sailor's. i know her loneliness looks like a fish struggling in a man's net & her freedom
July 14, 2025 at 3:53 PM
havenspec.bsky.social
ICYMI, the short story "Visions of Althea" by @alexwoodroe.com is now free to read!

Bone ships ply the inky waters where ghosts and monsters wait. Hope and grief and the end of days invite you to embark!

Read it now:
www.havenspec.com/visions-of-a...

Full Issue:
www.havenspec.com/issue-twenty
Image shows Saleha Chowdhury's art of a dark figure over a red background, their organs made up of strange animals. Superimposed on the image is an excerpt from issue twenty of Haven Spec Magazine, published July 2025. Author: Alex Woodroe. Title: Visions of Althea. Excerpt: I’d often wondered what the world would be like if we could sink into the depths and draw our power directly from wherever spawned these creatures, whatever wells they drank from. Chase them to their beds, stir them in their sleep. I dreamed that maybe in some world, Althea and all those gone down into the water like her, still lived below and searched for answers for us. Searched for more of a future for humanity, for something other than this.
July 12, 2025 at 4:53 PM