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surelymag.bsky.social
surely magazine
@surelymag.bsky.social
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surelymag.com
formerly Shirley Magazine; still publishing bold, weird fiction writing three times a year; still edited by Colleen Burner and Lauren Perez.
Current submission window: 11/17/25 to 1/20/26
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surelymag.bsky.social
the stories in issue 28 explored what it is to navigate the world in a body and the nuanced ways it may change (or decay) over time—revisit writing from Brendan Todt, Jordan Dilley, Rory Say, and Mario Moussa with us at surelymag.com/archive
A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "Her GP asks her about a trauma, which Sarah learns means a traumatic impact to the foot or body, not any of the other traumas of which Sarah sometimes talks in classrooms or other rooms. — Brendan Todt, '[Sarah has attached a bandage to her heel]' (Issue 28, 2024)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "You're a good patient. You keep all your hurts inside. You cover the scars on your belly with the hospital gown, the ones in your amygdala with a smile. — Jordan Dilley, 'Corpus Proelium' (Issue 28, 2024)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "Both twins regarded her as though she spoke some strange language, their tired faces hauntedly pale. They looked like a pair of children starved of light and water. — Rory Say, 'Play Dead' (Issue 28, 2024)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "To check the connection, he yanks at the patient's ear and the bulb illuminates the inside of the head. Jack pulls back the sheet covering the patient's face and sees beams shining through the eyes like headlights. — Mario Moussa, 'Handyman' (Issue 28, 2024)”
November 23, 2025 at 4:56 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
issue 27 of surely brought us stories of uncanny loneliness within one's own body or environment, with characters searching for ways out via connection—by Noémi Kiss-Deáki, Kara Crawford, Billie Chang, and Sarah Terez Rosenblum.
revisit it with us at surelymag.com/archive
A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "As he did, to his relief, he heard the cries had changed, there were no sounds of despair or pain coming from the chamber anymore, instead it was as if a bull or cow had taken over the room, nay, something feral; a great feral force was at work in that room. — Noémi Kiss-Deáki, 'The Cuckold' (Issue 27, 2024)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "You tell yourself you'll start practicing unscrewing the crank, just in case something like this happens again, but you get too wrapped up in your classes to really think about it. It stays tightened. There is safety in constriction. The danger is letting loose, is opening yourself up to something trying to burrow and shove its way inside you. — Kara Crawford, 'Chastity Crank' (Issue 27, 2024)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "When he stills, Denise uses two fingers to push his belly and out comes Miss Aquamarine Boom, still whole, her gills fluttering, as if inviting a slice of lemon or stick of herb inside. As if to say, I'm still here, and I hope you're hungry. — Billie Chang, 'You're a Werewolf' (Issue 27, 2024)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "By Monday morning, most of the plant's leaves looked deflated, like someone had pricked them with pins as she slept. She rummaged her purse for her Swiss Army knife. Maybe if she sliced off the dead parts, the plant would revive. — Sarah Terez Rosenblum, 'Hopscotch' (Issue 27, 2024)”
November 16, 2025 at 7:28 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
issue 26 was made up of three stories with a mischievous take on ubiquitous life from Laura Wolf Benziker, Suzy Eynon, and Avitus B. Carle—read it at surelymag.com/archive 〰️
A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "The icy wind stings her skin, in a good way. Ah, the blankness of freedom! A shrill cry splits the air. A small girl stands on the walkway by the store, caterwauling at the van that has just driven away without her. — Laura Wolf Benziker, 'Pickup / Drop off' (Issue 26, 2023)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "The surrender of consciousness is what troubles her, this feeling of slipping from the waking world to the dark, and that she is expected to trust this shift each night, no questions asked. Everyone is complicit in the propaganda of sleep. — Suzy Eynon, 'Gerbil Girl' (Issue 26, 2023)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "'Girl,' the weakest of my orgasms grabs the pillow from my bed and holds it between her legs. The others run out of my bedroom, all laughing, all excited and smelling like Cucumber Melon or Warm Vanilla Sugar. — Avitus B. Carle, 'I Keep My Orgasms to Myself' (Issue 26, 2023)”
November 2, 2025 at 6:38 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
because time collapses over the next couple months, we're opening our reading window a little early—send us your best strange fiction between November 17th and January 10th!
our guidelines and more about what we want can be found at surelymag.com/about
surely will be open for submissions on november 17! surelymag.com/about
November 1, 2025 at 5:04 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
Meghan Ritchie, and Alison L. Fraser.
it waits for you at surelymag.com/archive 〰️
A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "Cobwebs dripped from the rafters, the sinks were stained with years of filth, and one particularly revolting drawer was full of sunflower seed shells and scraps of dental floss. — Meghan Ritchie, 'Tenant' (Issue 25, 2023)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "The short peach fuzz under her nose sticks upright, glowing in the sunlight behind her. She has some zits near her ear and jawline. I reach for the spot under my ear, feel around for the familiar bumps, a slight raw pain when I touch them. — Alison L. Fraser, 'Close to Me' (Issue 25, 2023)”
October 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
our 25th issue was our 1st issue of surely, and it was a little creepy and a lot strange, thanks to Robert Long Foreman, Sophie Campbell, Kerry Anderson...
A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "Karen winced. "You might not want to dive right into Danzig sex. You could try Danzig IV, but even then I'm not sure. Making love to Danzig is for couples who are a little farther along than you two." — Robert Long Foreman, 'Mercy Mercy Mercy Mercy Mercy Mercy Me' (Issue 25, 2023)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "Isla never told me what the spaewife said to her, what she promised, what she planned to do to Elsie. I still don't know how much of the stories about her are true. Eventually, I stopped asking Isla about it at all. — Sophie Campbell, 'Many Moons Will Fall' (Issue 25, 2023)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "I cleared the table, his bowl still full, the pan-fried tilapia surrounded by congealed patches of garlic butter, untouched. A trio of ants floundered in the fibrous soup spill. I scooped spill and ants up in a paper towel. I threw everything away. — Kerry Anderson, 'Desire' (Issue 25, 2023)”
October 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
issue 24 was our last issue of Shirley Magazine—and we couldn't have ended that chapter with a better issue—with four surreal stories from Liz Rosen, James Pate, Benjamin Henry DeVries, and Nicole Chrenek. 〰️
Shirley Magazine lives forever, at surelymag.com/archive
A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "She turned the heart over, examined every part of it. Even through the gloves she could tell the texture was a weird mixture of fibrous muscle and slick innard, the opposite in every way to the flat, defined little emoji they used every day in their 'likes.' — Liz Rosen, 'Ghost Heart' (Issue 24, 2022)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "He had no hair and the ice cream that he had been made from had started to drip into his eyes and run off his nose like sweat. "I'm here, children," he said in a voice that sounded as if he were tired but trying so hard to sound enthused. — James Pate, 'Mister Ice Cream' (Issue 24, 2022)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "Legends die in the spaces between ranches. There are not so many places to commune. The itinerants are charged with passing along legends. They do not always serve. They sometimes stay tight-lipped. — Benjamin Henry DeVries, 'The Angel of Teeth' (Issue 24, 2022)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "I wanted to crawl into her skin and be her, be with her, be the hybrid we were slowly becoming. She kissed me back with the same urgency, as if sensing my panic and realising, yes, we needed to act quickly. — Nicole Chrenek, 'Double, Double' (Issue 24, 2022)”
October 12, 2025 at 5:15 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
and Walking Tom by Robert Long Foreman. 〰️

issue 32 is waiting for you at surelymag.com
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: Carol took Tom's hand in hers as they continued walking, keeping up with the man and the dead man. She was so excited she apparently forgot the date wasn't going well. — Robert Long Foreman, "Walking Tom"
October 8, 2025 at 3:14 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
A Story About a Fire by Salena Casha...
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: We try the app on a Sunday because it's the scariest of days preceding the most sleepless of nights heralded by the few and slipshod hours before I have to park myself behind the screen of a computer. — Salena Casha, "A Story About a Fire"
October 8, 2025 at 3:14 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
Maureen at the Mall by R.K. West...
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: ...it was obvious that they were exactly who they were, just like Maude, who turned around when Maureen touched her shoulder and smiled with a stranger's face as Maureen, her heart pounding, stammered an apology before dashing back to the promenade... — R.K. West, "Maureen at the Mall"
October 8, 2025 at 3:14 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
one more look into our latest issue for your mid-week reading: with Fractures by Amy DeBellis...
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: My heart does its own little relevé into my throat. I almost rise, but there's nowhere to go—the seats are full on both sides of me, and in order to get out I'd have to fight my way through, wielding my cane in front of me. — Amy DeBellis, "Fractures"
October 8, 2025 at 3:14 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
read A Story About a Fire by Salena Casha: surelymag.com/a-story-about-a-fire
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: I listen as they gather kindling, the type that the narrator snaps once, twice, three times, to show its dryness. I listen to the slow shuck of flint, tried once, twice, three times, until a flame is caught. — Salena Casha, "A Story About a Fire"
October 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
read Maureen at the Mall by R.K. West: surelymag.com/maureen-at-the-mall
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: ...Mrs. Wallis, who wasn't related, but for whom she had always had a great deal of affection, who was standing outside the pet shop, gazing thoughtfully at some romping beagle puppies, but who turned out, upon closer inspection, to be someone completely different, which made Maureen question all those other sightings... — R.K. West, "Maureen at the Mall"
October 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
read Fractures by Amy DeBellis: surelymag.com/fractures
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: It always felt like my hairs were being ripped out by the roots, although no blood ever showed. But memories are milk-teeth, and in their place grow the fangs of the present. — Amy DeBellis, "Fractures"
October 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
read Walking Tom by Robert Long Foreman: surelymag.com/walking-tom
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: "I'm talking about walking corpses," said Carol. "But it's not so much a thing as an activity. Like, there's no walking corpse. It's not a kind of corpse. It's what you do. Walk the corpse." — Robert Long Foreman, "Walking Tom"
October 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
Finally, Amy DeBellis brings us to the ballet—with rage and envy and heartbreak—with Fractures
surelymag.com/fractures
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: I know the location of every callus and taped-up toe on her right foot, because those are what she showed off in her latest social media reel, and I—a heavy lump in my bed, the mattress imprinted with the mold of my body, my body itself feeling like it was growing mold—devoured it all. — Amy DeBellis, "Fractures"
September 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
Robert Long Foreman is back again, taking us out on a date with Walking Tom
surelymag.com/walking-tom
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: Daisy reached out and ran her fingers through Tom's hair. "Hair's not bad. Not thinning too much, at least." "Good stride, too," said Carol. "I like walking dates because I can see if they walk in a healthy way. Check for gait problems." — Robert Long Foreman, "Walking Tom"
September 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
R.K. West brought us a one-sentence wonder: Maureen at the Mall
surelymag.com/maureen-at-the-mall
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: Maureen was not surprised to see her late aunt Maude standing in line at Sbarro in the mall food court, because lately she had seen several of her deceased relatives at the mall... — R.K. West, "Maureen at the Mall"
September 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
issue 32 starts with the cozily surreal A Story About a Fire by Salena Casha
surelymag.com/a-story-about-a-fire
blue text on a cream-colored background reads: The screen is haunted by an emerald field or a bouquet of healed coral set somewhere none of us can afford to fly to and subsequently ruin (or maybe, maybe, what I see on the screen isn't even real, but I can't contend with that on a Monday. — Salena Casha, "A Story About a Fire"
September 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
issue 29 has been moved to the archive
surelymag.com/archive 🚪
the cover page of issue 29 of surely magazine, september 2024. author names listed: zeke jarvis, joseph clegg, jennifer walker, nora ray, suzanne miller. all text is a muted sea green over a light clinical green background
September 30, 2025 at 1:33 AM
surelymag.bsky.social
...Conor Barnes, and LaToya Jordan.
Read it with us at surelymag.com/archive 〰️
A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "Sonya thinks about it and concludes that once it breaks through the concrete the bowling ball will move quickly through the black earth underneath, and she isn't sure what will happen to her boyfriend after that. — Conor Barnes, 'Sonya' (Issue 23, 2022)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "By the end of the 1.5-hour delay, Johnna nursed 157 souls. She buttoned her blouse to the sounds of coos and snores. Was it mass hysteria? No, it was good leadership. Leading a team of 45 would be a piece of cake. — LaToya Jordan, 'The Commuter' (Issue 23, 2022)”
September 27, 2025 at 11:09 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
issue 23 of Shirley Magazine met "what if" with magic in unexpected ways, with stories by Valerie Alexander, Daniel Allen Solomon, Andrew Martin...
A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "The casket was carved with roses on each end, lined with pale blue satin and airtight. No sunlight. Emily could sleep safely in it all day. — Valerie Alexander, 'The October Bed' (Issue 23, 2022)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "The dead man fixes his good eye, the one that wasn't halfway knocked from his skull, the one that isn't bulging, on the living man. Couldn't stand the waste, he says. — Daniel Allen Solomon, 'River' (Issue 23, 2022)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "Then the screws started spelling out words in cursive, like I had learned to do in school earlier that year. But the screws didn't seem interested in communication. Just in how words felt to write. — Andrew Martin, 'Misbehaving Screws' (Issue 23, 2022)”
September 27, 2025 at 11:09 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
...Melissa Pumayugra, and Abigail Denton.
〰️ Flash back with us at surelymag.com/archive 〰️
A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "The sleek, gray creature had not only decided to nurse, but also release itself. I closed my eyes and feigned sleep, careful not to meet its giant eyes. — Melissa Pumayugra, 'Milkies' (Issue 22, 2022)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "The lonely pine on the hill was struck down by lightning last night, but still Jakob will not take my concerns seriously. There's no telling how long we may be here, then. — Abigail Denton, 'The Lake' (Issue 22, 2022)”
September 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
Issue 22 of Shirley finds surrealism in the body, in nature, and far-flung pockets of the universe with stories from Kyra Enby, Ashley McCurry, Jessica Wright...
A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "The patient gulps and massages her belly. The doctor's office transforms into a park: pond, trees, sunlight. The color palette should contradict the office as best it can, which shouldn't be hard to do if the graphic designer chooses the inside of a colon for the office. — Kyra Enby, 'As Seen on TV' (Issue 22, 2022)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "The breathwork is intended to stimulate the vagus nerve and desensitize a trauma response, taking my body out of "fight or flight." What she doesn't yet know is that I never actually make it to these crossroads. — Ashley McCurry, 'Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy' (Issue 22, 2022)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "He chuckled like a river breaking on rocks and threw her mind back to a childhood spent on-planet. Social climbers everywhere. Gravity sucking her feet like iron filings to a magnet. — Jessica Wright, 'A Pair of Shoes' (Issue 22, 2022)”
September 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
surelymag.bsky.social
issue 21 of Shirley has four stories of monsters, hauntings, and the shimmering donkey in your kitchen 🐴 Read the work of Jasmine Sawers, Sarah Batista Pereira, Yael Grunseit, and Christopher Fuller over at surelymag.com/archive 〰️
A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "In Khun Yai's stories, the yaks disguise themselves as beautiful women who ensnare human men or adopt human daughters. They can pretend for a long time, but at the first scent of betrayal, the yaks unhinge their jaws and devour those who love them before the phra-aek arrives to save the day. — Jasmine Sawers, 'The Anchored World' (Issue 21, 2021)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "Everyone wants to live here and only a few people are meant to, so you tear down an old building. Put up a new one. You put people in their places, but you don't think about it—not enough to make it last. — Sarah Batista Pereira, 'Please Understand: the People Before Me Were Bringing the Property Value Down' (Issue 21, 2021)” A white background with two thin black outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, black text reads: "Once disassembled she wanted me to fry her in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. She made me picture myself slobbering while gnawing on her leg, letting her greasy light drip down my chin. She instructed me to consume all of her, to let my stomach balloon and growl from fullness. — Yael Grunseit, 'Life: the Abstract Donkey' (Issue 21, 2021)” A black background with two thin white outlines of circles overlapping. Inside the circles, white text reads: "His nose, hitherto a vestigial mass of cartilage and half-dead nerves clinging to his face, had awakened. He could smell through the miasma of hot slime in the bag and into the very substance of the building: wood glue, dust, mice. — Christopher Fuller, 'The Wild Hunt' (Issue 21, 2021)”
September 6, 2025 at 4:12 PM