Magic, Mayhem, and Monsters: A Collection of Magical Short Stories

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From a mysterious event in Salem to a dog made from collected fur balls, Magic, Mayhem, and Monsters is a collection of magical short stories hand-picked by the editors of The Arcanist. Escape reality into fantastic worlds full of ghost children, differing timelines, and more.

Magic, Mayhem & Monsters features stories by:
William Delman
S.C. Jensen
Aeryn Rudel
David Joseph
and more!

Each story offers a unique take on storytelling and the nature of magic alike, the whole of them working together to create a collection unlike any other available. Here is a special note from The Arcanist with more:

It should come as no surprise that The Arcanist team loves magic. We love wizards, mages, séances, and even the magic of science fiction. At the core of all great speculative works is a type of magic even if you can’t see it at first glance.
This core idea was at the heart of our first full-length short story contest. We wanted to see what magical tales our writers could come up with. And, to that end, we kept the contest really broad. We didn’t want to limit people to only talking about mana wells and bearded men with gnarled staves.
And the results couldn’t have been better. Collected here are the winners of that contest, starting with our first place story The Duel at Maria’s Pizza and Roast Beef. In second, Seaglass by S.C. Jensen. In third, Paint-Eater by Aeryn Rudel. And, last but not least, Here, Magic by David Joseph. We’ve also included our top three runner-ups – all of which were amazing in their own right.
All of these stories are unique and expansive, showcasing how far reaching a magical theme can go. We had a blast reading all of the entries and are glad to so many writers shared their stories with us.
We want to thank all the writers who entered and we look forward to reading more of their work in the future.
Now, on with the magic.
- Josh Hrala and The Arcanist Team