READER BEWARE 2024

READER BEWARE is a horror magazine that specializes in the gory, the pulpy, and the weird, coming at you with tales of the macabre from 8 short story writers, 3 comic artists, and 3 poets from around the world. 

Excerpt from the cover story, The Thing in the Lake:

Charles paddled out into deeper water, moving at a leisurely pace. The tour tailed him. “But you’re not here today to hear about the wildlife, as fascinating as I may find it. You’re here for a good old ghost story.” Practiced, rehearsed, he knew when to pause at just the right moments to build suspense. “It was one ordinary summer day in 1985 when Troop 76 set up camp for a weekend in the wilderness, or at least as close as you can get to it, right here on our own Lake Tryon. 

“That afternoon, after pitching their tents and unpacking their gear, they headed down to the lake. It’s said that the troop leader took a couple of boys out in a canoe, and the rest went swimming. Thirteen people went down to the lake that day, and none came back.” 

“That’s anticlimactic,” Katrina whispered to Pat.

He frowned.

“I mean, disappeared, and that’s it? It’s not much of a story…” 

“Shhh, just let him—”

“No one really knows what happened.” Charles’s voice boomed over the water, and Katrina could almost see it shiver with the force. “But over the years, people have come up with plenty of theories. I’m sure some of you have your own. 

“Some people say that the chemical composition of the lake is just acidic enough to melt the skin off your bones if you’re in it for long enough.” He chuckled. “But…” He knocked on the side of his kayak, “I’ve been out on this lake five days a week for over a decade, and I can tell you I’ve never felt so much as a tickle.” He dipped his fingers into the water and wiggled them. “See?”

This gave way to some relieved laughter. 

A hand shot up to Katrina’s right. It was a thirty-something guy with one of those little notebooks, open and ready for voracious note-taking. 

“You, back there,” Charles said. 

“What do you think about the lake monster theory?”

“Ah.” A slow grin spread over the guide’s face. “I was getting to that next."

Also featuring:

• a serial killer monologue
  
• an avenging army which destroys the wicked
  
• the supreme ecstasy of body horror
  
• the supreme terror of body horror