Flame Tree Publishing has released Learning To Be Human, an anthology of science fiction stories exploring robots, AI, and machine learning and their impact on the future of humanity.
Among the collected stories is M.C. St. John’s “Thy Will Be Done,” a meditation on religion in the smart robot age. Order Learning To Be Human here, and find out if a fugitive robot can find sanctuary in “Thy Will Be Done.”
You can also find a Q & A among the authors, M.C. St. John included, about their inspiration for their stories here.
For all manners of monsters, Tales of Sley House 2023 has the full range of what goes bump in the night. M.C. St. John’s story “O’Shaugnessy’s Spirit and Cryptid Removal, LLC” is collected here, and it has a doozy of a monster: family disfunction.
Frank and Norah are the father and daughter of a family business—exterminating creatures of the night. But not all is well between Frank and Norah since the death of Wren, Norah’s mother, during an extermination job. Now Frank and Norah must team up to take on a strange unknown creature together. Because if they don’t, it will be the end of the business…and the family, too.
Read M.C.’s monster story by purchasing a copy of Tales of Sley House 2023 here.
Nora just wants to be one of the kids in the neighborhood. A sweet, dark tale, “Nora Nora” is about the stories we tell ourselves and who we can become when we do.
Thirteen Podcast presents an audio production of M.C. St. John’s “Nora, Nora,” narrated by Bridgett Howard. Become a patron for Thirteen here to enjoy this wonderful rendition of “Nora, Nora.”
Cosmorama, the online speculative and literary fiction website, has just published M.C. St. John’s latest story, “It’s Tough Being A New Parent.” An sweet, odd, and darkly philosophical story, “Tough” follows the foibles of one “new” dad in helping take care of an infant. But to say this particular dad doesn’t understand child-rearing is a massive understatement…
Learn about the joys and dangers of parenting with M.C.’s latest here.
Coffin Bell, a journal of dark literature, has released Volume 6, Issue No. 2 Familiars. This issue centers on the people and creatures who serve dark forces.
M.C. St. John’s story “Unfamiliar” will be included in this issue. Focusing more on Renfield than Dracula, “Unfamiliar” follows the manservant Worsley and his dark deeds for the vampire Countess Rosalind. Despite his devotion, Worsley may have a more complicated situation when he’s tasked with taking care of the body of a nobleman. A tale about the toils of servitude, “Unfamiliar” reveals the lengths some people will go for eternal love.
Check out the Familiars issue here.
The Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers presents the 15th issue of Eerie Tales: It Came from the Movies. Each GLAHW writer takes a classic, obscure, or just plain scary movie monster and recasts it in an original tale. And just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies…
M.C. St. John’s story, “These Things Move In Cycles,” finds the Creature from the Black Lagoon in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and follows the creature as it fulfills the biological credo of “life finding a way.” Part eco-horror tale, part monster movie, and part love story, “These Things Move In Cycles” shows how perennial all of our hopes and fears can be, no matter what you are.
Grab your copy of Eerie Tales 15 here to read M.C.’s story, as well as the other terrifying tales from GLAHW writers.
It’s never too early to ring in the holiday season. Flame Tree Publishing has released Christmas Gothic, a collection of eldritch tales dedicated to the spirits and creatures of the winter season. Among them is one of M.C. St. John’s latest and scariest stories—“The Dark-Eyed Boy.”
A father, a cabin, a snowstorm. From these details spins a fiendish fairy tale about trying to escape the past. But some things bide their time and keep lists for those who are naughty.
Find out what’s coming up the snowy lane in “The Dark-Eyed Boy” with Christmas Gothic.
Some witch hunts do end with finding a real witch—but what if she wanted to be found out? And if so, what does that mean for the hunters? M.C. St. John’s story “Kindling” reveals what other horrors mob mentality can ignite, and who gets burned from standing too close to the flames.
St. John’s “Kindling” will be part of Nightscript VIII, edited and published by C.M. Muller, for October 2022. Be sure to check out the other volumes of Nightscript here in anticipation for Volume VIII.
From the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, So It Goes: 1922 - 2122 celebrates Vonnegut's 100th birthday with an issues of short stories, poetry, essays, and visual art. Each artwork looks into the past and towards the future with Vonnegut's legacy in mind.
M.C. St. John’s story “And Whithersoever We Afterward Go” is included in this issue. A sweet tale of romance and time travel, “Whithersoever” is also a love letter to downtown Chicago and the pockets of history hidden throughout the loop.
Grab a copy of So It Goes: 1922-2122 here and enjoy the time-traveling adventure.