OTHERSIDE

@othersidespec

OTHERSIDE is a quarterly magazine of speculative fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ writers and artists. 🪐🗡️🌈

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OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· 26d

Reminder, we are OPEN to speculative poetry and fiction by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors through July 21st! Still deciding what to send, or thinking about writing some poems this weekend? We asked our poetry editors if they had any special requests + they answered! Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines/

Blurry purple background. White text reads:

Issue 3 poetry wishlist:
1. grimy, visceral, raw poems
2. uncommon and/or nonrhyming forms
3. "too queer to publish" poems
4. the unsettling and monstrous
5. poems that cut like a knife
6. aubades

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· 29d

ICYMI, we are OPEN to original fiction and poetry by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors through July 21st! We're having the best time reading your wonderful work. Still deciding what to send us? We asked our reading team what they'd like to see more of, and they answered! Guidelines: othersidespec.com/guidelines

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jul 7

Issue 2 ends with “A Noose of Purple Silk” by Sidney Grady, an essay exploring painful, powerful connections between queer lives past and present. Read this one if you want to: 1. learn about a trans Roman emperor. 2. hate on Cassius Dio, 3. cry. ☀️ Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/a-noo...

Quote from the nonfiction essay "A Noose of Purple Silk" by Sidney Grady in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: So much of transition feels like sin, like breaking a precious thing on purpose. Like renovations—you can bust down the bedroom wall and rebuild it somewhere else, shrink or grow the space within. But for a time, everything protected within is left vulnerable. You're still sleeping there while the wall is down.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jul 6

Issue 2 is here and free to read! This issue features six poems, including @siennatristen.bsky.social’s “As seen through the hole of the hag stone”—a vivid journey from shore to shore, from dusk to dawn. 🗺️ Slip through the portal: othersidespec.com/pieces/as-se...

Quote from the poem "As seen through the hole of the hag stone:" by Sienna Tristen in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. Quote reads: Brighton Pier, burnt down and always burning down. Salt channel, red dress made for more clement weather, fire farflung from the wreckage caught round my waist. pale sunlight, chalk sisters cleaving to the east. The hegemonic world and a hedgewitch slithering free. Squint against the wind—peer through the porthole. Slip through the portal.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jul 3

Issue 2 is here! Have you had a chance to read it yet? @sydneyficant137.bsky.social's “Remade, Reshaped, Remembered” is a portal fantasy like no other—an exploration of the painful, tender aftermath. 🖼️ Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/remad...

Quote from the story "Remade, Reshaped, Remembered" by Sydney Paige Guerrero in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: "My place is here," she would say, and you knew she meant her place was in kapulinan. You'd always known that, if given the chance, she would leave you. And when your mirror shimmered with the magic of small things, you dove in even though your mother was in the next room.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jul 2

Have you read Issue 2 yet? The issue is 100% free to read! Today we’re highlighting “Open Your Eyes Again” by @tobymacnutt.bsky.social. This poem is an offering of exquisite gentleness—a whole world the size of a pebble. ☕ Let it mend your heart this morning: othersidespec.com/pieces/open-...

Quote from the poem "Open Your Eyes Again" by Toby MacNutt in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: One single, / smooth grey pebble / smooth grey pebble / among the rough gravel, / like a whisper, asking for touch // How do you find them?

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jul 1

Issue 2 is here and 100% free to read! In “Crowns,” @ceeceemanrique.bsky.social offers readers a moment of sacred, rooted rest. If you’re looking for 600 words of hope and possibility this morning… this is the story for you. 🍠 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/crowns/

Quote from the story "Crowns" by cee-cee manrique in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: Her great-grandaunties had brought over seeds and slips to a place made from the ruin of their own homelands. They grew them in tiny greenhouses and in community spaces and on windowsills. They planted gardens and saved seeds. And with their communities they built the collectives that refused to stop rooting or imagining.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 30

ICYMI: Issue 2 is out now and free to read on our website! "First to Rot" by @jnhowell.bsky.social is a quiet space exploration story (of sorts) that redefines home and reimagines survival. Jiran and E. will break your heart in the best way. 🌱 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/first...

Quote from the story "First to Rot" by J.N. Howell in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: We stopped burying bodies when the ice quit thawing and stayed forever. Brexon 5 was always an outpost mining planet, so there were few tears shed when someone slipped and cracked their head open or froze to death while pissing. Bitter fucking place with a bitter fucking attitude.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 29

Issue 2 is out now! This week, we’re continuing to highlight the pieces in this issue. Up next is @jyzh.bsky.social's “Chī Kǔ.” This lush story is perfectly bittersweet—endless yearning contained in a handful of rotten figs and only 1700 words. ❄️ Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/chi-ku/

Quote from the story "Chī Kǔ" by J.Y. Zhang in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: That's the nature of dreams—time can stop, and she'll still be there. So I find myself doing what I never dared, leaping toward her and not away, holding her until the dawn draws over and the hushed veil falls— // And that's the nature of dreams—one moment she's soft under your hands and the next, she's gone.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 26

Issue 2 is out now on our website! Amie Shen's perfect, painful "girl, flogged by a false-named whip." is mythic and intimate in equal measure, a poem for everyone who has ever been taught to mistake love for sin. 🦅 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/girl-...

Quote from the poem "girl, flogged by a false-named whip" by Amie Shen in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: i speak only of beautiful things, i told the eagle / on my stomach. it pecked out my liver—a kindness. / it stopped the fire from reaching lower. // so girl means fire. i took fire from Him, / and in turn He locked me here.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 25

The second reprinted story in Issue 2 is surreal, strange, totally horrifying, and startlingly tender. In other words, "Spider Kiss" by @breewernicke.bsky.social is the most fun you'll ever have reading about a musty old house full of spiders. 🕷️Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/spide...

Quote from the reprint story "Spider Kiss" by Bree Wernicke in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: Sometimes her best friend Hetty would come over and pia would have to pretend the spiders did not exist, that they weren't just waiting in the corners to be catalogued. To force herself not to reach for her notebook in the presence of a guest, Pia focused instead on Hetty: her movements, her gestures, which corner of the dusty sofa she favored, the occasional languor that pulled her eyelids down like a grown-up's.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 24

What's not to like about dissecting (perhaps literally) celebrity culture, interrogating destructive desires, and... dissolving your crush in a vat of acid? "This Is C(lone)-Pop" by @thelialao.bsky.social is unsettling in the very best way. 🧪 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/this-...

Quote from the story "This Is C(lone)-Pop" by Lia Lao in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: Your thesis is due in a month—Adverse Effects of Iterative Cloning—but you can't write it, because every time you try, you think of yourself. How your parents shoved you into the dissolution tank, acid gnawing at your flesh. How many times they've cloned you to be better, to be stronger, refusing to erase your memories because they wanted to "build character"—

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 23

Issue 2 is out now on our website, 100% free to read! To celebrate, we're posting quotes from each piece. Our next poem is @macey.bsky.social's "obsolesce." This raw, gorgeous poem sparks and shudders with all the force of a runaway train. 🛤️ Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/obsol...

Quote from the poem "obsolesce" by Macey Levington in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: all the starving coal-drunk angels / have infested your transmission, chewed away / the sheath of you, and we spark, now, / like animals. raw. above, the roar & rush of engines, / the urgent obligion of travellers.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 22

Issue 2 has two reprinted stories you can't currently read anywhere else online, made possible by our incredible 2025 Kickstarter backers! The first is @benfrancisco.bsky.social's “Two People," an aching tale of self-discovery and sea beasts. 🌊 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/two-p...

Quote from the reprint story "Two People" by Ben Francisco in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: As I awake one morning from difficult dreams, I find that my husband has transformed into two people. One Ezequiel lies beside me in our bed, as always, half-sitting up and typing furiously on his laptop. The other Ezequiel sits on the floor beside the bed, his legs crossed and eyes closed, meditating.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 21

Angel and Jess are really looking forward to being surprised by submissions, but we asked them if they had any wishlist items, and they delivered! In addition to corrupted places, sex and the monstrous, masks, and dolls... they want your messiest, darkest, queerest horror. Don't hold back! (2/3)

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Editor Wishlist: Jess Cho
“I’m particularly interested in corruption (especially corruption of place or the familiar) and pieces that explore the intersection of sex, horror, and the monstrous. Personal hard sells include dark fairytale retellings and vampires. I’m also into visceral horror and gore, but not just for shock value.”

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Editor Wishlist: Angel Leal
“I have a particularly passionate interest in trans body horror dealing with masks, puppetry, clowns, and dolls. I'm especially fond of toy/doll horror and would be very delighted to find trans writers exploring the particular horrors of bodies that are tiny mirrors of gender dysphoria/euphoria, odd explorations, deious imaginations, magic, and the symbiotic relationship of puppet and puppeteer delved into in a trans way.”

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 19

In "Ganymede," Gospel Chinedu uses the language of myth to examine queerness and state violence in a cyberpunk future not unlike our present. It's a study of pain, shame, fear... and, above all else, queer love as resistance. 🤖 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/ganymede

Quote from the poem "Ganymede" by Gospel Chinedu in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: Even the drone never saw this coming. That a country // would evolve into a minotaur that eats a boy / for loving another boy. I mean, wasn't love meant // to be a choice?

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 18

Issue 2 is out now! In his debut short story, “Before She Knew About Magic,” Joshua Geller Schwartz presents a perfect, painful fairy tale in only seven hundred words. Spend a few minutes this morning letting it break your heart. 🍂 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/befor...

Quote from the story "Before She Knew About Magic" by Joshua Geller Schwartz in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: This was before she knew about magic. Before she was pissed off because her mother told her she couldn't attend Jenny Mulvey's sixteenth birthday party. (To be fair, she'd come home stinking of vodoka the last time.) It was before she snuck out of the back door of the basement and crept across the quiet suburban lawn without saying goodbye to her mother. (She would always regret not saying goodbye to her mother.)

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 17

"We Who Have Been Raised by Tigers" by @pvvamsidhar.bsky.social is a powerful, painful exploration of memory and identity that spans centuries. We fell in love with this story from its very first lines, and we know you will too. 🐅 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/we-wh...

Quote from the story "We Who Have Been Raised by Tigers" by P.V. Vamsidhar in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: In your last life, you were a tiger princess. You lived by the water and you adorned yourself in gold circlets; you chimed when you walked, like birdsong, like blessing, lotus flowers threaded in your long, raven-down hair. A snarl-handed oma who loved you better than she did your sister taught you to paint your face and to strike first. You were cruel, beautiful—when you tipped your face up to the sun, it shone brighter, just for you.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 16

Issue 2 is out now on our website! To celebrate, we'll be sharing quotes from each piece in the coming days 🪐🗡️ First is "Masquerade." by @chideraoffor.bsky.social. This poem opens the issue with a knock at the door and a tender, moonlit embrace. 🌒 Read it here: othersidespec.com/pieces/masqu...

Quote from the poem "Masquerade." by Chidera Offor in OTHERSIDE Issue 2. The quote reads: I am no bruise. Not proverbial maiden / swinging an oil lamp, though love brings me / knocking on your door: open- / yes, you, little girl, open the door to your heart.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 15

ISSUE 2 IS NOW FREE TO READ ONLINE! Tiger princesses! Cyborgs! Spacefaring scientists and sword-wielding students! Our second issue is warm, tender, hopeful, and sometimes horrifying in the best way. It was a joy to assemble, and we hope you enjoy it too🪐🗡️🌈 othersidespec.com/issues/issue-2/

OTHERSIDE Issue 2 cover on the left, with text on the right that says ISSUE 2: nine stories, six poems, one essay, original art by queer creators available now! www.othersidespec.com

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 12

Bonus photo because IT’S SO PRETTY AND WE ARE SO EXCITED.

A book open with a green field in the background. Pages are flipping so it’s hard to read, but you can see black and white illustrations surrounding page 2 of the table of contents as well as the headers of each piece.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 12

Print copies now available for readers in the US and UK, coming soon to more locations/retailers! Order here: tinyurl.com/yey7rhrx 🧡 Want a print subscription? Join the Pathfinder or Cartographer tiers in the next 24 hours to make the Issue 2 shipment cutoff: www.patreon.com/c/othersides... 💜

A hand holding up OTHERSIDE Issue 2 in front of a green field. The front cover shows a large purple statue and two setting suns, with a lone figure walking through a watery landscape.

A hand holding up OTHERSIDE Issue 2 in front of a green field. The back cover shows the rest of a wraparound illustration of purple statues.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 8

Portals #2 is scheduled for 2027, and later this year or early next year, we'll open an application for guest editors! This form will ask you to share your vision/theme, any experience, why you're interested, and the charity you'd like to support. No theme is too specific! We can't wait. (5/8)

A drawing of an aurora, tinted dark purple. White text reads: "Portals #2: Coming next year. Edited by... you?"

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 8

Portals #1 drops in October and will open to submissions on June 22nd! It will be co-edited by the incredible Angel Leal and Jess Cho, who are looking for horror fiction/poetry by trans authors. All proceeds from sales of this installment will go to Trans Lifeline. 🏳️‍⚧️ (3/8)

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Portals #1: Trans Horror, edited by Jess Cho and Angel Leal

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 8

BIG NEWS! Lately, we've been hinting at a secret project. And... today, we are thrilled to officially announce Portals: a line of themed, guest-edited mini-anthologies coming soon from Hybris Press. More details (including the theme for Portals #1 and a call for submissions) in the 🧵 (1/8)

An old illustration of an eclipse, tinted dark purple, so it looks like a dark portal surrounded by beams of light. White text reads:

PORTALS: a new series from Hybris Press.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 3

ICYMI: ISSUE 2 IS OUT NOW! If you'd like to support a queer magazine during Pride Month, here are a few ways: ✨ Become a patron: www.patreon.com/othersidespec OR buy Issue 2 via... 🪐 Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/othersidespe... 🗡️ Patreon: www.patreon.com/othersidespe... 🌈 Elsewhere: books2read.com/u/bpBjnW

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· Jun 1

HAPPY PRIDE, ISSUE 2 IS OUT NOW FOR SUBSCRIBERS!!! Check your email! 🪐🗡️🌈 Issue 2 will be free online on June 15th—but if you'd like to support a queer magazine AND read Issue 2 without waiting, you can snag a copy now! Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/s/3e872a158d Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/others... (1/2)

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· May 29

Issue 2 drops in just THREE DAYS for subscribers! Support a queer magazine this Pride AND read this amazing issue two weeks before everyone else: Digital and print options (+ extra perks!): www.patreon.com/OthersideSpec Digital via @weightlessbooks.bsky.social: weightlessbooks.com/otherside-ma...

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· May 27

Issue 2 comes out SO SOON! This issue is dreamy, lush, surreal, and we can't wait for you to read it—here's a hint at what you can expect from the stories 👀 The issue releases June 1st to subscribers and June 15th for everyone else. Join us to be the first to read: www.patreon.com/OthersideSpec

Arrows pointing away from the Issue 2 cover lead to various vibe descriptions. From the top and rotating clockwise: spiders are your friends, we promise; you used to bea princess but now your job is spreadsheets; maybe "two boyfriends" is not actually the dream; melting your celebrity crush in a vat of acid is a good and normal hobby; okay, but what happens after the adventure?; they were roommates--scientists trapped together on a lonely planet; a rotten gif at the end of all things, as a treat; can we offer you a sweet potato in this trying time?; sometimes the witch does not have your best interests at heart.

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec· May 25

Issue 2 of OTHERSIDE arrives for subscribers in one week! 🚨 If you aren't subscribed yet, now is the time! This issue has EVERYTHING. Join us to get digital issues delivered directly to your inbox two weeks early, plus tons of other fun perks: www.patreon.com/c/OthersideS...