A great many people dismiss origin stories, but secondary-world stories about how something came about truly highlight the differences between that world and ours, which makes us reconsider our own. Whether they're connected to a franchise or standalone, I love them when done well. And this one is.

New, from Hell Itself, @danielausema.bsky.social brings us an origin story in "Grey Eytel and His Band of Birds." hellitself.com/grey-eytel-a...

Now presenting on Hell Itself: “A Tennis Match with a Queen Ant” hellitself.com/a-tennis-mat...

Now from Hell Itself, "A Tennis Match with a Queen Ant" by @reggiekwok.bsky.social

I have made a couple of changes to the @hellitself.bsky.social guidelines. First, I've decided to set a minimum word count of 1,000 words. Second, I've created a two-tier minimum number of rejections so longer stories require fewer to be eligible.

this was supposed to be in a collection that would have had illustrations with each one so this was the concept that i sent along with it lol

Now, from Hell Itself, @chasej.xyz brings us a story of dinosaurs and mass extinction events, "Thalassophobia in the Late Cretaceous"

I got a story accepted! You'll be able to see "Requiem for Neuroscience in G Minor" published through @hellitself.bsky.social in the coming months. Been wanting to sell this story for almost three years now, and it's finally happened.

Some unsolicited advice from an editor: In short fiction, especially on the internet, you've only got a couple of sentences to convince a reader to keep reading. Those first sentences are what the theorists call "the promise to the reader," letting them know if this is a story they want to read.

Today from Hell Itself: What happens when the wrong people travel and the right people stay at home. "Pearl Anniversary" by Deneffew Gordon

We just have to say that it's hilarious watching the facebook algorithm try to figure out whether it should be feeding us horror content or Christian nationalist content. Writers, please read the guidelines.

Hell Itself will be posting an April Fools joke later today. Stay tuned.

New from Hell Itself, J.R. Blanes put a new spin on classic adventure horror in "Mouth of the Cave" Hell itself is moving to an every-other-week format, so you can enjoy this as our lead story for two weeks! hellitself.com/mouth-of-the...

Remember as you wrap up your Hugo nominations that we published some excellent stories in 2025!

Hell Itself is going to be shifting to a new schedule. We will be posting one story every two weeks following our March 27 post. The rate of submissions has slowed down, and we want to keep the quality of the stories high. We'll pick it back up again if we find ourselves with another backlog.

This week from Hell Itself, @badwriter.bsky.social brings us a tale of the pure of heart. (Sort of.)

One week left to nominate for @thehugoawards.bsky.social Don't forget these great short stories: hellitself.com/awards-eligi...

Congratulations to all the @sfwa.org Nebula Award finalists, and a particular shout-out to @davidanaxagoras.com, whose most recent story, "Gumba Cuddles" is this week's Hell Itself story. hellitself.com/gumba-cuddles/

NEW STORY OUT NOW! A boy accompanies his grandfather in the NICU to cuddle infants from war-torn lands—but there’s more to the old man's healing touch than meets the eye. > His cuddles are curtains of sun on your bare brown skin, soaking through your muscles, until your bones are warm and glowing.

There are some stories that, when you ask me what it's about or to describe it, I pause and then say, "You know what, just read it." When this one came in, I knew it was one of those. Just read it. You'll be glad you did.

Today from Hell Itself, @davidanaxagoras.com brings us Gumba Cuddles.

One advantage to having a publication dedicated to one thing—say weird westerns or dark fantasy—is that readers who like whatever that niche is will find it. One of the challenges of stories that blur the lines is they don't really fit in any of those magazines. Even when the story is beautiful.

Today from Hell Itself, a dark Western fantasy from D. Thomas Minton, "Shadows of Bitterwood" hellitself.com/shadows-of-b...

New from Hell Itself, @reggiekwok.bsky.social brings us "Dragon Runs on Coffee."

My story “Float” published in Hell Itself @hellitself.bsky.social is on the nebula reading list! I’d love if you’d consider it when it comes to voting. hellitself.com/float/

You should check out my new story. There's something visceral about the imagery and concept that'll probably suck you in.

When this story first landed in front of me, I was struck by the strength of the imagery in it. It's not much like anything @hellitself.bsky.social has published before, but to say our tastes are eclectic would be an understatement. I enjoyed this one, and I hope you do, too.

Because short stories should be inspired by 18 minute long songs. My latest story.

This week from Hell Itself, @dvewlsh.com brings us a story of mistakes that span generations:

We have no idea why it didn't post automatically, but it's up now. Mike A. Rhodes brings us a story of that quiet time when everything is changing. "Migrations."

Hugo nominations are open. Here's a list of what we published that is eligible: hellitself.com/awards-eligi...

Today from Hell Itself, @chasej.xyz brings us magic, scandal, and technological changes in "OPINION: Ragnar Is a Disgrace to the Wizarding Community, but He Was Right by Frederico the Frozen"

Today from Hell Itself, when you're not as young as you used to be, but those banks aren't going to rob themselves, it can get harder and harder to get past the wards and curses... "Transition Period" by S. L. Johnson: hellitself.com/transition-p...

I was trying to avoid working in solidarity with the people of Minnesota on Friday, and I apparently never cycled back to hype last Friday's story. And it's a good one.

Today from Hell Itself, a story of the last man on Earth: "Museum of the Living" by Steven Mathes

We would just like to casually point out that the @sfwa.org Recommended Reading List currently contains Hell Itself stories by @rachiea.bsky.social, @crboltz.bsky.social, @deborahldavitt.com, @reggiekwok.bsky.social, @gerrileen.bsky.social, @tedmorrissey.bsky.social, @ktwagner.bsky.social, and more!

Since I just noticed that posted the link to the listing, and not my story -- if you want to read my story see here: hellitself.com/the-tell-tal...

I just learned that my short story published in @hellitself.bsky.social was placed on Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association's "Nebula Recommended Reading List." I am so incredibly honored. www.sfwa.org/full-reading...

You know I can see the analytics, right? Not everyone dropped everything to read this story like I told you to.

Jim here. It looks like I forgot to post the December digest to the site. (This part of the process is 100% manual). My apologies. It's there now. Meanwhile, read today's new story here: hellitself.com/district-69/

I find drag rhetoric fascinating. Humor, but in the style of the legendary court jester: getting laughs by speaking uncomfortable truths and not being afraid to offend. It's definitely a challenging piece. I hope you like it as much as I do.

This story came from a prompt that asked how a resistance can communicate in a surveillance society. And I was like, DUH!, have it done by the people nobody is listening to. I wrote it just a little over 2 years ago. It wasn't meant to be prophetic like this…

This week, straight from Hell Itself, The Drag Queen of Science Fiction, @ladyzinnia.bsky.social, brings us "District 69, or, How Trixie Learned ASL: A Drag Alien Occupation Story" We'd say more but that title is so long we're almost out of characters. Read this story.

If you are not reading @hellitself.bsky.social, you need to be reading @hellitself.bsky.social. You especially need to be reading @hellitself.bsky.social on Friday.

Our guidelines say, "We particularly want stories that are 'unpublishable' because they come from members of marginalized groups and speak truth to power." We would like to clarify that white supremacists are not a marginalized group and they are not speaking truth.

ICYMI, "The Goblin on My Shoulder" is free to read with @hellitself.bsky.social. This is a story about invisible disabilities. I wrote it before my pain had a name, before I knew what I suffered was real and not "all in my head." I sincerely hope no one can relate, but if you can: I see you.

The road to hell is paved with...my new story! Come check out "The Goblin on My Shoulder", free to read with Hell Itself magazine!

This week from Hell Itself, @cjtavares.bsky.social brings us a tale of living with a pain that no one else can see:

Today from Hell Itself, @rajivmote.bsky.social brings us a tale about dinosaurs, power structures, and resistance: hellitself.com/the-ones-who...

I have a story that finally found a home in @hellitself.bsky.social! When dinosaurs were Gifted with a common language they formed a society of laws, ending the war between predator and prey. But new narratives compete with old stories, and we are our stories. rajivmote.wordpress.com/2026/01/02/t...