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...

We're really not sure what to say except that both present an awful lot of fiction.

hellitself.com/pala/ Go check this out. It's my latest published short story, and it's free to read. :)

We have done a year-end awards eligibility post: hellitself.com/awards-eligi...

Today from Hell Itself, a tale of what happens when technology replaces human—er, griffin workers, told as only @reggiekwok.bsky.social can tell a story: hellitself.com/pala/

I love this market and I love this flash piece and I love that they're together. Persephone with a cell phone and other modern tech. What could go wrong? Read free here: hellitself.com/the-eleusini... #mythology #Persephone #FlashFiction

This week from Hell Itself, @gerrileen.bsky.social takes us to Hades with Persephone:

Let's all welcome @arttracy.bsky.social who finally set up his own Bluesky account and will hopefully let me stick to using this one for official business.

New from Hell Itself, a haunting dystopia by @tedmorrissey.bsky.social, "The Unbearable Sweetness" hellitself.com/the-unbearab...

So glad I discovered @hellitself.bsky.social I told my most recent story that it has four more submissions before I send it to hell and it promised to try harder to get published.

I'm sure the people following us on Bluesky aren't the ones who need to hear this, but here it goes. If I read a story that I think has a correctable flaw, I really do try to send a personal with what didn't work for me. If you get a form, replying to ask for feedback is pointless.

I'm so sorry, I forgot to post this earlier and y'all have been missing out on this pun this whole time: I'll see you in Hell...Itself Magazine! My story "The Goblin on My Shoulder" is forthcoming in @hellitself.bsky.social and I am so excited both for everyone to read it, and for the hell puns! 😈

This week from Hell Itself, the Hell of peer review on a universal scale. "Rejected (Again)" by Galen T. Pickett: hellitself.com/rejected-aga...

This week from Hell Itself, a story about life, "In All Its Infinite Variety" by @the-lettersea.com hellitself.com/in-all-its-i...

I’m sure this won’t get drowned out by Capitalism Day, but: “In All Its Infinite Variety” is live over at @hellitself.bsky.social. I still enjoy this story, even after all this time, and I’m glad it found a home!

Sooo excited to share my story One and a half socks, this is one of my favourites, and I really enjoyed playing with first person plural pov ^.^ this one took a while to find a home (around 2 & half years) but what a lovely home it has found ^.^

This week from Hell Itself, the robots are(n't) revolting! "One and a half socks." by @lindsay-writes3.bsky.social

Congratulations to our 2025 Pushcart Prize nominees!

Where besides Hell Itself are you going to find a story about daddies breastfeeding? hellitself.com/milk-run/

Today from Hell Itself: "Playing Vegas Odds with Doc, Sammy, and Bob" by Gregory Nicoll, a weird time-travel western fantasy. hellitself.com/playing-vega...

Two more pieces of scary news from Hell Itself: 1) The October digest is now available for download, for everyone who prefers to read our stories as a .PDF. hellitself.com/downloads/ 2) Hell Itself is now a token-paying market.

Happy Halloween from Hell Itself! In honor of the day, we've got "The Great Old One Myrowl-Shu" by @deborahldavitt.com!

I currently have a question mark in my schedule for what I'm going to publish on Dec. 26. If you've got a boxing day story that fits our guidelines, send it my way. hellitself.com/submission-g...

TELL ME YOUR 🏳️‍🌈QUEER SHORT SFF🏳️‍🌈 OUT IN SEPTEMBER 2025!!! Originals only pls, up to novella in length, indie okay. Just reply with the author, title, and a link to read and/or buy and I'll get them on the list. Here's August's list for context & more info: www.patreon.com/posts/some-q...

Genre-blending stories can be very hard for writers to sell, so we're seeing a lot of them in the Hell Itself slush. Expect more of them from us!

Today from Hell Itself, Nicholas De Marino brings us a weird science fiction tale about a luchadora, a ghost child, and the patriarchy. Where else would you find such a story? hellitself.com/on-the-ropes/

Today from Hell Itself: "Matt's Baby" by Toshiya Kamei, a weird horror story of tables getting turned. hellitself.com/matts-baby/