About Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction No. 49 – February 2026
ark horse
/ˈdärk ˈˌhôrs/
noun
1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds.
“a dark-horse candidate”
Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion–whatever it is, if it’s weird, it’s here. So grab a seat before the starting gun fires, pour yourself a glass of strange wine, and get ready for the running of the dark horses!
In this issue:
HELPLESS
Andy Kumpon
WHOEVER SAID
Stephanie Halldorson
HAROLD THE HARBINGER
Rain Sullivan
02:28 HOURS TO YUMA
Wayne Kyle Spitzer
THE QUEEN’S JUSTICE
Solar Hoàng
I MISS YOU
Jeremee Nute
ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
Zeke Jarvis
LIFELONG SENTENCE
Robin J. Bartley
A FULL MOON BOTHERATION
Lesley L. Smith
LONG RIDE HOME
John Tavares
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Author Bio:
Wayne Kyle Spitzer is an American writer, illustrator, filmmaker, and founding editor of the publications Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction, Black Sheep: Unique Tales of Terror and Wonder, and Mobius Blvd. He is the author of countless books, stories, and other works, including Beyond the Black Curtain, X-Ray Rider and Other Dark Rites of Passage, Legends of the Flashback: The Finished Saga, The Devil Drives a ’66 and Other Stories, The Witch-Doctor Diaries and Other Dystopias, and The Place and Other Stories from the Region Between, as well as a film (Shadows in the Garden) and a screenplay (Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows). His work has appeared in MetaStellar—Speculative fiction and beyond, subTerrain Magazine: Strong Words for a Polite Nation and Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History, among others. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Washington University, a B.A. from Gonzaga University, and an A.A.S. from Spokane Falls Community College. His recent fiction includes The War-torn Hills of Earth and The Wine-Dark Passage. He shares a life with his sweetheart Ngoc Trinh Ho in Spokane Valley, Washington.