A Chorus of Shadows Published in Weirdbook 37

My story "A Chorus of Shadows" is in the newest issue of Weirdbook! "A Chorus of Shadows" is a dark fantasy about a monk who realizes that not all of the vibrations they've been chanting are for the good of the world. This is my first appearance in Weirdbook, and I'm thrilled to be one of the names on this awesome tentacley cover. I was also happy to discover I share a table of contents with fellow Albuquerque author Andrew Bourelle. I had the pleasure of publishing his story "We Us You" in the WWP anthology Equus, so it was a fun surprise to recognize his name in this TOC. I sneaked a peak at his story, "Homecoming Corpse," during the final proof, and it is awesome, bittersweet, and Weird with a capital W. 

Want to know more about what I mean when I say "Weird"? Here's a fantastic article by the Vandermeers: ​http://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/05/the-weird-an-introduction/

Here's the opening paragraph of "A Chorus of Shadows."

No one had told us that a recruiter from the Face of God would be visiting
the temple that day, but somehow we all knew. Some of the more sensitive
pupils claimed they had felt the vibrations when the monk stepped out
of the Face of God and onto the mountain that surrounded it. I probably
made that claim myself, ambitious as I was back then, though I certainly
was not adept enough to feel such a thing. Our own energies that day were
hectic, waves of anxiety and hope radiating off each pupil like raindrop
ripples crashing into each other in a pond.

"A Chorus of Shadows" is a Lovecraftian fantasy with an Asian aesthetic, much like my Lightspeed story "The Bolt Tightener," which was once described by N.K. Jemisin (when she was my Clarion teacher) as "if Singapore was the last holdout against Cthulhu." This one is more like "if a Tibetan monk discovered a secret way to summon Cthulhu." It takes place in a completely fictional fantasy world, though, and it's not exactly Cthulhu.

Below are some images from my Pinterest board for this story. See the whole board here: ​www.pinterest.com/sarenaulibarri/a-chorus-of-shadows/

Pick up a copy of Weirdbook #37, and let me know which stories from it are your favorites!