February 2018: Unexpected & Unconventional Love Stories

Inside This Edition

What comes to mind when you think of the month of February? For us, it’s candy hearts. Excessive Cupid imagery. Gooey romantic-comedies. Rose bouquets. All the lovey-dovey romance you can handle, and then some. In this spirit, we’re pleased to offer up a selection of stories that interpret love in their own special way: sometimes bleakly, sometimes comically, and sometimes weirdly (or all of the above). So regardless of whether or not you’re in a relationship, and regardless of your feelings on the Valentine’s holiday, you’re sure to be delighted by this V-Day gift: the story equivalent of a big box of chocolates, each piece different than the last. Prepare yourself for some fresh takes on a fatiguing season.

Kicking off our Valentine’s edition, we have Chesapeake by Larry Roszkowiak, a sumptuously-written portrait of the Chesapeake Bay which will transport you to summertime at the shoreline. It’s a love letter to the Bay, unexpected and surprisingly moving, but it’s the quality of the writing that will truly steal your heart. Next up, there’s the wonderfully-crafted Galathea by Walter Inman, which weaves a number of twists and turns throughout its ill-fated dinner party tale. Not only that, but it also manages to make a few statements: everything from college friends growing apart, to how no relationship is truly perfect . . . or even what it seems.

Following that, there’s Amanda McDowell’s Tightest Bond, a story about an altogether different kind of love: between a person and their pet. This sweet, lovable tale will be relatable to animal lovers in general and cat lovers in particular, a delightful ode to four-legged companions everywhere.

The next story, Zofia’s Meet Me at Midnight, is a sharp satire of YA vampire novels and paranormal romances. It takes great joy in parodying Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga in particular, pulling no punches at it pokes fun at the absurdities of the genre and Meyer’s specific approach to the vampire. Nevertheless, its stinging commentary and humor should be enjoyable to both fans of Twilight and anti-Twihards alike.

Then there’s Sean Sanford’s Behind the Curtains, an electrifying mystery that shrouds its core conflict in an impossible-to-penetrate mystique. It’ll leave you guessing until the last minute, but still manages to wrap up in a satisfying, and perfectly cheeky, conclusion. The subsequent piece, Cameron Mitchell’s Awake, is a look at a relationship that turns sour, and the self-destructive consequences of a broken heart. It’s haunting and raw, sure to have you hanging on every word.

Similarly, Thirty-Seven by Matthew Heimgartner tells a dark tale about how an obsession with the “one that got away” can lead to self-implosion, as a man’s pit of despair grows deeper and deeper before finally reaching its apex on his thirty-seventh birthday. Like Awake, it’s haunting—a cautionary tale of sorts that explores a specific downside to romance.