Our Unique Vision
MALEFIC is published quarterly in digital format with print-on-demand capabilities. We are a literary horror magazine dedicated to showcasing fiction that explores the darker territories of human experience through elegant prose and psychological depth. Our mission is to publish stories that linger in the mind long after the final page—tales that illuminate the shadows between what we know and what we fear.
Each issue features original fiction, poetry, and visual art that honors the literary tradition of masters like Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, Peter Straub, Mary Shelley, and contemporary voices pushing the boundaries of atmospheric horror. We seek work that disturbs through subtlety rather than shock, that finds terror in the familiar, and that treats horror as a legitimate means of examining the human condition.
Submissions are welcome from both emerging and established writers who understand that the most effective horror often whispers rather than screams.
WHAT IS LITERARY HORROR?
Literary horror is a subgenre that prioritizes elevated prose, psychological depth, and thematic complexity over traditional jump scares or graphic violence. Rather than asking “what happens next?”, these stories ask “what does this fear say about the human condition?”.
The subgenre is defined by several core characteristics:
- Psychological Focus: The terror stems from the mind—guilt, grief, paranoia, and mental deterioration—creating intimate, slow-burn tension rather than external threats.
- Elevated Craft: Authors pay close attention to the sentence level, using rich language, metaphors, and symbolism to create atmosphere.
- Philosophical Themes: The stories explore moral ambiguity, existential dread, and the nature of evil. The monster or haunting is frequently a manifestation of trauma or societal issues.
- Ambiguous Resolutions: Endings are often uncertain, leaving readers disturbed and reflective rather than neatly wrapping up the plot.
Common examples span both classics and contemporary works, such as:
- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
RECOMMENDED READING
In addition to the books and authors listed above, here are additional recommended reads put together by the Malefic team:
- The Babadook – Samuel Duka
- Our Share of Night – Marianna Enriquez
- Grief is the Thing with Feathers – Max Porter
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things – Iain Reid
- Leave the World Behind – Rumaan Alam
- When No One is Watching – Alyssa Cole
- The Stepford Wives – Ira Levin
- Baby Teeth – Zoje Stage
- The Cipher – Kathe Koja
- The Ballad of Black Tom – Victor LaValle