January 2026

Happy New Year from Mysterion! We're currently open to fiction submissions, until the end of January, and have already received (logs in to check...) 145 stories.

If you have a Christmas story you'd like us to consider, now (not July!) is the time to send it in. We'll be looking for stories to publish between July and January, so keep that in mind for anything that would be weird to publish out of season.

We often get questions about how overtly Christian stories need to be, or comments to the effect that this or that story we published didn't seem to have any Christian content at all. It's true: occasionally we publish something that doesn't seem to fit our own guidelines in this respect. However, your chances of getting a story accepted are always much better if it does explore Christian themes more directly. You might have noticed that we're more likely to be generous in deciding whether something "counts" if it's a Christmas story; which means you probably shouldn't assume that we'll be as lenient when judging your non-Christmas story. But, when in doubt, send it in and let us decide!  

Due to a significant increase in our Patreon funding, thanks to a very generous supporter, we expect that we will be able to accept 8 stories from the January open submission window. However, this might change, if our monthly income goes back down before we finish selecting stories in late May. That's the downside of having most of our Patreon support coming from a few people contributing at or above the highest tier. We're really grateful to those who choose to support us in this way! But it does mean that if their priorities or financial situations should change at some point, our income can drop by quite a lot.

To that end, we would really love to have more people sign up for our Patreon subscriptions at the $3-$10/month levels. You can check out all the rewards at our site, but the $3/month and $10/month tiers are the most like a "real" magazine subscription--for $3/month, you get all our stories emailed to you before they're available here (or you can read them on our Patreon page), and for $10/month, you get an electronic magazine (in ePub and PDF formats) every two months.

Our Patreon funding currently stands at $425/month. Astute followers might notice than on our Support page, reaching $350/month is tied to increasing the maximum word count for fiction submissions to 10,000 (currently set at 9000). We decided not to adjust this until after the current submission period closes, rather than announce a last-minute change after some authors might have already worked very hard to get their story under 9000 words. However, since we didn't change it for January, we will change it for July even if our funding drops below $350/month between now and than. (Going forward after that, it will depend on where our funding is when the submission period opens.)

And if you want to see us accept 9 stories from this round, there's still a chance! At this point, we only need $25/month in additional Patreon funding to make this happen. So now is a good time to sign up!

BUY DIRECT

Thank you to everyone who bought a copy of the Mysterion 3 reprint anthology! This is also an excellent way to support us. And, if you'd like to buy our digital magazine without a Patreon subscription, individual issues are now available for $2.99 on Amazon and $3 on our Patreon page.

AWARD-ELIGIBLE STORIES FROM 2025

If you loved one or more of our stories last year and want to nominate it for an award, here's a list of all the new stories we published. (Our November story, "Marshmallows", was a reprint, so it's not eligible for most awards.)

We've categorized them into short stories and novelettes (7500+ words), and also indicated a Canadian author whose story is eligible for Canada's Aurora Award. (If you're Canadian and we missed making a note of it here, please let us know!) And we indicated whether we think each story is best categorized as fantasy or science fiction (sometimes there's a good argument for both).

Short Stories

"The Gift", Charlie Kondek (F)

"Catherine Wheels", E.L. Mellor (F)

"My Gallery Granddaughter", Gretchen Tessmer (F)

"Bright and Distant as the Moons", Joshua Lampkins (SF)

"Timestorm", L.H. Phillips (F)

"Lies of Omission", C. Dan Castro (F)

Novelettes

"As the Stars of Heaven", Marshall J. Moore (SF, F)

"Thin Black Line", Frederick Gero Heimbach (F)

"Antu", Derek Kho (F)

"Honey-Fang's Confessor", D.G.P. Rector (F)

"The Watcher Awakens", David A. Hewitt (F)

"The Last Sin-Eater of Harfolk County", Grace F. Hopkins (F)

"Stray", Wes Berger (Canadian) (F)

KRISTIN'S ARISIA SCHEDULE

Kristin will be at Arisia this weekend (January 16th-19th), discussing various topics with other panelists. (Donald, unfortunately, will be working this weekend, and won't be attending.) Arisia is one of the Boston area's major science fiction conventions, and it's always over the Martin Luther King, Jr. long weekend because hotels in Boston are cheaper during the winter for some reason.

For more details on where to find each panel, and who else will be on it, the complete schedule is here. (The panel descriptions below are copied from the schedule.) 

The Culture of Cheese, Friday, 9:15 pm. Let's celebrate the science, history, and sheer delight of one of humanity’s oldest and most beloved foods, cheese. How does it reflect regional identity, artistry, science, and dietary trends? How do cheese substitutes measure up? Mmm, cheesy!

The Tiffany Problem, Saturday, 12:30 pm. Authors Nicola Cornick and Jo Walton coined the term "the Tiffany Problem" to reflect the fact that "Tiffany" has been an English girls' name since 1600, and yet it feels anachronistic to use that name in historical fiction because it has strong modern associations. Let's explore what other truly historically accurate names, things, and activities just sound too modern to use.

Too Much Sympathy for the Devil, Saturday, 8:00 pm. In the transition from impersonal but absolutely evil enemies to psychologically complex antagonists, is it possible for relatable villains to generate too much sympathy? Can readers "hate the sin and love the sinner"?

Fantastical Cuisine: The Use of Food in Fantasy Anime, Sunday, 11:15 am. Food is a key element of many fantasy anime. Some shows like "Delicious in Dungeon" and "Drifting Dragons" create whole recipes from classic creatures, while "Restaurant to Another World" and other similar stories demonstrate how modern cuisine can influence lands of magic and wonder. Join us to discuss our favorite shows, how such meals can seem so delicious, and what sort of meal you wish you could try.

Faiths of Fantasy and the Future, Sunday, 9:15 pm. How can writers incorporate contemporary or invented belief systems into fantasy or future worlds, without replicating cliches about clergy, faith, and spiritual practice?

Scientists Doing Science on the Page, Monday, 11:15 am. Heroic scientists are fun to read about (especially when you're a scientist). What do writers get wrong about how scientists do their work? How can writers convey a realistic picture of "doing science" while maintaining drama, conflict, and intrigue?

If you're there, feel free to stop by and say hi to Kristin after one of her panels! Arisia is usually a fun convention, with lots to see and do. Though they are still requiring masks, so keep that in mind if you're considering going. (On the other hand, you should also keep in mind that the hotel itself has no mask requirement, so the hotel staff and most guests who aren't there for Arisia but might be in your elevator or next to you at the restaurant will not be wearing masks.)

COMING SOON!

We're late with this month's update, so you might already have read the first of our January stories, "The Pit of Babel". This one is a reprint from Asimov's Science Fiction, and comes to us from Ghanaian author Kofi Nyameye. We love how it weaves different Biblical elements together to tell a compelling story about choice and consequence.

Later this month, Frederick Gero Heimbach (Mysterion's most-published author!) returns to our digital pages, this time with a wintry superhero story. In "A Tap on the Forehead", superpowers are "weirdly specific and kind of pathetic", and each one has a dark side.

Then, in February, crime fiction writer Charlie Kondek brings us "The Murdering Hour". In Charlie's second story for us, an embittered Detroit medium starts to realize that the spirits helping her scam wealthy clients might have their own agenda.

CAT AND MOUSE GAME

There's a mouse under the radiator here:

It got away. We have regretfully come to the conclusion that our cats are terrible mousers. Kristin tried to help them out by moving furniture around, but to no avail. They were so hapless that it felt as if we were watching a Tom and Jerry episode. Unfortunately, their goals don't align well with ours. Our goal is "dead mice". Maxwell's and Marie's goal is "keep fun new toy moving as long as possible".

Kristin did start setting traps in the attic about a month ago, and has already caught 11 mice. And we haven't seen one in the kitchen trash in over a week now, which is great!

Thank you for reading, as always; and special thanks to those who support us so generously on Patreon! Every contribution there helps and is very much appreciated, and it all goes toward paying our authors and artists for their amazing work.

And keep sending us those stories! We look forward to reading them all in the months ahead.

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