Dear Readers,

It is a bittersweet moment when we have to pass on the mantle of editorial power, although the question remains as to whether it is the skin of the werewolf or sheep’s clothing that will be accepted. Perhaps the new moon will tell. Idioms and myth aside, it has been a pleasure to serve as Co-Editor-in-Chief these past two years alongside my partner in literary ferocity, Couri, as well as all of the talented wolves that make up our journal—a fearsome pack to be sure.

Luckily, Couri and other members of our masthead have agreed to stick around to help train the new pups, as it were, while I move on to devour other pastures. Only time will tell, I suppose, whether or not they will be greener, but perhaps a true rougarou does not care about such trifles, metaphoric or not.  

And so as I bid you all adieu, I am also excited to leave you all with a fantastic buffet of literature and art. If variety is the spice of life, I think this issue offers Cajun-level alterity to whet your appetite. With work from both newly emerging wordshifters and well-published lycanthropes, this issue traverses the domains of the spiritual, the real, and the fantastical alike—or perhaps shows these realms as one and the same. We hope you enjoy this artistic offering, a meal fit for the gods you are destined to become. Saliva makes your fangs glisten all the more.

Eat and be feral,

Kym Cunningham (and Couri Johnson)

Co-Editors-in-Chief

Year Four by Grace Shelton

Heavy Set: A Fairy Tale by Jude Dexter

Automated Writing by Max Blue

Exit Strategy by Daniel Reiner