An Anthology of Cosmic Fiction

Signus Magnolia #3

The fear of the unknown grips human imagination in ways that a concrete threat never will. The creaky stairwell descending into a dark basement. The undiscernible yet all-too-real noise in the middle of the night. The anxious anticipation of an uncertain outcome. All of these things manifest in us our worst possible fears, at least until the truth is finally uncovered.

And yet, truth rarely reveals itself in ways that we can comprehend. We are insignificant creatures surrounded by an immense emptiness, and in this vast cosmos, we are only now discovering how concepts such as time and space elude our understanding. While we can attach definitions and find rudimentary ways of measuring such things, their true quintessence remains outside of our grasp. Even the nature of life itself, the very nucleus of what we think we are, refuses to reveal itself. We are composed of a mystery and thrust into a universe our limited faculties have no hope of discerning completely.

Moreover, we find ourselves at the mercy of a pervasive and insidious mutability. Over a long enough timeline, even the mountains take on the characteristics of a fluid, their sediments washing over the surrounding land like foam from a breaking wave. Given such realities, how could we ever hope to understand that our connections to universes beyond are just as real, and just as volatile?

In the absence of the truth, horror has once again imposed itself upon our consciousness. Three-Sided Chaos: Embers, Shadows, and Blood presents the reader with ten unique cosmic horror stories, each reaching out into realms beyond our understanding and grasping at its unknown horrors, hoping to discover the concrete truth our minds demand even if it leads us to places we never wanted to go.

Featuring tales from Chad Anctil, Cliff Hansen, Donovan Thiesson, F Malanoche, Jessica Gleason, Joshua Vise, Michael Kellichner, Morgan Chalfant, Ricardo Rebelo, and Tim Harnett. Fantastic cover art by Brittany Lytle.