The Nightmare Box & Other Stories

A young queer man finds love at a magical clothing shop-and the courage to stand up to the homophobic cops. A witch who makes custom nightmares wonders why all her victims are connected to the Black Panthers-and who she's really working for. A soon-to-be father encounters a mysterious hitchhiker who tries pulling him back to the days of his violent past. A brand-new vampire, freshly hired at the blood bank, delights in her heightened sexual desire and superhuman strength.

Cynthia Gómez's debut collection is a magic-soaked love letter to Oakland, brimming with feminist rage. Its twelve stories center ordinary people-Latine, queer, working class-as they wield supernatural powers against oppression, loneliness, and dread.

"I loved this piece. Every one of these short stories sits with you. Each one gnawing at you, imploring you to read, to devour, to feel, to understand. Ms. Gómez writes beautiful - outright lyrical - prose. Though a rather slim collection of compulsively readable short stories, I highly recommend setting aside time to truly breathe in these pieces."

"This is a rare-for-me 5-star story collection. Each story was a winner, and each one brought something new to the table. While there are connecting threads-- the city of Oakland makes frequent appearances, the systemic and personal injustice faced by people of color, the concept of justice-- every story was different, and every story had something different to say. Every story also dealt with very different aspects of the supernatural/horror genre, from vampires to gods. I highly recommend this to fans of V. Castro, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Stephen Graham Jones. (I especially liked the nod to Jones' Jade Daniels in the short story Huitzol and the Rope of Thorns.)"

Cynthia Gómez (she/her) is a writer and researcher. Her stories have appeared in The Acentos Review, Strange Horizons, and collections including Mine: An Anthology of Body Horror; 206-Word Stories; and Antifa Splatterpunk. Her novelette, The Shivering World, was released in November 2022 as part of Split Scream Volume Two from Dread Stone Press. She is working on a collection of speculative fiction all connected to Oakland, where she makes her home.

You can find her on Twitter at @cynthiasaysboo.