Prepare yourselves, people of the internet, for the August 2022 issue of Defenestration! How are you all doing? Good? Staying hydrated?

This month’s issue is totally weird. I’ve mentioned this before, but it seems like writers are all part of the same strange zeitgeist during each of our reading periods, and Eileen and I see very clear themes and subject matter in many of the poems and stories submitted. Sometimes you can chalk that up to what the market’s doing; some magazine or anthology might have just concluded its selections for a themed issue, and now everyone’s trying to find a home for the very niche story they wrote. That’s only sometimes, though. More often than not, writers and poets are just breathing the same inspirational air.

So yes, this issue is indeed totally weird. That’s because we read a lot of stories about aliens and cryptids and technology gone wrong, and Eileen and Bigfoot and Elm Tree and I picked from the very best of these unusual offerings. We balance that out with some ancient Greeks, a large baby, Super Mario, and a bunch of other interesting, hilarious, wonderful stuff. Take a look, friends. Breathe it in. Enjoy.

Also? I love the fact that we have a story about a toaster by Joshua Del Rey, followed by a story involving Lana del Ray that features a scene with a toaster. These are the kinds of oddities you can’t plan. They just happen.

Aaaaaaand of course, I can’t go without telling you that Defenestration is now open to poetry and short story submissions as we look toward filling our December 2022 issue.

—Andrew Kaye, Editor-in-Chief

Short Stories:
Teresa Spencer, “Menelaus and the Fake Helen”
Joshua Del Rey, “The Smart Toaster”
Audrey Clark, “Vince Tickleman’s ‘Dancing Out of Your Comfort Zone’ with Lana del Ray”
Sona Lea Dombourian, “It Started on My Hands”
M.C. Schmidt, “The Loveland Frog”
Leah Miller, “The Beta Test”
Lewis Braham, “Boomer”

Poetry:
Kim Malinowski, “Grocery Boy”
Aaron Lee Moore, “The Lawnmower Goat”
Chris Bullard, “UFO”
Richard Jordan, “Lament of a Suburban Boston Formalist”
Stephen Kowalkowski, “Super Mario Downtime”

Downloadable Copy:
Defenestration, August 2022