Pacific Northwest Gothic is an annual literary journal of fiction, essays, poetry, and art that brings the traditions of Gothic literature into the distinctive landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. In this inaugural issue, writers and artists from Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia explore the region through a Gothic lens, finding darkness and beauty in the places we know and the things we fear.
Samples from Volume I
Lapis Corvos
Allie Marini
Poetry
Allie Marini is a former Florida woman now living in the PNW. She is a cross-genre writer, visual artist, maker, and tarot reader.
She runs Creepy Girl Trap PDX, where she slings cards & oddities.
The Heart Pendant
M.D. Smith IV
Fiction
M.D. Smith IV of Huntsville, Alabama, writer of over 350 flash fiction stories, has published digitally in Spillwords, Flash Fiction Magazine, Flash Phantoms, and many more. He lived in Seattle, WA in the early 2000s. Find him at mdsmithiv.com.
Forest as Spaces Between
Niko Silvester
Essay
Niko Silvester is a folklore scholar and writer who lives on Vancouver Island with their partner and two cats. They are also an artist and illustrator as Nik Sylvan and write urban and epic fantasy, romantic fantasy, and folk horror as Nico Silver.
Illustrations above by Katy Lawler
Contents
Fiction
- The Heart Pendant by M.D. Smith IV
- Mosquito Canyon by Kyle Walker
- Ghost Story in 6 Vignettes by K. Russell
- The Bigger Person by Meg Larente
- At the Edge of a Tall, Wavering Point by Annie Ryan
- Piscean by Arielle Kellett
- Other Gods by Rio Lombana
- Smoke and Fog by Sarah Armento
- Carrion by Cheyenne Morse
- If I Cannot See, He Cannot Speak by Dee Mick
- Longing, or What You Will by Kiera Mathis Jones
Poetry
- Lapis Corvos by Allie Marini
- Not native to this soil by Rowan Tate
- Grizzlies of the North Country by Josh Poole and Travise Wellman
Art
- Illustrated throughout by Katy Lawler
- Charity Lamb (1824-1880) by Aronne Barnes
- To the Lighthouse by Dani Gray
- Evergray by Dani Gray
- His Bonny Blue E’en by Nik Sylvan
Essays, Interviews, & More
- The Bite-Sized Guide to Regional Gothic Genres
- Where Terror Leads, Horror Follows by Amber Finnegan
- What Grows Around Us by Shannon Weston
- Forest as Spaces Between by Niko Silvester
- Writing the Weather of the Pacific Northwest by Erik Keevan
- Terrible Beauty and Haunting Forms by Morgan Rose Mead
- Book Spotlight on Possession Island + Author Interview with Sarah McCarry
- Book Spotlight on It Looks Like You in the Dark + Author Interview with Mathilda Zeller
- One Dark Year: More Pacific Northwest Gothic Novels of 2026