From their website: “Farrago’s Wainscot is a quarterly journal of experimentation, decay, and the problems with form.” It’s published work by writers such as Hal Duncan, Jay Lake, Catherynne M. Valente, Douglas Lain, and many more.
But they kept getting more interesting fiction than they could publish in the journal. So they started Behind the Wainscot to publish all the other things they received. Today marks a new issue.
It’s themed around the Tarot and features a stellar line-up. The concept is one that I totally dig: each author gets about 500 words or so to write about the card they were given. Even so, there’s a wide variety in style here, with something for everyone.
While I suggest you start at the beginning (guest editor Jonathan Wood’s introduction) and read through to the end, here’s a complete table of contents if you want to jump in somewhere else:
INTRODUCTION
Jonathan Wood
I: THE HERMIT
Paul Abbamondi
II: TWO OF SWORDS
Forrest Aguirre
III: THE STAR
Barth Anderson
IV: THE TEN OF SWORDS
Barth Anderson
V: THE SEVEN OF SWORDS
Jacquelyn Benson
VI: THE FOOL
Hal Duncan
VII: AUCUN IMBÉCILE JE
Berrien Henderson
VIII: THE TOWER
Paul Jessup
IX: HIEROPHANT BRIDGE
Jay Lake
X: SEVEN OF PENTACLES
J. M. McDermott
XI: QUEEN OF CUPS
Michelle Muenzle
XII: THE MAGICIAN
Cat Rambo
XIII: TWO OF CUPS
Ekaterina Esdi
XIV: SINGLE CARD SPREAD
Rachel Swirsky
XV: THE EIGHT OF SWORDS
S. Boyd Taylor
XVI: DEATH
Mark Teppo
XVII: THE HANGED MAN
Catherynne M. Valente
XVIII: THE SUN
Damien G. Walter
XIX: SIX OF SWORDS
Erzebet Yellowboy
I have my favorites, but I’ll post them later in the comments so as to not unduly influence anyone.
[Image from Flickr user PetitPoulailler; licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs]
