Issue #10
“The Murderous Mavens Issue”

She is sprinting through the foggy air of a hot summer night. She’s panting hard. It borders on erotic, but she’s more determined than she has ever been before. She’s mad, full of rage, and fearless in her need for revenge. The silver glint of nails on the studded head of her homemade weapon  are in sharp contrast to the dark blanket of the night. The moonlight reflected upon them sends a disjointed morse message to an otherwise undisturbed wood as it breaks between the long limbs of trees. The modified wooden bat matches her swift cadence, its weight cutting through the air.

There he is, up ahead. The filthy shirt of her attacker is saturated in sweat as dark as blood. He’s spotted her too; his annoyance is tinged with a boyish glee at his discovery of her, fumbling as he loads the double barrel shotgun. To her, his movements look frenetic, panicked. The vicious marks he left behind sting her exposed skin as the wounds are whipped over by dry branches. As he lifts the gun, she takes her chance just ten feet from the barrel’s circular black eyes. With every last bit of strength, she digs her heels into the earth, lifting the glorious weapon above her head and launches it forward with a heady grunt. It grazes the tips of her fingers as it leaves her grasp. His stunned pause is just enough time. The weight of the mace cleaves the air with a sharp, sinuous grace, its passage heralded by a soft, rhythmic whoosh. The birdsong of its venture halts abruptly with a heavy, satisfying thud as the studded tips pierce his ocular tissue, pinning his thick skull to the bark of a tree. She lets out a shaking breath as she carefully watches the final rise and fall of his chest.

She does not scream. She does not cry out. She has nothing left to give but to grace the soft mossy ground below with her weak knees as she revels in the victory of silence.

The soft, quiet rage of a woman is the deadliest weapon of all. 

***

I’m incredibly honored to be sharing our 10th issue of Night Terror Magazine with you all. Murderous Mavens celebrates all of the incredible women in horror - their astounding stories and their resilience. Their vulnerability and their notorious screams. Their ability to evoke such incredible emotions through the lens of horror. I’m even more proud to share with you our contributors: essayist Caro C. representing her ongoing project, SENSUAL TERRORS,  the ever-talented thriller and horror author Briana Morgan, and our very own Copy Editor, Brittney Norton!

We are so very excited for you to settle in among these pages and sit with these wonderful pieces, all highlighting the importance of these talented voices in the genre. As we move into a new era of unrest, these narratives are more important than ever. 

Stay scary, my friends!

Elli