Oh, my friends. Carina Bissett is one of my very favorite authors out there, and I am so delighted to include her in the lineup! Her story is titled “Rotten” and it’s such a gorgeously written, sensual, sinister retelling of a classic fairy tale. As an aside, I took Carina’s “Monstrous Women” class at The Storied Imaginarium and it was one of the most useful and inspired classes I’ve ever taken. You’re going to adore her work.

“You heart is too tender, my dear.” My grandmother opens a cabinet and retrieves a little glass coffin from the shelf. “Let’s put it somewhere safe, shall we?”

I find my voice. “Will it hurt?” – “Rotten” by Carina Bissett

Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and interstitial art. Her short fiction and poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Hath No Fury, Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, Mythic Delirium, NonBinary Review, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V and VI. She teaches online workshops at The Storied Imaginarium and she is a graduate of the Creative Writing MFA program at Stonecoast. Her work has been nominated for several awards including the Pushcart Prize and the Sundress Publications Best of the Net. Link to her work can be found at http://carinabissett.com.

Carina Bissett joins Linda J. Marshall, Dino Parenti, and Armand Rosamilia in Arterial Bloom: Tales of Horror.