Publisher & Editor in Chief: Julie C. Day (she/her)

Julie C. Day (she/her) is a writer, editor, and publisher. Her novella The Rampant is a Lambda Award finalist and her genre-bending collection Uncommon Miracles was praised by Nathan Ballingrud, John Crowley, and Kelly Link. Julie is currently working on her novella Mx. Meissen’s Eyes. She is the series editor of the Weird Dream Society and Dreams for a Broken World anthologies and Editor in Chief of the upcoming anthology Storyteller, all published under Day’s Essential Dreams Press. In addition to her books, she’s published numerous stories in magazines such as Podcastle, The Sunday Morning Transport, The Dark, and the Cincinnati Review. You can find her @thisjulieday or stillwingingit.com.

Co-Editor & Copy Editor: Carina Bissett (she/her)

Carina Bissett is a writer and poet working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. She is the co-editor of the upcoming anthology Storyteller, published under Essential Dreams Press. As an author, she has written numerous short stories, many of which are featured in her debut collection Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations (2024), and she is also a co-editor of the award-winning anthology Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas (2021). Her poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling Award, the Pushcart Prize, and Sundress Publications Best of the Net. Her nonfiction has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award®. Links to her work can be found at http://carinabissett.com.

Co-Editor: Craig Laurance Gidney (he/him)

Craig Laurance Gidney is an award-winning author of both contemporary and genre fiction. He is co-editor of the upcoming Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology published under Essential Dream Press. His authorial work includes the collections Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories (Lethe Press, 2008), Skin Deep Magic (Rebel Satori Press, 2014), Bereft (Tiny Satchel Press, 2013) and A Spectral Hue (Word Horde, 2019). You can find him at http://craiglaurancegidney.com.

Fabulous Intern: Julia DeRidder (she/her)

Julia DeRidder, aspiring editor and graduate of Bay Path University, has not won professional awards or published anything, but check back in a decade. Julia stumbled across Essential Dream Press in the late fall of 2023 and happily joined the team in January of 2024. Since then, she has written and copy-edited newsletters, conducted interviews, and completed numerous other duties for the press as they come along. She doesn’t have a website to share, but you can find her working (either at this internship or her job), reading, or hanging out with her pets.

Our Emeritus Contributors

Guest Editor: Ellen Meeropol (she/her)

Ellen Meeropol is the author of the novels The Lost Women of Azalea Court, Her Sister’s Tattoo, Kinship of Clover, On Hurricane Island, and House Arrest and the play Gridlock. Her dramatic program telling the story of the Rosenberg Fund for Children was produced five times between 1997 and 2013, featuring Ossie Davis, Mandy Patinkin, Ed Asner, Danny Glover, Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Bill T. Jones, Angela Davis, Eve Ensler, and Howard Zinn. Recent essay and short story publications include Ms. Magazine, Lilith, Guernica, Lit Hub, Solstice, and Mom Egg Review. Her work has been honored by the Sarton Women’s Prize, Women’s National Book Association, and the Massachusetts Center for the Book. A founding member of Straw Dog Writers Guild, Ellen coordinates their Emerging Writer Fellowship program. Find her online at ellenmeeropol.com.

Guest Assistant Editor: Celia Jeffries (she/her)

Celia Jeffries is a writer, editor, and teacher whose work has appeared in numerous newspapers and literary magazines including Solsticelitmag, Puerto del Sol, The Writer’s Chronicle, and Linea, as well as the anthology Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper. She holds an MFA from Lesley University and an MA from Brandeis and teaches online workshops through Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop and Straw Dog Writers Guild. She is currently at work on a triptych memoir, as well as a series of micro memoirs. Her work has taken her from North America to Africa, and many places in between. Blue Desert, her first novel, was a finalist for both the Independent Publishers of New England literary fiction award and the May Sarton historical fiction Award. Find her online at celiajeffries.com.

Social Media Coordinator: Steve Toase (he/him)

Steve Toase was born in North Yorkshire, England, and now lives in Munich, Germany. He writes regularly for Fortean Times and Folklore Thursday. His fiction has appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Shadows & Tall Trees 8, Nox Pareidolia, Three Lobed Burning Eye, Shimmer, and Lackington’s amongst others. Three of his stories have been reprinted in Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year series. His debut short story collection ‘To Drown in Dark Water‘ from Undertow Publications came out in 2021.
He also likes old motorbikes and vintage cocktails.
You can keep up to date with his work via his Patreon

Creative Consultant: Marianne Kirby (she/they)

Marianne Kirby writes about bodies both real and imagined. She plays with the liminal space between vanishing and visibility. She authored Dust Bath Revival and its sequel Hogtown Market; she co-authored Lessons from the Fatosphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body. 

A long-time writer, editor, and activist, Marianne has contributed to women’s interest publications, news outlets, and tv shows that require people to have opinions. She has been published by the Guardian, xoJane, the Daily Dot, Bitch Magazine, Time, and others. She has appeared on tv and radio programs ranging from the Dr. Phil Show to Radio New Zealand. You can find Marianne online at mariannekirby.com.

Creative Consultant: Chip Houser (he/him)

Chip’s short fiction has appeared in Bourbon Penn, Every Day Fiction, New Myths, Daily Science Fiction, The Arcanist, and lots of other markets. He’s published a fair amount of micro and flash fiction, and a collection of them titled Dark Morsels is forthcoming from Red Bird Chapbooks. You can find Chip online at chiphouser.com.