Welcome to Inner Worlds issue nine! Inside you’ll find fourteen short stories which use science fiction, fantasy, and horror to explore our internal landscapes; our thoughts, feelings, and other strange experiences associated with being human.

Many weird and wonderful creatures have graced our pages, and this issue is no exception; you’ll find tentacles, horns, and paws inside, and many different kinds of monster.

Our cover features the beautiful ‘Behind the Veil - Ace (Inner Worlds)’ by Dhiyanah Hassan, in which hope grows from fractures.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I have. Please think about subscribing to support the magazine, if you can. If anything here strikes a note with you, please share it and do let the author know too!

Sarah Jackson, November 2025

Table of contents

Cover artwork

Our cover artwork for this issue is ‘Behind the Veil - Ace (Inner Worlds)’ by Dhiyanah Hassan.

‘Behind the Veil - Ace (Inner Worlds)’ is from a series inspired by the visual play and tension between contrasting elements. ‘Ace’ is a play on multiple often-unseen realities with a strong foundation in beginnings and renewals. Here, roots and cracks - growth and breakage - meet to suggest a raw, quiet power within self-inquiry.

Dhiyanah Hassan creates art as portals of wonder where subtler emotional realities can be seen, explored, and accepted. Their art is their way of speaking to and for life, celebrating diversity and encouraging decolonized reclamation of the imagination informed by their lived experiences as a disabled South-Southeast Asian artist and writer.