Tales from the Magician's Skull #2

Tales From the Magician’s Skull is a fantasy magazine dedicated to presenting all-new sword-and-sorcery fiction by the finest modern crafters in the genre. These stories are the real thing, crammed with sword-swinging action, dark sorceries, dread, and ferocious monsters — and they hurtle forward at a headlong pace.

Issue #2 features fiction by John Hocking, James Stoddard, James Enge, Nathan Long, Sets Uzume, Violette Malan, and Dave Gross. The magazine is edited by Howard Andrew Jones and published by Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games, with layout by Lester B. Portly.

Each story is lovingly illustrated by industry stalwarts, and issue #2 continues the amazing high standards of art from the first issue.

Here are the stories in this issue:

Blood of the Forest Born by Nathan Long

Then she saw it. The eight-legged circle of Atseska. Any Haata child with a grandfather who told ghost stories knew about the black magic of Atseska the Spider.

“He’s going to kill them,” murmured Anla. “He’s going to kill everyone in this house.”

Break them on the Dying Stones by Setsu Uzume

The blindfold itched, and stank of wet sheep. Gatja raised her hands and leaned forward to scratch her face, but the muting chains rang taut — locking her wrists and neck just beyond reach.

Stolen Witness by James Enge

They followed the crooked man, bearing a corpse on his back and a light in his hand, into the wizard’s garden.

Trial by Scarab by John C. Hocking

Benhus drew and met him in a clash of strident steel. They traded blows, at first with more maddened intent than skill, swords meeting and sliding apart with a sound like a blacksmith’s anvil seeing frantic work.

Day of the Shark by James Stoddard

“I led my hunters here, daring the depths to seek you. I have a keen eye, steady arms, and the courage of ten. I have killed the Great White single-handed. I demand the Trial.”

A Soul’s Second Skin by Violette Malan

“Hush,” Dhulyn’s tone was such that even the mage fell silent. “Something large breathes ten or twelve paces away from us.”

Shuhalla’s Sword by Dave Gross

Only the commander’s head emerged from the woody cage, neck stretched back and mouth open. From it protruded his tongue, darker than blood and—incredibly—as long as his forearm.

The People of the Pit Illustrated by Stefan Poag

An illustrated adaptation of Abraham Merritt’s classic story.

Appendix: Game Statistics by Terry Olson

In each issue, we present an appendix of game statistics for the various creatures, spells, and items described in each issue. All of these stats are for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game system.