Tom Johnstone

Tom Johnstone (he/him) is the author of a trilogy of novellas, The Monsters are Due in Madison Square Garden, Star-Spangled Knuckle Duster, and The Song of Salomé, and the collections Last Stop Wellsbourne, and Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking. His fiction has appeared in various venues, including, in 2024 alone, Chthonic Matter Quarterly, Supernatural Tales, Creepypod, Shadowplays (PS Publishing, co-writing with Colleen Anderson), Body Shots (Subtle Body Press), Medusa (Flame Tree Press), Ethereal Nightmares: The Second Sleep (Dark Holme Publishing) and Infernal Mysteries, or a Compendium of Gothic Reveries and Dolorous Tales (Egaeus Press). His story “Body Worlds,” which first appeared in Body Shots, was selected for reprint in Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 17 (Night Shade Books). More information at tomjohnstone.wordpress.com.

Read Johnstone’s short story “The Herman Condition” in Horrific Scribes.

Description: A woman who has escaped domestic violence receives a starter dough for a “Herman” friendship cake. However, she soon discovers that “Herman” is a very garrulous micro-organism and very free with the unsolicited relationship advice…