Niteblade is nearing our 5th anniversary, so we’re celebrating with a little blog train. Yesterday our illustrator, Marge Simon, did a blog about her love affair with Niteblade, and tomorrow our poetry editor, Alexandra Seidel will be blogging about… something. LOL I’m sure it will be awesome 🙂 Today is not my scheduled day to blog, but the train had to be detoured so I’m filling in. Alas, that means I need to post a blog pretty quickly with no time to think up a great and profound subject to blog about. Okay, maybe I could think of one, but I’m unlikely to be able to write it in the fifteen or so minutes I have to get this posted.

So instead I’m going to share some of my favourite pieces from the first ten issues of Niteblade. The first ten web issues, that is. I feel like the back issues sometimes get forgotten and since there is so much fabulous work within them that seems a shame. I’m going to pick one favourite from each past issue. These are going to be the stories that are my favourite right now. At this exact moment in time. Favourites, for me, are things that change depending on my mood, and the day, so what stories I pick now are probably not the same ones I’d pick tomorrow or next week, but if you check them out, I bet you’ll like them.

September 2007 – Shine On by J.A. Tyler Dude, there are images from this story that still stick with me today, several years later. It’s dark and creepy and I love it.

December 2007 – Servant of the Gods by A. J. Kenning Gods, demons and brutal punishments. This story is pretty long, but well worth the read. “I think that. Sometimes. I screamed.”

March 2008 – Philosopher Quinn by Jenns Rushing I think this is the funniest story Niteblade has ever had the pleasure of publishing. It’s fantastic and lines from it get quoted within our family on a regular basis — just like you might quote a favourite movie or television show.

June 2008 – Women of Straw by Kyle Hemmings This story is simply-written, but beautiful and exotic. It’s the kind of tale I see layers of depth and meaning in and I’ve read it several times over the past few years.

December 2008 – Oh, Christmas Tree by S. Alan Fox Another funny story, though far shorter than Philosopher Quinn. I think this is a fun little Christmas tale.

March 2009 – The Pacifier by Beth Cato This is an end of the world story that will linger in your memory, I promise. I also love Following Rabbits by Gregg Winkler which is a retelling of a familiar tale. I couldn’t choose between these two, they are both favourites 🙂

June 2009 – Dream Spinner by Robert E. Keller This is a great example of a twist ending done well. I was engaged in this story from the moment I started reading it, and now, many, many readings later, I still love it.

September 2009 – Prison Dreams by Fred Warren What would you do if your dreams were taken away?

March 2010 – Happy Halloween, It’s a Bloody Puppet Show by Bill Ratner There are so many fantastic stories in the March 2010 issue that I honestly cannot pick one favourite, so I’ve chosen this story by Bill Ratner because it’s pretty unique among Niteblade stories — it’s radio play and comes complete with an audio version you can listen to. Once you’ve done that, be sure and check out the rest of the fiction for this issue. Truly.

June 2010 – Survivalist by Kevin Brown This story is a reprint and I still picked it as my favourite, that’s how you know that it’s fantastic. Read it. It’s a story about a unique soldier and you’re going to love it.

And there you have it. Ten of my favourite short stories from the older issues of Niteblade. If you want to check out all our archives you can do that right here –> Niteblade Archives. Maybe someday in the future I’ll pick some favourites from the poetry we’ve published over the past few years, if you’re interested.

Do you have a favourite Niteblade story? What makes it your favourite? I’d really like to know.

Lawl! I was just about to post this and discovered that the blog train didn’t need to be detoured any longer… but I’ve got this all written up, so I’m going to share it anyway. Enjoy!