Tales from the Canyons of the Damned books in order

Reading order

Tales from the Canyons of the Damned is a monthly short fiction publication edited by Daniel Arthur Smith, running since 2015 and described by its editors as a literary Twilight Zone, publishing three to five stories per issue across dark science fiction, horror, weird fiction, and slipstream. The format keeps things tight: stories run between 500 and 5,000 words, and the magazine releases both individual numbered issues and periodic omnibus collections.

Kevin G. Summers has been one of the magazine’s most consistent contributors, appearing across numerous issues from No. 1 in 2015 through the 2023 run. His contribution to No. 25, “Brethren,” is a prologue to his Starship Gilead series and follows Ensign Everett during a surprise attack, touching on themes of religious fanaticism and duty. The story shows the range of what the magazine publishes: shorter, punchy genre fiction with something to say.

For readers who want to follow Summers’ short fiction output, the Tales from the Canyons of the Damned issues are the most regular venue for his work. Omnibus collections, which group sets of numbered issues together, are a practical way to read larger chunks of the run without tracking down individual issues.