Welcome to Issue 27:  Shells, Wings, and Forces of Nature Whether protected by a hard shell or freed by flapping wings, we’re all subject to the whims of nature.  Sometimes nature fights us; sometimes it invites us to slow down and enjoy a rainy morning.  Follow these birds, crabs, and scientists as they find their way through the twisting, spiraling paths of fate. * * * Consuela by Anne Larsen Singing Over Sour Remains by R.J.K. Lee Csigák by Zary Fekete A Siren’s Regret by E.J. LeRoy Quantum Hermit by M. McNamara The Girl Who Wouldn’t Be Empress by Kathryn Reilly On the Origin of Seasons by Cailín Frankland * * * See you again in two…

Welcome to Issue 26:  Conscripted to Fight We don’t get to choose the battles we’re called on to fight.  We get caught in a tangled web of our times and our principles, and the result is that some battles must be fought, even if we’d rather refuse the call.  Because refusing the call can be a battle all its own.  From felines to formicidae, dogs to pipe organs, follow these delightful characters through the tangled webs of their lives and fortunes. * * * The Heart of Rain by Spencer Orey I Didn’t Raise My Cub to be a Solider by Lynn Gazis We Used to Be Best Friends by Ian Salavon The…

Welcome to Issue 25:  Migration and Survival The world changes, and creatures great and small, wise and simple, old and young — all of us — must move on to survive.  Gallop with horses, feast on festering fruits with elephants, and fight for your very life with cheetahs, rats, and practically extinct reptiles.  But as you do, keep an eye to the future and the path you’ll have to follow to arrive there.  The animals certainly do. * * * The Passing of Lore by Anne Larsen Migration Mismanagement by Dana Wall Herdhunters by Mike Robinson Queen of the Hungry, Queen of the Few by Leo Oliveira Silver Bones by Michael Steel Unmaking Extinction by Liz…

Welcome to Issue 24:  Pigs, Rats, and Anti-Capitalism The wonderful thing about stories is that we can fight our battles in them — process grief, fight capitalism, and imagine paths past our current woes.  Maybe you’re not quite ready to throw it all away and run into the forest without even a sunhat for protection, but in a story, the brave hero can do it for you.  Mice can overthrow corporations; pigs can fight against the company town; and you can follow vicariously in their hoof and paw prints, learning how it feels when the shackles finally break away… perhaps inspiring you to keep fighting too. * * * Nine…

Welcome to Issue 23:  Griffins, Possums, and Unlikely Friends Some of the best friendships are also the strangest.  Koko the gorilla and All-Ball the tailless tabby cat.  Fum the black cat and Gebra the barn owl.  And so, so, so many more delightful pairings of animals one wouldn’t usually expect to become friends. Friendship is about enjoying another creature’s presence, but also, it’s about having empathy for someone other than yourself.  Furry fiction asks us to look through the eyes of other kinds of creatures, an act that helps us develop empathy.  There’s no better way to develop true, deep empathy for someone else than to listen to their stories,…

Welcome to Issue 22:  Haunted Happiness We have to snatch up the moments of happiness we can find, even when our lives are burning down around us.  Even if you’re a haunted house, maybe you can still make room inside yourself to host something better — something warm and fuzzy with a beating heart — before you go up in flames.  So, here are a few bright points of light, a few warmly beating hearts to cheer you on these endlessly strange days. * * * A Colony of Vampires by Beth Dawkins The Wolf, the Fox, and the Ring by Mocha Cookie Crumble The Way the Light Tangles by Emmie Christie Heron…

Welcome to Issue 21:  Offspring, the Swamp, and Upside Down Fairy Tales The world turned upside down, and everyone went scrambling, trying to hold on to the past or find a new way of existing in the turmoil.  The world does that sometimes.  It turns upside down, and you find yourself lost in a swamp of confusion. One of the most surefire ways of turning your own world upside down is to have children.  They’ll turn your world upside down over and over again. I started Zooscape when my younger child started kindergarten, and I suddenly had a lot more free time on my hands.  I put Zooscape submissions on…

Welcome to Issue 20:  Three Traumas in a Trench Coat It’s easier to stare trauma in the face when it has the face of a cat. Art Spiegelman knew this when he chose to tell his father’s story, Maus, in the form of a graphic novel featuring mice, cats, pigs, and dogs rather than normal humans. It’s hard to look straight at the horrors and atrocities humans commit. Throwing in a little fur softens the hard edges, making it possible for us to reckon and wrestle with the harshness of reality. Most of the stories in this issue wrestle with the darkness we have to face in this world, but…

Welcome to Issue 19:  Rebirth, Retribution, and Reptiles There is a profound connection between furry fiction and rebirth.  We read stories about characters with scales or fur, and we’re reborn into new, imaginary bodies.  Through fiction, we can be born and reborn, again and again. But what about the self that follows us? What if we carry our crimes — or imagined crimes — from one imaginary life to the next, always remaining ourselves on the inside?  Can we ever really escape the cycle and become someone new? Can the act of reading fiction rewrite who we are on the inside? Read these stories, and find out… * * *…

Welcome to Issue 18:  Dogs, Horses, and the Apocalypse Sometimes it’s easier to stare danger in the face, unflinching, if you tell yourself the darkness wears fur and paws; or maybe hooves, horns, fins, or feathery wings. Visit the nightmares and apocalypses in these stories, and come out the other side stronger for having faced humanity’s collective fears… and possibly even made friends with them. * * * Susurrus by Azure Arther How Pepper Learned Magic by Renee Carter Hall A Strange and Terrible Wonder by Katie McIvor What Dark Plutonian Horror Beckons from the Shadows? by Christopher Blake The Four Sharks of the Apocalypse by Tessa Yang What Little Remains by Mercy Morbid Hope…