Margo Pecha

October Oddities Presents: Attractions Next Exit — Cat Eye Press LLC Read "Attractions Next Exit" by Margo Pecha. The story was selected as the 2nd place winner for the 2025 October Oddities Horror Microfiction Contest hosted by Cat Eye Press

Happy Halloween! Need something spooky to read today? Check out my story "Attractions Next Exit" over at @cateyepress.bsky.social for a little dose of dread. 🕯️

atlantic article screenshot headline: no one knows how big pumpkins can get sub head: a decade ago, the worlds heaviest pumpkin weighed 2,000 pounds. now the 3,000 pound mark is within sight by yasmin tayag

this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread

Using AI in your work makes you stupider and lazier. That's it. That's the post.

You had me at second person. 👀 Really cool cover!

New story day! My micro Halloween story is available to read at Cat Eye Press' website. I had so much fun writing this one!

Congrats!!

Paperback copy of Fraidy Cat Quarterly Volume 6: Growth surrounded by dark red dahlias.

Fraidy Cat Quarterly Volume 6: Growth open to my story "Seymour's Sensation" and surrounded by dark red dahlias.

My contributor's copy of Fraidy Cat Quarterly arrived, and since it includes my niche dahlia horror story "Seymour's Sensation," I figured I had to do a dahlia photoshoot while they're still in bloom. 😄 Many thanks to Robert and Lillian @fraidycatpress.bsky.social for believing in this story!

A black and white hen soaking in a rubbermaid bin in an epsom salt bath with a pink towel draped across her back.

Working from the garage while giving yet another hen a bath. This one had flystrike (my first time dealing with it), but she seems to be recovering remarkably well. Lucky I caught it early, and I can tell she's feeling better because she fought me on the soak today!

Includes a story of mine about an ancient fruitcake that mysteriously appears on your doorstep...

My story "Articulation" is now available to read for free on CHM's website!

I've definitely seen this recipe before in one of my old cookbooks!

Dahlia "Brown Owl," an A-size coppery orange and yellow informal decorative bloom.

Dahlia "Bubbling Over," and B-size informal decorative light blend of pink and yellow.

A couple of my favorite dahlias blooming at the moment: Brown Owl and Bubbling Over.

Applesauce simmering in the Crockpot, house smells divine. Must be late summer.

Hey thanks so much, Rex!

My teeth story "Articulation" is included in this issue. Many thanks to the folks at @chmmagazine.bsky.social for giving it a home! 😄

CHM #61 July 2025 - Cosmic Horror Monthly This month's collection of cosmic horror and weird fiction features stories by Íde Hennessy, Scott J. Couturier, Pauline Chow, and many more!

My story "Articulation" is out today in the July issue of Cosmic Horror Monthly. It's about teeth, paranoia, and obsession, and it's one of my favorite pieces I've written. I'm so pleased it's found a home here!

Kosmos Obscura | Graveside Press A Cosmic Horror Anthology Fear of the great unknown, fear of that which is far beyond human comprehension … This is the core of cosmic horror. Traverse twenty-nine stories exploring deep-sea eldritc...

I have new story out in Kosmos Obscura: A Cosmic Horror Anthology from Graveside Press!

The Lepidopterists Dying in Salem · EP · 2025 · 5 songs

And if you're not local, you can listen to the EP on Spotify. 🙂

Black poster featuring a white linocut of a moth and advertising a metal show at Dante's in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, June 21. EP release show for Dying in Salem's EP "The Lepidopterists." Other bands playing include When Empires Fall, Wonderstump, and Beneath the Darkened Skies. Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8pm. Tickets are $13 in advance or $15 at the door.

Portland friends, this Saturday night my husband's band Dying in Salem is playing their EP release show at Dante's. (I'm told they're playing The Lepidopterists in full, among others.) It's gonna be a lot of fun—if you like metal, come hang out!

the secret to writing is writing, follow for more tips

Getting an email that no changes were needed to my manuscript makes my copy editor heart sing. ❤️

The Lepidopterists Dying in Salem · EP · 2025 · 5 songs

My husband's metal band released their new EP "The Lepidopterists" this week, a cosmic concept album about a cult summoning a giant moth to destroy the earth. I've been listening to them practice these songs in our garage for two years now, so it's really cool to finally hear it all recorded!

Unsuccessfully trying to convince my husband we should get another corgi. One is not enough, I must have a whole horde of little guys.

Currently shifting my focus between three short stories and a novella-thing. Variety is the spice of life, eh?

We found a possum stuck in one of my five-gallon weeding buckets last night, so that was wild. (We tipped it over so it could get out, of course.)

A smokey mauve bearded iris spotted with raindrops.

Also, this particular iris has the unfortunate name of Cow Patty.

A perennial cottage garden bed bordered by logs. Irises and foxgloves are blooming in the bed, with a handful of rose plants budding out. A hops plant is climbing the fence behind the garden. A corgi is walking by the garden bed.

Spent the weekend edging various garden beds, which always elicits a good laugh from whomever I'm telling about it. (Jokes aside, I do think it's looking nice.) #bloomsky

Shell-pink irises with lavender beards

A sea of Concertina bearded irises crowding my garden. I love their delicate shell-pink color. Iris season is just kicking off, more to come! #bloomsky

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope