Volume 4, June 2026
Greetings Friends!
I can’t speak for everyone’s Spring season; mine found me rather busy-end of year concerts, art exhibits, awards banquets, and even a graduation! Cheers to our classes of 2026!
On the creative side of things, our short film, “The Letter” won Best Short Thriller at the London Women’s Film Festival and we shot a new short, “Live, Laugh, Love”, a quirky, suburban satire with dark humor and light horror elements. Last, but ABSOLUTELY NOT LEAST, I am honored that Campfire Publishing’s newest anthology, Let the Right One Simmer, Volume 1 releases June 2nd in paperback and on eBook!
This month’s newsletter will be highlighting Let the Right One Simmer, Volume 1 in our very first Special Edition volume! So, while we’ll still be announcing a Campfire Tales Winner along with an all-new monthly theme, our layout will look a bit different.
Thank You for sticking with us and holding space for us to learn, grow, and create!
–Aaron
Let the Right One Simmer truly came out of nowhere. Or, maybe it didn’t. At some point around 2024, for reasons I’m still not sure of, I became fascinated with cooking and baking. It started with adventures into recipes from various cultures, historical recipes, baking bread, cookies, cheesecakes, and the list could go on but let’s not.
I’d woke up one morning in May 2025 fully intending to write a call for Savagery on the Salty Seas, a collection of maritime themed horror. Excited to dive in, (sea what I did there?) I opened Word and Let the Right One Simmer was born.
After extending the call to January of ’26 (because I’d never over-extend myself on multiple projects…), I notified selected authors and our near six-month long journey began.
I am humbled and honored that throughout Campfire’s journey I’ve had the opportunity to work with talented and collaborative authors, and I remain appreciative of their willingness to share their talents with us.
What a great group of creatives!
“Everyone’s heard the stories – Bloody Mary’s had a good gig going, scaring the living daylights out of summer campers and school girls in bathroom rites of passage the world over. And she’s spent many a season in ignorant bliss doing just that…
Until three witches hellbent on ensuring their own longevity lure her into their trap.
Can the blood haunt overcome her own childlike naivete in time to save her own skin? Or will she become a victim of her own gullibility?
Find out in Bloody Mary Bottoms Up by Jennifer Weigel, in Let the Right One Simmer from Campfire Publishing.”
— Jennifer Weigel
Bloody Mary Bottoms Up
Voices from the Embers
As readers and writers, one of the most important things we should all be doing is learning…
Voices from the Embers picks our authors’ brains for insight into writing, publishing, and thoughts on the horror genre. We aim to keep away from run-of -the mill questions such as, “how did you get started writing”. Instead, we seek out thought provoking answers by doing our best to tailor questions to each author’s strengths.
This month, we feature authors from our brand-new anthology collection, Let the Right One Simmer, Volume 1!
Before we announce the winner of our second ever micro-fiction writing contest, Campfire Tales, I’d like to take a moment and share our new process of judging submissions. To better ensure as much fairness as we are able, each month, Campfire Tales will invite a guest judge. We will remove the author’s name from their story and replace those names with numbers so our judge is truly judging anonymous.
June’s Judge was Linette Kasper.
Linette Kasper is an avid writer of supernatural fantasy but enjoys dabbling in other styles, especially horror and suspense. She has released three novels, Daimon, Rogue, and Phoenix, from her first series. She also has a horror short story, “What They Did Not Know,” published in Fundead Publications’ anthology One Night in Salem, and a fantasy short story, “Indelible,” published in the Rejected fundraising anthology by Aaron K. Crocker. She also presented at the Library of Congress on “Fantasy as Escapism.” When she is not writing, she also enjoys editing works by other authors for Campfire Publishing.
She has lived in Virginia all her life but likes to travel even though she has never gone farther than the east coast and is afraid of flying. She enjoys long walks in old cemeteries, binge-watching TV shows, and trying to stop time frame by frame.
Thank you so much Linette!
Linette’s Feedback for the winning story:
“I like the galactic zoo and having Brits as the specimens pining for a good cuppa.”
And the winner for June’s Campfire Tales is…
The Problem with Alien Confectionery
The enclosure walls were made of a very thick, shimmering sort of glass that smelled
faintly of boiled cabbage if you got your nose too close to the vents. Inside, the signs
were printed in large, glowing purple letters that hovered six feet off the ground: DO
NOT FEED THE HUMANS. THEIR DIGESTION IS COMPLICATED AND
THEY TEND TO BITE.
Arthur Pendelton sat on his small plastic log, feeling rather like a very old, very damp
toad left behind in a garden shed. He was wearing his best tweed trousers, though they
had become terribly frayed at the cuffs since the Galactic Council had scooped him out
of his conservatory in Surrey. Across the artificial lawn, Mrs. Higgins was trying to knit a
cardigan out of dried moss, looking thoroughly cross about the lack of proper wool.
“It’s the lack of tea that’s the real tragedy,” Mrs. Higgins muttered, her bone needles
clicking in a sharp, rhythmic sort of way. “One can survive the green sky, Arthur, but
three months without a proper brew is simply uncivilized.”
On the other side of the shimmering glass, the alien children were bustling past. They
were large, bluish creatures with three eyes that looked remarkably like pickled onions
and tentacles that kept getting tangled in their school satchels. Most of them merely
stared, pointing their long appendages and making wet, whistling noises that Arthur
suspected were highly insulting.
Then came a remarkably small alien boy with a lopsided yellow cap and an expression of
profound mischief. He crept away from his school group, his three onion-eyes darting
toward the robotic zookeeper. With a swift, slimy flick of his tentacle, he tossed
something through the feeding mesh at the bottom of the glass.
It landed on the plastic grass with a soft plop.
It was a small, bright orange cube that smelled instantly of toasted crumpets,
gunpowder, and very sharp cheddar cheese.
“Arthur,” Mrs. Higgins whispered, her needles freezing mid-click. “What is that?”
“I believe,” Arthur said, his eyes widening behind his spectacles, “it is a snack.”
He took a cautious bite. The effect was immediate and rather spectacular. It did not go
to his stomach; it went straight to his knuckles. The sheer, concentrated glucose of a
planet seven galaxies away flooded his English veins like liquid lightning. Arthur felt his
knees, which had creaked since 1994, suddenly turn into iron springs.
“Good heavens,” Arthur roared, his voice bouncing off the artificial sky.
He didn’t just stand; he leapt. With a single, sugar-fueled kick, he shattered the
shimmering glass into a million sparkling diamonds. The alien children shrieked, their
school satchels flying as Arthur and Mrs. Higgins stormed into the corridor, energized
by the glorious, forbidden power of alien confectionery. Humanity was out, and they
were looking for a kettle.
As the fire crackles and the shadows stretch, a brand-new story waits for us in the flames.
This month, we’re inviting you to tell a tale in 500 words or less.
July’s Prompt: “Neighbors”
Rules/Details:
500 words or less
One submission per person
NO AI
NO EROTICA
Deadline: Friday, July 24th 2026
Format: .docx (.doc)
**We will NOT accept any other file format**
Please include: Name (or pen name) and email address
Send submission to info@aaronkcrocker.com
Subject Line: Campfire Tales
Authors who have been published in Campfire Publishing’s anthologies are encouraged to submit!
STORIES WILL BE JUDGED BLINDLY (Please include your name in your file with submission. All names will be removed before being sent to our guest judge)!
Winner receives a $10 AMAZON GIFT CARD, and their story and bio will be featured in May’s Newsletter!
We all have a story! —tell us yours. Keep it dark (or twistedly funny) and send it our way for a chance to be featured in next month’s newsletter!
To see our current and past winners and read their stories, visit our CAMPFIRE TALES page!
July’s Guest Judge is P. Mattern!
USA TODAY Bestselling and Award-winning Author P.Mattern was
born and bred in Virginia and currently lives in the Midwest where
there are no amazing geographical features above ground. A lifelong
fan of vampires she is the author of over 170 published novels,
novellas and horror/chiller shorts including her flagship Full Moon
Series, Midnight Magnolias Series and the Vampire Princess Saga.
She is currently involved with one of her characters (*”It’s
complicated”!
Get it through our Website:
Let the Right One Simmer Collection – The Official Website of Aaron K Crocker
Leave a Reply