Taddle Creek’s first (and probably last) theme issue has creeped its way onto newsstands. The theme is Halloween, and the magazine has bled a frighteningly good collection of fiction and poetry from the corpses of a record number of authors, including Nancy Baker, Tony Burgess, Joey Comeau, Rick Crilly, Peter Darbyshire, Brian Joseph Davis, Beth Follett, Sandra Kasturi, Susan Kernohan, James Lindsay, Jude MacDonald, Pasha Malla, Jason McBride, Erisa Niru, Emily Pohl-Weary, Andrew Pyper, Patrick Rawley, Angela Rawlings, Brett Alexander Savory, Emily Schultz, R. M. Vaughan, and Zoe Whittall.

But the treats don’t end there! When you shell out the eerily low cover price of $4.95 you’ll also get a comic by Steve Manale, a profile of Mysterion the Mind Reader, a gallery of Halloween costumes by Ian Phillips and Grant Heaps, candid photos of the Toronto Zombie Walk, and a Halloween ABC primer by Taddle Creek’s guest editor, Mr. Halloween, Derek McCormack. Plus, a special spooky edition of People Around Here, a rant about the joys of molasses candy, and a wraparound cover by Seth.

Here now, a preview of the horrors within:

“The Machine is Perfect, the Engineer is Nobody,” a short story by Brett Alexander Savory. Recoil from its fiendish plot twists!

“Black Cat Gum,” a poem by Emily Schultz. Shriek in fear at its lack of iambic pentameter!

Fail to purchase this issue at your own risk!

The summer, 2008, issue of Taddle Creek was more than just a magazine—it was a talking magazine, perhaps the first of its kind. Much like a talking book, every single word of the summer issue (except for Stuart Ross’s story) is available in audio format, from contents to comic, via free downloadable MP3s, right here on the Taddle Creek Information Superhighway Location on the Internetwork. (You can stream the tracks too—but not through Firefox …)

When downloaded, the tracks are coded to play in the order their print counterparts appear in the magazine, so you can sit back and follow along without too much page turning. Some tracks are bigger than others, so have patience if you’re downloading.

Along with many of the actual authors, the audio issue of Taddle Creek features the vocal stylings of Moe Berg, Ryan Bigge, Ryan Blakely, Andy Boorman, Jeanie Calleja, Kevin Connolly, Brian Joseph Davis, John Degen, Terri Favro, Gabriela Hahn, Jenny Hall, Alfred Holden, Dave Lapp, Derek McCormack, Nathaniel G. Moore, Gord Rand, Paul Vermeersch, and Paul Bellini as the voice of Taddle Creek.

With Taddle Creek, talk isn’t only cheap—it’s free! So cast your pod to the wind and get downloading!

Michael Cho brought home a silver medal at June 6th’s National Magazine Awards, beating out such magazines as Canadian Business in the Words and Pictures category with his comic “Stars,” from Taddle Creek’s Christmas, 2007, issue. Mike’s silver is the magazine’s first win in eight years of entries.

Congratulations also to Cary Fagan, whose short story “Shit Box,” from Taddle Creek’s summer, 2007, issue, was awarded honourable mention in the Fiction category, and Katia Grubisic, whose poem “A List Before Departure,” from that very same summer issue, took home honourable mention in the Poetry category.

The summer, 2009, issue of Taddle Creek is by invitation only. (Something special is planned.) Thus, any submissions sent to Taddle Creek between now and next summer will be considered for the Christmas, 2009, issue. Why not give Taddle Creek a break and hold off on submitting at least until the New Year? Sound good? Thank you.