by Marco Mañalac

Artwork by: Tala Mayari

Gather ‘round, children! It’s time to sleep! Oh, I know, it’s a tad bit early for your tastes. But I won’t hear any of your complaints, now. No use whining. No use resisting. What I can do is aid you on your journey toward slumber.

How about I give you all a little bedtime story? Yes? You like that? Very well.

What kind of story would you like to hear tonight, my beloved spawns? Oh, something historical, you say? Impressive, how intellectual.

What’s that? A tragedy? How depressing!

Oh, yes, a love story sounds good.

How about this? I’ll give you all three! Now settle down, and tuck yourselves in, children! Those are comfortable beds made of human bones, and warm blankets made of human skin. I wish I had those when I was a youngling.

Ready? Everybody good? Okay, this will be a short tale, but a very important one for you. So, pay attention, because this is the very first time I am telling this story in its entirety.

If the Philippine Christmas season famously (notoriously?) starts every September and ends on Epiphany (January 6), I personally look at that period between December 31 to the Lunar New Year as a more-or-less month-long period to celebrate the new year. 20 days ago, we marked January 1, 2024 on the Western calendar; in another 20 we will say goodbye to the Water Rabbit and ring in the Wood Dragon. It speaks to who we are as human beings that we tend to identify new beginnings as seasons of hope, renewal, change for the better, and the wish for a continuation of good things.

And so, we are indeed continuing a good thing this 2024. I am writing this short Publisher’s Note right in the middle of this new year’s season to express my thanks to Mia Tijam for agreeing to continue her editorial work from last year to this year. I can’t relay how grateful I am that Mia has agreed to take on the role for another year, which assures us of another set of 12 tales here on Philippine Genre Stories, another 12 reasons to look forward to each month of the year.

Yes, the calendar, whether Western or Eastern, is just another man-made construct of labeling time (but what stories we can weave around these constructs, eh?), yet we mark these dates nonetheless, facing our future with optimism and measuring our lives in moments in time.

In the traditional benediction, I wish PGS readers good luck and fortune as well as happiness for the New Year.

Philippine Genre Stories published Christine V. Lao’s  A Girl’s Guide To Love In The Big City in November, 2011. And the  story became a part of her chapbook Musical Chairs: Stories which was a Finalist in the 19th Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award in 2019.

Philippine Genre Stories was dormant for a long time and it was Tin Lao’s idea to provide fresh content for genre readers through the works of her creative writing students, serving as Guest Editor in 2022.  Tin returns to grace the commencement of Philippine Genre Stories 2023 with her story HONEST REVIEWS, and here we have the chance to catch up with her.

by Christine V. Lao

Deborah Sindico

Unforgettable

__Pramis, it DA BEST!!!

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Larry Biron

Shadow of What it Used to Be

__The bell tower is the oldest structure in the city. It has survived earthquakes and tsunamis, pirate raids, the Philippine-American War, the great wars of the twentieth century, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, it has lost much of its shine, being an unpaid attraction, per local legislation passed in less enlightened times. Now the local government cannot pay for its upkeep and has resorted to less savory measures to “keep it alive,” so to speak.

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Cesar Miguel “Miggy” Escaño is a father who loves telling bedtime stories to his three sons in their home in Tacloban City, Leyte. Before moving to Tacloban, he was a reporter for BusinessWorld and a teacher at the Ateneo de Manila.

Miggy was a fellow for fiction at the 56^th Silliman University National Writers Workshop in 2017 and by the next year, his story, “Little Star,” was recognized with an Honorable Mention at the 2018 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards by Philippines Graphic Magazine. His story, “Amira,” was also named Honorable Mention at the 2019 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards by Philippines Graphic Magazine.

Miggy first appeared in The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories Issue I Volume 3 in 2007 with his story “Tuko” that tackled bangungot or dying from a nightmare, which afflicts mostly Asians, especially Filipinos. The tuko or gecko in the story would cry out to alert humans about the unseen and malignant entity that causes bangungot, yet the warnings were ignored. Miggy now returns to Philippine Genre Stories 2023 with the story Sayf Al’Iiman.