For any readers who wish to modify or modulate their reading based on content, I’m building a list of potentially triggering subject matter in works I publish. This doesn’t take the place of a more robust tagging system—it’s basically just keywords—but at least it’s a centralized FYI.
“5:37”: Some gore, vague description of deaths accidental and curse-based, references to microaggressions and snuff
“Always an After”: Death, death of a parent, terminal cancer, memory loss, decomposition
“Bones Placed in Apposition”: References to death, including the loss of children
“Changeling”: Sick baby, loss of a child, abduction, abandonment, adoption
“Coffin Bell”: Implied claustrophobia, eventual death
“Detox”: Negative feelings due to a lifestyle change; possible readings include addiction recovery, adaptation to disability, imposition of unwanted medical interventions
“Digital Pyre”: Existential anxiety related to climate change
“Family Dinner”: Dysfunctional family, disordered eating
“Harriers”: Violence, primarily a fatal (were)wolf attack
“Honey and Apples”: Ecologically degraded existence
“In Transit, Beautiful”: Low-key alienation
“Kill Switch”: Eugenics, unethical genetic manipulation, potential mass murder
“Lakeside”: Non-graphic references to an abusive relationship and its violent end
“Like Gold Upon Her Tongue”: Eating disorders, body image, body dysmorphia, dieting, medical malpractice, bulimia, pica
“Now and Then and Back Again”: Not-terribly-veiled references to 2016 U.S. politics, musing about a memory wipe that would parallel suicide
“On the Beach”: Death of a spouse, suicidal thoughts, an existence made more painful by (fantasy population) diaspora and climate change
“Purple Lizard Skin”: References to physical injuries, suspected child abuse
“The Relative Positions of Dead Things in the Dark”: References to murder, ongoing effects of bodily injury, mutilation of a corpse, mild family strife
“Ruminants”: References to parental illness, absence/death, cult membership
“Shared Space”: References to sexism and microaggressions (note that the anthology is intentionally mild and includes extensive content notes for individual stories)
“Tethered, In Darkness”: Sabotage in response to coming cultural change
“Used Armor Smell”: Traumatic bodily injuries in battle, loss of control, impending death
“Wayfinding”: References to a death in the past, gentrification and neighborhood erasure, the protagonist’s musings about her own mental health
“When Mastered, a Graceful Accomplishment”: Unwanted sexual advances, manipulation
A. P. Howell 