James Valvis

James Valvis has placed stories or poems in Asimov’s, Daily Science Fiction, Ploughshares, Strange Horizons, The Sun, and many others. His poetry has been featured in Verse Daily. His fiction was chosen for the Sundress Best of the Net. A former US Army soldier, he lives near Seattle. Find him on his website.

Stories by James Valvis

Monsters

Illustrated by Katie Weymouth

The boy tried to lay himself as flat as possible under his favorite Batman blanket. He knew from previous nights that if he did this, the monsters in his room would not get him. Maybe they couldn’t see him. Maybe the blanket, which his mother washed regularly, masked his scent. Maybe monsters could not penetrate …