Nightmare #159, December 2025

“The Short History of a Long-Forgotten, Ill-Fated Telenovela” by Dante Luiz

“Review: When the Baby Sleeps” by Lyndsie Manusos

“Shahmeran” by Leyla Hamedi

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

“The Short History of a Long-Forgotten, Ill-Fated Telenovela” by Dante Luiz deals with a cursed Brazilian television series of the 1970s. Everyone associated with the program dies in a way associated with fire except the star. In the present day, the elderly former actress deals with the last remaining tape of the series.

Written mostly in the style of a nonfiction article, the story often seems like a series of character sketches. There is no explanation for the curse, except for a hint that the series itself wants to be destroyed. The work is most interesting for its look at an important aspect of Latin American popular culture. The speculative content is less intriguing.

As its title suggests, “Review: When the Baby Sleeps” by Lyndsie Manusos takes the form of a discussion of an imaginary horror movie. The fictional film deals with pregnancy and a haunting. Less than seven hundred words long, this minor piece is most notable for visceral descriptions of childbirth and a clever twist at the end.

In “Shahmeran” by Leyla Hamedi, twin sisters are partly snakes. One twin lives in the world for three days at a time, while the other remains in a mirror. The two then switch places. When one twin falls in love with a man the pattern is broken, leading to tragedy.

This is a beautifully written story with the flavor of a dark fairy tale. The speculative content is vivid and original, with subtle symbolism. The author lists Angela Carter and Shirley Jackson as influences, and this work is worthy of those two great writers.

Victoria Silverwolf bought a green papaya today.