While her name has come to be associated with madness, Mania’s role originally was more spiritual than psychological. Her terror would be felt when boundaries were neglected, when obligations were forgotten, as in my story “Sweet Revenge” in the July 2026 issue of Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction. “Sweet Revenge” is about Theodora, a woman scorned. Though still desperately in love with her estranged husband, she is eager for revenge. But a slow revenge. So, she po

The nightshades are a family of about 2700 species of flowering plants including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, even the petunia. But many, such as tobacco and belladonna (a.k.a. deadly nightshade), have a high alkaloid content, which makes them extremely toxic, some even to the touch. Alongside the side effects of insomnia, local paralysis, and dizziness, are the interchanging states of mood swings from excitement to absolute rabidness. In “Sweet Revenge,” a story

Mercury is known as the fastest of all gods and therefore wears a winged hat and winged sandals. These wings allow him to travel seamlessly between the mortal realm, Mount Olympus, and the Underworld. He carries the caduceus, a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes also surmounted by wings. Mercury is Zeus's messenger and the guide of the dead. In “The Bodyguard”, the first story in The Deadliest Returns, Miriam recalls the day her twin brother Binyamin left Alexan

The dark horse is Theodora, the worst kind of woman scorned, still desperately in love but eager for revenge: Leo never notified me that he was divorcing me and never returned my family’s estate and the betrothal gifts! That ring I gave him. A carnelian intaglio of a two-faced Janus to represent his life before and after our marriage. And three solid gold snake bracelets he said symbolized the immortality of our love. I don’t miss him so much as remember how he used to make

Mercury is ordinarily a liquid because its atoms bond only weakly with each other. But what made this liquid so interesting to alchemists like Mary Hebrea, history’s real Miriam bat Isaac, was also its shiny appearance. And so, they called it “quicksilver.” Inhaling its vapors, however, allows its toxin to enter the bloodstream and lungs. Exposure can then cause severe neurological and kidney damage. Accordingly, the use of mercury has been phased out in modern items like the

In The Deadliest Hate, Miriam must sail to Caesarea to track an alchemical manuscript. She sails on the Orion, owned and operated by her distant cousin, Eli. It’s clear at their first onboard dinner that she finds him repulsive: Eli brandished his fluted goblet, threw back a swallow of pomegranate wine, licked his upper lip, and cleared his throat as if bringing an audience to attention. “Good wine,” he boasted before spraying me with a sour belch. I let a sip flower in my t

This famous bronze statue of a she-wolf is now in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Scholars disagree, however, on the date of the statue. Some believe the statue of the she-wolf originated in the early years of the Roman Republic; others attribute it to medieval times. The suckling twins were added during the 16th century. According to the Roman myth, Romulus killed Remus during a bitter dispute over which hill to build their new city upon. Romulus preferred the Palatine Hil

This wind rose diagram, derived from Aristotle’s Meteorologica, maps the directions and characteristics of 12 prevailing winds to explain global weather patterns, seasonal temperatures, and other physical phenomena. Written around 340 B.C.E., his treatise is the oldest comprehensive exposition on the atmospheric, meteorological, and earth sciences. Moreover, it established the foundation for Western meteorology, astronomy, and alchemy for nearly two millennia. In fact, the A

Miriam and Phoebe do not spend time inside brothels, but they might stand outside them to catch the gossip or spy for a client. In “The Brother,” a story in The Deadliest Deceptions, Miriam is trying to locate one of Bion’s employees who may have stolen a valuable manuscript from his boss’s bibliopōleion. “How much could that scroll be worth today?” Miriam asked Bion. His voice dropped to a whisper. “About 2000 drachmas, enough to buy the grandest house.” A fishy r

In “Deadly Confrontation” Miriam goes to a tenement on the edge of the Bruchium quarter to interview a person of interest in the murder of Katerina, a recent arrival from Rome who’d established a perfumery: The tang of stale urine, fresh scats, and putrefying garbage alerted my nose that we were nearing the dingy fringe of the Bruchium quarter. Seeing a woman nursing her baby on the stoop of a mudbrick tenement, I signaled my bearers to stop so I could ask for directions. Sh