"Once we were all just people. Our culture was only an element of our complex being. Now, we are reduced to our origins." — Amelia Fisher, "The Children of Echidna"

No one understands being an outsider like the people who have experienced it. Mad Scientist Journal has brought together twenty-six tales of people who have lived in a world that doesn't accept them. Some face their situation with humor, others less so. Vampires, werewolves, and changelings share space in these pages with gorgons, natukkong, jiangshi, and rokurokubi.

Included in this collection are stories from Ali Abbas, Marina Belli, Jimmy Bernard, Elisa A. Bonnin, Maureen Bowden, Darin M. Bush, Garrett Croker, Jordan Davies, Laura Duerr, Amelia Fisher, Sean Frost, Mathew Allan Garcia, Lucinda Gunnin, Rhiannon Held, Valjeanne Jeffers, Michael M. Jones, S. Qiouyi Lu, John A. McColley, Ville Meriläinen, Timothy Nakayama, Adam Petrash, Jennifer R. Povey, Darren Ridgley, Erin Sneath, J. C. Stearns, and Stuart Webb. Interior art is provided by Errow Collins, GryphonShifter, Amanda Jones, Shannon Legler, and Ariel Alian Wilson.