⬡   Issue 05: The Fifth Coalescence  ·  Now Live  ·  Read Free → Issues 01–03 also in the archive →
HEXFILED  ·  Issue 05  ·  Sep 2026

HEXFILED

Literary Magazine  ·  SF & Speculative Fiction

Issue 05 is live. Five stories including a novella on what coalesces when worlds merge. Read free, in full.

Issues 01–04 also in the archive →

HEXFILED Issue 05 Cover

Five works. One coalescence.

The Fifth Coalescence brings you five stories including a novella on what coalesces when worlds merge.

  • Mute Helen Shang
    Short Story
  • The 8 Minute Puddle nibbinsthecat
    Short Story
  • The Marching Neurons James Fitzsimmons
    Short Story
  • Cronus Krumbach Carmen Clarke
    Short Story
  • Carve Out My Heart Where The Shriekers Fly Matthew F. Amati
    Novella
Read the Issue

Also Available  ·  Aug 25, 2026

Issue 04 — The Fourth Emergence

Seven works on what defines an identity.

Read the Archive →

Also Available  ·  Jul 25, 2026

Issue 03 — The Third Genesis

Seven works on beginnings, becoming, and what emerges when everything starts over.

Read the Archive →

Also Available  ·  Jun 25, 2026

Issue 02 — The Second Sublimation

Seven works on transformation, from one state to another.

Read the Archive →

The Fifth Coalescence

Five stories including a novella on what coalesces when worlds merge.

HEXFILED publishes monthly. Issues 01 through 04 are also free in the archive. Submissions are currently open.

Read Issue 05 Submit Your Work
Issue 05: The Fifth Coalescence

Issue 05 is live. Available free, in full.

Follow us on Instagram for updates and open submissions.

Submissions
Open
Response Time
14 days
Payment
Non-paying
Issues Live
01, 02, 03 & 04

For stories that don't fit the box.

HEXFILED started because the boxes did not fit. You cannot fit a hexagon into a square. It sits uncomfortably between shapes. Rougher around the edges than a circle. Less rigid than a square. Even given the same perimeter, a hexagon holds less area than one and more than the other. It occupies an unstable middle ground, never fully realized on either side.

When a story straddles this liminal in-between, it risks invisibility. This is what we collect. This is what we file away.

Submission Guidelines About the Magazine
We Publish
  • Short Fiction (1k–10k)
  • Novelettes (10k–17.5k)
  • Flash (<1,000 words)
  • Speculative Poetry
  • Nonfiction & Essays
We Seek
  • Biopunk & solarpunk
  • Ecological SF
  • Weird fiction
  • Military SF
  • Post-human futures
Open Access
Free to read
All stories, no paywall
Response Time
14 days
Average turnaround
The Parallel Biome, a HEXFILED Sub-Issue

A HEXFILED Serialized Sub-Issue

The Parallel Biome

Recovered evidence from alternate timelines

Explore the Archive →

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Updates on new issues, open submissions, and dispatches from the editorial hex.

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