When Other People Saw Us, They Saw the Dead

S.M. Uddin is a London-born author of gothic fiction and a 2020 graduate. Her literature preferences lean more toward the dark, with an unusual affinity for eerie tragedies or the viscerally uncomfortable. During her leisure time, her hobbies include not leaving the house, reading up on different psychological theories and admiring new K-pop videos. Whichever one requires the least talking. Nisha Addleman is a half-Indian, half-white writer and the daughter of an immigrant mother. Her stories vary from genre to genre and often address mental health issues, including ones she experiences herself, such as depression and anxiety. Growing up in a diverse community, Nisha’s work also features an emphasis on inclusivity and diverse characters. She was born and raised in Central Coast, California, where she still lives with her husband and dog. In her spare time you can find her cooking, sewing, and dancing. A.M. Perez is a writer of speculative fiction with a Master’s in Psychology completing her PhD thesis in the same field at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She is Mohawk, Jewish, and Puerto Rican and grew up in Santiago, Chile. Her expertise in psychology and her mixed-cultural identity inspire the themes and elements in her dozens of novels and short stories. When she is not writing, she enjoys painting, teaching, running, and playing with her dogs. Marwa Sarraj (she/her) is a Muslim Turkish-American writer. Her tastes lean heavily toward fantasy and gothic tales but she will read almost anything (especially true crime and narrative nonfiction). Through her own works, she utilizes her philosophy degree to form compelling fantasy worlds and intriguing characters. In addition to being a writer, she is a graduate student working on a degree in General Psychology. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can often be found playing video games or binging true crime documentaries, and baking. Emily Hoang is a Chinese–Vietnamese writer and editor from San Francisco. She is a first-generation college student who attended UCSD for her undergraduate studies and attained a MFA in Creative Writing at USF. You can find some of her work in GASHER Journal, The Baram House, and Black Horse Review. When she’s not working on her short story collection, you can find her running by the beach or exploring new parts of the city. Lauren McEwen is a writer from the Atlanta area. A graduate of Howard University, her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Tempest, AJC.com, Bitch Magazine, Madame Noire, The Baltimore Sun, Ebony.com, and elsewhere. When she is not staring at a blinking cursor, or trying to squeeze words out of her brain like blood from a stone, Lauren can be found trying to justify buying more books despite the fact that her to-be-read pile is over three feet tall. Aliya Chaudhry is a fiction writer and journalist. As a journalist, she covers music and internet culture, and has written for Billboard, Vice, Slate, Kerrang! and The Verge, among other publications. She has lived in the United Kingdom, Pakistan, the United States and Kenya. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English and a concentration in creative writing in 2018.The following year, she earned her Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. She is currently working on her first novel, which is about death, memory, and ghost stories. Gerardo J. Mercado Hernández (he\they) is a Puerto Rican writer and poet. Currently working as a math tutor, he enjoys making art learning about world history and different spiritual beliefs. Gerardo’s recurring subjects are the Caribbean, individuals and their community, and undefined, ever-protean, creatures. He is currently working on his first poetry book and other stories. Gerardo lives in Northern Puerto Rico while permanently catching up on physics and music. Adaline Jacques is a young Black individual and a Native New Yorker living in Los Angeles.