Enchanted Times

Enchanted Times by Su Mwamba

Enchanted Times was first published in 2009. It is an ongoing series of A5 (/half-size) zines written by Su Mwamba, featuring revisionist short story versions of traditional fairy tales and other related features. Later issues feature guest editorials and artwork by additional writers and artists working within the re-told fairy tale genre.

The Enchanted Times Mini zine is released at random intervals between issues, featuring previews of and alternative perspectives on the stories to be featured in the next full-size edition. The short stories/flash fiction tend to veer from the traditional happy ending while the supplementary features and Mini editions are of a more light-hearted nature.

The Enchanted Times has also spawned a number of additional related mini-zines including Once Upon a Haiku and the Goblin Market Coupon Book (featuring fictional ads & offers from Enchanted Times sponsors).

Enchanted Times

#1 (November 2009)

FREE GIFT Pre-enchanted needle and thread

STORY Baba Yaga Still at Large

STORY Lost and Found - the Princess and the Pea revisited

STORY Look Before You Leap - the Frog Prince revisited

PROJECT Baba Yaga Intuition Doll kit

PROJECT Baba Yaga Escape kit, pre-enchanted tags

PROJECT Princess and the Pea cross stitch chart

PROJECT Red Riding Hood cross stitch chart - adapted from illustration by Jennie Harbour

OTHER Letters to the Editor

OTHER Small ads

#2 (August 2010)

FREE GIIFT Pre-enchanted nettle yarn

EDITORIAL Big Bad Wolf / Judging a Book by its Cover

INTERVIEW Cinderella Sweeping, Cinderella's Weeping

STORY The Ugliest Duckling

STORY Splinter Part 1 (piecework)

PROJECT Six Swans / DIY weaving loom postcard

OTHER The Mirror book review supplement

OTHER Letters to the Editor

OTHER Small ads

#3 (May 2011)

FREE GIFT Magic beans

STORY Always pay the piper - the Pied Piper of Hamelin's 'confession'

STORY Just Desserts - a melange of the Gingerbread Man and Hansel & Gretel tales

FEATURE He said, she said - Red Riding Hood witness statements sourced by guest reporter Penelope Harris, plus illustration by Holly Mitchell

PROJECT Hansel & Gretel in cross stitch

PROJECT 'The millet reached the sky' - a counted thread embroidery pattern

OTHER Fast-As-You-Can Weight Loss Plan - gingerbread recipe & fictional advertisement feature

OTHER Runaway Snack Attack - an open letter from the Magical Objects Restoration Society, forwarded by Onyx Mail Services

OTHER The Mirror book review supplement

OTHER Small ads

ET#3 was also released in a black & white edition, without the Magic Beans free gift.

#4 (February 2012)

STORY Naked - the story of the nightingale behind the Emperor’s recent & shameful public exposure. Includes illustration by Holly Mitchell.

STORY An Exceptional Clothier by guest reporter Anne E. Johnson – revealing secrets about the Emperor’s New Clothes, Cinderella and more

STORY Rates of Exchange - the tale of a simple barter gone dramatically wrong (see also ET Mini #3.5 vol. iv for a preview of this story entitled, 'A Fair Exchange')

INTERVIEW The Art of Gold - in which a friend and colleague of Rumpelstiltskin presents a defence of the dwarf's actions

PROJECT The Nightingale - a cross stitch chart

PROJECT WeaveWorld presents a DIY Swatch-Weaving Tutorial (faux advertisement feature)

OTHER Small ads

OTHER The Mirror book review supplement

OTHER Puzzled Page, including 2 word puzzles derived from micro-fiction re-tellings of Red Riding Hood and Snow White

SPECIAL EDITION (March 2012) - a limited print run of 20 signed & numbered copies

EDITORIAL Reverse, Revise, Recycle - examining the changing expectations of life within the Enchanted Realms

ILLUSTRATIONS Snow White and the Seven Lemur; Little Red Riding Lemur - illustrations by...Lemur

STORY My Toady - a 4-page story with illustrations by April E. Johnson, based on the traditional tales of enchanted frogs & princes

ILLUSTRATIONS Little Red Riding Hood; Alternate Ending - illustrations by Sharon Van Dussen

STORY Wolf at the Door - preview of a story to appear in Enchanted Times #5, by Su Mwamba

ILLUSTRATIONS The Little Match Girl - a watercolour story by Heather Cuff

OTHER Contributing Artists - mini biographies of all involved with this Special Edition of the Enchanted Times

OTHER Small ads

Enchanted Times Omnibus

#1 (September 2011) - re-issuing the best bits from out of print issues ET#1 and ET#2

EDITORIAL Big Bad Wolf / Judging a Book by its Cover

STORY The Ugliest Duckling

STORY Look Before You Leap - the Frog Prince revisited

STORY Lost and Found - the Princess and the Pea revisited

PROJECT Red Riding Hood cross stitch chart - adapted from illustration by Jennie Harbour

PROJECT Princess and the Pea cross stitch chart (revised from earlier edition)

PROJECT Baba Yaga Escape kit, pre-enchanted tags

OTHER Small ads

Enchanted Times Mini #3.5 by Su Mwamba

Enchanted Times Mini

#0.5 - peas in our time (July 2011)

EDITORIAL announcement of the royal engagement including

first public appearance of the bruised Princess

a warning from the Enchantments Protection Agency regarding a proliferation of blemish agents on the black marketplace

a few words with the Queen's Gardener, Herr Mendel, about varieties of Pea

PROJECT revised chart for Princess & Pea cross stitch pattern previously available in Enchanted Times #1

OTHER Small ad from an Enchanted Times sponsor

#2.5 - the sweetest thing? (November 2011)

EDITORIAL addressing such issues as:

the Gingerbread Man's reputation as a potential psychopathic killer

the Fast-As-You-Can Courier Company's practice of rehabilitating escaped Gingerbread Men

Hans & Greta March's growing 'monopoly' of the Enchanted Realms' commercial sector

OTHER free sachet of Fast-As-You-Can CoCo Cocoa

OTHER reading list of homicidal gingerbread in fiction

#3.5 vol. i - Spin! (June 2011)

FEATURE A letter to the Queen from Mr R. Stiltskin's solicitor regarding non-payment of bill for services

OTHER Small ads from Enchanted Times sponsors offering related services

printed on recycled paper embedded with flecks of golden straw

#3.5 vol. ii - Cover up! (July 2011)

FEATURE Reprint of postcard received from an Enchanted Times reporter on location in the Big City, including a heavily censored message regarding a scandal involving the Emperor

EDITORIAL A consideration of the corrupt practices of City Bureaucracy

OTHER Small ads from Enchanted Times sponsors

#3.5 vol. iii - Express delivery! (July 2011)

FREE GIFT A mini-sheet of Enchanted Realms postage stamps/labels (mail art)

EDITORIAL A special edition announcing the Enchanted Express Mail Services (EEMS) decision to make Enchanted Realms postage stamps available cross-border into the real world & consideration of EEMS' potentially controversial sponsorship deals

FEATURE Design notes on the new Enchanted Realm postage stamps

OTHER Small ads from Enchanted Times sponsors

#3.5 vol. iv - A Fair Exchange (December 2011)

FEATURE STORY A full length, limited edition preview from forthcoming ET#4

OTHER Small ads from Enchanted Times sponsors

printed on recycled paper embedded with flecks of golden straw

#3.5 vol. v - Upon Reflection (January 2012)

EDITORIAL An investigation into reports of Truth-Be-Told mirror malfunctions with case studies relating to the Snow Queen, the Emperor (& his New Clothes), and Snow White

OTHER Small ads from Enchanted Times sponsors

OTHER The search continues for "a man of diminutive stature described as "ugly, bandy-legged, and with an unpronounceable name"

#4.5 vol. i - Wolf at the Door (March 2012)

FEATURE STORY A full length, limited edition preview from forthcoming ET#5

ILLUSTRATION by Holly Mitchell, reprinted from ET#3

OTHER Small ads from Enchanted Times sponsors

OTHER Breaking news regarding a beautiful village teenager allegedly being held against her will within the country manor she shares with her betrothed (branded as 'beastly' in a letter to her father)

printed on recycled paper embedded with flecks of golden straw

External links

Enchanted Times journal

updates on & between issues, including extracts from zines, e-zine previews & additional content