A new short story collection from Publishing Goblin, featuring stories from the world of the Alleyman. Follow Jimmy & Alexcia, find out what happened to Juli & Kent, what does Dr. Okoye get up to? Meet new creatures, friends, foes, and more.
Every day we ride the bus, commute through the morning traffic, and wonder at the strange isolation we feel. In the city, we wake up and leave our home, surrounded by hundreds of other people, but feeling on our own path. We take the same route, the same routine. Still we wonder, looking out the window at passing store fronts... Then we get off the bus. We walk those last four blocks to work. Then we stop at an alley. We see two workers talking back there at their back doors, separated by a gulf of pavement. We wonder what worlds they have in those doors they have propped open. Strange spaces we don't know, we never see. We wonder if we go there what they might show us. What worlds we might come to know.
Then we continue on our path. But what if we didn't? What if there was something strange and fantastic waiting in that alley? Come then, and join us here.
Art of the Alley by Sam Dow, art of the Alleyman by Reid Aster/Kollapsar.
In 2021, the Alleyman's tarot funded on Kickstarter, breaking records and blowing up the tarot world. It started from a simple idea, an alleyway scam artist who has a strange, mismatched tarot deck in hand. It's worn out, every card from a different tarot deck, some not even tarot cards at all. For 17 cents, he will read your fate, and it will have a pressing importance on your life right now. Then I made the deck real with 131 other artists, not having them make new cards for it, but helping create the artifact-- licensing cards from their already made tarot decks, from museums old decks, from public use, and then some originals from myself and a handful of others.
Then the story came to life through the Alleyman Podcast. Thirteen episodes of Dr. Ala Okoye, a religious studies professor in Chicago, exploring the myth of the Alleyman through his study and research of the stories about this strange, wandering being.
And now, an anthology of stories from the world of The Alleyman myth. Wonder what the studious Dr. Okoye has been up to since the end of the podcast? Or curious about the strangely supernatural Jimmy and Alexcia, who came in for the Alleyway podcast's pilot? Or if you're a reader of the Patreon stories, want to know what happens to Kent and Juli?
Or if you're new to all of this, or only know the tarot, perhaps you're curious how far the alley wanders from the street. If you do take a break from your routine, and step down that strange space between buildings, between stories, just where might it take you?
In this book, you'll find a weaving storyline following Jimmy Talon and Alexcia Koslov prior to the pilot episode of the Alleyway Podcast around other character's stories, exploring characters you may already know, ones you had no idea could exist in this world, and a lead up to the Alleyway Podcast's story to come later.
We will have a really fancy cover illustration coming in for the anthology beyond the one we've put together here.
UNLOCKED $5,000
A tarot-card bookmark will be included with orders of physical copies of Tales From the Alley with new art!
UNLOCKED $6,000
A second tarot-card bookmark will be included with orders of physical copies of Tales From the Alley with new art!
UNLOCKED $8000
A new story is being written to go in the collection with backers' help! Answer the regular polls in the updates and help us decide what this story will be about, who will be featured, and what kind of ending it might have!
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Setup with a card table, a homeless man has three playing cards on a table, shuffling them around to an empty audience. The gas station was one of those with the mechanics garage on the side of it, but the lights over the garage door were out, and that's where this man set up.
"I didn't see him when we arrived." Lexi notes quietly.
"And we care why?" Jimmy asks, gesturing to the car he wants to get back in.
Without waiting for support, Alexcia heads over to the man. Before Jimmy even arrives at her side, she's already playing Find the Queen, or whatever it's called. Jimmy tries to not draw magic up around waking mortals, those not in-the-know, but he hates games like these. The magic here is not free-flowing at all, and after gathering, he finds only a single card in his hand. He keeps it as his side, out of sight for the scam artist behind the table, and peeks down at it. Ace of Spaces. If you think that's lucky on a random pull from a potential 52 cards, you'd be right. That's because in addition to being a Descender (Scender/Sender for short), a mage with power over demons and their realm, Jimmy is also a Gambler. Luck magic.
Each mage has their own card style, given to them by Lady Luck herself. It reflects the person in an open and sometimes embarrassing way. If Jimmy had to show his deck to other people he'd cringe, but deep inside, he knows the overly black and red flames and sharp points on his cards are his true aesthetic, even if it looks like a bad black metal band's album cover.
In any case, an Ace is what he needed. In a quiet red glow, the card burns away in his hand as he sends a gambler's luck over to Lexi for the game.
Alexcia is staring directly into the eyes of the scam artist. A dirty older man, three layers of hoodies and coats puffing him up, but not seeming to slow his movements any. She tracks the cards perfectly in her peripheral, watching for a tell in his eyes as he inevitably slips the Queen out of the three cards. It never comes. Without looking down, she tags the Queen.
The man flips the card. It's a black jack. Alexcia breaks her stare to look at it. Definitely not red, definitely not a queen. She smirks, then smiles.
"Respect." She turns to leave the table, even as Jimmy is about to ask what happened.
"One each." The man croaks. "But never the same."
Alexcia slows to a stop, then turns. The man is looking at Jimmy now.
"Seventeen cents." He asks of Jimmy.
Jimmy looks rather dumbly at Lexi as he reaches into his pockets, about to say he doesn't carry change, when he finds four coins. Pulling them out in his palm, he counts. Dime, nickel, two pennies.
"What do ya know?" He slaps them on the table. "Alright, I'll play. So I'm watching the Queen, right?"
"No." The man says shortly, slipping the cards away and instead, from inside his coat, he pulls out a thicker, bigger deck of cards. Without asking a question, he effortlessly shuffles the pile. It must be two hundred or more cards, bigger than playing cards. He seems to be shuffling them face-up-- or no-- the card backs are all different. The shuffle is hypnotic. Jimmy sees a flash of something metallic in there. Blue, green, red, black. Some card edges don't match up. No, it's smaller cards. A folded dollar. A polaroid. It stops moving, stops shuffling, and the man sets it on the table, planting a poker chip on top.
Jimmy looks up from the shuffled deck a bit dazed. The man is looking at the table. Jimmy looks down. There are three cards, dealt face up in a fan. A Three of Wands (upside down), The Hanged Man, and... Weird-Ass Mystical Shit?
"Tarot cards..." Jimmy mutters.
"Mostly." The man replies.
"What does that one--" Jimmy starts to ask, chuckling.
"A woman alone passes through halls of dream. She once had freedom there, now she is locked away, chained to that which once felt like home. She wanders not because of place, but because of sense of hopelessness. A sense of uncertainty. Pervasive. And something to do with weird ass, mystical shit."
Jimmy hears the words, but also a dull hum. He realizes he can't hear the crickets beyond the gas station anymore. He looks up at the man's eyes. Weren't they gray? Now this deep brown, almost black. He can't help but feel like they so much look like Juli's eyes.
Then it hits him at once. Juli hasn't been calling around for a bit. Who else could a woman, lost in dreams be?
"What else?" Jimmy asks, setting his hands on the table, leaning over the cards again. "Flip some more."
"You gotta take the chip."
"What?"
"Gotta take the chip. Wager with fate to see what else she has."
Jimmy stutters a second, then blinks and looks between the man and the cards. He has a sense both that the deck itself has answers he could find out by returning to Chicago, but it also had a weight on top. Gamblers have to consider the weight of fate every day. Jimmy's never died, no matter how bad the wounds have been. Can't die. Deal with dad, and all. But there are fates worse than death. The more a Gambler steals their future luck to make things go better for them in the present, the worse things can get later. He stares at that poker chip.
"The Alley's Casino." He says quietly, reading it. "Sorry," he looks up at the man. "I've got enough deals with fate going on already."
At this time, the book is intended to print and ship out by February 2026. If this moves sooner or later, you'll be made aware of it in regular updates! You'll be charged shipping closer to the shipping date, as that way I can make sure the costs are closer to the actual costs. But you can find estimates below!
Shipping costs!
United States | 1 Book $6 [] 2 Books $7 [] 3 Books $10 *Using Media mail.
International Canada | 1 Book $25 [] More Books $35 United Kingdom | 1 Book $30 [] More Books $50 Australia | 1 Book $30 [] More Books $50 Netherlands | 1 Book $40 [] More Books $50
*Please note, this is only the cost of the shipping, and does not include VAT or other taxes. These are accurate as of 11/11/25 based on pricing I have directly from my shipping app. International shipping does just cost a great deal, please be aware of this if pledging from outside the US.
Seven Dane Asmund is The Publishing Goblin, the designer and writer behind all things here and 27 other successful projects besides. Seven has also designed the Goblin's Oracle Dice, The Hot Housewives Tarot, The Misery Tarot, as well as put together the Alleyman's Tarot and Alleyway Oracles, and so much more. As a queer designer, author, and business owner, 7 really wants to center the importance of being openly queer at a time when it's more important than ever.
Who to contact: [email protected] -- For inquiries about your pledge or items on offer.
Refunds I will refund any pledges within 30 days of the campaign's finish date no questions asked, from December 3rd to January 3rd, 2026. After that time, no refunds will be granted for any reason, and if you choose not to fill out your survey or pay shipping on time, your pledged amount will be considered a donation towards the project.
Fulfillmentand Survey Deadline Once the first wave of backer items has been sent out around the world for people who get their surveys and shipping charges in on time*, remaining backers will have 30 moredays to complete surveys to then receive their rewards. Any who do not dosoin that time forfeit their rewards, and funds they paid into the project are considered donations to the project. As noted in refunds, no refunds will be made at thattime for people who do not get their surveys in.
*Thiswill be made clear in updates when we know for sure that we're moving to shipping, and will be clarified in multiple updates prior to starting the 30 day final reward claim timer.
Damagedor Missing Items, Lost or Misdelivered Packages You will have 30 days after your package arrivesto you to report to [email protected] if you need replacement items or have missing items in your order. For packages that go missing, you will have 45 days after the item is sent (60 for international packages) to report lost or misdelivered packages to have us resend or follow up on the items.
Backersare responsible for providing proper and up to date email addresses on Backerkit, and for reading updates as they come out to inform them of this information and the deadline dates. Tracking info will be automatically sent to provided email addresses, and it is the backer's responsibility to followup on their packages should problems arise.
Backing this project is a pledge of support to the project itself, it is not the purchasing of items. I will be doing everything I can to deliver all pledged items as part of fulfilling this project with your help, and have a track record of a dozen plus projects of doing so, but there is no 100% guarantee that you'll receive your items with crowdfunding. By pledging you are recognizing this and agreeing to it.
