When He Calls Your Name
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"When He Calls Your Name" is a 2025 fantasy short story by Catherynne M. Valente. It was first published in Uncanny Magazine.
Synopsis
When a woman's husband descends from adultery into madness, she chains him to their bed and confronts the supernatural being whose name he repeatedly chants: the red-haired, green-eyed vampire called Jolene.
Reception
"When He Calls Your Name" is a finalist for the 2026 Hugo Award for Best Novelette,[1] and was a finalist for the 2026 Locus Award for Best Novelette.[2]
Origins
Valente has stated that she had long been amused by interpreting the song ("Jolene") to mean that Jolene is a vampire, but that this punchline was not enough to support a story by itself, and thus she needed to properly construct "the emotional situation of the narrator (...), the state of her marriage, and her feelings toward Jolene herself."[3]