Nightmare Magazine Issue128, Wendy N. Wagner, ed. May 2023.
Editor Wendy N. Wagner opens the May edition by revisiting a freshman year philosophy survey course. Among other gifts, it introduced her to the concept of epistemology—which to be fair, genuinely is something that has kept people awake at night for centuries. But asking “what can we know?” and “how can we know it?” is a great kicking-off point for authors of speculative fiction, too.
On the fiction end: Primal Slap from Keith Rosson, in which Gillian’s crummy sales job sets the mood for a trip to slap therapy—the “primal slap” of the title, and sends her careening into a three-way confrontation with her estranged father and a headless wraith. The story’s competent, but the narrative’s potential is overshadowed by its politics.
The rest of the fiction was stronger: 9 Lies You Tell Yourself About Ghost Hunting, by Aimee Picchi, is a beautifully spare piece that explores poor labor-management relations involving a ghost hunter and his disposable assistants. Elena Sichrovsky’s Goodnight, Virginia Bluebells explores what happens when a serial killer parent dies, framed around a series of phone calls that build to an unsettling revelation. Both were excellent.
Poetry is represented by We Are Always Walking on Dead Things, by Emily Ruth Verona; much more beautiful than the title might suggest. There was one excerpt: The Merry Dredgers by Jeremy C. Shipp promises a visit to “a once abandoned amusement park now populated by a community of cultists.” The excerpt opens with the inner thoughts of a princess-for-hire. Cognitive dissonance ensued.
The non-fiction was consistently strong. Rae Knowles helms The H-Word, with a highly personal reflection on gaslighting, Healing Through Horror. This is also the theme of a forthcoming novel, The Stradivarius – the title is allusive. Prompted by her piece, I looked at the author’s other available short fiction and found a couple of interesting pieces with convergent themes. Rusalnaya is a finely drawn portrait of a Slavic nixie on a sexy but deadly hunt. Tacorotica: A Fire Sauce Seduction is hilariously unrefined, balanced by Backseat Driver, an exceptional short horror/crime story redolent with violence and an unhappy childhood. Knowles’ upcoming longer projects will be interesting reading. Personal trauma is often a powerful motivation for writing, and hopefully Knowles will find both lasting success and a measure of peace.
Gordon B. White interviews “Mother Horror,” aka Sadie Hartmann, a prolific horror-lit entrepreneur for whom the gore business is booming. This is a great interview, and Hartmann’s contagious enthusiasm shines through. Dawn Davis offers a fascinating look into how Keith Rosson constructed Primal Slap – ironically, I connected much better with their discussion of the story than with the story itself. Xander Odell spotlights Elena Sichrovsky with her usual style and keen insight.
Smirk factor: Plus-qu’acceptable: 1.5 pts (3 total, 2 in the short Primal Slap gets ½ point off.)
Immersion factor: Chest-high: 1.5 pts
Writing quality: High: 2 pts
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 8/10 (4 stars)
Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 156, John Joseph Adams, ed. May 2023.
This should have been subtitled “The Wole Talabi Show.” The rising Nigerian author dominates. His Saturday’s Song was the star of the included stories. Seven siblings sit “in a place beyond the boundaries of space and time” and tell stories. Yoruba nightmare god and assassin in dreams Shigidi, the co-star of Talabi’s forthcoming novel “Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon” (my thoughts on it here) makes an appearance as the vector of loss and then vengeance for a heartbroken lover. The story is excellently done, with an unexpected twist back to an earlier Talabi short story. Talabi’s a gifted writer, and the story flowed easily.
Worth reading as well are Aigner Loren Wilson’s review of Talabi’s novel, and a fascinating author spotlight on the Nigerian facilitated by Lauren Amberdine. The cumulative impact of this convinced me I needed to read the novel; I did, and was not disappointed.
With that kind of build-up, I want to avoid slipping into the rest of the magazine in a way that downplays some excellent work by the authors and editorial staff. I thought fantasy edged out sci-fi this month, but both were excellent.
SF: I was most strongly drawn to the two flash fiction pieces: Moons We Can Circumnavigate In One Day, or the Space Probe Love Story, by Natalia Theodoridou is a very short but beautiful monologue on love and space travel. The other is Sharang Biswas’ When Shiva Shattered the Time-Stream, a truly creative look at breaking up, higher-math style. Sci-fi is rounded out by She Blooms and the World is Changed from Izzy Wasserstein and Timothy Mudie’s Blood for a Stranger. Set in very different parts of the universe, they both offer strong looks at embracing the challenge of change. Both were good, and get added depth: Wasserstein and Mudie get the benefit of Laurel Amberdine’s excellent interviewing in author spotlights.
Fantasy: One Heart, Lost and Found by Kat Howard—also a spotlight author—is a scintillating tale about losing, finding and collecting coming together in an unexpected place: a magical subway car. Deborah L. Davitt ‘s The Sword, The Butterfly and the Pearl had a delicate, almost ethereal air to it; beautiful writing. And S.L. Harris’ The Belfry Keeper is a keen meditation on what happens to the caretaker of a magic academy which is left behind by changing times.
The excerpt is from Cory Doctorow’s new Red Team Blues. We meet an ageing forensic accountant with a John Madden-style motor home called the Unsalted Hash. It gets better (or worse, depending on where you come down on crypto) from there. There are also two non-Shigidi book reviews: Arley Sorg is enthused by Sara Hashem’s The Jasad Heir, which had him from the preface. “Elegant writing paired with dark but lovely imagery” is in store. Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle gets a Chris Kluwe review which highlights Tingle’s deft writing. Kluwe finds a book which has impact on multiple levels, from the surface horror to an Arendt-esque nod to the power of banality to terrorize.
Will I read any of them? Doctorow is no doubt a master, and the book seems like it has a clever premise. But tech bros? Even middle aged—maybe especially middle aged—ones? I’m on the fence. The Jasad Heir sounds delightful, and I pre-ordered it on the strength of the review. Camp Damascus also sounds promising, although again it’s maybe a little too like what I could probably get from the news, just turned up to 11. I had no doubt I’d like Talabi’s novel after reading his short story in this issue, and I did. So I’m definitely 2 for 4 for the May issue.
Smirk factor: All clear: 2pts (1 smirk only)
Immersion factor: Chest-high: 1.5pts
Writing quality: High: 2 pts
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 8.5/10 (4.25 stars, rounded to 5)
Dark Void Magazine, Issue 3, Benjamin DeHaan May 02
Third time out for this newish biannual. Star Bound, by Mob, opens with Earth’s first interstellar voyage awakening the crew somewhere they shouldn’t be, amidst things that shouldn’t be happening. It’s going to take more than an EVA to figure out this Kubrick-esque first contact. Symbiogenesis, Fractured from Rachel Searcey also starts with a reluctant awakening from sleep to find a horrifying threat, ending in a grim reassertion of pilot and ship’s unity. More is Ron Sander’s exploration of what happens when miners arrive on a planet which turns out to be able to defend itself. But is the planet ready for all that humanity has shown itself capable of when provoked? Unga Ta Bunga by Kemal Onor tells a long and winding tale of captivity and discovery at the universe’s sunset. This has no action as such, and its force comes from deeply reflective writing.
All of these are good, and I liked them all, although for different reasons. Unga Ta Bunga took two readings to sink in; the others were simpler to digest but offered really good entertainment. The only thing I’m not happy about is with Issue 3 is that I have to wait six months for another batch of this goodness.
Smirk factor: All clear: 2pts
Immersion factor: Chest-high: 1.5pts
Writing quality: Above average: 1.5 pts
Character/plot development: Above average: 1.5 pts
Innovative/interesting: Above average: 1.5 pts
Total: 8/10
The Dark Magazine, Issue 96, Clara Madrigano and Sean Wallace, eds. May 2023
Another month of this slim but always-pleasing collection. The issue leads with A Toitele from Celia Rostow. Rochel reconnects with her sister-in-law, Chana, who left their tight-knit Jewish community behind for the lights of Krakow and then Paris. The only problem is that Chana’s dead. Stirring and subtle story of ghosts and seduction. Jenny Greenteeth by Alison Littlewood introduces us to an evacuee from the Blitz. Shipped from London to a farm, she finds shelter from war—and makes a deal with darkness. The Inside is Always Entrails, by Fernanda Castro offers a zodiac-themed descent into the madness of a perverse taxidermy project. Michael Harris Cohen’s The Words Beneath explores words that lead to madness, fixation and the loss of a lover with a graveyard fixation.
All great stories, carefully and lovingly crafted and selected with care. Dark, chilling and compelling reading.
Smirk factor: All clear: 2pts (Cromulent word choices abound.)
Immersion factor: Full-body: 2 pts (Zipped through from start to finish…)
Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 8.5/10 (4.25 stars, rounded up)