Midnight Echo Issue 8

by Mark Farrugia (Editor), Kathryn Hore, Matt Wedge

Midnight Echo is the official magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association.

Midnight Echo magazine is released in a limited print edition and in digital format (epub, mobi, and PDF), and contains 130 pages of horror (or dark) fiction, poetry, art, comics, book releases, and more! Visit us at www.midnightechomagazine.com

ISSUE 8
Table of Contents:

Literature

A Visit With Friends by Joe R Lansdale
The Girl from the Borderlands by Felicity Dowker
Blissful Ignorance by Matt Wedge
Hello Kitty by Jason Nahrung
Jar Baby by Michelle Jager (with artwork by Glenn Chadbourne)
The Boy With the Hole in his Heart by Caysey Sloan
They Don’t Know That We Know What They Know by Andrew J McKiernan
Squirrely Shirley by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee (with artwork by David Schembri)
Always A Price by Joanne Anderton (AHWA Short Story winner 2012)
Blood Lillies by Shauna O’Meara (AHWA Flash Fiction winner 2012)
Tooth by Kathryn Hore
Pigroot Flat by Jason Fischer

Poetry

Gallows & Blooms by Andrew Alford
Insatiable by Stuart Olver
Coming Home by Marge Simon and Sandy DeLuca

Comic

Allure of the Ancients; The Key to His Kingdom - story by Mark Farrugia, illustrations by Greg Chapman

Special Features

In the Art, The Dark: Glen Chadbourne
Facts, fiction and fevers by Gary Kemble (non-fiction)
An Interview with Jack Ketchum
An Interview with Lee Battersby

Regular Features

A Word from the AHWA President - Geoff Brown
Tartarus - Danny Lovecraft (poetry column)
Pix and Panels – Mark Farrugia (comic column)
Black Roads, Dark Highways #3 – Andrew McKiernan (column)*
Sinister Reads (all the latest releases from AHWA members)

Genres: Horror

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The blood encrusted pages of Midnight Echo #8 are dripping with the stuff of nightmares and are laced with a chilling realism that is equally as terrifying as the fantastical images the short stories conjure. Comprising a ghoulish smorgasbord of some of today’s best in the business and a plethora of talented up and comers, the fiction is nothing short of top class. Bookend by a couple of zombie tales, the first a post outbreak event where the definition of monsters is clouded by the actions of the living showcases Joe R. Lansdale’s craftsmanship and fine appreciation of the genre by taking it to another level altogether. While PIGROOT FLAT by Jason Fischer flips the script on zombie horror by introducing an all too real horror amidst the dust and desolate Australian outback. I particularly liked the living dead in PIGROOT FLAT as being objectified as mere obstacles while the true horror flourishes behind the face of the living.

“She looked at him, her eyes bruises, her mouth and open wound, and screamed mutely. He didn’t hear her, but saw the bloody trail she left in her wake.” – THE GIRL FROM THE BORDERLANDS

In between the zombie mayhem lays tales of overzealous religious beliefs crossing the line towards the sketchy realm of insanity in BLISSFUL IGNORANCE by Matt Wedge, a distilled look at motherhood where trouble is alluded to through a veil of the surreal in JAR BABY by Michelle Jager, a terrorist interrogation spliced with horror in THEY DONT KNOW THAT WE KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW by Andrew J McKiernan, and a hard knock life look at the underprivileged and unwanted youth in THE BOY WITH THE HOLE IN HIS HEART by Caysey Sloan amongst others.

While all of these stories are decent reads, the best of a good bunch include THE GIRL FROM THE BORDERLANDS by Felicity Dowker which manages to convey the depth and detailed character driven story typically achieved through longer formats. HELLO KITTY by Jason Nahrung is an extremist portrait of the criminally insane where reality crosses the line towards batsh!t crazy. Joanne Anderton’s ALWAYS A PRICE requires a suspension of reality to afford the reader the luxury of getting lost in a world viewed through a veil of blood red horror. Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee’s SQUIRRELY SHIRLEY is more noir than horror yet provides the highlight by means of a former adulterer turned mass murderer in glorious gun toting fashion. TOOTH by Kathryn Hore puts the fear back into the dentist visit by way of a monstrous dark presence showing itself in alien-like fashion – one of the surprise stories of the collection and very enjoyable to read.

Spread throughout Midnight Echo #8 are poems, interviews (Jack Ketchum talks about his most renowned book THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, while Lee Battersby discusses his debut THE CORPSE-RAT KING and provides a glimpse towards his later projects), a comic, and standing features all giving the reader a healthy dose of the darkness. There are also promo slots for new Aussie horror books which have added to my ever growing TBR pile.

Midnight Echo #8 is a solid read from cover to cover. The folks responsible for this mag know their horror and are giving readers what they want. True to the editorial, Midnight Echo delivers hard edged horror across a number of mediums with terrifyingly good results.

“There’s all sorts in the lonely dark...” – TOOTH

This review also appears on my blog http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...

[Martin Livings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent issue of Midnight Echo. My favourite stories were the last few, particularly Shauna O'Meara's "Blood Lilies", Kathryn Hore's "Tooth", and Jason Fischer's "Pigroot Flat". But the rest of the stories were very good too!

[David Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the last year, Journalstone publishing has grown to be a major publisher of horror and speculative fiction in the United States. Over the last year they have published several new novels, taken over the Hell Notes horror blog and bought Dark Discoveries Magazine. In addition to that they also have become the US distributor for Midnight Echo, the official magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association.

Midnight Echo issue 8 has just been released and has something that all horror fans will like. It contains 130 pages of dark literature, poetry, comics, interviews, art work, editorials, book reviews and non fiction pieces on mysterious locations in Australia. Just looking through Midnight Echo magazine, you can see that it was a labor of love to put this magazine together. The artwork is beautiful and the writing is excellent. The Australian Horror Writers Association does a great job of promoting horror art and literature in Australia, and they prove it in this magazine.

There are 12 short stories in this magazine with subjects ranging from zombies to an insane over protective mother. One of my favorite stories was A Visit With Friends by Joe R Lansdale. This story takes place in the future when people who didn’t get flu shots start to turn into zombies. There are four main characters, two of them have started to trap zombies and torture them which leads the other two to decide if the zombies deserve compassion or are they mindless creatures. I loved how the end leaves the reader thinking about what is morally right or wrong.

Another good story here is Blissful Ignorance by Matt Wedge which is about a very religious, overprotective mother and is told from a young girl’s prospective. The ending of this one is shocking and may be hard to read if your a guy. A lot of the the stories in Midnight Echo are by Australian writers or take place in Australia. I think this makes Midnight Echo different then other horror magazines and gave things a local flavor.

Issue 8 of Midnight Echo also contains 3 poems and an article on understanding poetry written by Charles Lovecraft. Since I find most poetry goes over my head, I found the article very helpful. Other non fiction material in Midnight Echo includes an article about diseases in horror films written by Gary Kemble, an art column that explores the world of horror comics and interviews with Jack Ketchum, Lee Battersby and Glen Chadbourne.

The people who put together Midnight Echo aren’t satisfied with bringing you fiction and interviews, they also have some great artwork by Glen Chadbourne , Chris Mars, who did the cover and David Schembri. The magazine also includes an ongoing comic series about vampires called Allure Of The Ancients, The Key To His Kingdom written by Mark Farrugia and illustrated by Greg Chapman.

Looking through the pages of Midnight Echo magazine, its obvious that everyone involved in the creation of the magazine has a passion for what they do. In the opening of issue 8 the editors say they want to publish “hard-edged-horror that pushed the boundaries and also blurred the distinction between right and wrong. ” I think they have succeeded in making readers feel scared and entertained at the same time. Midnight Echo is a magazine for horror lovers by horror lovers and I think if your into horror you should give this magazine a shot.

Midnightechomagazine.com

Australianhorror.com

[Cameron Trost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Midnight Echo has delivered the goods once again with an issue packed full of dark fiction, poetry, artwork, articles, reviews, and interviews. I was pleased with all of the content but there were just a handful of pieces that really made an impact on me and pushed me to give the issue a rating of four stars... Felicity Dowker's "The Girl from the Borderlands" is a very powerful piece which is written in a biographical style and thrusts the life of a troubled girl in the reader's face, "Jar Baby" by Michelle Jager and "Always a Price" (for which Joanne Anderton won the 2012 AHWA Short Story Comp) both hit hard and give the reader food for thought, and Kathryn Hore's "Tooth" was a classic horror tale and definitely the urghiest (if you know what mean) of this issue.

[Stephanie]

Stories read for consideration in the Aurealis Awards. Review forthcoming after the awards.

[Holly France · Rating 5 out of 5]

In fairness, I only read one story from this compilation. Blissful Ignorance by Matt Wedge is so haunting, disturbing and wonderful that it alone is worthy of five stars.