Black Static Issue 34

by Andy Cox (Editor), Lynda E. Rucker, Nina Allan

Black Static is essentially a fiction magazine containing short stories in the horror and dark fantasy genres. But it covers other aspects of the genre via reviews of books, movies, DVDs and TV.


The issue's artists are Ben Baldwin (cover & interior), Martin Hanford, Tara Bush, Richard Wagner and Joachim Luetke.


Peter Tennant's Case Notes reviews 3 books from Mark Morris; 'Long Shadows, Nightmare Light', 'Vampire Circus' and 'It Sustains' before Pete interviews Mark.
After that come reviews of Stephen Volk's Whitstable, wherein Peter Cushing is the hero, 2 graphic novels; 'Interview with the Vampire:Claudia’s Story and 'Adamtine', John Llewellyn Probert's latest ('Ward 19' and 'The House That Death Built'). Then 2 tributes to Stephen King get a once over from Pete. (The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book and The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book)
Pete also reviews 2 chapbooks; 'Creakers' by Paul Kane & 'The Fox' by Conrad Williams and 7 of Darkfuse Novellas' most recent 'Snowblind' & 'F9' by Michael McBride, 'Clockwork Dolls' by William Meikle , 'Children of No One' by Nicole Cushing, 'The Mourning House' by Ronald Malfi, 'House of Rain' by Greg F. Gigune and 'Stalking You Now' by Jeff Strand.


Mike O'Driscoll's TV column finds fault with 'The Following' but likes Lorna Jowett and Stacey Abbott's view of the relationship between television and horror in their book 'TV Horror'.


Tony Lee's DVD reviews this issue:
SLEEP TIGHT, THE ECHO, BAIT, THE COLLECTION, SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED, WHITE TIGER, SLICE & DICE: THE SLASHER, FILM FOREVER, TRUE BLOOD SEASON FIVE, THE HIDDEN FACE, SCANNERS, SCANNERS II: THE NEW ORDER, SCANNERS III: THE TAKEOVER, BLOOD SIMPLE, EVIL DEAD 2, KNIGHTRIDERS, BARON BLOOD and THE FACILITY


SF Revu at www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=1...


More about Black Static at www.thisishorror.co.uk/features/black...

Magazine

First published June 14, 2013

Reviews

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I plant my flag into the apex of this set of stories as a gestalt and feel paradoxically elated that I’ve climbed them simply because they were there.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.

[Blair]

Read Nina Allan's story 'The Nightingale'. Predictably, I loved it – actually, I preferred this to some of the stories in Stardust, which was published around the same time. Riffing on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale of the same name, it centres on Grace, an artist who creates elaborate mechanical props for films and TV. Grace has also used a wheelchair since she broke her back falling from a building. And this accident, or suicide attempt, or whatever it was, is all bound up with someone called Billiam who Grace says 'never existed as a physical fact. He lived in my head'. I loved Grace and was captivated by her story – as with many of Allan's protagonists, her past is sketched out allegorically through what may be fantasy, or may be supernatural. (There are also connections between this and two other Allan stories, 'Wilkolak' and 'The Tiger'.)

I also read Joel Lane's story 'In This Blue Shade'. Significantly shorter than Allan's, it's a gripping and effectively dark tale, but a little too brief to properly make its mark.