Uncanny Magazine Issue 60: September/October 2024

Uncanny Magazine #60

by Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas (editor), Natalia Theodoridou

The September/October 2024 issue of Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine.

Featuring new fiction by Natalia Theodoridou, Eddie Robson, Angela Liu, Tananarive Due, M.M. Olivas, Jo Miles, and Marissa Lingen. Essays by Sophie Aldred, Yamile Saied Méndez, John Scalzi, and LaShawn M. Wanak, poetry by Prosper C. Ìféányí, Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Angel Leal, and Mikal Wix, interviews with Angela Liu and M.M. Olivas by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by John Picacio, and an editorial by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.

Uncanny Magazine is a bimonthly science fiction and fantasy magazine first published in November 2014. Edited by 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 Hugo award winners for best semiprozine, and 2018 Hugo award winners for Best Editor, Short Form, Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, Betsy Aoki, and Monte Lin, each issue of Uncanny includes new stories, poetry, articles, and interviews.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fantasy

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

In my day job, I am the Head of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library and Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Rare Book and Manuscript Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the largest public university rare book collections in the country. I used to manage pop culture special collections that include the papers of over 70 SF/F authors at Northern Illinois University. I also teach a Special Collections course as an adjunct in the iSchool at Illinois, and used to do so at SJSU.

I'm an eleven-time Hugo Award winner, the Co-Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Uncanny Magazine with my husband Michael Damian Thomas. The former Editor-in-Chief of Apex Magazine (2011-2013), I co-edited the Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords, Whedonistas, and Chicks Dig Comics. I moderated the Hugo-Award winning SF Squeecast and contribute to the Verity! Podcast. You can learn more about my shenanigans at lynnemthomas.com.

Reviews

[Kaia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This issue was good overall, but to me, there weren’t any real standout stories. (I also had one DNF story.) The ones I liked most were:

-“A Stranger Knocks” - perfect for October, as it’s a spooky one
-“A Menu of First Favorite Meals”
-“The Wrong Time Travel Story”

I also liked all of the poems in this one.

[Sussu {Romance Obsessed} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since there's no separate one for Another Girl under the Iron Bell....5 stars for that

[Cheng Bogdani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cursed Moon Queers by Natalia Theodoridou ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Melancholy and kind of cute at the same time. I'm not sure what the author was trying to say, but she made a great world out of feelings and strands of the current socio-political crises.

The 6% Squeeze by Eddie Robson ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vague shades of the movie "Brazil", but lensed through the creative gig economy. Top-notch wordsmithing but the plot was predictable.

Another Girl Under the Iron Bell by Angela Liu ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a properly done human/demon story. I'd read a full novelization based on these characters. The world building was impeccable - sparsely worded with just enough structure to let me fill in the details. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

A Stranger Knocks by Tananarive Due ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such a great premise - three-way emotional tension and an otherworldly monster, and I really wanted to like this story - but the execution fell a bit flat for me, it was missing some critical emotional impact. I feel like this is the first couple chapters of a novella; the story even references difficult endings within itself - and the ending itself was abrupt and unsatisfying.

Scalzi on Film: 20th Century Cinematic Science Fiction Starter Pack by John Scalzi ⭐️⭐️
Film buff shares another 'top scifi movies you need to see list'. Nothing especially interesting, new or noteworthy we haven't seen on these lists before. I have seen nearly all the movies mentioned and I don't feel like I need fill in the blanks.

Bechdel test? YES
Mako Mori test? YES
Vito Russo test? YES
Latif test? YES

Reading Level: adult
Romance: meh
Smut: no
Violence: not really
TW: homophobia, transphobia, mind control

Kindle only? NO

[Amy Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is specifically for "Another Girl Under the Iron Bell" ... and after reading it, I still don't understand the title. *shrugs*

Flesh-eating demons aren't generally my thing, but this story was exquisitely crafted and worded, and I quite enjoyed it. The jumping back and forth between moments was a bit disorienting at first, but it call came together for a massive payoff at the end. Recommended.

And another one from this issue made it onto my roster: "A Stranger Knocks".

Very impressive. A black couple in the nineteen-twenties gets hired by a maybe-part-black-but-white-passing stranger-except-when-he's-not to drive him around and help him show his movie in various theaters. I kind of wanted more, but unless it's going to turn into a whole novel, that was probably the right place to end it.

[Patrick Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5, but rounded up.

"A Stranger Knocks" by Tananarive Due was very fun.
"A Menu of First Favorite Meals" by Jo Miles felt very real.
"Another Girl Under the Iron Bell" by Angela Liu had a good edge to it.

[alanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The highlights for me were "Another Girl Under the Iron Bell" by Angela Liu and "¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror" by M. M. Olivas.

[Cynthia Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended

[Zoe]

Nebula award nominee for best novelette:
“Another Girl Under the Iron Bell” by Angela Liu - pretty good

[Thia Reads A Lot]

Not a memorable issue for me.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag. The standout was the contribution by Tananarive Due.

[MollyK]

https://www.uncannymagazine.com/issue...
¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror by M. M. Olivas
A Stranger Knocks by Tananarive Due