Black Static Issue 53

Black Static

by Andy Cox (Editor), Tara Bush (Illustrator), Stephen Volk

The July–August issue contains 'Inheritance, or The Ruby Tear', a novelette by Priya Sharma, plus stories by Steve Rasnic Tem, Harmony Neal, Kristi DeMeester, Danny Rhodes, Stephen Hargadon, and Charles Wilkinson. The cover art is by Tara Bush, with interior illustrations by Tara Bush and Richard Wagner. Features: Coffinmaker's Blues by Stephen Volk (comment); Notes From the Borderland by Lynda E. Rucker (comment); Case Notes by Peter Tennant (book reviews); Blood Spectrum by Gary Couzens (DVD/Blu-ray reviews).


Cover Art:


'Transition' by Tara Bush


Fiction:


Inheritance, or The Ruby Tear by Priya Sharma
illustrated by Tara Bush


Breathing by Steve Rasnic Tem
illustrated by Richard Wagner


Dare by Harmony Neal


The Rim of the World by Kristi DeMeester


Tohoku by Danny Rhodes


Mittens by Stephen Hargadon
illustrated by Richard Wagner


In the Frame by Charles Wilkinson


Comment:


Coffinmaker's Blues by Stephen Volk


Notes From the Borderland by Lynda E. Rucker


Reviews:


Case Notes: Book Reviews by Peter Tennant
THEMED ANTHOLOGIES: Reality Bites edited by Alex Davis, Dead Water edited by Len Maynard Mick Sims, Jews Versus Zombies edited by Rebecca Levine Lavie Tidhar, Darkest Minds edited by Ross Warren Anthony Watson EPISODES FROM ANOTHER WORLD: Storylandia #15 by Julie Travis, Lost Cartographies by Cyril Simsa CLIVE BARKER: The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker, Midian Unmade edited by Joseph Nassise Del Howison, Voices of the Damned by Barbie Wilde, Horrorology edited by Stephen Jones


Blood Spectrum: DVD/Blu-ray Reviews by Gary Couzens
The Witch, Penda's Fen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Goosebumps, The Hound of the Baskervilles, That Cold Day in the Park, Journey to the Shore, Evolution, Night of Fear, Inn of the Damned, Me and My Mates vs the Zombie Apocalypse, The Club, Even Lambs Have Teeth, Cherry Tree, The Ones Below, Visions, Baskin, i-Lived, The Forest, Intruders

Genres: Horror

Magazine

First published July 1, 2016

Reviews

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are several other richly imaginative audit trails and leitmotifs in this relatively brief gestalt of a text. I shall just choose one audit trail for my purpose, the one of seeking signposts to resume a friendship via oblique invitations to an art gallery in an obscure backwater town, after that friend’s sister broke some rule of suicide by inconveniencing others (mostly strangers) through that very suicide. We follow this unmapped soul via supermarket and bowling alley, via an exhibition of blank nemonymous paintings depicting “absence”, shading into a light touch that is noticeable behind the blankness or whiteness, a touch reaching towards an eventual meaning of shapes in the later paintings. Then within the gutter itself of the bowling alley… To reach beneath the skin. Skittled out. Needled out. One gutter of directive significance chosen, while many others then prick out the more one allows the text to haunt you.
“We collaborate and then exhibit anonymously.”
….as do all these stories, without truly knowing they collaborate.

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.

[Dyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some wonderfully weird stories in this edition!

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual mix of quality horror stories with a literary bent that Black Static can be depended on to provide. The standout, and my favorite this issue, is "Breathing" by Steve Rasnic Tem where a widower is haunted by the sound of breathing. Tem can make a subconscious automatic action take on a life of its own. Runner-up to the Tem story is "Tohoku" by Danny Rhodes also about a widower who's trying to reconnect with his wife after a tsunami engulfs her. "Dare" by Harmony Neal is a disturbing tale of three bored, privileged teenage girls trying to out-do each other with grisly results. "In The Frame" by Charles Wilkinson is a strange accounting of yet another male widower (seems like a theme this issue) who visits an unusual members-only secretive art gallery. There are three other stories this issue, all good quality, along with the usual columns, book and movie reviews.

[Steven Dines · Rating 3 out of 5]

This issue was a mixed bag in terms of the short fiction. My favourite stories were 'Tohoku' by Danny Rhodes and 'Mittens' by Stephen Hargadon.