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Apex Magazine #102
Apex Magazine Issue 102
EDITORIAL
Words from the Editor-in-Chief by Jason Sizemore
FICTION
An Unexpected Boon by S.B. Divya
Untilted by K.A. Teryna
The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft by Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt
NONFICTION
Between the Lines with Laura Zats and Erik Hane
Page Advice with Mallory O’Meara and Brea Grant
The Sublet, Terrifyingly Familiar: A Feature and Interview with Director John Ainslie by Lesley Conner (11/24)
Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review with A.C. Wise (11/30)
INTERVIEWS
Interview with Author S.B. Divya by Andrea Johnson
Interview with Cover Artist Max Mitenkov by Russell Dickerson (11/28)
Words from the Editor-in-Chief by Jason Sizemore
FICTION
An Unexpected Boon by S.B. Divya
Untilted by K.A. Teryna
The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft by Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt
NONFICTION
Between the Lines with Laura Zats and Erik Hane
Page Advice with Mallory O’Meara and Brea Grant
The Sublet, Terrifyingly Familiar: A Feature and Interview with Director John Ainslie by Lesley Conner (11/24)
Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review with A.C. Wise (11/30)
INTERVIEWS
Interview with Author S.B. Divya by Andrea Johnson
Interview with Cover Artist Max Mitenkov by Russell Dickerson (11/28)
122 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2017
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Jason Sizemore
120 books115 followersI was born the son of an unemployed coal miner in a tiny Kentucky Appalachian villa named Big Creek (population 400). It’s an isolated area with beautiful rolling hills, thick forests, and country folk. I lived in Big Creek until I went to college, spending my weekends cruising the Winn Dixie parking lot of ladies, partying in my cousin’s run-down three room trailer, and being a member of the bad-ass Clay County High School Academic Team.
College was quite a shock for me. Girls! Minorities! Strip clubs! And it didn’t help that I attended Transylvania University, a fairly snotty (but excellent) private college in Lexington, KY (on scholarship… no way my family could have sent me otherwise). I graduated in the standard four years with a degree in Computer Science.
Since 1996, I’ve worked for evil corporations (IBM), dot com dreamers (eCampus.com), The Man (both city and state government), and for The Kids (KY Dept. of Education), and assholes (lots and lots of assholes).
In 2004, I decided my life was boring, that I no longer needed disposable income, and I needed to increase my stress levels. I started Apex Publications, a small press publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. At first it was just a small print zine, then a pro-level online zine, then books, and then ebooks.
I edit anthologies, mostly for Apex (because I’m a control freak). I occasionally do copy editing (when pressed) and have done plenty of acquisition editing over the years.
I also write. I don’t really write enough to leave a mark, but it seems to go well when I do put pen to paper.
Miscellaneous facts about me: left-handed, blue eyes, super geeky, hillbilly accent, near-sighted, and typically in a goofy mood.
Also, and most importantly, I’m not the drunkard all those Facebook photos makes me out to be. It just happens that cameras are always around when I… have libations. Honest!
College was quite a shock for me. Girls! Minorities! Strip clubs! And it didn’t help that I attended Transylvania University, a fairly snotty (but excellent) private college in Lexington, KY (on scholarship… no way my family could have sent me otherwise). I graduated in the standard four years with a degree in Computer Science.
Since 1996, I’ve worked for evil corporations (IBM), dot com dreamers (eCampus.com), The Man (both city and state government), and for The Kids (KY Dept. of Education), and assholes (lots and lots of assholes).
In 2004, I decided my life was boring, that I no longer needed disposable income, and I needed to increase my stress levels. I started Apex Publications, a small press publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. At first it was just a small print zine, then a pro-level online zine, then books, and then ebooks.
I edit anthologies, mostly for Apex (because I’m a control freak). I occasionally do copy editing (when pressed) and have done plenty of acquisition editing over the years.
I also write. I don’t really write enough to leave a mark, but it seems to go well when I do put pen to paper.
Miscellaneous facts about me: left-handed, blue eyes, super geeky, hillbilly accent, near-sighted, and typically in a goofy mood.
Also, and most importantly, I’m not the drunkard all those Facebook photos makes me out to be. It just happens that cameras are always around when I… have libations. Honest!
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 12, 2017
4 star review for "The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft" by Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt, first posted on Fantasy Literature. Read this story free online here at Apex Magazine:
Jim Payne is the black great-grandson of Cavanaugh Payne, a white man who had engaged in written correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft back in the 1920s. Jim travels from the Red Hook area of Brooklyn to the Vermont countryside to visit the home of Fremgen, a collector of SF memorabilia who has a particular enthusiasm for Lovecraft. Jim has inherited some letters written to his great-grandfather by Lovecraft, and hopes to sell them to Fremgen for enough money to clear his debts. Jim soon discovers, however, that Fremgen has more in mind for their meeting than just buying a few letters, and it could open the door to horrors … of the eldritch variety, of course!
“The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft” has a highly readable plot that builds in intensity. The story has rich irony, including the main character’s skin color, juxtaposed with Lovecraft’s well-known racism, and the fact that he hails from Red Hook, the setting for “The Horror at Red Hook,” one of Lovecraft’s more racist and bigoted stories. Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt also work in a key plot point from one of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos stories, “The Thing on the Doorstep.” All in all it’s a great reworking and updating of Lovecraftian horror.
Mini-review:
3.5 stars for "An Unexpected Boon" by S.B. Divya. A young girl who is on the autism spectrum lives in a small Indian village. Kalyani and her older brother Aruni are alone for a few days while their parents are in the city. Sages visit Aruni and Kalyani, bringing both a curse and an unusual gift. A very intriguing setting and Divya did a wonderful job exploring the thoughts and point of view of Kalyani, but I thought the story lost its way a little with one of those indeterminate endings that are tricky to pull off.
Jim Payne is the black great-grandson of Cavanaugh Payne, a white man who had engaged in written correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft back in the 1920s. Jim travels from the Red Hook area of Brooklyn to the Vermont countryside to visit the home of Fremgen, a collector of SF memorabilia who has a particular enthusiasm for Lovecraft. Jim has inherited some letters written to his great-grandfather by Lovecraft, and hopes to sell them to Fremgen for enough money to clear his debts. Jim soon discovers, however, that Fremgen has more in mind for their meeting than just buying a few letters, and it could open the door to horrors … of the eldritch variety, of course!
“The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft” has a highly readable plot that builds in intensity. The story has rich irony, including the main character’s skin color, juxtaposed with Lovecraft’s well-known racism, and the fact that he hails from Red Hook, the setting for “The Horror at Red Hook,” one of Lovecraft’s more racist and bigoted stories. Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt also work in a key plot point from one of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos stories, “The Thing on the Doorstep.” All in all it’s a great reworking and updating of Lovecraftian horror.
Mini-review:
3.5 stars for "An Unexpected Boon" by S.B. Divya. A young girl who is on the autism spectrum lives in a small Indian village. Kalyani and her older brother Aruni are alone for a few days while their parents are in the city. Sages visit Aruni and Kalyani, bringing both a curse and an unusual gift. A very intriguing setting and Divya did a wonderful job exploring the thoughts and point of view of Kalyani, but I thought the story lost its way a little with one of those indeterminate endings that are tricky to pull off.
August 6, 2019
An Unexpected Boon - SB Divya ***
Untilted - KA Teryna ****
The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft - Nick Mamatas & Tim Pratt ***
Untilted - KA Teryna ****
The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft - Nick Mamatas & Tim Pratt ***
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews