Black Dandy #2

by H. Andrew Lynch

Black Dandy is a quarterly literary journal dedicated to excellence in magic realism, surrealism, and the otherwise strange. Based in New Zealand, we're proud to feature top talent from around the world. The much-anticipated follow-up to our debut issue features 10 stories from today's most compelling writers. A man rediscovers the life lessons his parents taught him when they created a room that conserves wasted time...A gorgeous, icy woman grapples with her identity when an imaginary friend from childhood resurfaces...Is the unconditional love of a mother all that keeps a man from self destruction?...A young boy scarred by his father's abrupt departure pursues the man, but at what cost?...They thought their new life in a small town would annul the turmoil of the old one, but that may not be so easy...He can see, hear, and do things no one else can, and his diary sessions with a therapist cut to the heart of it...An elderly couple discover an amazing tomato in their garden, turning their waning years on their head...She spots the janitor from her high-school days in a restaurant years later and is only interested in reclaiming his long lost pleasures...Steeped in the principles of self-preservation, a clever man wends his way through the weaknesses of others...After creating a most peculiar form of fashion, a shy rural man hits it big in New York City.

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 16, 2018

Reviews

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second issue of Black Dandy continues its momentum as an engaging, captivating, discerning speculative fiction magazine. I felt the second issue’s stories are subtler than the first, taking a hard editorial look at bending the collection in a more literary, character-driven angle while still keeping the strange at the forefront. Some of the pieces were really stand-out for me, namely those by Hanarejima, Evenson, Caselberg, Benningfield, Kuriata, and Lyons. Every story in the collection is a powerful and keen reflection of the world skewed slightly toward the obscure. Lynch and the rest of the editorial board do a fantastic job not only choosing great pieces, but curating them into a collection with beautiful pacing that blossoms beautifully through each transition.

Looking forward to the third issue!