Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction, No. 1, Jan-Feb 2022

Dark Horses

by Wayne Kyle Spitzer (Editor), Kurt Newton, M. Kari Barr

dark horse
/ˈdärk ˈˌhôrs/
noun
1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds.
"a dark-horse candidate"

Join us for a bi-monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat before the starting gun fires, pour yourself a glass of strange wine, and get ready for the running of the dark horses.

In this

"The Burning Cathedral of Summer" by Wayne Kyle Spitzer

"The Hornet Priest" by Kurt Newton

"The Silhouette Shop" by M. Kari Barr

"Growing Season" by Davin Ireland

"A Whisperer Among the Graves" by Bill Link

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 14, 2022

About the author

Wayne Kyle Spitzer (born July 15, 1966) is an American author and low-budget horror filmmaker from Spokane, Washington. He is the writer/director of the short horror film, Shadows in the Garden, as well as the author of Flashback, an SF/horror novel published in 1993. Spitzer's non-genre writing has appeared in subTerrain Magazine: Strong Words for a Polite Nation and Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History. His recent fiction includes The Ferryman Pentalogy, consisting of Comes a Ferryman, The Tempter and the Taker, The Pierced Veil, Black Hole, White Fountain, and To the End of Ursathrax, as well as The X-Ray Rider Trilogy and a screen adaptation of Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows.

Reviews

[Michael Sigler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction: Issue 01 3/5

"The Burning Cathedral of Summer" by Wayne Kyle Spitzer, 4.5/5
"The Hornet Priest" by Kurt Newton, 4/5
"The Silhouette Shop" by M. Kari Barr, 1/5
"Growing Season" by Davin Ireland, 3/5
"A Whisper Among the Graves" by Bill Link, 3/5

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I groan a lot about authors who overreach and can’t sustain plots or that whole “character development” thing -- definitely overrated, yes? -- over multi-volume magnum opii. Short stories like these, though, are good reminders that there’s a ton of effort that goes into crafting something high quality in the confines imposed by a short story. I thought these were all fairly strong, and even lesser ones had compelling parts.

 This compilation opens with “The Burning Cathedral of Summer” by Wayne Kyle Spitzer. This starts with kids torturing a caterpillar as a prelude to a trip to the local lake which ends with visions, an alien and murder. That’s standard summer memories from growing up, right? Kurt Newton’s "The Hornet Priest" is a bit of cross-cultural wish fulfillment gone sideways. "In The Silhouette Shop", M. Kari Barr explores how trying to capture something best left uncaptured can boomerang. "Growing Season" from Davin Ireland illuminates the dark side of “giving back” to nature, as well as why you might not want to go into someone’s house if one of the first things they ask you is if you’re there alone. The centerpiece is the first installment of a longer story from Bill Link exploring the inner (non-) life of a ghoul, appropriately titled "A Whisperer Among The Graves".

The folks at Hobb’s End did a lovely job of compiling this slim volume, and I’m looking forward to reading more from them!*

Total: 8/10 (4 stars)

* Which is good, since I bought the whole run of them — thanks, Amazon one-click! ( I think.)

[Chris Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good stuff in here a nice mix of styles and subject, glad to see some local writers (Spokane, Hillyard boy here) getting published.