Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction, No. 3, April 2022

Dark Horses

by Wayne Kyle Spitzer (Editor), Tim Newton Anderson, Robert Pope

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

CLOUDS
Wayne Kyle Spitzer

ME AND NO-ME
Robert Pope

LAUREN
Cameron Trost

THE VOICE OF SAVAGES WOOD
Tim Jeffreys

THE GOLDEN ROSE
Alexandra Amick

BETWEEN STOPS
John Mangio

MALPRACTICE
James Mathews

URNE
Michael Fowler

PREDATOR IN A PINAFORE DRESS
Tre Luna

ANGEL HOUSE
Tim Newton Anderson

165 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 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

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Horses’ third volume brings 10 stories. The volumes in the series have started to get longer: Vol. 1 was 96 pages, Vol. 2 reached 137 pages, and this weighs in at a comparatively meaty 170 pages. The good news is that there are more stories and authors to explore. The downside: some of the longer stories meander -- the extra length packs in more words rather than more substance. The collection works still works, though and is worth exploring.

My two favorites: Urne by Michael Fowler is a fresh take on psychopomps and their work set in an alien nursing home. Crisply written and interesting. The Voice of Savage Wood from Tim Jefferies is a different sort of take on death and its consequences. Although a bit long and meandering at first, it comes to a nicely original twisty, uncompromising ending. The only story I really couldn’t get into was Predator In A Pinafore Dress, from Tre Luna. The idea of a sentient intergenerational brain parasite is interesting, but the story was convoluted—there’s a whole subplot about faith and the priesthood which didn’t work—and was too long for what it delivered.

In between these extremes we find a variety of styles and themes. The opening salvo comes from an increasingly familiar name, Wayne Kyle Spitzer, who continues his theme of things coming through gateways to ravage our world with Clouds. We’ll just say that bringing back hydrogen-filled dirigibles might have been a little premature. Ever been confused about who you really are? Me and No-Me by Robert Pope redeems a turgid start with an interesting twist on dueling identities. Lauren by Cameron Trost is sexy but deadly. Alexandra Amick’s The Golden Rose is a short and slyly funny meditation on mermaids and, uh, scurvy. Between Stops by John Mangio takes the reader on a slightly hallucinogenic late night trip on the subway. John Mathews’ Malpractice goes to a frightening world where being uninsured has some serious non-medical implications. Angel House from Tim Newton Anderson is a longish look at bingo, diet pills and angels.

All in all, this was a worthwhile read – the best stories were quite good, the middle ones were generally pretty strong as well, and there was only one story I didn’t think was ready for primetime. On to the next volume!

7/10 (3.5 stars, rounded to 4)

[Michael Sigler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark Horses: The Magazine of Weird Fiction 03, 3/5

"Clouds" by Wayne Kyle Spitzer, 4.5/5
"Me and No-Me" by Robert Pope, 3/5
"Lauren" by Cameron Trost, 5/5
"The Voice of Savages Woods" by Tim Jefferys, 5/5
"The Golden Rose" by Alexandra Amick, 5/5
"Between Stops" by John Mangio, 3.5/5
"Malpractice" by James Mathews, 3.5/5
"Urne" by Michael Fowler, 2.5/5
"Predator in a Pinafore Dress" by Tre Luna, 3/5
"Angel House" by Tim Newton Anderson, 3.5/5