Apex Magazine Issue 133

Apex Magazine #133

by Jason Sizemore, Lesley Conner (Editor)

EDITORIAL

Musings from Maryland by Lesley Conner

ORIGINAL SHORT FICTION

On the Sunlit Side of Venus by Benjamin Parzybok
The Day When the Last War is Over by Sergey Gerasimov
The Skinless Man Counts to Five by Paul Jessup
Nothing that Bleeds by Leah Ning
Kings and Popes and Saints by Jon Hansen
Ten Steps for Effective Mold Removal by Derrick Boden

CLASSIC FICTION
Brief Life Story of Lila by Danny Cherry, Jr.
Something New for the Silent by Zig Zag Claybourne

HOLIDAY HORRORS TOP 3
Stringy by Carlie St. George
Triangle Eyes by Chris Clemens
Feast or Famine Rulebook by Anna Madden

NONFICTION
Come On, Younglings, We’re Not Totally Screwed by Brandon Crilly
Getting Unstuck by Martha Wells

REVIEWS
Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review by AC Wise

INTERVIEWS
Interview with Author Sergey Gerasimov by Marissa van Uden
Interview with Author Derrick Boden by Marissa van Uden
Interview with Artists Angelica Alzona, Alyssa Winans, and Pamela Zhang by Bradley Powers

Genres: Short Stories, Apocalyptic

Nook

First published September 1, 2022

About the author

I 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!

Reviews

[Chlorine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting issue. The quality was more uneven than in the previous issue.
The star story for me was without doubt "On the sunlit side of Venus" by Benjamin Parzybok, in which a woman is alone in a station orbiting Venus and it seems like all human life on earth has disappeared. The character is really well thought of and the story, with its underlying theme about what are the reasons to live in such circumstances, is incredibly moving.
I really liked "Ten steps for effective mold removal" by Derrick Boden as well. The form was original, and the story, about a _massive_ mold infection escaped from a research lab, was well told and with a very good ending.
"Kings and Popes and Saints" by Jon Hansen, depicts an old lady who is becoming senile, or is she? The story was far from perfect, in particular regarding the symptoms of dementia which don't seem realistic at all, but still it captures a really good idea.

[Jared Millet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm way behind on my Apex issues, but this one blew me away. Also, I wasn't expecting a theme issue, but the apocalyptic through-line connecting the stories made them all resonate stronger somehow than I feel they would have stood alone. Of course, they were great no matter what, but the similar subject matter just seemed to amplify them. My faves were the opening one-two punch of "The Sunlit Side of Venus" by Benjamin Parzybok and "The Day When the Last War Is Over" by Sergey Gerasimov.

[Nikhitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten Steps for Effective Mold Removal by Derrick Boden
[https://apex-magazine.com/short-ficti...]

[Katie Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was no need to talk to the walking dead.