BLACK STATIC ISSUE #65 (TTA Press, September-October 2018) Edited by Andy Cox. 96 pages. ISSN # 1753-0709.
Yet another issue of high quality provocative literary horror, commentary, and book and film reviews.
I'm always engaged in the story-telling but usually not disturbed or frightened by it, as if the terms "literary horror" and "scary" are incompatible. There are more than the usual selection of worthwhile stories in Issue #65.
The stand-outs this issue are "Impostor/Imposter" by Ian Muneshwar, where the instance of two male lovers growing apart from each other has deeper implications and consequences.
I've got to admit that the stellar art illustrating "Marrow" by E. Catherine Tobler helped me to visualize the apparent mechanical weapon left behind following a future war. Destined to wander a wasteland, consuming human and animals alike, the machine known as EATR lives up to its' name. A small (child?) human befriends the machine and leads it to what it promises is a field of food. The writing reveals just enough to give a sense of scene, but remains vague enough to never be sure.
An artist uses stillbirth and deformities to create his visionary art, and gets brought down to earth by an art scholar in "In The Gallery Of Silent Screams" by Carole Johnstone & Chris Kelso. Art also takes center stage in "The Pursuer" by Kailee Pedersen, which is the name of the only piece of art still in possession by the daughter of the deceased and famous father. There's much to be said about hanging onto old possessions, and the final line leaves it up to readers to determine if the action in that sentence was literal or figurative.
In "The Gramophone Man" by Matt Thompson a Japanese solider meets a ghost before the actual event that resulted in the death that caused the stranger to become a ghost.
"Squatters' Rights" by Cody Goodfellow entertained me with the constant use of metaphor, but it made it difficult to understand the action and resolution of the story. I believe I know what happened here, but not sure enough to state it with certainty.
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