BLACK STATIC ISSUE #68, UK horror magazine edited by Andy Cox.
Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .
This March-April issue contains new cutting edge horror fiction by Stephen Volk, Tim Lees, Kay Chronister, David Martin, Amanda J. Bermudez, and Tom Johnstone. The cover art is 'Memento' by Joachim Luetke, and interior illustrations are by Joachim Luetke, Dave Senecal, Ben Baldwin, and Richard Wagner. Regular features: Into the Woods by Ralph Robert Moore; Notes from the Borderland by Lynda E. Rucker; Case Notes book reviews by Georgina Bruce, Mike O'Driscoll, Laura Mauro, Daniel Carpenter, Andrew Hook, Philip Fracassi, and David Surface; Blood Spectrum film reviews by Gary Couzens.
The cover art is 'Memento' by Joachim Luetke
Fiction:
Unchain the Beast by Stephen Volk
illustrated by Ben Baldwin
In a Dry Season by David Martin
illustrated by Dave Senecal
Totenhaus by Amanda J. Bermudez
Roiling and Without Form by Kay Chronister
illustrated by Joachim Luetke
The Stop-Tap by Tim Lees
The Beast in the Palace by Tom Johnstone
illustrated by Richard Wagner
Columns:
Notes From the Borderland by Lynda E. Rucker
WHY HORROR?
Into the Woods by Ralph Robert Moore
BOTH EYES BLINKING BACK
Reviews:
Case Notes: Book Reviews
Mike O'Driscoll: The Worst is Yet to Come by S.P. Miskowski • Andrew Hook: The Suicide Machine by Douglas Thompson • Daniel Carpenter: The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell • Philip Fracassi: The Pale Ones by Bartholomew Bennett • Georgina Bruce: The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh • David Surface, One Good Story: How Can I Get in Touch With Persia? by Janet Frame • Laura Mauro: The Monsters are Due in Madison Square Garden by Tom Johnstone
Blood Spectrum: Film Reviews by Gary Couzens
Russian Doll • Possum • Horror Express • William Castle at Columbia, Volume Two • Berserk • Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte • Halloween • Parents • Class of 1999 • The Unholy • Laura • Human Desire • Boar • Videoman • The Possessed • The Fifth Cord • Before We Vanish • Climax • Dave Made a Maze • Venom • The Predator
My Four Star review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
Another above-average issue that maintains the high standards of Black Static magazine.
Among the highlights this issue are:
"Unchain The Beast" by Stephen Volk is a satisfying tale of two Mexican youth growing up with a love of horror movies and then working together to produce their own franchise of popular werewolf films. The star and director falls into favor with the local dictator and drifts apart from his friend, the make-up/effects coordinator until an incident of government abuse brings them back together.
"Roiling And Without Form" by Kay Chronister centers around a middle-aged motel manager who keeps her weird mother confined in one of the rooms and feeds her from time to time. The motel is surrounded by fog, marshes and heavily wooded areas and seems to serve as a residence for monsters. An investigating couple tries to rescue the manager, who has good reason to resist.
"The Stop-Tap" by Tim Lees relates how a self-conscious school youth finds an unusual way to keep the aggressive impulses of his bullish "best friend" under control when they both make a strange discovery in the woods.
I would rate "The Beast In the Palace" by Tom Johnstone a bit higher if the story answered more questions in its abrupt ending. I was reminded of Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in the relationship between a misshapen royal gardener who keeps his face hidden within a hood and a recently escaped female slave. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.
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