5
Jan
ISBN: 9781906584122
I was given this magazine for review.
Issue 8 of Murky Depths is chock full of tight, short tales of speculative terror. It opens with a poetic ode to the corporate head honcho bad guy, “The Majority Shareholder” by Edward R. Norden.
Then comes an end of the world tale where the most important character is a cat, David Tallerman’s “Peachy”, followed by another chiaroscuro graphic strip from Luke Cooper, “The Wrath of God part 1”. This time Cooper’s favorite characters, Halo the Nephalim and Goulding, the cop with a heart of an angel, literally, still can’t escape getting the weird cases. They’re facing a vigilante that’s decided killing Halo is the way to get back to Heaven. It looks to be an interesting new storyline in Cooper’s wicked noir world.
“What the Tongue Will Taste” by Sam J. Drane is a money-and-power tale of what men who have it all and have done it all do when they get bored. There are clones involved making this tale a fun little masturbatory fantasy, depending on how you look at it.
Geoffrey Girad’s “Collecting James” is also a tale of a rich and powerful man getting what he wants. In this one he wants the gifts others have he doesn’t, and takes them from his victims in the form of trepanning and discs of bone that retain their former owners’ memories. But the twist in this one is better than readers will expect.
“Hero in Hell” by James Johnson (the piece that inspired this issue’s awesome cover) is a great concept, a super hero finds himself in hell after death, but it suffers from the most common problem in these graphic shorts, there’s just so much more story to be told than can come out in this space. It was sad to see it end.
“Out of Time” by J Westlake is predictable, but the storytelling here is more about experiencing the story, which is a very accurate and interesting portrayal of depression. Readers can walk in the experiences of the depressed main character as his isolation and uncontrollable sadness take literal forms in the story world.
Following the mental illness theme (and the writer theme established with “Collecting James”), Christine Luca’s “My Muse Wears Army Boots” is a tale of hypergraphia, the compulsion to write, sparked by a sadistic and abusive muse. The interesting early set up of a wanna be writer who can read corpses is dropped in favor of the hypergraphia angle, making this tale feel like two in one. The plot line at the end is easy to anticipate, taking some of the umph out of the story, even if the visuals are strong.
“Recall” a graphic strip by Chris Huff follows, pitting eternal youth against fate. It’s immediately followed by a glimpse at another artist’s vision of Huff’s tale, as the first artist was forced to abandon the tale. It is interesting to see how two people visualized and affected the same story.
“The Undead” by Lawrence Buentello is the best of the issue, and the kind of story you want to point out to other people, saying “Read this one.” J T is suffering from the loss of his wife, but his lasting love with her leads to the power to bring back the dead—all the dead—within the vicinity of J T, except for the one thing he wants back. With a chilling, almost beautiful end it shouldn’t be missed.
“Endless” by Sylvanus Moxley is the second poem in this issue, and not altogether a dismal or depressing one. In fact, in a way, it’s an almost hopeful tale of a man trapped in a ship orbiting the moon.
“Monitor” by Richard Rippon delves somewhat into postpartum depression, except poor new mom Sarah is dealing with a truly evil little newborn. Uncomfortably creepy it’s also an excellent read.
“Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid” by KC Ball is another short, spiky addition to this issue, the tale of a unique motorcycle and its rider. Finally comes “The Pilgrimage” a last graphic offering by Kristopher Barker, about a woman who will go to any means to find her path to salvation.
Another fine collection of tales, Murky Depths bears a resemblance to the classic Tales from the Crypt publications, only with significantly better stories.
19
Oct
Murky Depths 7
ISBN: 9781906584115
Murky Depths stands out among the offerings of the small press, largely because it contains graphic strips and illustrations, as well as the mix of dark genre work that I find simply tantalizing.
Issue 7 features a large number of dark science fiction tales, each one excellent examples of the genre.
“Scratch” by Jason Palmer is half mystery and half psychological science fiction where people wear their obsessions and addictions on their arms, or legs, or tongues, and the battle to resist self destructive tendencies overshadows the battles of good and survival and everything else.
The first graphic offering, “A Brief History of Dogfighting” by James Johnson is a silent film, of sorts, with a deeply ironic tone and a fast pace. Following it and backing up the silent film feel, is a behind the scenes feature which chronicles the evolution of the storyline and the story as a piece of art.
“The Longest Road in the Universe” by CS MacCath is an incredibly emotion piece, easily the kind one might find in a larger publication, following a member of a species bred and genetically manipulated to love and serve a “higher species”. But when their parental figures who used and abused them vanish a whole race has to face their own abuse, with varying, and in this story almost lovingly detailed, results. This is definitely one not to miss.
The immediate follow up, “A Healthy Outlook” by Bill Ward, is a short, tight piece that shows the same sort of mental turmoil, from the point of view someone so die-hard-determined not to be a victim that the farce reaches a morbidly funny point.
“Viewer’s Choice” by Willie Meikle keeps to the themes of obsession while softening the science fiction focus. Here the lead can’t break away from his television, to the point that all the major memories in his life have a direct link to a television event. A situational story, it nonetheless clearly comments on our favorite societal past time.
“Bite the Bullet” also by James Johnson, is a fantastic romp through the limits of future technology, exploring how technology affects us, for good or ill.
“Psong” by Ian Rogers has less focus. A story about a futuristic assassin, the reader is loaded down with personality and detail without much context. Of course since the lead is a telepath and an object reader this adds more strength to the point of view of the assassin, but readers still have a very limited view of why this story is taking place at all.
“Survivalist” by Kevin Brown is one of the best vampire stories I’ve read lately, bringing the old Gothic critter into the modern world without turning it into a sex idol.
“Bait” by Paul Milliken follows the vampire story with its natural counterpart, a shape shifter story. This one follows the more traditional formula of an ordinary person whose life intersects with a monster. But this monster comes from the sea and remains more of a mystery than readers might like.
Luke Cooper’s “Flashback” adds another tale to the collection surrounding his gritty detective neck deep in the war between Heaven and Hell. In this addition to a potentially interesting plot, readers learn how Goulding got sucked into the Big War in the first place, but his role in it still remains a mystery.
Finally comes “Haruspex” by William Douglas Goodman, a second place finisher to the earlier “The Long Road Home” which brings the issue back around to tales of twisted mentality. In this story a boy finds that he’s gained the ability to get visions from dead animals, which has interesting results when your father is a trophy hunter.
All together here’s another fine issue that shows the people behind Murky Depths have their head on straight. I look forward to more.
27
Jul
Paperback: 78-0-9550631-3-8
Bizzaro fiction is something of a new experience for me. I’ve read small bits of it before, but it’s not a genre I consider myself well versed in so this is going to be a less neutral review that takes the experiences of an inexperienced reader into account. What I’m looking for in a good weird story is intelligence despite absurdness, a story I’m capable of understanding despite skewing the idea of reality and an emotional response with some aspect of the story.
Polluto # 2, dubbed “Apocalypses & Garden Furniture”, is a hefty collection of tales.
15
Jun
Talebones and Lone Star Stories are both closing down. Both are good magazines with a history of good stories. Both owners site a loss of passion for the amount of work the magazines require. Talebones owner Patrick plans to continue the Talebones name as a yearly anthology in 2010.
This reflects a similar decision by Apex Publications owner/editor, Jason Sizemore, who has stated in several interviews that running the magazine, in print and digital form, has been the most time and money consuming aspect of his business and with the least return. Sizemore, showing more transparency than other places, cites the distribution system for print magazines as the main problem of running a magazine while most others on the front and back sides cite diminishing subscribers and interest in short fiction.
26
Mar
The Shimmer people are celebrating their 10th issue by giving it away for free. It features 12 stories and an interview with Cory Doctorow. If you like it, consider supporting the small press by subscribing.
24
Mar
Click to Buy
Something Wicked is a dark genre magazine out of South Africa. It features good art and a mix of dark fiction offerings that vary from complete misses to overlooked gems…. Full review at The Fix.
10
Mar
At the link above is a message for Realms of Fantasy fans:
Tir Na Nog Press is pleased and excited to announce that we have purchased Realms of Fantasy from Sovereign Media. Shawna McCarthy and Doug Cohen have agreed to stay on in their current capacities. Look for our first full-color issue in May. You can expect the same great magazine, with the same great fiction that you’ve come to depend on. Shortly we will expand our website so that we can better interact with you: our readers!
Keep an eye on that page!
2
Feb
Click to Buy
Where much of speculative fiction questions or outright violates our perceptions of reality, the first contribution to Murky Depths #6, “The Lastest Marianne” by Alan Frackelton, takes a more direct route. This surreal tale concerns a haunted man’s progressive descent into madness… Full review at The Fix.