The
blood encrusted pages of Midnight Echo #8 are dripping with the stuff of nightmares
and are laced with a chilling realism that is equally as terrifying as the fantastical
images the short stories conjure. Comprising a ghoulish smorgasbord of some of
today’s best in the business and a plethora of talented up and comers, the
fiction is nothing short of top class. Bookend by a couple of zombie tales, the
first a post outbreak event where the definition of monsters is clouded by the
actions of the living showcases Joe R. Lansdale’s craftsmanship and fine
appreciation of the genre by taking it to another level altogether. While
PIGROOT FLAT by Jason Fischer flips the script on zombie horror by introducing
an all too real horror amidst the dust and desolate Australian outback. I
particularly liked the living dead in PIGROOT FLAT as being objectified as mere
obstacles while the true horror flourishes behind the face of the living.
“She
looked at him, her eyes bruises, her mouth and open wound, and screamed mutely.
He didn’t hear her, but saw the bloody trail she left in her wake.” – THE GIRL
FROM THE BORDERLANDS
In
between the zombie mayhem lays tales of overzealous religious beliefs crossing
the line towards the sketchy realm of insanity in BLISSFUL IGNORANCE by Matt
Wedge, a distilled look at motherhood where trouble is alluded to through a
veil of the surreal in JAR BABY by Michelle Jager, a terrorist interrogation
spliced with horror in THEY DONT KNOW THAT WE KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW by Andrew J
McKiernan, and a hard knock life look at the underprivileged and unwanted youth
in THE BOY WITH THE HOLE IN HIS HEART by Caysey Sloan amongst others.
While
all of these stories are decent reads, the best of a good bunch include THE
GIRL FROM THE BORDERLANDS by Felicity Dowker which manages to convey the depth
and detailed character driven story typically achieved through longer formats.
HELLO KITTY by Jason Nahrung is an extremist portrait of the criminally insane
where reality crosses the line towards batsh!t crazy. Joanne Anderton’s ALWAYS
A PRICE requires a suspension of reality to afford the reader the luxury of
getting lost in a world viewed through a veil of blood red horror. Jack Ketchum
and Lucky McKee’s SQUIRRELY SHIRLEY is more noir than horror yet provides the
highlight by means of a former adulterer turned mass murderer in glorious gun
toting fashion. TOOTH by Kathryn Hore puts the fear back into the dentist visit
by way of a monstrous dark presence showing itself in alien-like fashion – one
of the surprise stories of the collection and very enjoyable to read.
Spread
throughout Midnight Echo #8 are poems, interviews (Jack Ketchum talks about his
most renowned book THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, while Lee Battersby discusses his debut
THE CORPSE-RAT KING and provides a glimpse towards his later projects), a
comic, and standing features all giving the reader a healthy dose of the
darkness. There are also promo slots for new Aussie horror books which have
added to my ever growing TBR pile.
Midnight
Echo #8 is a solid read from cover to cover. The folks responsible for this mag
know their horror and are giving readers what they want. True to the editorial,
Midnight Echo delivers hard edged horror across a number of mediums with
terrifyingly good results.
“There’s
all sorts in the lonely dark...” - TOOTH
Links:
Midnight Echo website: http://midnightechomagazine.com/
Buy Midnight Echo: http://midnightechomagazine.com/products-page/
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