3.5 stars

A very mixed bag, this issue contains some excellent horror fiction and the others, while not duds, were of the sort of horror/weird fiction that didn't engage me.



The good:

Scarecrow, Alyssa Wong

A truly creepy and scary tale of transformation, loss and guilt. Weird, but weird with a point and not just for the sake of it.



Goat Eyes, David D. Levine

An excellent modern-day vampire tale - no romance or sparkles, but a truly engaging tale of violence and its residue, along with the harmful effects of fear and hatred and stereotyping



December Skin, Kristi DeMeester

An affecting tale, again of transformation and violence, and of fraternal love



Middling:

The Bury Line, Stephen Hargadon

The second story I've read from Hargadon (the first being a couple of issues previously), he writes about ordinary, modern life with an odd, dark, almost Tales of the Unexpected twist. The Bury Line is about the slow death of wage-slavery and a faster alternative.



Be Light, Be Pure, Be Close To Heaven, Sara Saab

A good, affecting story about a religion that makes strange, personal sacrifices. I think it's saying something about the mutilating effect of religion.



Other:

What Happened to Marly and Lanna, Noah Wareness

and

Patrimony, Matthew Cheney


Both of these tales fell short, for me. They each had a mix of weirdness and ambiguity and symbolism that didn't hang together. WHtMaL is laden with symbolism, a story of childhood illness (possibly?) with a nod toward Stephen King's Pet Sematary and an unsettling ambiguity. Patrimony is a downright nasty little tale of post-apocalyptic rape and a Furey-like revenge. The closing paragraph, I think, tries to go for menace and ambiguity but just comes off as lazy. ( )