BLACK STATIC #7 (2008)

‘The Reason For the Season’ by Bruce Holland Rogers is one of those short short stories that is just so slight that anything approaching a review seems both pointless and spoilerish, so I’ll just say that it concerns 'Trick or Treating' at Halloween and leave it at that.

‘The Hodag’ by Trent Hergenrader is essentially a monster story, as a mythical creature preys on the inhabitants of a small Wisconsin town. This is a competently written piece that keeps the reader’s interest thanks to the youthful lead character’s point of view, but the actual plot is pretty predictable stuff (monster picks off member of town; townspeople form vigilante group; monster is defeated), and to be honest the creature itself isn’t particularly interesting, despite its given folklorish roots. Enjoyable enough, but a little generic for my tastes.

‘Blood God Blood’ by Eric Gregory features a man becoming romantically involved with the leader of a religious cult, who claims to be ‘The Blood God’s Daughter’. This story is practically the opposite of ‘The Hodag’, as where that was a very traditional tale this is more experimental fare, to the extent that this reader can’t honestly claim to have understood all of it. The story scores high on the ‘weirdness’ charts, but by being so opaque this story struggles to have any emotional connection (at least to this reader) and there is little actual horror content or atmosphere as a result. Strange yes, but also a rather distant and unengaging read. I wanted to care about this story, but it just didn't work for me.

In ‘The Talent Girl’ by Daniel Kaysen, individuals with psychic powers enjoy a celebrity lifestyle if they aid the police in combating crime. The rationale behind the psychic powers is perhaps a little unlikely, but it leads to a nice twist that gives this tale some additional bite. Over the top perhaps, but effectively so.

Internet dating seems to provide a newly single man with the perfect partner in Tony Richard’s ‘Pages From a Broken Book’, but things are not quite as they first appear in this solid riff on the duplicitous nature of the World Wide Web. A couple of humorous asides along the way indicate that the author is fully aware of the more ludicrous aspects of the story, but the startling imagery of the final scene is so strong that any apologies are entirely unnecessary. Good fun, and also the strongest story of the issue.

In Alison J. Littlewood’s ‘The Deep Walker’ an ex-prisoner visits Cuba, muses a little on life, and - well, that’s about it really. Aside from a brief encounter with a possibly spirit possessed sunbed (yes, really) nothing of any import seems to occur here, making this a rather forgettable experience, despite the occasionally evocative prose.

Finally, a body recovered from the sea points to some very fishy goings on in David Sakmyster’s 'Bait’. The laddish leads here can get a little tiresome with their constant banter, but the central story idea is so strong that this can’t help but be a successful outing, and the moody ending contrasts well with the more pulpy horror that precedes it.