Black Static #25 Horror Magazine
By TTA Press
()
About this ebook
Black Static is a bimonthly magazine of horror and dark fantasy fiction, first published 2007. It is the successor to The Third Alternative magazine, which was founded in 1994. When TTA Press acquired Interzone in 2005 it was no longer necessary to publish science fiction and fantasy in The Third Alternative. Black Static contains original fiction and illustrations plus horror/dark fantasy related news and reviews of books, movies and DVDs. It is not celebrity oriented. This edition has the text of the print edition but some illustrations, graphics and advertisements are not present.
"Black Static creeps into the same house as Cemetery Dance and Subterranean as a member of the elite horror publications" Horror World
The title and strapline reference 'electronic voice phenomenon' (EVP), the noise found on recordings which some people interpret as the voices of ghosts. The film White Noise, starring Michael Keaton, could more accurately be called Black Static. What makes the title even more suitable is that 'Black Static' is also Paul Meloy's British Fantasy Award winning story from The Third Alternative.
"The most consistently excellent horror magazine published" Ellen Datlow
The Third Alternative was never afraid to push the envelope, and nothing has changed in that regard. Black Static has earned much praise for its style, bravery, editorial and fiction content. Its stories are innovative and daring, never afraid to shock or disturb, yet always entertain.
"Black Static is a must-read for those who like their fiction contemporary and uncensored" Ed Gorman
The magazine publishes some of the finest Horror writers working today: Christopher Fowler, Afterlife creator/writer Stephen Volk, Lisa Tuttle, Nicholas Royle, Conrad Williams, Tony Richards, Scott Nicholson, Steve Rasnic Tem, Cody Goodfellow, Mélanie Fazi, Matthew Holness (creator and star of TV’s Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace), Michael Marshall Smith, Simon Clark, Graham Joyce, Gary McMahon, Alexander Glass, Joel Lane, to name just a few. Alongside these is a dazzling array of new talent such as Aliette de Bodard, Daniel Kaysen, Alison Littlewood, Roz Clarke, Ray Cluley, Sarah Totton, James Cooper, Nina Allan, Eric Gregory and many more.
"The most disturbing images I’ve encountered this year or any other. For a different outlook and some quality writing, you should be subscribing" SF Revu
A unique fiction magazine requires unique presentation and Black Static delivers on this front too, thanks to the extraordinary original artwork of David Gentry, Ben Baldwin etc. and a design that delights in breaking rules.
"A wicked beauty" Simon Clark
Every issue contains a striking news feature called White Noise, compiled by Peter Tennant. Pete also supplies all the magazine's book reviews in his Case Notes column which runs to at least fourteen pages and includes interviews, sidebars and factoids. Tony Lee reviews the latest DVD/Blu-ray releases in his Blood Spectrum Column. Christopher Fowler, Stephen Volk and Mike O'Driscoll supply thought-provoking comment columns, and every issue gives away lots of free stuff.
"The premier source for a regular and opinionated overview of the horror, dark and weird genres in the UK" Bookgeeks
Black Static is published bimonthly, in alternate months to Interzone (we offer a discounted joint subscription to both magazines). You can subscribe to the print version using this website's shop, or to the e-edition at Fictionwise.
"Britain’s finest magazine of Dark Fantasy" Suite 101
TTA Press
TTA Press is the publisher of the magazines Interzone (science fiction/fantasy) and Black Static (horror/dark fantasy), the Crimewave anthology series, TTA Novellas, plus the occasional story collection and novel.
Read more from Tta Press
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Black Static #25 Horror Magazine - TTA Press
BLACK STATIC
#25
A magazine of horror and dark fantasy.
Cover: .
Foreground; crop from Ben Baldwin's art for 'About the Dark'.
Background: from Rik Rawling's art for 'The Travellers Stay'.
Black Static.
Issue 25 (OCT–NOV 2011)
Print edition ISSN 1753-0709 © 2011 Black Static and its contributors
Published bimonthly by TTA Press
TTA Press, 5 Martins Lane Witcham, Ely, Cambs CB6 2LB, United Kingdom
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Website: ttapress.com
Email: [email protected]
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TTA Press on Smashwords ISBN 978-1-4660-4775-4
First draft v2 Roy Gray
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Editor: Andy Cox
Contributing Editors: Peter Tennant, Tony Lee, Christopher Fowler, Stephen Volk, Mike O’Driscoll
Podcast: Pete Bullock, transmissionsfrombeyond.com
Twitter + Facebook: Marc-Anthony Taylor, facebook.com/TTAPress
Events/Publicity/E editions: Roy Gray
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Retail Distribution: Pineapple Media, pineapple-media.com; Central Books, centralbooks.com
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Smashwords Edition License Notes
This emagazine is licensed for your personal use/enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this magazine with others please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this magazine and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the contributors and editors
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To obtain the print edition of Black Static (E.g. in Europe or North America) if your retailer does not stock it please ask them to order it for you, or buy it from one of several online mail order distributors...or better yet save money by subscribing direct with us!
Subscriptions: Print edition subscriptions available online at ttapress.com/shop
Note we have some illustrations and images in this edition and you can see some of these in colour at http://ttapress.com/1135/black-static-25/
Unsolicited submissions of short stories are always welcome. Please follow the contributors’ guidelines on the website.
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CONTENTS
NEWS
EDITORIAL NOTES
WHITE NOISE - compiled by Peter Tennant
COMMENT/COLUMNS
COFFINMAKER'S BLUES - by Stephen Volk
INTERFERENCE - by Christopher Fowler
NIGHT’S PLUTONIAN SHORE - by Mike O’Driscoll
FICTION
ABOUT THE DARK by Alison Littlewood
illustrated by Ben Baldwin - benbaldwin.co.uk
THE CURTAIN PARTS by Christopher Fowler
illustrated by Vincent Sammy - karbonk.deviantart.com
THE TRAVELLERS STAY by Ray Cluley
illustrated by Rik Rawling - rikrawling.co.uk
THE HOLY SPEAR by Barbara A. Barnett
illustrated by Dave Senecal - senecal.deviantart.com
BEST. SUMMER. EVER. by Nathaniel Tapley
REVIEWS
CASE NOTES - Horror Down the Years: book reviews by Peter Tennant
books: Bricks by Leon Jenner, Roman Hell by Mark Mellon, Viking Dead by Toby Venables, King Death by Paul Finch, Revenants by Daniel Mills, The Devil in Love Jacques Cazotte, The Third Section by Jasper Kent, Acceptable Loss by Anne Perry, A Lust for Lead by Robert Davies, Isis Unbound by Allyson Bird, The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett, The German by Lee Thomas, O My Days by David Mathew, The Zombie Autopsies by Steve C. Schlozman MD, The Joy of Technology by Roy Gray; The Chaos Theory of Everything: D.F. Lewis interviewed, plus reviews of Weirdtongue, Nemonymous Night, The Horror Anthology of Horror Anthologies
BLOOD SPECTRUM - DVD/Blu-ray reviews by Tony Lee
discs: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Tomorrow When the War Began, The Twilight Zone Season 4, The Cape, The Cat o' Nine Tails, Fringe Season 3, Manhunter, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, Gantz, Stake Land, Empire of Passion, The New Daughter, The Ward, Mother's Day, Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, Straw Dogs, The Tree of Life, Mimic Director's Cut, X-Men: First Class, Episode 50, Cannibal, Blood Runs Cold, Deadtime Stories, The Man With the Severed Head.
ENDNOTES – links etc.
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EDITORIAL NOTES –
Return to Contents
Most of these notes are specific to the print edition but they are included here for completeness and just in case you wish to try a real - hold it in your hands, smell its ink solvents and sully it with eye tracks - edition.
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On being a bit late Pete suffered a catastrophic computer failure which meant he had to rewrite and email the entire Case Notes from his local library, one hour at a time. It was a magnificent effort. Still, this issue is a bit late, sorry.
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Lifetime subscriptions; If you can afford to do so, why not consider supporting our magazines Black Static and Interzone by taking out a very long-term subscription to the print edition?
A lifetime subscription is defined as one lasting either the lifetime of the subscriber or the lifetime of the magazine
The cost of such a subscription is based on ten years at the current print edition rate: £210 UK • £240 Europe • £270 USA/RoW
There is also the option to take a slightly cheaper joint lifetime subscription to the print editions of both magazines
Lifetime print edition subscriptions have now been added to the online shop (ttapress.com/shop)
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Black Static issue #26 is out in December. Please don’t forget to check for a subscription reminder on this issue’s insert and renew in plenty of time if necessary. Thank you for your continued support
The latest Black Static print issue, #27, is dated February 2012, with new stories by Stephen Bacon, Simon Bestwick, V.H. Leslie, Gord Sellar and Jacob Ruby. It is on sale as this issue (25) is uploaded for E editions.
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E-Edition (An Apology): Normally an E book version of each new issue of Black Static (and sister magazine Interzone) could be downloaded from Fictionwise and, more recently, Smashwords. Unfortunately we failed to keep this process up to date and are now, despite our recent efforts, several months behind. If this has affected you please accept our apologies and reassurances that we are closer to fixing the problem. Keep checking Fictionwise, or Smashwords, for new issues. Thanks for your patience!
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WHITE NOISE
Return to Contents
THE AWAKENING
The new film that Black Static columnist Stephen Volk co-wrote (with director Nick Murphy), The Awakening, is out on 11 November in the UK. It has already garnered some praise at the Toronto Film Festival, and is also showing at the London Film Festival in October. It’s a Canal+/BBC Films/Origin Pictures production starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton. This is a short blurb: England, 1921: a nation beset by the grief following World War I. A sceptical woman scientist, Florence Cathcart, is adamant in her conviction that all ghosts and spiritual manifestations can be explained away as either callous fraud or the products of fevered imaginations. But when she is called to a countryside boarding school for boys to investigate rumours of an apparent haunting, she finds her beliefs – all her beliefs – shaken to the core. Facing something genuinely awakened from the past, she realises her rationality finally gives her no place to hide.
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THE LONDON HORROR FESTIVAL
The Courtyard and Theatre of the Damned will present The London Horror Festival, a new festival of theatrical horror and the macabre, at The Courtyard from 25th October to 27th November. The programme includes Revenge of the Grand Guignol by Andre de Lorde, Tom Richards and Stewart Pringle; Theatre of the Damned, four short dramas inspired by Paris’ notorious theatre of the macabre; Breathing Space by Dallace Jones, Laura Steel and Arden Redgrave; The Dunwich Horror by David Dawkins, based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft; Night of the Damned, pitch-black comedy, gothic rock and electro-carnage for Halloween; and much, much more. For details of all shows and to book tickets go to www.londonhorrorfestival.com.
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NITROSPECTIVE
Andrew Hook’s fourth collection of slipstream stories, Nitrospective, was published by DogHorn Publishing at the end of September. Containing a mix of reprints and originals, these twenty-one stories grapple with things like Japanese school children growing giant frogs, a superhero’s secret identity, onions foretelling global disasters, and an undercover agent who is ambivalent as to which side he works for and why. More info at www.doghornpublishing.com/nitrospective.html.
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WORLD FANTASY CONVENTION
In 2013 the World Fantasy Convention comes to the UK, and will be held in Brighton. The convention’s special ‘Early Bird’ rate ends on November 7, 2011. From that date Attending Membership will rise to £100. The Convention’s first Guest of Honour will be announced at midnight on October 29, 2011.
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SHADOWS & TALL TREES
Issue #2 of Shadows & Tall Trees is now available, featuring fiction from Steve Rasnic Tem, Alison Littlewood, Louis Marvick, Eric Schaller, Richard Harland, Ian Rogers, and Sunny Moraine. The first Black Static reader to email editor/publisher Michael Kelly with the subject line ‘White Noise – Shadows & Tall Trees’ will receive a complimentary copy of the issue. The email address is [email protected].
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A COLD SEASON
Alison Littlewood – four stories in Black Static with the publication of this issue – has been signed up to have three novels published by new Quercus imprint Jo Fletcher Books. The first of these, A Cold Season, is the story of a young mother who finds herself pitted against forces she can barely comprehend in a fight to save her son, and is scheduled for a February 2012 release.
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2011 SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD JURORS
The jurors for the 2011 Shirley Jackson Award have been announced. They are Laird Barron, Matthew Cheney, Maura McHugh, Kaaron Warren, and Gary K. Wolfe. The Shirley Jackson Award is an award recognising the legacy of Shirley Jackson’s writing and are given for the best work of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic in the categories of Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology. For more information about the jurors and the award, please see www.shirleyjacksonawards.org.
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ILL AT EASE
Out now, an ebook collection of three new stories of the macabre, from Stephen Bacon, Mark West and Neil Williams. Check it out in the amazon.co.uk Kindle store.
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CELLULOID SCREAMS
Celluloid Screams, the Sheffield Horror Film Festival, returns to the Showroom Cinema for another spine-tingling, blood-curdling weekend of horror films, Friday 21 to Sunday 23 October. The festival will include the usual blend of brand new horror from around the world, including several UK premieres, along with horror classics and short films from the fear makers of the future, plus some very special guests. Weekend Festival Passes are now on sale and can be purchased at www.showroomworkstation.org.uk/csfestivalpass. Keep up to date with Celluloid Screams 2011 at www.celluloidscreams.co.uk.
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TWISTED TALES EVENTS
The Occult Horror event runs from 7–9.30pm on Thursday 27 October in Runcorn • The Halloween House of Fear event – with readings by contributors to the Solaris anthology Lisa Tuttle, Adam Nevill and Nicholas Royle – runs from 6–8pm on Friday 28 October at Waterstone’s Liverpool One. For more information on Twisted Tales events go to twistedtalesevents.blogspot.com. • Meanwhile, Twisted Tales organiser David McWilliam is giving a reading and lecture on H.P. Lovecraft at 1pm on Friday 21 October in Lancaster: www.litfest.org/2011/08/31/lunchtime-classic-hp-lovecraft-read-by-david-mcwilliam.
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Terror Tales of the Lake District
Gray Friar Press have released this anthology edited by Paul Finch, containing ten new chilling tales and three classic reprints, all of them set in the Lake District. Contributors include Ramsey Campbell, Adam Nevill, Simon Clark, Peter Crowther, and Reggie Oliver. The book also features numerous anecdotal tales concerning true incidents of Lakeland terror which will ensure you’ll never regard that scenic part of the world in the same innocent light again. For more details and ordering go to www.grayfriarpress.com.
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horror for breakfast
Join horror author Niki Valentine (pen name Nicola Monaghan, author of The Killing Jar, Starfishing and latest novel The Haunted, published by Sphere) for ‘Read and Breakfast’, a morning of author readings, Q&A and book sales, with breakfast to boot! 10:30am–12:30pm, Saturday 26 November at The Wonky Table, Sadlergate, Derby. Tickets are £10. To book your place contact Alex Davis on 07896 228367 or email [email protected].
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MORE HALLOWEEN HORROR
Warwick Arts Centre is hosting an evening of terror on Monday 31 October, beginning at 7.15pm, with three of Britain’s best contemporary horror writers: Gary McMahon, David Moody, and Adam Nevill. Each writer will read a story and talk about their writing and careers.
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THE RITUAL – THE MOVIE
Stillking Films have optioned Adam Nevill’s horror novel The Ritual (Macmillan in the UK, published in the US by St Martin’s Press in 2012 – see Pete’s review and interview in issue #18). The deal was brokered by the Gotham Group in Los Angeles, representing the John Jarrold Literary Agency. Stillking have produced many major films including Casino Royale, The Illusionist, From Hell and The Bourne Identity.
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BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS
At FantasyCon on 2 October Black Static received the British Fantasy Award for Best Magazine/Periodical. Thanks from all the Black Static staff and contributors to everybody who voted for us, and also to Andrew Hook for collecting the award on our behalf. (below) Other award winners included Stephen King, Sam Stone, Johnny Mains, Telos Publishing, Vincent Chong, Ian Culbard, Simon Clark, Robert Jackson Bennett, Sir Terry Pratchett, Inception, and Sherlock.
Photo by Stuart Lambeth
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COMPILED BY AND © 2011 PETER TENNANT • SEND YOUR NEWS TO [email protected].
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COFFINMAKER'S BLUES
by Stephen Volk
Return to Contents
CHASING THE DEAD BABIES
Back in May this year I listened to a radio programme claiming that in times of economic crisis people turn in ever-increasing numbers to the comforts of the spirit world. This brief examination of the so-called psychic was complemented by another programme in which someone asked, rhetorically, Why do people go to therapists? Don’t they have aunties?
I mused on this as I saw Kate McCann’s book on supermarket shelves, her missing daughter Madeleine smiling out at prospective consumers of grief.
The programme was Thinking Allowed with Laurie Taylor, talking to Annette Hill, author of Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits and Magic in Popular Culture, who said a rise in belief in mediums, angels and sundry communicators with the unknown was anticipated by no less than Business Week. Of course, the idea that we look in unusual places to deal with uncertainty
is irrefutable. But another guest, broadcaster Matthew Sweet, remarked on how psychic phone lines now advertise like pornography: the only difference being, he added, "sex exists – making this
odd currency, intangible therefore neverending, the
perfect consumer product".
They went on to discuss how the 19th century séance, a setting for ambiguous experiences
, had today become something even more dubious. Not just the silly pantomime of Most Haunted, with its cynical-yet-slapstick search for ‘proof’ about as scientifically rigorous as Wallis and Gromit, but the more general entertainment of damage.
Now we have theatre and TV shows where mediums are clearly fishing for tragedy, and people flock to them to have eternal values of love and peace reinforced which are not present in their current lives or the world they see around them. The Higher Plane is now sold to them on a par with the Lottery Rollover.
My own take on all this is somewhat personal.
A friend came back into my wife’s life who she hadn’t seen for years. This woman (let’s call her Helga) had had a serious accident after which she found she could talk to spirits. My wife indulged her when she visited us by letting her do a sitting. We’d already told her that our daughter was trying to conceive by IVF, and during the session, Helga told my wife that the IVF wouldn’t work and the spirits had told her she should prepare herself for that
. My wife, even though she thought it was all bollocks, found it hard not to be upset by this. Months later they met again and Helga asked what had happened. After my wife told her the IVF was successful, Helga said: See? I was right.
My wife decided never to see her again.
This was all about the emotional need of the medium, not the sitter. The real desperation of someone essentially deeply insecure to have emotional power over others. These people’s belief system gives them validation that’s hard to repudiate without being just plain rude, whether it’s Sally Morgan (www.starpsychic.co.uk) or some Channelling Channel.
I won’t believe it till I see it on TV,
said Terry Waite’s brother when he was told the hostage had been released, but now, to paraphrase Charlie Brooker in How TV Ruined Your Life, TV has to be seen to be disbelieved.
Elsewhere, Brooker lays into the shtick of 6th Sense with Colin Fry, accusing the programme-makers