Black Gate

The last 2016 issue of Nightmare is now available. And it looks like a good one, with original fiction from Dale Bailey and Livia Llewellyn, and reprints by Brian Evenson and Priya Sridhar. Here’s Charles Payseur’s assessment at Quick Sip Reviews:

The two stories in the December Nightmare magazine certainly show what makes speculative horror so captivating — revealing the uncomfortable truths and darkness that exists all around us, giving it physical form, and then making us face it. These are both stories that lean more fantasy than science fiction, pulling on some older traditions, of werewolves and Lovecraftian horror. While both are in some ways monster stories, though, they are also both stories that deal with youth, that feature main characters on the verge of adulthood, and reveal how quickly roles can be reversed when adults try to control the next generation. These are viscerally dark and violent stories but also deep insights into people and fears.

Read his complete review here. The complete contests of the issue are listed below.

Original Stories

“I Was a Teenage Werewolf” by Dale Bailey
Before Miss Ferguson found Maude Lewis’ body in the school gym, none of us believed in the teenage werewolf. There had been rumors, of course. There always are. But many of us viewed Miss Ferguson’s discovery as confirmation of our worst fears. Not everyone shared our certainty. There had been only a fingernail paring of moon that late February night, and a small but vocal minority of us argued that this precluded the possibility that Maude’s killer had been a lycanthrope.

“The Low, Dark Edge of Life” by Livia Llewellyn
Translator’s note: these are the only extant, unburned, and legible (for the most part) pages retrieved from what was apparently the diary of one Lilianett van Hamal, an American girl who apparently lodged at the Grand Béguinage shortly before the Great Summoning of 1878 that left much of the city of Leuven in ruins. No other items from before that event have been recovered from what is now the Leuven Exclusion Zone, which as of this date remains permanently off-limits to the outside world.

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It’s a nice mix of winter reading this month (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere anyway…. for everyone else, it’s summer reading!) There’s a big double issue of Cemetery Dance, the annual (and always big) Weird Fiction Review, a new issue of GrimDark, and regular issues of Asimov’s SF, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, The Dark, and Uncanny.

That’s not all we have for you, of course. For vintage fiction fans we have a Retro-Review of the November 1961 Amazing Stories, and a report from Howard Andrew Jones on the new line of premium Weird Tales reprints from Goodman Games.

Check out all the details on the magazines above by clicking on the each of the images. Our Late November Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

As we’ve mentioned before, all of these magazines are completely dependent on fans and readers to keep them alive. Many are marginal operations for whom a handful of subscriptions may mean the difference between life and death. Why not check one or two out, and try a sample issue? There are magazines here for every budget, from completely free to $35/issue. If you find something intriguing, I hope you’ll consider taking a chance on a subscription. I think you’ll find it’s money very well spent.

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The December 2016 Asimov’s Science Fiction is something of a landmark, in that it’s the last monthly issue of Asimov’s — a magazine that has been publishing continually for 39 years. It’s as close as we come to an institution in this field, and while change is sometimes scary, in this case I think it’s a good thing. Like its sister publication Analog, the magazine is moving to a bimonthly schedule. I always enjoy the big double issues, and getting six of them a year for each magazine is something to look forward to.

The last monthly issue has stories by Karl Bunker, Gay Partington Terry, Gregory Norman Bossert, James Sallis, Kali Wallace, and David Erik Nelson. Here’s Sheila’s full description:

Our blockbuster December 2016 novella, “Where There Is Nothing, There Is God” by David Erik Nelson, is a rollicking Time Portal tale. It’s filled with a cast of unsavory characters who operate as though Cotton Mather’s favorite TV show was Breaking Bad. In this vastly entertaining story, it’s hard to know whom to root for so just make sure your inertia dampening system is on and enjoy the ride!

Once you decompress from Colonial Massachusetts, be prepared for a sharp shift to Gregory Norman Bossert’s wild depiction of “HigherWorks” in a future London; an eerie discovery “On the Cold Side of the Island” has long-term effects on the lives of three teens in a new tale by Kali Wallace; James Sallis escorts us to another island where we learn “How the Damned Live On”; new to Asimov’s author Gay Partington Terry’s magical tale explains the significance of “Empty Shoes by the Lake”; and in Karl Bunker’s “They All Have One Breath” artists who want to create interesting work must strive against the banality of a “perfect” society controlled by artificial intelligence.

Robert Silverberg’s Reflections column examines what it means to be as “Dead as a Dodo” in this modern age; Peter Heck’s On Books reviews new works by Lois McMaster Bujold, Charles Stross, Tim Powers, Indra Das, Lavie Tidhar, and others; plus we’ll have an array of poetry and other features you’re sure to enjoy.

The cover art is by NASA. The guest editorial is by Sarah Pinsker.

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Flash bulletin to all my fellow magazine collectors — Centipede Press has just announced the release of the latest issue of their massive annual Weird Fiction Review. It’s not yet listed at Amazon (or anywhere else I can find), and they don’t even have their usual sample pages up yet. But! As they often do, Centipede Press has early-bird pricing direct on their website — $16 off the regular price. But act fast; that pricing won’t last.

Here’s the issue blurb:

The Weird Fiction Review is an annual periodical devoted to the study of weird and supernatural fiction. It is edited by S.T. Joshi. This seventh issue contains fiction, poetry, and reviews from leading writers and promising newcomers. It features original stories and essays by Steve Rasnic Tem, Mark Howard Jones, Jonathan Thomas, John Shirley, Nicole Cushing, Jason V Brock on David Bowie, a fabulous essay on the Micronauts by Chad Hensley, an article on Jack Finney by John C. Tibbets, newly discovered artwork by John Stewart, a lengthy illustrated piece on artist Mike Ploog by John Butler, a terrific new interview with William Hjortsberg by Dave Roberts, and much more. The list price on this item is $35 and it is on sale for $19.

See the complete contents here. We last covered Weird Fiction Review with Issue #6.

Weird Fiction Review is edited by S.T. Joshi and published by Centipede Press. It is printed on high quality paper with lots of color. No idea how big this issue is; the last two were 300+ pages. The list price is $35 for the sewn trade paperback; the press run is limited to 500 copies. Get more detail and order copies at Centipede Press.

Our Late November Fantasy Magazine Rack is here, and you can see all of our recent magazine coverage here.