Black Gate

I’m hearing reliable reports that Black Static #49, published in Britain and shipped across the pond to eager readers here in America, is now available around the country.

Issue #49 is cover-dated November/December, and contains six stories:

“Dirt Land” by Ralph Robert Moore
“Going To The Sun Mountain” by Thana Niveau
“The Toilet” by Stephen Hargadon
“Gramma Tells A Story” by Erinn L. Kemper
“The Ice Plague” by Tim Lees
“The Climb” by Simon Bestwick

The magazine’s regular columns include Coffinmaker’s Blues by Stephen Volk and Notes From the Borderland by Lynda E. Rucker, plus two review columns: Blood Spectrum by Tony Lee (DVD/Blu-ray reviews); and Case Notes by Peter Tennant (book reviews). Their review columns are a model for anyone who wants to see how to do attractive magazine layout, with plenty of book covers, movie stills, and behind-the-scenes pics.

Issue 49 is nearly 100 pages and comes packed with new dark fantasy and horror, and top-notch art. Black Static is the sister magazine of Interzone (see the latest issue here); both are published by TTA Press in the UK. The distinguished Andy Cox is the editor of both.

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We don’t regularly cover Analog here at at Black Gate, on account of the fact that it’s a hard science fiction magazine, and we generally focus on fantasy. But December brought us the big January/February double issue, with a robot western from Wil McCarthy (the novella “Wyatt Earp 2.0”) and stories from James Gunn, George Zebrowski, and Caroline M. Yoachim and Tina Connolly, plus a guest editorial by Howard Hendrix, and I just couldn’t resist. You’re welcome.

Here’s editor Trevor Quachri’s description from the website.

The new year is traditionally a time to look ahead and let go of the past, but sometimes, the past can provide a solution to a problem in the here and now.

In this issue’s lead story, the “here and now” is Mars in the future, and the key piece of the past is… well, the title of the story should give it away. Join us for “Wyatt Earp 2.0,” from Wil McCarthy.

Edward M. Lerner returns to his science-behind-the-stories series of articles with a subject so big, a single installment couldn’t contain it: human augmentation. Part I of “Human 2.0: Being All We Can Be” hits this month.

Of course we also have a slew of pieces varied and wonderful, as befits our first double-issue of the year, including “We Will Wake Among The Gods, Among the Stars,” by Caroline M. Yoachim and Tina Connolly, “Farmer” by J.M. McDermott, “Rocket Surgery” by Effie Sieberg, “Saving the World: A Semi-Factual Tale” by James Gunn, “Time Out” by Norman Spinrad, “The Persistence of Memory” by Rachel L. Bowden, “Theories of Mind” by Conor Powers-Smith, “Nature’s Eldest Law,” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, “The Heat of Passion” by Grey Rollins, “Woundings” by George Zebrowski, “The Shores of Being” by Dave Creek, and “An Industrial Growth” by David L. Clements, not to mention columns galore.

And here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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Issue 47 of Swords and Sorcery Magazine, cover-dated December 2015, is now available. Each issue of contains two short stories, and is available free online. This issue features brand new fiction from Dan DeFazio and Frank Martinicchio. Here’s the issue summary from editor Curtis Ellett:

“The Death of the Bastard D’Uvel,” by Dan DeFazio, tells a tale of daring deeds, black magic, and questionable morality. DeFazio’s work has previously been published in Dungeon Magazine. This is his first story in Swords & Sorcery.

“Arbor,” by Frank Martinicchio, is the tale of a young man who finds an unexpected mentor. Martinicchio has previously been published in Tincture Journal.

I was glad to see that, after months of searching, Curtis has found a suitable number of volunteers to help him select the contents of a Best of Swords and Sorcery Magazine anthology.

Fletcher Vredenburgh reviewed issue #46 in his November Short Story Roundup, with particular praise for “Last Stand at Wellworm’s Pass” by Nick Ozment, which he called “a perfect dose of old school storytelling… Any S&S story that can stuff in werewolves, demons, and djinns is alright by me.” Read the current issue here. We last covered Swords and Sorcery Magazine with Issue #46.

See our Late-December Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent magazine coverage here.

The December 24th issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, issue #189, has original short fiction from David Tallerman and James Lecky, a podcast, and a reprint (from issue #79) by Kat Howard.

“A Killer of Dead Men” by David Tallerman
Otranto didn’t hesitate. On some level, he realized, he had been anticipating this moment, or one like it, for a very long time. “The punishment for failure should be death by my own hand.”

“So Strange the Trees” by James Lecky
Alquen waited there, sitting in the lee of a tall elm, for three hours, barely aware of time passing. He wore his finest clothes: a blue silk shirt with only two threadbare places, black tunic and breeches covered with a burgundy cloak. He felt ridiculous and handsome at the same time.

Audio Fiction Podcast:
“A Killer of Dead Men by David Tallerman
Otranto knew better than to ask why any man must die.

From the Archives:
“The Calendar of Saints” by Kat Howard (from BCS #79, October 6, 2011)
I accept mortal commissions; I’ve killed before.

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In his editorial this month, Jason Sizemore gives us the usual lowdown on the issue.

This month we bring you original fiction from old and new. We welcome Troy Tang to our pages with the evocative “Aishiteru Means I Love You.” The story, his first professional sale, explores the feedback loop of self-loathing and shame of a teen who is bullied online. Nick Mamatas makes a return to speculative fiction with “The Phylactery.” Jes Rausch’s “Memory Tree” uses an unconventional structure to examine life after death. Finally, Sam Fleming’s story “She Gave Her Heart, He Took Her Marrow” is a vivid character piece that, at 6,500 words, ends all too quickly.

We offer two poems this month: “Grotesque” by J.J. Hunter and “Myrrh, and the Sun” by Lara Ek. Jennie Goloboy provides insight into historical fiction with “Shiny Boots and Corinthians: Writing Historical Fiction without Clichés.” Andrea Johnson interviews Sam Fleming and Russell Dickerson interviews our cover artist Irek Konior.

Our reprint this month is a doozy: “Nemesis” by the great Laird Barron.

Here’s the complete TOC.

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The December issue of the online magazine Nightmare contains original short stories from Damien Angelica Walters and Caspian Gray, and reprints from Tim Lebbon and Nancy Etchemendy.

Original Stories

“The Judas Child” by Damien Angelica Walters
A kid in a baseball cap and a Ninja Turtles t-shirt is sitting on the park bench, swinging his legs. The boy stands off to the side until he’s sure there are no grown-ups nearby, and then he flops down on the bench, hiding his misshapen left hand while pretending to pick a scab from his knee with the other. Turtle leans forward, the hat’s brim turning his eyes to shadow. The boy guesses he’s eight, maybe, or close enough. Not too skinny either. The monster doesn’t like it when they’re skinny.

“The King of Ashland County” by Caspian Gray
Uncle Reggie couldn’t afford to fly to Ireland to find a selkie wife, so instead he drove across the country to Carmel-by-the-Sea and came back with a selkie queer. I was fifteen then, and so ready to get out of Perrysville that California sounded like paradise.

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Want to read the best up-and-coming fantasy writers? The holidays are a great time to try out some new magazines, and discover them for yourself. This month we start our coverage of the splendid online magazine GigaNotoSaurus, which publishes one long novelette or novella each issue, and Fletcher Vredenburgh reviews the excellent Best Of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Volume 1. Doug Ellis did some impressive detective work to bring to light the 70-year old correspondence between Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, and Astounding cover artist Hubert Rogers, and Fletcher found much to like in the newest issues of Swords and Sorcery Magazine and Fantasy Scroll in his November Short Story Roundup. For vintage fiction fans, Matthew Wuertz continued his Galaxy re-read with the February 1953 issue, with top-notch stories by Damon Knight, Algis Budrys, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Sheckley, and Clifford D. Simak.

Check out all the details on the magazines above by clicking on the each of the images. Our early December 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 $12.95/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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