Saturday 19 May 2007

In the next exciting issue...

With ST11 on its way, thoughts turn to ST12. Most of the stories are sorted, bar a last proofing. And looking over them I was surprised to find similarities of theme and idea among a rather disparate bunch. Children do seem to crop up rather a lot, one way or another. So does physical deformity (not in the same stories, I'm glad to report). Also, people getting lost in what should be familiar territory, or at least harmless places. Maybe there are only a few basic ways to tell a ghostly tale, and we're bound to see them coming round over and over. Anyway, what's in store? Simon Strantzas has another story about Toronto, which he tells me is a great place to live. You wouldn't think so... Mike Chislett takes a mother and daughter into a foreign cathedral and separates them by extraordinary means. Gary Fry confronts a gang of squabbling builders with something grotesque. Gary McMahon and Duncan Barford both offer very short, inner-city horrors. Bill Read has written an interesting postmodern take on a very famous story by M.R. James. John Travis is back in surreal weirdness country, this time with a big box of hankies. Mark Patrick Lynch considers love, I suppose, or at least its darker side. John L. Probert's story is also about love, or rather rejection, as a man whose girlfriend has just dumped him wanders aimlessly into a sort of museum...

2 comments:

strantzas said...

Toronto is a nice place! We swears it!

valdemar said...

Glad to hear it! I hope the Toronto Tourist Board (or whatever) doesn't have it in for me.

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