Runalong the Short Shelves - Dark Magazine
Helloo!
A little trip to the dark shadowy side of the shelves today with a look at August’s Dark Magazine which had four delicious tales of terror to enjoy
The Changing Dust by James Bennett - a very good slice of Victorian gothic, this tale explores two of the stranger professions to come out of the 19th century obsession with death - professional mediums and the photographers who would for a price take a memento mori photo of you family sitting happily with the deceased. Henley Hill is one such photographer asked by the mysterious Templeton sisters ask him for portrait with their dearly departed Zillah
As you’d expect not all goes to plan and Bennett has a lot of fun building up the tension of exactly how will things go wrong. Lots of atmosphere, increasing sinister sisters and two very neat plot reveals as the sister’s aims come to light and Hill’s own dark secrets finally emerge.
Thirty-Two Tumbling Teeth by Neil Williamson - an excellent piece of contemporary horror. The unusual setting is a 24/7 automated laundrette and the main character Greg is the on call repairman. The mystery here is why is he finding teeth in the machines. The horror here is tragic rather than bloody as we see Greg’s life and background that led him here and the ending is a haunting ambiguous mix of horror and potential peace being found. Very impressive!
The Rituals of Bathing by Libby Cudmore - A dark modern fairytale as a young woman and her mother have a relationship that feels on the edge of toxic and the focus is on the mysterious red pearls she uses for bathing. I really lied how a classic idea is subtly updated for the future and the exploration of our character and how they feel about their mother is fascinating.
Into the Mirror by Clara Madrigano - is a horror tale exploring the history of a place. This time taking us to Brazil and a tale of a family realising this part of town has secrets. The tale merged horro together with tales of German immigrants who may have had connections to WW2 Nazis, it explores the colonial attitudes Europeans has towards native groups and that this leads to a beautiful, terrible revenge which we get to witness when the river starts to rise. A powerful, elegant and informative tale!
