Runalong The Short Shelves - The Dark Issue 121

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Back to the short fiction shelves today and I look at the latest issue of The Dark which has four fascinating stories to savour.

The World Under by Steve Rasnic Tem - a middle aged quite introverted woman finally buys a home of her own. She tells us her tale of how this idyllic cottage on a beautiful green lawn captured her. A big contrast to the loud office where she is often teased and laughed at. I really like the unexpected and quite surreal place this story goes into and yet manages to also be at the same time terrifying and yet can’t help feel pleased that our main character finds somewhere to fit in. I will leave you to find out where though….

The Death of Abigail Goudy by Neil Williamson - it’s always tempting to think all stories in this magazine will be scary horror but this is a rather beautiful dark and weird tale of two people’s relationships rises and falls over the course of their lives. Our narrator critic is invited to an elaborate setting to hear a famous composer’s long awaited work and as it goes on for hours he gets caught up in memories. Williamson gets into the characters beat fully the things said and unsaid, the second chances and also the hurtful moments and all comes powerfully into the final act. A standout tale.

We Are The Akibus by Ogochukwu Bibiana Ossai - a really interesting tale that mixes myth, grief and magic. Our narrator is a child who died just as they turned 12 as had their 11 previous siblings. Touching on this subject sentinels Ossai mixes in a more supernatural cause taking us into the spirit underworld and adding more myths into the picture. It keeps us guessing as to where the story goes and manages to end both in a mix of horror and just possibly family. I really liked the storytelling here.

The Cephalophore by Thomas Ha - a fine final story about a strange city where people are constantly seeing ghosts. Told in a strange fractured way with one set of sections following a man being followed by a ghost holding its severed head and another detailing ghosts attacking a city. Underneath this strangeness is a powerful metaphor for how people can ignore things until it’s far too late and yet just possibly enough people can eventually change the world.