Remains Issue Four

 

REMAINS (Issue Four)

Andy Cox, editor of the excellent BLACK STATIC magazine, has returned with REMAINS, featuring 100 full colour pages of brand new fiction, with art by Richard Wagner in each issue. I missed out on the first two, found issue three excellent, and have just finished reading the latest, which you can get at Remains 4. For those not in the know, BLACK STATIC was a top notch UK-based magazine for short horror fiction, published from 2007-2021 (and before that, it was known as THE THIRD ALTERNATIVE, going back to 1994). I rarely missed an issue, and was among the many saddened when it ceased publication. But REMAINS is every bit as good, as evidenced by this latest issue.

Opener HEAVYNESS, a hard hitting novelette by Seán Padraic Birnie, deals with a physically disadvantaged boy and his equally as disadvantaged sister. A deep, dark study of loss and preservation.

The short stories begin with HEARSTEN LAKE by Kay Vaindal, in which three people scout out an area to be the location of their new company. Vaindal spins the “haunted grounds” trope on its head and delivers a wicked finale.

STATION TO STATION by Stephen Bacon features a man searching for his lost lover in an underground labyrinth of both physical and mental realms. One of the best of the lot.

In my favorite this issue, DEVELOPMENT CONVERSATION by Stephen Hargadon, We meet a quiet old employee, the kind you find at any office job. But Hargadon’s view on how this person comes to be is terrifying in a classic horror tale way. For some readers, this will be bone chilling.

THE BABY by Annie Neugebauer is obviously a personal story, albeit with a body-horror ending that will make you wince. The author recently released a short story collection, and if the other stories in it are even half this good, it’s sure to be a must buy.

SCISSORS, PAPER, ROCKS by Craig Bernardini is another body horror tale that brings films like AMERICAN MARY to mind. Grim but genuinely spooky.

THE BLOCK by Steve Toase is easily the weirdest of the issue, dealing with a group who create most unusual houses. The aftermath, of course, is anything but a happy home. Toase subtly gets under your skin…

THE RETURN OF BENNY STORAX by John Possidente takes place in a series I’m not familiar with, but the story is fine as a stand alone, a unique alien abduction/release tale.

LETTERS FROM NEW AMERICA: MINDING THE GARDEN by James Sallis is the second part of a four-part serial, and at this point I won’t comment. I have no idea where this is headed, but will give it the benefit of the doubt (the first two installments have been the shortest pieces in each issue).

If you are a writer of short horror fiction, this is one of the best places to find inspiration as well as see how it’s done the right way. Seasoned editor Andy Cox always delivers a scary time, and it’s so nice to have him back in action.