Black Static #21 Magazine

By TTA Press

Black Static is the successor to The Third Alternative magazine, which was founded in 1994. When TTA Press acquired Interzone in 2005 it was no longer necessary to publish science fiction and fantasy in The Third Alternative. Its replacement, Black Static, also contains original fiction and illustrations plus horror/dark fantasy related news and reviews of books, movies and DVDs. It is not celebrity oriented. This edition has the text of the print edition but some illustrations, graphics and advertisements are not present.

The title and strapline reference 'electronic voice phenomenon' (EVP), the noise found on recordings which some people interpret as the voices of ghosts. The film White Noise, starring Michael Keaton, could more accurately be called Black Static. What makes the title even more suitable is that 'Black Static' is also Paul Meloy's British Fantasy Award winning story from The Third Alternative.

The Third Alternative was never afraid to push the envelope, and nothing has changed in that regard. Black Static has earned much praise for its style, bravery, editorial and fiction content. Its stories are innovative and daring, never afraid to shock or disturb, yet always entertain.

The magazine publishes some of the finest Horror writers working today: Christopher Fowler, Afterlife creator/writer Stephen Volk, Lisa Tuttle, Nicholas Royle, Conrad Williams, Tony Richards, Scott Nicholson, Steve Rasnic Tem, Cody Goodfellow, Mélanie Fazi, Matthew Holness (creator and star of TV’s Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace), Michael Marshall Smith, Simon Clark, Graham Joyce, Gary McMahon, Alexander Glass, Joel Lane, to name just a few. Alongside these is a dazzling array of new talent such as Aliette de Bodard, Daniel Kaysen, Shannon Page, Roz Clarke, Ray Cluley, Sarah Totton, James Cooper, Nina Allan, Eric Gregory and many more.

A unique fiction magazine requires unique presentation and Black Static delivers on this front too, thanks to the extraordinary original artwork of artist like David Gentry and Ben Baldwin along with a design that delights in breaking rules.
Every issue contains a striking news feature called White Noise, compiled by Peter Tennant. Pete also supplies all the magazine's book reviews in his Case Notes column which runs to at least fourteen pages and includes interviews, sidebars and factoids. Tony Lee reviews the latest DVD/Blu-ray releases in his Blood Spectrum Column. Christopher Fowler, Stephen Volk and Mike O'Driscoll supply thought-provoking comment columns, and every issue gives away lots of free stuff.
Black Static is published bimonthly, in alternate months to Interzone (we offer a discounted joint subscription to both print magazines). You can subscribe to the print version using the TTA Press website's shop.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TTA Press
• Release date: Nov 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465909640

TTA Press

TTA Press is the publisher of the magazines Interzone (science fiction/fantasy) and Black Static (horror/dark fantasy), the Crimewave anthology series, TTA Novellas, plus the occasional story collection and novel.

Book preview

BLACK STATIC

21

TTA Press

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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BLACK STATIC

A MAGAZINE OF HORROR AND DARK FANTASY.

Issue 21 (FEB–MAR 2011)

Cover Art

by Ben Baldwin

benbaldwin.co.uk

Black Static

PUBLISHED BY:

TTA Press on Smashwords EPUB ISBN 978-1-4659-0964-0

First draft v2 Roy Gray

Print edition ISSN 1753-0709 Published bimonthly by TTA Press, 5 Martins Lane, Witcham, Ely, Cambs CB6 2LB, UK (t: ++44 (0)1353 777931)

Copyright - © 2011 Black Static and its contributors

Worldwide Print Distribution:

Pineapple Media (t: 02392 787970) Central Books (t: ++44 (0)20 8986 4854)

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Fiction Editor - Andy Cox ([e-mail]) News & Book Reviews Editor - Peter Tennant ([e-mail]) Contributing Editors - Tony Lee, Christopher Fowler, Stephen Volk, Mike O’Driscoll E-edition & Publicity - Roy Gray ([e-mail]) Podcast - Pete Bullock ([e-mail]) Twitter & Facebook - Marc-Anthony Taylor Website - ttapress.com Email - [e-mail] Forum - ttapress.com/forum Subscriptions - Not available on Smashwords. Submissions - Unsolicited submissions of short stories are always welcome. Please follow the contributors’ guidelines on the website.

To obtain the print edition of Black Static in the Europe or North America where your retailer may not stock it please ask them to order it for you, or buy it from one of several online mail order distributors...or better yet subscribe direct with us!

Subscriptions: Print edition subscriptions available online at ttapress.com/shop

Note we have some illustrations in this edition and you can see these in colour at http://ttapress.com/1018/black-static-21-out-now/10/5/

Unsolicited submissions of short stories are always welcome. Please follow the contributors’ guidelines on the website.

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Smashwords Edition License Notes

This emagazine is licensed for your personal use/enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this magazine with others please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this magazine and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the contributors and editors

BLACK STATIC 21

CONTENTS

NEWS

EDITORIAL NOTES -

WHITE NOISE – compiled by Peter Tennant.

COMMENT/COLUMNS

INTERFERENCE - by Christopher Fowler

NIGHT’S PLUTONIAN SHORE - by Mike O’Driscoll

ELECTRIC DARKNESS - by Stephen Volk

FICTION

ULTERIOR DESIGN by V.H. Leslie

...art by Paul Milne - paulmilne.co.uk

PINS AND NEEDLES by Ray Cluley

art by Rik Rawling - rikrawling.wordpress. com

WATER by Maura McHugh

EXTRANEUS INVOKAT by Ed Grabianowski

...art by Dan Henk - danhenk.com

CUSHING by James Cooper

...art by Ben Baldwin - benbaldwin.co.uk

REVIEWS

CASE NOTES - book reviews by Peter Tennant

BLOOD SPECTRUM - DVD/Blu-ray reviews by Tony Lee

ENDNOTES

Links etc.

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Return to Contents

EDITORIAL NOTES –

We’re very sorry if you were one of the many UK print edition subscribers who had to wait a long while for the delivery of issue 20. It was mailed out on time (presorted, as always) but was held up by adverse weather conditions and subsequent backlog. After that…well, the delay began to seem neverending. If your copy was unacceptably late or didn’t arrive at all please let us know. We are also sorry for the lateness of the Ebook editions but are trying to catch up.

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Crimewave 11: Ghosts was also in this mailing, so the same applies. We hope you’re enjoying this. If so, please help spread the word. Thanks!

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February is ‘Women in Horror Recognition Month’, and Pete has devoted this issue’s Case Notes to work by women writers. Pete has also handed over his Case Notes Blog for the month to female contributors to Black Static: ttapress. com/blackstatic/ casenotesblog/

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Submissions of short stories are always welcome, but please follow the guidelines on the website.

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WHITE NOISE

Return to Contents

BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME THREE

Editor Ellen Datlow has announced her Table of Contents for The Best Horror of the Year Volume Three and Black Static is represented by Ray Cluley with ‘At Night When the Demons Come’ from #20 and Nicholas Royle’s ‘The Obscure Bird’, which originally appeared in #18. Other contributors with a Black Static connection are Cody Goodfellow and our columnist Christopher Fowler.

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CHAPBOOK NEWS

As far as the UK independent presses are concerned, chapbooks appear to be the new black. Spectral Press’ launch title, Gary McMahon’s What They Hear in the Dark, has been met with almost universal critical acclaim and they intend to build on that success with a chapbook from another author with a Black Static pedigree. Gary Fry’s Abolisher of Roses is available for pre-order at spectralpress.wordpress.com. In March, all going according to plan, we can expect the next two releases from Manchester based Nightjar Press, Lexicon by Christopher Burns and Field by Tom Fletcher. You can get more information on those from nightjarpress.wordpress.com. Pendragon Press have also entered the fray with Angels of the Silences by Simon Bestwick, The Legend of False Dreaming by Toiya Kristen Finley and Crash Day by Jack Mangan, all of which are slated for publication sometime between now and May, and indeed may already have been published by the time you get this magazine in your hands. And if you’re hankering after something more substantial than a chapbook, there’s also Kingston to Cable by Gary Greenwood and popCult! by David Barnett coming soon from the same publisher. It’s all happening over at pendragonpress.net.

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CHOMU PRESS – LATEST

We now have a definite release date for two of the forthcoming titles from Chomu that we mentioned last issue. The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Weird Tales by Mark Samuels will be out on the 16th of March, and a week later on the 23rd The Life of Polycrates & Other Stories for Antiquated Children by Brendan Connell will join it on a book shelf near you. They’re both paperback originals and if you’d like some more information, such as what they cost and how to order, then the place to go is chomupress.com

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DELICATE TOXINS

Last issue I reviewed Alraune, a seminal novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers, released by Side Real Press in a rather splendid collector’s edition. For their next project Side Real plan ‘an anthology of all new tales taking the life, work and cultural milieu of Hanns Heinz Ewers as their inspiration’. Delicate Toxins (A Collection of Strange Tales) is slated for February/March release, and contributors include Mark Samuels, Richard Gavin, Reggie Oliver, Mark Valentine and Ray Russell. For more information go to siderealpress.co.uk/ and check under ‘Forthcoming’.

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PLOTTING YOUR NOVEL

March will be a busy month for one of our favourite writers. Not only will his new novel Loss of Separation be out in paperback from Solaris on the 3rd, but on Saturday the 26th Conrad Williams will be running a workshop at the Storey Creative Industries Centre in Lancaster with the theme of ‘Plotting Your Novel’. The workshop will run from 10.00a.m. through till 4.00p.m and costs £40 (concessions £30), but you’ll need to book by the 10th of March. Full details can be found at thestorey.co.uk under ‘What’s on’.

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PARTY PIECES

Having helped disinter The Pan Book of Horror Stories from an early grave, the industrious Johnny Mains is now turning his attention to Fontana Horrors editor Mary Danby. Party Pieces: The Horror Fiction of Mary Danby is slated for an April release from Noose & Gibbet Publishing and will retail in hardback at £20. It will contain all of Mary’s short horror fiction, including a brand new story written specially for the book, and an in-depth biography by editor Johnny Mains. For more information and to pre-order go to nooseandgibbetpublishing.com

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A NEW BOOK FROM AN OLD FRIEND (1)

Steven Pirie had a story back in issue #8 and if all goes according to plan he should have another one in this issue. So, you’re probably wondering, what does Steven Pirie do beside write short stories? And the answer is he also writes novels and a new one with the title Burying Brian has just been released by Immanion Press. It’s the long awaited sequel to Digging Up Donald, and features a return to the town of Mudcaster and assorted apocalypses. The author has refused to comment on the possible existence of a third volume titled Cremating Colin. For further information go to immanion-press.com and have a root around in the Catalogue. No telling what you might find.

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A NEW BOOK FROM AN OLD FRIEND (2)

Tim Lees last appeared in #13 with the story ‘Cuckoos’. All being well, this month should see the release of his new novel Frankenstein’s Prescription from Tartarus Press in a limited edition of 300. It’s a story about the search for the secret of eternal life and there’s a monster in it. For a somewhat more substantial synopsis than that, go to tartaruspress.com and check under ‘News’, or under something else if you take so long about it that it’s no longer news.

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I SMELL BLOOD

It’s the title of the new collection by Ralph Robert Moore, whose 2009 release Remove the Eyes was named one of the notable collections of the year by Ellen Datlow. I Smell Blood contains eight stories plus the short novel ‘Kid’, making almost one hundred thousand words of fiction in total. At the moment it’s available from lulu.com as either a trade paperback or an e-book download. In the future it will be available from Amazon, Amazon.UK, Barnes and Noble, and a number of other online venues, so watch those spaces.  It can also be ordered from most brick and mortar bookstores.

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JUST A QUICK REMINDER

Forget the royal wedding. The World Horror Convention 2011 takes place at the Doubletree Hotel in Austin, Texas, and runs from the 28th of April through to the 1st of May. Guests of Honour in various categories (Author, Artist, Editor etc) include Joe Hill, Sarah Langan, Vincent Chong, Brian Keene, Joe R. Lansdale, Steve Niles, Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi. You can find out more at whc2011.org

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HELL TRAIN

Christopher Fowler mentioned this in his Interference column last issue. It’s a new novel written by him and based on a supernatural chiller that Hammer Films never made. What Chris didn’t tell you is that it’s to be published by Solaris and is scheduled for a January 2012 release. Watch solarisbooks.com for more breaking news, including the latest on forthcoming titles from Black Static favourites Gary McMahon, Nicholas Royle and Steve Rasnic Tem, plus a lot else beside.

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AFTER DARK

The After Dark: Horrorfest began life as a nationwide horror film festival in the US, and now it’s coming to the UK with After Dark Originals. To quote from the PR release, ‘Starting Friday 4th March through to Sunday 6th March horror fans in key cities in the UK and Ireland will get 7 brand new original horror films and enjoy the opportunity to get dressed up and participate in exciting in-cinema activity and competitions.’ Films to be shown include Husk, Prowl and Scream of the Banshee. For more information, including venues, keep an eye on facebook.com/afterdarkoriginals.uk

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PENGUIN MINI MODERN CLASSICS

Older readers may remember the Penguin 60s released in 1995, sixty small books costing 60p each and marking the company’s 60th anniversary. We’re not sure what the occasion is, but on 15 February the company will assay something similar with their Mini Modern Classics, fifty uniform volumes each containing one or more short stories and retailing at £3 a pop. Of particular interest to the horror aficionado are The Tooth by Shirley Jackson, The Colour Out of Space by H. P. Lovecraft, Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book by M. R. James and, at least according to Amazon, Delicate Prey by Paul Bowles.

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THE RANDOM ROUND UP

All details correct at time of checking on Amazon, and all titles paperback unless stated otherwise. Vampires continue to be popular in the months ahead, with the release of three anthologies. In March we have Vampires: The Recent Undead from Prime and The Mammoth Book of Dracula edited by Stephen Jones and published by Robinson, while in early April Harper Collins release Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. There’s also a new edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula from Oxford World’s Classics in February, and in the first week of April Piatkus will give us 13 Bullets: A Vampire Tale by David Wellington. Zombies are not far behind in the monster popularity stakes, with Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith, the sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, due from Quirk Classics in March, but the 14th of April seems to be Z-Day, with the release of The Viking Dead by Toby Venables, the latest in Abaddon’s Tomes of the Dead series, and Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? by Max Brallier from Gallery. The 14th of April also sees another end of the world scenario release, Outpost by Adam Baker from Hodder & Stoughton. Also be sure to mark on your calendar the 31st of March when we get Property of a Lady by Sarah Rayne (Severn House hardback), The Thing on the Shore by Tom Fletcher (Quercus) and Dead Bad Things by Gary McMahon (Angry Robot). There’s Phantom Evil by Heather Graham due out from Mira in hardback in March, but perhaps the most intriguing release in the months ahead is Ritual by David Pinner, a Finders Keepers Records reissue of a forty five year old book claimed to have been the inspiration for The Wicker Man.

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COMPILED BY PETER TENNANT • SEND YOUR NEWS TO [e-mail].

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Tennant

INTERFERENCE

by Christopher Fowler

Return to Contents

Taking Horror To Extremes

Despite the awful reviews, I still want to see A Serbian Film. Not because I get off on extreme imagery – far from it; I’m usually the one peering through my fingers praying for it to stop – but because Westminster Council banned it, yanked it out of Frightfest and reopened the old arguments about ‘video nasties’ for the first time since frothing MP Graham Bright tried to terrify everyone in order to win votes in the 1980s.

These are times scarred by recession, philistinism, ignorance, extreme religious views and the rising spectre of the far right. At a time when the US government should be reordering its economic system so that its people can harmoniously adjust to their loss of empire, it turns instead to right-wing ignoramus Sarah Palin, showing that no history lessons are being learned at all. And over here, Lord Young proved himself just as hilariously and offensively out of touch by pronouncing that the British have never had it so good. So, instead of self-awareness and the flexibility to change, we get recessive entrenched attitudes that hurt us all the more.

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Who Goes To The Movies To Think, Anyway?

At times like these, the spectre of horror censorship rises again, and shocking arts are banned. Serbia’s history is the stuff of nightmares, its people reaching a point not touched since the grotesqueries of the Second World War, and a shlock-horror film may or may not be a reaction to that. The problem lies in the way it mixes children and horror (not on set, but in the edit). The knee-jerk reaction of the Daily Mail dimwits must be taken into account, because that’s all the government really cares about – keeping the voters comfortable.

The trouble is that if any genuinely serious film dares to address, on any level, the problems of the world and learning from the past, it