Breach: Issue #11: NZ and Australian SF, Horror and Dark Fantasy

By Breach

Breach #11 continues our quest to find the best dark fiction from emerging and established writers. Ably assisted by guest editor Lee Murray (Into the Mist, Hounds of the Underworld), we present five stories and one poem from your new favourite writers.
Opener "Brought to You by Abyss Cola" by Chris Moss takes us to the bottom of the Mariana Trench for a corporate-sponsored challenge, while Andrea Teare’s "Seaweed" basks in its painful memories of a childhood accident.
Kel E. Fox’s poem "Butterflies and Thunderbirds" provides, as Lee Murray puts it, "a rare moment of whimsy and a message about how things that might appear innocuous or enchanting at first view can sometimes transform and ultimately threaten our safety."
Greg Kelly's "The Hikikomori and Death" offers a Harajuku-set update of an old Aesop fable that we feel makes compelling reading.
We end with the return of two old friends, Hari Navarro and Piper Mejia, whose stories could not be more different. Navarro's prose poem "The Hotel Excelsior Deluxe" is a dark tale of a tower, a lake, a pine tree and a young couple, written in Navarro's signature evocative style.
Mejia's "Keen" may seem familiar to readers of Barry Crump, but our hunters in an NZ backblock have more on their minds than culling deer. A tin shed, a cup of tea and something lurking in the dark bush - a brilliant end to this edition of Breach.

"I hope readers will enjoy these stories as much as I have." - Lee Murray

• Language: English
• Publisher: Breach
• Release date: Oct 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463226261

Breach

Breach is bi-monthly online zine showcasing Australian and NZ writers and artists, with a lean to sci-fi and horror. Our focus is on new and emerging Australian and New Zealand writers and artists, and helping them get their work out into the world. Publishers of Alfie Simpson's "Sub-Urban" (Breach #07), winner of the Best Horror Short Story at the 2018 Aurealis Awards. Our stories have been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Aurealis, Australian Shadows and the Sir Julius Vogel Awards. We only publish what we love and believe in and we champion our authors every way we can.

Book preview

Issue #11

Science Fiction, Horror and Dark Fantasy from Australia and New Zealand

ISSN 2209-2196

Copyright © 2019 by each individual author as noted

All rights reserved.

Find us online at:

breachzine.com

facebook.com/breachzine

twitter.com/BartholemewFord

instagram.com/breach_magazine

Cover Art and Design by Oliver Hayes

Layout by Peter Kirk

Edited by Lee Murray

Published by Breach

Thank you for supporting independent publishers, writers and artists.

Contents

Lee Murray – Foreword

Chris Moss – Brought to You by Abyss Cola

Andrea Teare – Seaweed

Kel E. Fox – Butterflies and Thunderbirds

Greg Kelly – The Hikikomori and Death

Hari Navarro – The Hotel Excelsior Deluxe

Piper Mejia – Keen

Foreword

I’m a big fan of any publication offering new speculative and dark fiction writing, and especially work by Australian and New Zealand creatives, so when I was invited to guest edit issues #11 and #12 of Breach, I jumped at the chance. Quite simply, this is a great little magazine. Since its first issue in 2017, Breach has offered a wonderful selection of dark and weird tales from established and emerging writers. And, in keeping with that tradition, the stories and poems in this latest round of submissions were of a high quality and, with very few exceptions, all worthy of publication. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them, although it made choosing a final table of contents a difficult task. For this issue, I selected five stories and a poem.

We open with Brought to You by Abyss Cola by Chris Moss, who introduces us to internet celebrity Brawny Deuce, an overconfident modern-day explorer. Deuce is piloting Beyond Extreme’s deep submersible vehicle (DSV) to the bottom of the Mariana Trench to carry out an experiment on behalf of their sponsor, Abyss Cola. Of course, things do not go as planned. Embracing the age-old theme of audacity in exploration, Moss’ chilling story is told in the lively voice of its podcasting protagonist.

Next up, is Andrea Teare’s Seaweed. The shortest story in the magazine, it comes with a powerful emotional punch. As the title suggests, Seaweed tells of a kelp factory on the edge of town and the sea nearby where the brown kelp strands undulate, constantly stirred by the wind and the current. But when the wind drops and the weather calms, the kelp delivers up its long-lost secrets, much to the horror of the town’s residents. A moving tale on the impact of loss and guilt.

Kel E. Fox’s evocative poem Butterflies and Thunderbirds provides the perfect palette cleanser; its stanzas conjuring a rare moment of whimsy and a message about how things that might appear innocuous or enchanting at first view can sometimes transform and ultimately threaten our safety.

From the seaside to the city, the next story is set Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku district. While recognisable as a reimagining of Aesop’s The Old Man and Death, the contemporary gritty setting, unexpected structure and Japanese flavour of Greg Kelly’s The Hikikomori and Death offers a fresh and surprising take on a familiar tale and makes compelling reading.

Next, we are treated to Hari Navarro’s beautiful prose poem The Hotel Excelsior Deluxe. It’s the tale of a tower, a lake, a pine tree, a couple—and all imbued with a startling poignancy—the kind of tale that stays with you long after the final page is turned.

Finally, we venture into the forest with Keen, by Piper Mejia. This story tells of a young hunter who responds to a job offer and with suspiciously little ado is whisked into an isolated forest backblock for a handover with the old-timer who has been culling the area of animals since the year