Breach: Issue #12

By Breach

Our guest editor Lee Murray ("Hellhole: An Anthology of Subterranean Horror", "Te Korero Ahi Ka") returns for Breach #12, delivering a fresh batch of fiction from Australian and New Zealand authors.

The first of these, LL Hanley’s "The Harvest-Fly", is a military thriller that takes place in a grim post-apocalyptic future, in which the human army appears to be losing its battle against the shuffling undead. It’s in this context, while army grunt Sprog is pondering desertion, that he is nominated to be the squad’s next ‘fly’—his job to act as bait for the slobbering mob. From a fresh voice in action fiction, "The Harvest-Fly" is honest, gritty and unexpected.

In Deborah Sheldon’s "The Littlest Avian", Winston’s budgerigar Maude is evolving into her true form: a giant and vengeful goddess. Bent on revenge himself, Winston relishes her transformation, despite its unprecedented rapidity. Sheldon is an author of some acclaim in antipodean dark fiction circles, and this tightly-crafted and enchanting story of revenge is a great example of her versatility.

Tom Adams’ "Detached" presents an entrepreneurial opportunity begging to be exploited. In this intriguing bite-sized thriller set in our near-future, space-tourists Jon and Jake are headed to Mars on a sightseeing tour. But Jon has some questions, and the answers provided by the Russian crewman are hardly satisfactory. Chilling and highly plausible, "Detached" would make a great movie.

We round out this issue, and my time as Breach’s guest editor, with Tabatha Wood’s "Butterfly", a beautiful story of transformative horror which tells of a young girl who has been horribly disfigured by an unknown disease. Through pithy dialogue of the kind you might hear in any antipodean household and insightful use of internal thought, the narrative explores a parent’s spiralling desperation to make amends.

Regular contributor Claire Fitzpatrick flexes her drawing skills to give us a cover inspired by Deborah Sheldon's "The Littlest Avian".

I’d like to thank Breach for allowing me to play a small part in bringing these tales to you from our talented Australian and New Zealand creatives.

- Lee Murray, guest editor Breach #11 and #12

• Language: English
• Publisher: Breach
• Release date: Nov 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463141410

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 #12

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/breachzine

instagram.com/breach_magazine

Cover Art by Claire Fitzpatrick

Design and Layout by Peter Kirk

Edited by Lee Murray

Published by Breach

Thank you for supporting independent publishers, writers and artists.

Contents

Lee Murray – Foreward

LL Hanley – The Harvest-Fly

Deborah Sheldon – The Littlest Avian

Tom Adams – Detached

Tabatha Wood – Butterfly

Foreward

Lee Murray

As a magazine that specialises in the dark and the weird, Breach receives its fair share of stories featuring death and betrayal, and while we did not require submissions for this issue follow any particular theme, several authors chose to explore these concepts, all taking different stylistic approaches—from literary through to pulp fiction—and sometimes with surprising conclusions. In this volume, we present four of these stories.

The first of these, LL Hanley’s The Harvest-Fly, is a military thriller that takes place in a grim post-apocalyptic future, in which the human army appears to be losing its battle against the shuffling undead. It’s in this context, while army grunt Sprog is pondering desertion and even suicide, that he is nominated to be the squad’s next ‘fly’—his job to act as bait for the slobbering mob. From a fresh voice in action fiction, The Harvest-Fly is honest, gritty and unexpected.

In Deborah Sheldon’s The Littlest Avian, Winston’s budgerigar Maude is evolving into her true form: a giant and vengeful goddess. Bent on revenge himself, Winston relishes her transformation, despite its unprecedented rapidity. Sheldon is an author of some acclaim in antipodean dark fiction circles, and this tightly-crafted and enchanting story of revenge is a great example of her versatility.

Tom Adams’ Detached presents an entrepreneurial opportunity begging to be exploited. In this intriguing bite-sized thriller set in our near-future, space-tourists Jon and Jake are headed to Mars on a sightseeing tour. But Jon has some questions, and the answers provided by the Russian crewman are hardly satisfactory. Chilling and highly plausible, Detached would make a great movie.

We round out this issue, and my time as Breach’s guest editor, with Tabatha Wood’s Butterfly, a beautiful story of transformative horror which tells of a young girl who has been horribly