Supernatural Tales # 26
Spring 2014
Edited by David Longhorn
suptales.blogspot.com
Reviewed by Mario Guslandi
David Longhorn’s Supernatural Tales is one of the best kept secrets among the true fans of classy dark fiction, a British magazine continuing to provide excellent material to be enjoyed (alas!) by a limited number of connoisseurs. Thus, if you have missed some (or, God forgive, all) of the previous twenty-five issue, hurry up and secure a copy of issue # 26. The content is apt to satisfy any lover of horror /supernatural stories.
Charles Wilkinson’s “Cold Plate” is a well told yarn in which a relationship takes an unexpected, disturbing paranormal turn, while Jeremy Schliewe’s “The Names” is the intriguing quest for an obscure but apparently prolific writer depicted in a gripping story only partly spoiled by a disappointing final anticlimax.
Mark Patrick Lynnch provides “Tied Up Good and True”, an excellent psychological thriller with a very physical ending where a shy bartender is actually, under his deceiving disguise, something else entirely.
In “Things that Make the Papers” by David Buchan, a superb mix between a crime story and a horror tale, we have to face the deeds of a child-killer.
“Faces of the Missing” by David Surface is a disquieting, perceptive tale of urban horror where children disappear and adults lose contact with the reality.
“Friends Reunited” by Sam Dawson (who is the artist responsible for the stunning cover of this issue) did not work for me, but I’m sure other readers will appreciate it.
Finally, my favourite story, that I would pinpoint as the highlight of the book, is “Ruelles des Martyrs”, by Antony Oldknow, a fascinating supernatural mystery with a touch of eroticism brought about by an elusive femme fatale.
Go ahead and secure a copy!
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