“By the Searing Flames” by Justin Howe

“Heavy Rains” by Andrew Nicolle

“Betty in Sideshow” by Daniel R. Robichaud

“The Conviction of Praxis” by Eugie Foster

Issue #3 of Spacesuits & Sixguns opens with an historical fantasy, “By the Searing Flames” by Justin Howe.  Set on the isle of Raikos in the early thirteenth century, the new rulers of the island, the Crusaders Erazzio and Giacomo Sabbitini and Tio Stefano, are looking down upon their new subjects and their pagan manner of worshipping God.  Each of the characters has his own way of looking down on the locals until Erazzio comes up with the idea that the blasphemous tale the locals tell of a torch that has remained lit since the days of Jesus might be based on fact. However, Giacomo and Tio Stefano are not particularly likable and Erazzio doesn’t have enough of a presence to carry the story, even one as short as this.  In the end, the reader is left not caring about either the three characters or the island over which they rule.

Andrew Nicolle’s story is probably the best of the issue, although it doesn’t quite work. By using a framing device for “Heavy Rains,” he weakens the story’s effectiveness.  Instead, he should have eschewed that technique, which would have removed a minor, and not terribly effective, plot point, and focused on writing the story as a straight horror tale, which would have allowed him to build up the suspense and terror much more effectively. The story of three men in the Australian Outback is strongest when it is setting its scene.  Nicolle, who is an Australian living in the United States, is able to paint a picture of Australia which gives a feel for the land without descending into the Paul Hogan cliché.  He weaves Aboriginal lore into the story quite well, and the story itself would be right at home as told around a campfire.  However, the framing technique siphons off a lot of the atmosphere that Nicolle may have been trying to capture and also serves to weaken the first person narrative.

Daniel R. Robichaud has written a postapocalyptic tale with “Betty in Sideshow.” It is, unfortunately, formulaic of the genre and gives every indication that twenty years after the Cold War ended, the subgenre should be laid to rest in its gently glowing nuclear grave. The story focuses on Betty, who has rescued her sister, Mara, from the clutches of the Smeerg and is now trying to get away, leading into the ruins of Chica-Town (Chicago? It doesn’t give any indication of what the city once was, and doesn’t matter, either).  Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Betty finds herself in the underground passages (subways) of the city and dealing with the cannibals that may or may not exist there. Robichaud telegraphs his ending, and once he reaches the denouement, the story suddenly stops, leaving the reader with the feeling that it wasn’t quite over.

“The Conviction of Praxis,” is a very short story by Eugie Foster. Foster looks at a strange reality show through the eyes of a favorite stuffed animal.  Her set-up is interesting, and Foster provides a twist at the end.  Unfortunately, the suddenness of her twist, and the brevity of the story after it comes, causes it to lack the emotional impact which might have accompanied it if she had built the tension with a more horror-like vibe. Had Foster foreshadowed the ending, it would have been a much harder-hitting story.