Aurealis“Enter The Bubble” by Edward Brauer
“Sister Snips” by Imogen Cassidy
“The Otherworld Theory” by Desmond Astaire
Reviewed by Mina
This issue has some imaginative takes on horror.
“Enter The Bubble” by Edward Brauer is an intriguing blend of ideas: I never would have thought of turning the housing market into a monster, like a mad and voracious Esher painting come to life. Agents Brookman and Martins are sent into the heart of the bubble that is the collapsed housing market. Betrayed by her boss, Brookman is the only member of the six-man team to survive. How she beats the monster is worth reading.
“Sister Snips” by Imogen Cassidy seems to be set in a dystopian future after a disaster of some kind. Sister Nine lives within a protected compound where she has lived since she was a child. To survive, the community must recycle the available bodies. Sister Nine is overcome by fear, exhaustion and grief, as the full horror of the world she lives in hits her and the reader.
In “The Otherworld Theory” by Desmond Astaire, a military policeman goes missing whilst doing his rounds. Danny Mena reappears nine days later but is shot before he is recognised. A TV show pieces together where Danny may have been, as there are signs that Danny was away much longer than nine days in a nightmare future, full of apocalyptic monsters. I enjoyed the documentary feel to the story. For lovers of The Twilight Zone.