Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, February 2017

“Ghosts of Bunker Seven” by Derrick Boden

Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett

There are three first publication stories in the February issue of Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores.

“Ghosts of Bunker Seven” by Derrick Boden

Boden sets his short action SF in a future where the government has created a biological weapon called Scrag. Intended to create better soldiers, instead Scrag creates unfeeling and tormented people as the bacterium slowly takes over their minds.

Violet and Jeron are the last survivors of the Scrag infection. Jeron is giving in to the infection’s demand for survival. He plans to expose the bacterial agent on Earth. Government agents press Violet to stop him. But she once had strong feelings for Jeron; can she turn him away from the influence of Scrag?

The prose was a little obvious at times and the author added no new ideas to the genre. Nonetheless, the action made it an entertaining tale.

“Painting Clouds” by A. Merc Rustad

Ninth-of-one paints clouds into the sky in this flash science fiction piece. He does this for the joy of seeing humans below appreciate his art. As they point out a shape he builds new ones for their enjoyment.

But now the sky is hostile as the unfiltered sun’s rays harm any humans standing on the surface to watch his art. Should Ninth-of-one leave with his siblings to find a new planet for his cloud art?

The author has done a nice job of bringing out the sadness and hope in this charming tale.

“Repo Priest” by Joel E. Roosa

In this demonic short fantasy a bishop orders a priest to administer an exorcism on Ben Wilton. The victim is a frequent sufferer of demonic possessions making this a dangerous and perplexing challenge for the priest, Father Sean Belloch. The priest is one of the best, with the scars and disfigurements to prove it.

Can Father Belloch find a way to exorcise the latest demon and also immunize the hapless victim from any further possessions?

In several ways, this was a normal exorcism story, with just a single logical twist to it. However, the prose was engaging and the story passed quickly.