Diabolical Plots #121, March 2025

“The Matador and the Labyrinth” by C.C. Finlay

“The Witches Who Drowned” by R.J. Becks

Reviewed by Mina

Two stories examining personal codes of honour.

“The Matador and the Labyrinth” by C.C. Finlay begins with a bullfight as it approaches its end. Both bull and matador are tired but we feel how the matador has a code of honour. He respects the bull even as he prepares to give the death blow, only to be dealt a death blow by the bull. He awakens in the Minotaur’s labyrinth and finds kinship with the much-maligned monster. The author explores the themes of masculinity, honour and death, and I like where he goes with this.

In “The Witches Who Drowned” by R.J. Becks, a female scientist accepts military funding to carry out research on the creatures that live on the ocean floor. But there are secrets she is not willing to divulge at any price. A story full of bioluminescence.