Nightmare “The Plague Puller” by Manish Melwani
“The Mothers” by Laur A. Freymiller
“To Rectify in Silver” by Steve Toase
Reviewed by Mike Bickerdike
Nightmare, the magazine of horror and dark fantasy, offers two short stories and one piece of flash fiction this month.
“The Plague Puller” by Manish Melwani is an imaginative ghost story set in a South Asian country. A man is left beside a canal, having died of cholera, where he is found by his friend, a rickshaw puller. The imagery is rather good, and the story manages to convey a normalcy in the fantasy, which appeals, as well as communicating a quiet dignity to the poor protagonist and his erstwhile friend’s difficult lives.
“The Mothers” by Laur A. Freymiller is a slightly odd piece of flash fiction, the meaning of which is unclear. It concerns mothers as we all know them, but mostly ‘mothers’ who ‘occupy the edges’, hiding behind furniture, in the walls and behind trees. In meaning, the author has opted for ambiguity over clarity.
“To Rectify in Silver” by Steve Toase starts with a touch more promise than it ultimately delivers. An archaeologist is researching an area of land to map out an ancient henge site, by comparing new birds-eye images with photographs taken decades before from WWII reconnaissance planes. This is a neat and inventive idea, and the initial fantasy plot device Toase develops is subtle and creepy. However, it turns into a less subtle horror story that didn’t quite match initial expectations, and the prose is not always as clear and engaging as it might be.
Mike Bickerdike’s reviews and thoughts on science-fiction can be found at https://starfarersf.nicepage.io/