Nightmare #150, March 2025“The Tugwort” by Lincoln Michel
“sharp house” by Samir Sirk Morató
“Pezcaro” by Ana Hurtado
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
In “The Tugwort” by Lincoln Michel, an engaged couple takes a vacation to an island, where they learn of the legendary being named in the title. An excursion into the island’s caverns leads to a strange transformation.
The story is written in very plain, simple language, making for easy reading but also creating a certain vagueness at times. The fantasy premise is clearly meant to reflect the woman’s anxiety about the choices she has to make in life. As a metaphor, the plot is effective; as horror fiction, readers may find it overly predictable.
The narrator of “sharp house” by Samir Sirk Morató enters an abandoned mansion with others intent on vandalism. They discover a being made of needles that attacks them. The narrator is the last to escape, and learns of the creature’s desires.
Readers should be aware that the author’s introduction states the story’s theme explicitly, and may act as a spoiler. The premise is a unique, striking, and visceral one. Those with a fear of needles should read this gruesome tale with caution.
It may be asking too much of a brief, surreal work to contain characters who act rationally. However, since the narrator and companions know that others have been badly injured in the house, it seems foolish of them to enter.
(As a minor note, there appears to be no particular reason for the title to lack capital letters. The mansion is known as Sharps House in the text.)
Set in Ecuador during a New Year’s celebration, “Pezcara” by Ana Hurtado involves fish that resemble the faces of various people in the community. The implication is that finding such a fish dooms the person whose face it bears to die or disappear. A pair of young siblings enter the ocean, apparently in search of such fish, with peculiar results.
If this synopsis seems ambiguous, that may be because the story is subtle, with the feeling of magic realism. I have to admit that I didn’t quite understand what happened to one of the siblings. Familiarity with Ecuadorean culture and with the Spanish language would help readers to fully appreciate this deceptively quiet work.
Victoria Silverwolf has never been to Ecuador.