Nightmare #67, April 2018

“Pitcher Plant” by Adam-Troy Castro

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

Two very different characters face dangerous situations in the latest issue of this on-line horror magazine.

The protagonist of “Pitcher Plant” by Adam-Troy Castro enters a house that constantly changes shape. The character’s identity and purpose remain unrevealed until halfway through the story. The mood changes from surreal to allegorical. The narrative style, told in second person, is formal and mannered, with long, descriptive paragraphs. The author does a fine job creating mood and setting, but the story is emotionally distant.

In “Don’t Pack Hope” by Emma Osborne, the main character prepares to leave home and make a dangerous journey through a land devastated by hordes of flesh-eating zombies. Although this brief story is an effective character study, the theme is a familiar one, and there is little plot.

Victoria Silverwolf has seen pitcher plants but not zombies.