Black Static #72, November/December 2019
“The String People” by Matt Thompson
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
The 72nd issue of Black Static contains six original stories, including two novelettes. Overall the stories were enjoyable reads.
“The String People” by Matt Thompson
Daniel passes by the string people every day in this short horror story. These people suffer from a disease that causes their joints to lose bone and muscle, until only cartilage holds them together.
Daniel becomes fascinated by a young woman, Livia, who senses he wants something from her. It takes time before he has the courage to ask, but she agrees to take him to a seedy hotel for a price. Once there, his request takes her by surprise, though she is far past the point of caring.
The mysteries kept the story moving, though the author didn’t develop the characters enough to make for a truly engaging read.
“The Longest Night” by Emily B. Cataneo
This horror novelette introduces us to Birta, a native of Iceland, who awaits the winter solstice. Her town believes that a ghost visits them on certain winters causing that winter to extend and starve the people. Though Birta accepts the ghost’s existence, she doesn’t believe it does harm or that the town’s wards will make any difference.
With the livelihood of the town at stake, the people disapprove of Birta’s resistance to the folklore or placing the wards. Even her best friend harangues her over her skepticism. But at the start of the longest night, Birta tries to take the situation into her own control.
This story developed at a slow pace and offered just a hint of horror.
“The Hope Chest” by Sarah Read
After her beloved grandmother disappears, Hannah tries to recreate her through scraps of cloth in this disturbing horror short. Hannah’s drunk and abusive mother does all she can to stop her daughter.
As the mother-daughter clashes intensify, Hannah perfects her replicant grandmother. Finally, the situation explodes with an abrupt and unexpected conclusion.
Slow initially, the dark story picked up pace in the last third.
“Don’t Come Looking” by Jack Westlake
In a quirky short horror offering, we follow Eve and Lisa who are the proud owners of a new home. Then a yellow door suddenly appears in their fireplace, a doorway that opens to a mysterious corridor.
Lisa is the adventurous one, quite the opposite of Eve who can’t stop Lisa from venturing down the corridor. But all the precautions Eve takes, can’t prepare her for what they find inside.
This story’s first-person prose worked well as it pulled the reader into the mysteries of the yellow door.
“As Dark as Hunger” by S. Qiouyi Lu
Ellen discovers a mangrove-trapped mermaid in this dark fantasy novelette. The mermaids have returned for their once-every-twelve-years spawning, and others are hunting for the weakened mermaids as their tails fetch a high dividend in restaurants.
Ellen feels a kinship for the mermaid, Kiru, and is nursing her back to health when Stella, Ellen’s ex-lover, shows up. Stella is a mermaid hunter now and Ellen must decide between her own physical desires and her unexpected emotional resonance with Kiru.
This was a thoughtful story with a dark and unpredictable ending.
“Watching” by Tim Lees
The watcher follows an unsavory character up the stairs in this short horror story. In a seedy and sound insulated room, he sees a scared boy sitting on a bed.
But the watcher is only here to observe; he can do nothing to stop the young boy’s soul becoming free. And so, he waits and watches as another, supposedly good man, comes in and sits with the boy.
This was a disturbing and engrossing snippet of a story.