Black Static 21

[Ross Warren]

As many of you subscribe I felt it warranted a thread.

[Ross Warren]

Found the latest issue to be quite a mixed bag. The opinion pieces were of the usual high standard and felt the Volk worked almost as a companion piece to the Cooper story, which I found to be the strongest story of the issue.

Really enjoyed the Cluley story and its closing image will live long in the memory.

The McHugh did little for me, but I'm not much of a fan of flash.

The Leslie story, while well written, felt like it was covering a well worn theme done with better effect in stories by the likes of Gary McMahon, James Cooper and Nicolas Royale.

Finally the Grabianowski story was most disappointing of all feeling rushed and underdeveloped; there is probably a great novella to be had from the idea but didn't work for me at this short length.

[karswell]

At the risk of offending all the true horror fans out there - - with one exception I was really disappointed by the stories in this one.

I knew after the first paragraph what was going to happen in the Leslie story - which isn't necessarily a problem if the story is written with enough style to make the reading worthwhile. I don't think it was though.

The flash fiction piece was okay as a piece of (dark) whimsy almost but my response on reading it was yeah, ok.

I agree with Ross about the Grabianowski story in terms of trying to cram too much in - but most of what was crammed in was cliche so I think I'd be a bit narked if I'd had to spend more time reading a longer version.

Cluley's story disappointed (oh dear - there's that word again) the most as I've enjoyed his other stories in BS. I'm just not sure about the tone of this one - he creates an interesting character but it's almost written as a black comedy. The ending seems more like a sick joke rather than anything truly horrifying. I almost felt that we were laughing at this disturbed individual.

The exception I mentioned above is James Cooper's story which is outstanding. Nothing overtly horrific happens in it but you're still left feeling disturbed at the end of it. That truly is the sign of a good horror story. Could be read as a new twist on the Frankenstein story and I thought the inclusion of references to Cushing's "nazi" films was a bold move that payed off.

Just my opinions of course, I'm sure my negative feelings to this issue won't bring TTA press craching down in flames.

[Ross Warren]

Yeah, thinking about it the Cluley story would probably have better suited Interzone

[Ray Cluley]

Well what a mixed bag 'Pins and Needles' has had in responses. Sorry it disappointed some people, but it certainly wasn't meant to incite any mocking of the character. Yes, there are some deliberate instances of dark humour but the ending wasn't meant to seem that way - I find nothing funny about the guy at all by that point. Had I gone with the original title of Rocket Man, perhaps, but I discarded that as too flippant. But then I only wrote it - once it's out there, it belongs to readers and each opinion is as valid as the next.

I do appreciate the criticism (honestly) and I'm glad you've enjoyed previous stories.

Cooper's was a cracking story. It was never going to be pretty, going up against him in the same issue...

[karswell]

I'm sure you didn't intend to mock the character but it's a fine line and - as I say - the tone was almost that of a black comedy. What you say is true though - the reader can be the "author" of a piece of writing as much as the person writing it, it all depends on their opinions, views etc how they interpret it. Can cause problems - look at A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick withdrew the film himself because the audience reaction was the polar opposite of what he'd intended. the same happened with the Manic's song Design for Life (without the withdrawing bit obviously!) where it was claimed as a drinking anthem by those unaware of the intended tone of the song.