August 4, 2008
“Just an Old Man” by Maurice Broaddus is a moody, creepy tale of a man, lost in memories and rage, who sits in a mall crowd watching. Though it’s slightly disappointing that certain ideas raised are never really explained it does add to the feel of anonymity and plainness that makes the tale work so very well.
Also short and packed with a punch “House Cleaning” by Wrath James White is a revenge story, one done very well. Invoking classic stories, such as Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, it manages to show both the imbalance of the main character and the fury in an increasingly creepy way.
August 10, 2008
George Mann’s “The Nature of Blood” is almost a monster tale, an unexpected find under the Apex label. It briefly leads the reader on, bringing to mind two of the three big movie monsters, then veers out into territory of its own. In the end this is a small story, a microcosm of science fiction with limited effect on the world and a lead character that seems almost blank, despite being the victim of a very special sort of identity theft.
August 17, 2008
“Through Thy Bounty” by Lucy. A. Snyder is horror from word one, opening with a child on a butcher block, just waiting to be prepared for the fiendish Jagaren, a race of aliens who have taken over Earth and enslaved or killed much of the human race. Moody, disturbing, but also beautiful, it shouldn’t be missed.
As part of a cross promotion campaign with Permuted Press Apex also hosted “The Finger” by Matt Hults in this issue. This story capitalizes on the aspect of zombies that I worst fear–the fact that you can chop them to bits and the bits will still come after you. In a dark, almost humorous tale of a con gone wrong Hults manages to turn the stomach and the lips with a skewed version of zombie and redneck horror.
If you’re not reading Apex you’re missing out on some fantastic (and free) speculative fiction.
beauty!
lol