Dark Recesses is a respected horror magazine preparing to make the jump from PDF to print. Issue 8 is the last pdf issue and is available for free in non-enhanced form. I cannot express how important it is to take advantage of offers like this if you are trying to break into a market.
The first story is The Other Side by Liam Rands. It has ghosts, monsters and a nice sense of justice even if it isn’t quite as tight as it could be. In it a skeezy television psychic, Sam Drake gets more than he bargained for, on both his show and in his love life. In the end his punishment is too short, especially compared to the build up in the story.
Next up is Midnight on Avenue D by Peter M. Ball. One of the rarely well done second person stories, Midnight on Avenue D is a brutal tale of violence, wasted life and reclusiveness. The tale is tight and brief, which helps the second person point of view work without becoming annoying.
I Will Take You Where You Want To Go by Joe L. Murr is a different sort of horror tale from the first two Dark Recesses offerings. It glances slightly on several commonly seen themes, but uses them as framework for the story, not the plot lines themselves. If focuses on Rhianna, a woman who’s love of her husband has turned to hate as she feels that she’s been trapped into a barren marriage. But the dark stranger she meets, after being banished from girls’ night out, isn’t just offering her realization of her dreams.
Telephone by Joel Arnold is another shorter tale. One of the best of this issue the horror starts with what one child says and continues spiraling out of control from there.
Scavenger Hunt by R.J. Cavender certainly has the in-your-face horror, but much like the much-mentioned Amanda’s face it’s chopped up. The story is in shreds, divided between explanations and long mentions of characters who in the end aren’t exactly in the story. This takes away from its impact. But in the end the story clinches with a nasty little finish that seems well deserved.
The Bear Child by Anne Harris is a dark fantasy piece, which makes it stick out from Dark Recesses’ digital pages. It’s reminiscent of Jennifer Pelland’s Blood Baby of Apex Digest fame. Neth is sent out through the dangers of the woods to beg The Woman Who Eats Only Bones to aid a village besieged by a monster. The Woman refuses, because of course the real story isn’t back at the village and their plight, but in the identity of the child they sent to her. A child no one loved, and no one cares if returns. With such a family do they really deserve to be saved from what hunts them?
Churel by John Kratman is a dark tale reminiscent of The Jungle Book, set in English occupied India. There is more than one horror to this story. Mutiny and murder come to life in this exotic monster story.
Dark Recesses is poised to become one of the pillars of horror, in its many forms. After reading this issue I’m sure that the change from digital to print will make this publication one to keep an eye on.
