When Black Static #9 landed on my lap (well, actually, on my computer as a reviewer’s PDF file, if you want to get technical), I initially had two thoughts go through my head. My first was, “Cool. You can never have too much horror.” My second occurred immediately after reading the line, “Paris Hilton is a Black Static subscriber.” That thought was, “Paris Hilton reads?”

But let’s get to the reviewing:

“The Lonely Heart” by Aliette de Bodard delivers dark fantasy with an Eastern flair. When Du Chen encounters an orphan caught up in the prostitution rackets, little does she suspect that she’s about to get snared in a supernatural entanglement that threatens to destroy everything she values most. Bodard weaves mystery and suspense together in a dark and disturbing package filled with lust, violence, and adultery. There is much revelation with regards to the complexities of the human condition in this tale, and Bodard manages to capture the themes with proficient skill. The plot is concise yet intricate, the dialogue is superb, and the writing flows naturally if not swiftly. The pacing starts slow but then builds to a climactic and bloody crescendo.

“The Plain” by Tim Lees delves into our animal sides in a manner reminiscent of your favorite Outer Limits episodes. A university professor has begun to notice that everyone around him seems to be acting more animalistic as the days go by. Are all the humans around him de-evolving? Or is he just delusional? Lees delivers a slow, gradual reveal and maintains reader interest by letting you know just enough to want to learn more. While the main character tends to be the archetypal university professor, it doesn’t detract from the story, for the archetypes work as a contrast to the animalistic changes occurring within. The twist at the end was expected, but not to the point of being predictable, for the story could have ended in many different ways.

“Haunt-Type Experience” by Roz Clarke starts off as a typical haunted house story, complete with the paranormal investigators. But then it delves into something not normally associated with hauntings: sleep paralysis. It’s a good read for people who aren’t already familiar with sleep paralysis through personal experience. Megan’s episode of sleep paralysis—which occurs after she falls asleep while her boyfriend sets up monitoring equipment—did not ring true to me because in the story, she could feel her rapid heartbeat. While rapid heartbeats most likely occur during such episodes, considering the sheer amount of fear going through you, you’re not going to feel it for the same reason you can’t feel yourself breathing (which sometimes leads you to wonder if you actually might be dead), because you can’t feel anything at all. You are completely numb throughout the whole paralysis episode. Sometimes, you may feel some pressure against your body, as if something is lying or sitting on you, but it’s more a vague, mentally induced sensation than an actual physical feeling.

It could be that what happens to Megan is more than just a bout of sleep paralysis and is an actual encounter with the supernatural, but there is little if anything in the story that points to this other than her feeling her heartbeat and the duration of the ordeal. That the “supernatural” images all stem from Megan’s own scarred psyche is also an indication that it’s nothing more than sleep paralysis. Perhaps it was Clarke’s intent to keep the reader wondering what really happened? In that case, she succeeded. But for this reader, that whole feeling her heartbeat line just knocked me right out of the story.

“The Pain of Blue Eyes” by Daniel Kaysen goes beyond the nature versus nurture argument of psychology to look into environment, specifically a possible supernatural connection to environment. While an interesting story, there is very little in any of the characters to feel any sympathy toward. Even the main character is little more than a wuss unwilling to stick up for himself. While the overall story was a good idea, lack of any character to sympathize with before he turns psychotic left this reader thinking, “Huh?”

“Changeling” by Al Robertson is an interesting departure from the usual changeling story. All Robert wants to do is protect his wife and family from the evils in the woods that kidnapped them, but things never end up the way you’d expect when dealing with the Fair Folk. Robertson provides deeply scarred characters, ranging from a soldier (Robert) with PTSD to a half-crazed woman lusting after the man married to her sister, but what else would you expect in such a story? Rational, sane, perfectly balanced characters? Never!

While I figured “Changeling” out early on, at least with regard to the actual nature of the main character, Robertson still left this reader with a nice surprising twist. Did I say nice? Well, I suppose it was nice in a twisted, insane way. What? Disturbing isn’t nice? Why are you looking at me like that…?

“Fear” by Stephen Volk delivers a fearful story about a courageous samurai, a village that loses its population by exactly one person each night, and horrifying specters in the woods. How are these all connected? Read and find out. If you’re a fan of anime (especially those twisted endings that happen to leave you either scratching your head or with shivers down your spine, or both), then you’re going to love “Fear.” While there’s not much depth in the characterization, the plot is well paced with a twisted ending, and the theme is prevalent. Actually, the title throws the theme in your face. But despite that (or perhaps because of it), it is still a fun and enjoyable read.

Overall, though the individual stories were hit or miss, Black Static #9 (why am I suddenly thinking “Goth love potions?”) is an enjoyable magazine and a great contribution to the genre. At the very least, it managed to get Paris Hilton to read it. Hmmm, what if Paris is actually smarter than we think? Never mind. That’s just too scary to consider.

[Disclosure notice: The Fix is brought to you by TTA Press, publisher of Black Static.]