Dark Discoveries - Issue #27

by Douglas Clegg, Brian Evenson, Maurice Broaddus

Dark Discoveries - Issue #27 Dark Mystery All new Fiction by: Douglas Clegg, Brian Evenson, Maurice Broaddus, John R. Little, Bentley Little, Tom Piccirilli Interviews with: Brian Evenson, Jeffrey Sackett, and Tom Piccirilli Articles on: The Italian Connection: Crime Films of the 1970s by James R. Beach, Nightmare on Main Street: The Mad Slasher Pulps by Frank M. Robinson & Lawrence Davidson, Hannibal Lecter's Reign of Terror by Aaron J. French Jade Sky Comic by: Joe McKinney and Patrick Freivald with artwork from Chris Bell

112 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2014

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Issue #27 of DARK DISCOVERIES is another fine one; it's the first issue with a new editor, but I didn't note any lapse of quality. They tend to center each issue around a particular theme; this time it's Dark Mystery, with referential columns and articles. There are also all of the usual non-fiction features; three interesting interviews (Brian Evenson, Tom Piccirilli, and Jeffrey Sackett), new installments of good columns by Yvonne Navarro, Amy Shane, Jonathan Maberry and David Kramer, and several other articles. There's a piece on video gaming (in which I lack interest), the first episode of a graphic story, Jade Sky Comic (which looks promising), a column on Italian crime films of the 1970's (I'd never heard of any of them), and so on. (The most striking thing for me was that I enjoyed reading a piece by Frank Robinson excerpted from one of his pulp history books and then, just minutes later, I learned that he had died earlier that same day.) I believe that the weakest section of the magazine is their review section; I'm not sure sometimes if they're saying that they like the book or film they're reviewing or not. Anyway, the really important part of the magazine for me is always the fiction. There are six stories in this issue: a very good but somewhat disturbing story by Brian Evenson, an interesting one by Bentley Little that I think may have had religious overtones and influence that went a bit over my head, a cool modern-tech-horror tale by Maurice Broaddus, a wild and short typically gonzo Tom Piccirilli piece, a Twilight Zone-ish story by John R. Little, and finally a very, very good and thought-provoking long story by Douglas Clegg that was my favorite entry of the issue. (I won my copy from Goodreads, as part of their Firstreads giveaway program.)

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories were pretty good, what markes this down is the quality of the paper used to print this "magazine" on, It's quite poor, perhaps to keep the price down.

Fiction:

10 - "Bearheart" by Brian Evenson
27 - "The Pen" Bentley Little"
40 - "Communication Breakdown" by Maurice Broaddas
59 - "My Secret Is The Face In My Hands" by Tom Piccirilli
77 - "The Exchange" by John R. Little
83 - "Funerary Rites" by Douglas Clegg

Also Features, Interviews, and book reviews.

[Frederic Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the stories by Clegg and Evenson.

[David Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy on Goodreads Firstreads.

First off, this is not a book. It is a magazine, issue #27 to be exact. It is the dark mystery issue, but their main focus is horror. It features several short stories and non-fiction articles on various topics. Most of these are supposed to be focusing on horror as dark mysteries.

As I said, several of the non-fiction articles are looking at how horror and mystery crossover. I am not sure why they even try to define this so much. All genre fiction has some type of crossover if it is worthwhile. For example, there is a story that tells the story of a man who leaves the only home he has ever known; learns not one, but two different languages; travels over 3 continents; fights for his lost birthright; and basically turns his entire life upside-down. He does all of this in the name of love of a woman he has barely even seen. Sound like a romance? Try Tarzan, Lord of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. All genres benefit from the interjection of a bit of another genre every once in a while. The odd laugh to break the tension in a horror story; a love interest to give an adventure story a reason for said adventure; or a touch of the paranormal in a romance to give it a little bite; all of these are examples of crossing genres. But does this make the stories cross-genres? The answer is probably yes and no. Technically they do cross genre. But it takes more than an instance to make a true cross genre story. A true mixing of genres is possible of course. Some really good examples are Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden stories or Simon R. Green's Nightside stories. Both of these mix horror, mystery, and fantasy in fairly equal parts and even humor aspects to a lesser degree. So back to the actual review. The articles trying to define horror as really being a cross seemed a little pointless and unnecessary. Genre labels make it easier for the reader to cut down on the amount of books they need to look at when deciding on what to read. At the same time, authors usually don't like being pigeon-holed into a particular genre because it cuts down on the number of people who look at their books. (I saw it so many times while working in various bookstores. People would pass on certain books or authors because they were from a genre they wouldn't read.) The truth is genre is like asking someone if how hot it is. Some will say it is hot, others cold, and even other will say it is neither hot or cold. One or two will might give an actual temperature. The first is opinion while the second is a factual. Genres are mainly opinion with the only factual answer being whether it is fiction or non-fiction. Stepping off of the soapbox now.

There were author interviews which were interesting but weren't about authors that I actually knew. An article about writers and their taxes was also interesting but ultimately worthless for a non-writer like me. I just couldn't get into the article about Italian crime movies. The cryptid creature article was a nice bit of monster trivia. Personally I avoid any story that involves cannibalism, so the article on Hannibal Lecter was not something I really wanted to read. Strangely enough, this article was probably the best look at a true cross-genre example. The Black Dahlia article seemed unfinished. I can't say that the cartoon strip impressed me. it might grow on me as the story progresses, but it wouldn't be the first thing I turned to when I got another issue though. Finally there are both book and DVD reviews which are always nice but their worthiness

That pretty much brings us to the meat of the magazine, the six short stories. First were they dark mysteries? Yes, but some were better examples than others. What I can definitely say is that the stories are what makes the magazine worthwhile. My least favorite was Communications Breakdown by Maurice Broaddus. It wasn't bad, but it didn't appeal that much to me. I enjoyed the Exchange by John R. Little, but did have one problem with it. No one in their right mind is going to answer that question ("What would make you steal ten thousand dollars?") It would be like Lex Luthor asking Superman, "So do you have any other weaknesses beside Kryptonite?" It could have been handled so much better. The Pen by Bentley Little is creepy but fairly predictable (and the closest to 'straight' horror). Bearheart by Brian Evenson was enjoyable but could have had its ending fleshed out a little more. My Secret is in the Faces in My Hands by Tom Piccirilli was a nice example of a noir story with just a touch of the paranormal. My favorite story was Funerary Rites by Douglas Clegg. It was the best example of a cross genre story. It also reminded of the story Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (probably the best example of crossing horror and mystery of which I can think).

Looking at the presentation of the magazine in general. The magazine had an 'unpolished' look to it. By that, I mean it was professional but looked like it wasn't that long ago that it was a fanzine. I guess the rougher image helps to give it that horror look.

Time to sum up. The stories would get a rating of 3.75 stars. The interviews earn 3 stars. The articles rate 2.5 stars. For the magazine overall, I would give the magazine a rating of 3 stars, but feel that bigger horror fans will probably rate it higher. I am not sure I would call this a good example of dark mystery. I think they should proudly fly that horror banner, even in this issue. I think this is their target audience and that is who they should attempt to please. The price for this issue was $11.95. For me, this is pretty high. It appears that it is much cheaper to get the digital version though. I will probably skip this magazine in the future. I will go towards magazines that feature more stories ans less articles, like Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

[Christopher Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome issue.

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Discoveries is one of the better magazines around for dark fiction. The production value is very high, and the quality of the contents is even higher. I am a new fan of this magazine and intend to get my subscription started soon.