Publisher - PS Publishing

Published - Out Now

Price - £5.99 via https://pspublishing.co.uk/parsec-digital-magazine---issue-12-6449-p.asp

For this edition of our look at short fiction we got to the latest issue of Parsec and a good selection of stories and non fiction is awaiting us

We have the second part of ‘The Packet by Neil Williamson and after the weird historical of the previous issue we move now firmly into SF territory as we find the people off to the New World are actually future humans off to a new and quite disturbing colony. This middle act explains things, puts the cast in danger and sets up a very unnerving finale. I’m really enjoying this one.

There is a wonderful bit of weird horror in ‘The Dollhouse’ by Joanna Corrance - we have a young woman explaining her predicament which is not going to be obvious. It’s a tale of a lost soul perhaps getting lost in their distractions to a level the real world passes them by before it’s too late. Creepy without anything horrific happening and the strangeness of the take really stood out in the issue.

More weirdness awaits in ‘The Bathing Giant’ by Dafydd McKimm which is a period piece of a man scouting out a new railroad but gets entranced by a strange rock form in the sea known as the bathing giant. McKimm weaves folk tales into this to give it a strange fantastical edge with a final explanation for the giant offered that doesn’t give the tale any less of a mysterious feeling. Haunting and I really enjoyed it.

More enjoyable but I wanted a bit more was ‘Adamere in Swan’ by A P Howell a touch of SF with two would be criminals meeting for the first time on a strange world and escaping bounty hunters. It has a touch of slice of life on it but it felt more like purely a scene and not much context.

Moving into horror we have ‘Boys’ by Derek Austin Johnson. A middle aged woman is summoned back him to meet her dying mother and then things get very very strange. I liked the descent into creepiness but the familial relationships felt they needed a bit more development for where the story goes.

Moving into a very old school tale we have ‘Dogged’ by Martin Owton and Gaie Sebold we have a spiritualist, government rooms and a mystery to solve. Not entirely convinced by this ad the use of Mexican locations and spiritual beliefs does make this tale feel old and a little questionable. It’s entertaining but I don’t think it really lingers in the memory.

More up my street was the fable ‘The God-King of Raggath-Ko’ a strange city and the battle between its famous God King and the Lord of Beasts. It had the feel of an epic myth but is very much its own thing with a touch of SF too and doesn’t outstay its welcome.

I liked the idea of ‘Point of Contact’ by Vincent H O’Neil where a middle aged man finds his mind invaded by something outside his comprehension and addresses perhaps the need to have more in your life but it needed a little more time to breathe and make the reader feel what the main character feels.

I was not engaged by the style of ‘For This Rich Earth’ by B Morris Allen it felt a little too traditional for me.

In non-fiction the latest Into The Weeds by Jared Shurin & Anne C Perry discusses the end of the Kitschies but also knowing when something you do needs to end. Fascinating and not a bad set of questions to ask yourselves.

Then Life In The Fast Lane highlights the. Brilliant Francesca Tristan Barbini who discussed how they got involved with The Tolkien Society in a really engaging interview.

There are again a host of interesting reviews from Jack Deighton, Nick Hubble, HE George, Donna Scott, Andy Hedgecock, Gary Couzens, Duncan Lunan and Carol Goodwin

Then finishing this issue off there is a fascinating interview between Andy Hedgecock and Ken MacLeod looking at many of his books.