This issue of The Dark Magazine seems to me to focus on quiet desperation. Loneliness. Loss. Of two men who find themselves haunted by the dead. By those they have outlived. And who find their lives lacking something. Hope, perhaps. Or purpose. Both are looking for ways to escape the places they find themselves. Are seeking in some ways to exorcise their ghosts and find a way to move on. With…mixed results. There's a lot to like about these stories and a nice creeping dread that permeates both. So yeah, to the reviews!
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| Art by Susanafh |
So, full disclosure, I'm in this special print anthology of Unlikely Story's Clowns: The Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix. As such, I will not be reviewing my story, "Pushpin and Pullpin." As Unlikely Story is on my list of regularly reviewed publications, though, I will be looking at the rest of the original short stories. I've already read the five that originally appeared for free online in the Journal of Unlikely Coulrophobia, and those can be found here. There's tons of original flash in this print anthology, though, and I'm in superb company in the ToC. There are clowns for every preference, of every taste and shape (though I do not recommend tasting the clowns). And the anthology as a whole plots a rather deep descent into the dark possibilities of clowning. It's difficult in ways that one might not expect from a clown flash fiction anthology, but it is incredibly good. So without further ado, to some reviews!
