Scavenger’s Newsletter, Janet Fox ed., 519 Ellinwood, Osage City, KS 66523-1329, 1/$2, 6/$7.75, 12/$15.50, (Canada 6/$9.25, 12/$18.50), 26 pgs. Besides an incredibly informative review column entitled “The Skeptic Tank,” which coherently dissects the field on a monthly basis, this magazine is chock full of information. While the info is geared mostly to writers and those trying to be writers, there is the additional benefits that it is also a great place to find out what’s out there. Each issue contains a short-short story or poem or article and then gets right into the meat of the matter, 6 or 7 pages of meaty market info on recent changes to magazines (either foldings, new beginnings, new directions, roadblocks, etc.) This info comes mostly from the editors and publishers and so must be taken with a handful of salt but it has the added benefit of being there side by side so you can actually compare the offerings and see some of the stylistic differences. Next comes a section which deals with problems. Interested in finding out which magazines are not paying writers or are real late getting copies out? Here’s the place to look. Look here for the good news as well. After this is a section which is a pretty straight forward listing of what’s recently out. Want to see how many issues a particular magazine has or who’s in it? Look here for that. Then comes the review sections. Art and poetry are reviewed on a somewhat irregular basis while the magazines themselves are reviewed monthly on a rotating basis by Jim Lee and yours truly. While I would never try to review a colleague I can say that the tank is outstanding at least half of the time. Finally there is the letters section which contains an often heated debate about what’s happening in the small press. Month after month this magazine comes out, on time, chock full of info and worth every penny.
Aberrations, Richard Blair, P. O. Box 460430, San Francisco, CA 94146, 1/$4.50, 12/$31 (Canada 1/$5, 12/$37), 64 pgs. This magazine was started a while ago and is now on its second publisher. It originally started as a companion magazine to Midnight Zoo. When the zoo went belly up, or actually, just before the zoo went zup, Aberations (note the aberrant spelling) was sold, or given away, or traded for a second round of ales and a lager to be named later. Since that time, years ago, the mag has flourished although it did have a tough restart. So, what do you get when you open the covers? Well, a real mix of adult science fiction and horror. Note the word adult. While one expects fiction to often deal with adult themes one needs to remember that when it is so labeled it is often even more so. As always, pre-read when in doubt as to suitableness for children of any age. The mag starts off with a real bang what with the superb cover art by Karl Huber. It’s a real Halloween line-up. It’s eye catching and worth looking at over and over. As for the fiction inside it’s a fine mix of adult stories sprinkled through the SF, fantasy and Horror genres. The stories are extremely well written taken as a whole and this is particularly noteworthy as there are no real big names involved. Sure, if you read the small press on a regular basis you’ll recognize the folks here but for the most part you’re reading people who are poised to drop off the edge and start that great fall to pro-dom. This is a great little magazine full of wonderfully horrible and amazing stories designed for the adult reader. The art is complimentary and the layout is eye pleasing. To be honest, I haven’t found an issue yet that I’ve wanted to put down. This is one that reaches out and grabs you, refusing to let go. It’s also up to issue #33 so it’s been around for a while and hopefully will be around for an even longer time.
Absolute Magnitude, Warren Lapine, P. O. Box 13, Greenfield, MA 01302-0013, 1/$5.50 4/$14, 80 pgs. This magazine, believe it or not, started with the somewhat unusual name of Harsh Mistress. After a number of issues which were apparently mistaken for having content less science fictional than intended, editor Lapine changed it to its present state. And speaking of the present state, it’s a fine, full figured, glossy covered, pro-packed deal worthy of your attention. Each issue gets better and better and attracts bigger and bigger names which must tell you something about the editorial ability and the magazine overall. Names, of course, are meaningless if the material is old or trashy. That’s not the case here as these authors are obviously vying for a market which is reaching for the top. Besides fiction, which each issue is full of, there are the columns, a rather lengthy review column, which, sadly, I am not in, even though it is well written and current and an interview with a well known author (Timothy Zahn in the issue in front of me) which is more than a handshake and an ogling session. There’s also a letters page and an interesting insertion of a section designed just for new writers. I’m not sure how much longer Absolute Magnitude can even be consider a lineman in the ranks of the small press so, if you want to sample small press excellence, buy a copy now. It’s a harsh mistress that would make you pass this one up.
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