Interzone 305

An interesting issue of Interzone that starts with a story by Josh Pearce that is a gonzo piece of writing. Other good stories are by E.G. Condé, Mame Bougouma Diene and Corey Jae White.

• "The Spider at the Heart of It" by Josh Pearce: a story that starts with a girl with a baby escaping pursuers in a swamp quickly escalates when the swamp turns out to be an intelligent group organism. As the story progresses, it is revealed that the entire world is made up such organisms: but some colonists want to exterminate the organisms. And the girl and baby would have a role in the final confrontation between the organism and a warrior sent by the colonists.

• "Scelerat" by E.G. Condé: a girl takes part in a choreographed ceremony to appease unseen monsters. When a violent incident occurs, the girl discovers that the monsters have now fixated on her, giving her a chance to save her daughter. Only later does she learn the truth behind the monster's fixation and how she can use it to get her revenge.

• "Unhomely" by Ben Tufnell: a couple buy a rural home that comes with an unusual dining table with creepy decorations. Then, strange happenings and dreams occur to them, possibly driving the husband to hysteria unless something is done to the table.

• "A Perfectly Good Train: A Supermamadou Story" by Mame Bougouma Diene: a boy dreams of becoming a superhero. In high school, he is constantly bullied by his peers, until an incident injures him but turns him into a school hero. That incident spurs him to study to get actual superpowers, which he succeeds. But like they say, "be careful what you wish for".

• "Cops and Robbers #2: Negative Space" by Rachael Cupp: part of the authors continuing series about living after a nuclear holocaust, this one continues the story in the previous issue, featuring a violent incident in a shelter over an unexpected fellow survivor as told as descriptions of various panels in a comic book.

• "Nowhere Town" by Corey Jae White: a boy hitches a ride to get back to his hometown, which has now been turned into a forbidden zone after an attack from Russia. What he finds there is a town turned into a deadly multidimensional maze that he has to navigate to get to his home and, hopefully, find closure for the brother he left there whom he wanted to protect. But danger also comes from the person who gave him the ride.

• "Philoctetes" by Rebecca Zahabi: a version of the story of Philoctetes, abandoned on an island by Odysseus on his way to Troy, only to be sought after, when he may be the key to ending the war. But he is very reluctant to join up again.