Lanterns in the Night: Celebrating Five Issues of The Dark Corner

We last took a look into the world of The Dark Corner at issue number one and two, the inaugural offerings of dark and arcane dispatches from the woods of South Carolina. Since then, society shattering pandemics be damned, the amateur magazine has trudged on through the night and we now arrive at a triumphant fifth issue with a sixth on the horizon. Issue five conjures ten tales from an eclectic selection of creators, ranging from lonesome voyages into haunted seas to portentous visions of futures that feel uncomfortably close. Come, stare into the dark with me, and let me tell you what I see.

Three stories here immediately stand out to me as ruminations on our modern world, each developing possible reactions to the way we live and how we choose to confront problems as a society. In our opening tale, Mark Allan Gunnells’ “The Book Hunter”, we dive into the mind of a character obsessed by a perceived “dumbing down” of the modern populace by reality television and politics. They’ve made it their mission to hunt and punish anyone who they see as anti-intellectual, anyone too dimwitted or dull to just read a goddamn book. This story seems to be as much of a damnation and satire of the kind of mind who inspired this anti-hero as it is of the victims themselves. A mean little critique of the opiated masses and the self-righteous egotists who rail against them. Later in this volume we find a pair of stories that seem at least partially inspired by the immediate future. In Benji Osias’ “The Last Skater” we see a future where the struggle of existing in the outside world has driven mankind into an inward existence, bound to wheelchairs, fed mood altering drugs from their walls, and constantly jacked into a fantasy world of virtual reality. This story was particularly engaging for its attention to detail and respect for its driving set-piece, skateboarding history. Juxtaposed to this possible eventuality of self imposed, crippling safety we find Kit Gower’s short piece “Pod”. Kit relates, through a series of journal entries, a husband and wife’s descent into protective bunkers as a pandemic, an all too familiar plot device to those of us living in 2021, threatens America. I found “The Last Skater” to be the strongest of these stories with it’s clear and anecdotal ideas about what we risk becoming if the digital world becomes too tempting and safe.

Next, lets take a look at some of the more traditional horror pieces chosen for this volume. Chris Pluska delights with “The Sea Priest”, a cold, foreboding tale of disappearing seamen and haunted, drifting vessels. A man takes a final ride in his late father’s fishing boat off the Japanese coast and becomes trapped in a dance with a dark shadow of marine folklore. My favorite piece from this collection is Gabrielle Zurlo’s “Keep”. This is the story of a mother and daughter trying to find stability and roots in a new town when a sinister presence suddenly makes it’s home in the middle of their lives. This is exactly the kind of quiet, understated horror I always hope to find when I pick up any anthology or magazine. Zurlo’s prose is unsettling and minimal, making for a nice, lean cut of atmospheric horror.

The last couple of stories I want to talk about are the two that close this issue. I was particularly wrapped up in Marc Coignard’s dreamlike journey across the desert in “No One Calls The High Desert Home”. This fable-like story of the wild west is so reminiscent of watching classic Twilight Zone re-runs that I would believe it came from Roger Sterling’s pen. This author gets a high recommendation from me. Even as this issue closed I was pleasantly surprised by Robin Flower’s tight, economic action in “Ictineo”, an alternate history adventure about the pioneering inventor of one of the first submarines and his socialist cohorts. This was a truly inspiring piece of pulp writing that begs for continuation and expansion. Lets hope we see more from Robin soon.

So, how is this little gem of speculative fiction faring five issues deep into its nocturnal journey? The Dark Corner seems to be going strong and attracting amateur material of ever increasing quality. I had a huge amount of joy devouring every piece in this issue and I can’t recommend this enough. Be on the lookout soon for pre-orders launching on issue number six for god’s sake pick up some back issues and digital copies. Keep The Dark Corner strong and keep it weird.

You can find new and previous issues of The Dark Corner at: https://thedarkcornerzine.limitedrun.com/