Two years after the last issue of 'The Third Alternative', Black Static has finally arrived! The torturous transmogrification was capped off by the need for a full reprint of the issue due to technical issues with the design, and a coup de grace being a series of major postal strikes in the UK, the first for many years, delaying delivery.

The cover is a minimalist beauty, with the image only disturbed in the bottom right corner by the title, price, strap line 'transmissions from beyond' and the barcode. Inside the design and layout is similar to that of Interzone, as opposed to third title in the stable, the text-only Crimewave.

So, what of the fiction?

Simon Avery's 'Burn the Carnival' opens, the longest in the issue. Having waited two years for the 'darker side' promised in Black Static, it's actually a story which would quite happily have fit in The Third Alternative. A young woman tries to find out more about Charousek, a puppeteer who has fallen foul of the repressive political regime under which they live. It is a strange town in which they live, about to come out from a night having lasted many days/weeks/months? and there is a carnival atmosphere as the dawn approaches.

A slight jar in the opening was the description of Charousek smoking a 'roll-up' - a very contemporary piece of British colloquialism, and somewhat out of place outside of anything other than a contempary British setting.

She is suprised by his puppets - life-sized mannequins that appear like they could just walk out of his cottage of their own accord. It transpires that his powers are such that this is just what has been happening, and in seeking out his son, she finds that this is so. She falls for his son, Jaromir.

The story concludes with a dramatic denouement on stage at what transpires to be Charousek's final puppet show, followed by a more traditional fairy tale happy ending in the woods.

It's not a standout story, but kept me engaged throughout

Jamie Barras' 'Pale Saints and Dark Madonnas' is more contemporary and darker, of a Lucius Shepard ilk. A young man returns to Rio de Janiero, which is under a severe thunderstorm. We follow him into the world of superstition, magic and dark powers, as we find out more about his past, his self, and his mother.

Daniel Bennett's 'Acton Undream' is more of the urban contemporary dark fiction that appeared in the latter issues of The Third Alternative. Two young men share a flat, and share interests in avoiding work, and exploring the darker recesses of the psyches (and other dark recesses, but only once, so that doesn't count). Aided by illegaly obtained cancer drugs, they wonder whether their powerful dreams might bring into existence that of which they dream. And, logically, can that of which they dream be taken out of existence. But those proves risky...

M.K. Hobson's 'Votary' is darker still, and a more straightforward horror story - a young girl has a very fat father who lives in the basement. At first we are led to believe that he is simply US-style obese, but the extent of his obesity becomes clear, and the love of his daughter for him is shown as an unsuspecting postman is led to his doom.

The shortest story in the issue is Joel Lane's 'My Stone Desire', essentially a couple of reflections by a cop, with a bit of imagery involving mould on walls and bodies stacked to create a railway tunnel being the speculative/horror elements.

The final story is Tim Casson's 'Lady of the Crows' told from the perspective on a well-crafted failed thespian who now works front of house. There is a story within the story, as a lost love of his is appearing in a play featuring an infamous widow who had a habit of poisoning her husbands for their inheritance. In the dark night, and the dark shadows of the deserted theatre, the world of the play merges with his.

Conclusion.

There are the usual non-fiction articles (Stephen Volk gets a bit Marenghi), and book reviews, doing for horror what IZ does for SF. For me the most horrific part of the issue is the whole page advert on p35 for another horror magazine (which shall remain nameless) which evidently believes that there is some correlation between horror and pictures of young women wearing lingerie, all under a banner 'want some'? Call me a po-faced politically-correct liberal if you like, but it mars the whole feel of the issue for me - especially after so much effort has gone into the design and layout of the magazine.

My personal tastes being what they are, my preference is for the opening two stories, and the closing story - those most like The Third Alternative stories, as opposed to the remaining stories, the ones at the darker end of the spectrum. It's a good start to Black Static after it's very long gestation. Hopefully editor Andy Cox and team can build up a head of steam now that they are under way.