So what of the second issue of PS Publishing's new magazine of 'SF, fantasy, horror and crime/suspense' from PS Publishing?

Jack Dann. Bugs.

One in a James Dean Alternate History sequence - a history in which James Dean survives his car crash, with consequent results on future events. Here Dann has a couple of PIs trying to untangle the mystery of why Dean's pied-a-terre has been bugged. DiMaggio, Jimmy Hoffa and the Kennedy clan are involved, although in this short episode I'm sure even die-hard enthusiasts for alternate history will feel that as a singleton the story doesn't really have that much impact.

Rhys Hughes. The Old House Under the Snow Where Nobody Goes Except You and Me Tonight.

A story with a strange, nightmarish consistency, which starts off relatively normal with two hikers finidng the location to an old mansion of local folklore. The mansion is buried under the snow, in the concave top of a volcanic mountain, and the intreprid duo are able to reach the property by dint of making a fire which burns down the snow several metres atop the roof. Having gained access, they are somewhat disappointed at the lack of booty. Lighting a fire in the grate of the ground floor hearth causes the ice beneath the house to melt, and then things, Alice in Wonderland, become curiouser and curioser as the progress lower and lower into the ice, each house landing on the roof of progressively bigger properties, until we find out what is going on, and why, and to whom.

Jeff Vandermeer. Shark God versus Octopus God.

A modern retelling of Fijian mythology in which, erm, the Shark God finds that he isn't the biggest mofo in the oceans.

Iain Rowan. Lilies.

A soldier is pleased to be pulled back from the front line of the war, but finds life (and death) still a challenge. In this peculiar world the dead are returned to a form of life for seven days, enabling final goodbyes to be made. In escorting a recently deceased young woman back to her family, the young man has to make that ultimate sacrifice to prevent her path from being blocked by some who object to these old ways.

Lawrence Gordon Clark. The Return.

A more old-fashioned ghost story, in which a man who finds his beloved separated from him by more than the few hours he has experienced. However, true love can span the decades and more...

Michael Marshall Smith. Getting Over.

A man is in a strange landscape, perpetually, and Sysphus like, trying to roll a boulder up a hill - there is no obvious reason, other than that there is little else to do. However, we finally find that this task is linked instrinsically to an emotionall uphill struggle he is facing following the death of his wife.

Mike Resnick and Robert Sheckley. Game Face.

A computer-game 'widow' decides that she has had enough running and fetching after her obsessive husband. How to change his selfish ways? In virtual space, of course.

Brian Stableford. A Chip of the Old Block.

A young boy finds that his DNA has something special in it, which his separated parents each seeing as something which they can benefit from. Fortunately, the kid is cunning himself, and he finds a way of earning money through providing genetic material in a way which most teenage boys would find quite handy.

Brian A. Hopkins. Peninsula Valdes.

If you want to find out a lot about whales, this is the story for you, as young Leon has a close up look and benefits from some on-site lectures from his older companion. And, erm, that's about it.

Robert B. Parker. Spenser's a Fan Too.

Spenser being a PI whom features (it wouldu appear ) regularly in Parker's work. This is a story of some ten years vintage, in which Spenser attends a baseball game with his girlfriend.

Zoran Zivkovic.Compartments.

Readers of Interzone will be familiar with Zivkovic's short stories, as several appeared recently in that magazine. I found them rather 'samey' and this is very much of that ilk, as a traveller meets some very strange passengers on a very strange train, and disembarks.

Other content : Jayme Lynn Blaschke interviews Kage Baker.

Conclusion

As someone who remains largely unmoved by fantasy, horror and crime/suspense, there isn't a huge amount of material in the issue for me. If you like a wide range of stories across the breadth of the genres herein, then you'll doubtless be much more appreciative of the issue as a whole. Having said that, the two stories which stood out for me where Rhys Hughes Lovecraftian horror, and Iain Rowan's atmospheric piece. Stableford and Resnick/Sheckley provide some solid traditional sf, although nothing to match the PS Publishing sf chapbooks.