Review

Midnight Echo is currently circling the drain due to a number of reasons, which kind of takes the shine off Issue #10, which should have been something of a red letter issue. Guest editor Craig Bezant, no stranger to magazine publishing in his own right, holds the reigns over the latest release from the AHWA, (Australian Horror Writers Association), which covers the semi respectable horror genre of ghosts and haunting. Naturally, since this is one of my favourite tarot cards in the horror deck, I was looking forward to digging into an issue of Midnight Echo simply dripping in paranormal activity.

Bezant presents us with thirteen prose pieces, a number of supernatural related articles, and a couple of interviews. Added bonus was the inclusion of the 2013 AHWA short story and flash competition winners; though I must admit one of the winners could only loosely be termed a "horror" composition. There are some deep problems with the magazine, not the least of which is the AHWA still clinging precariously to literature aspirations, but for mine they are reflected in the wider AHWA body which has very little relevance to modern horror fans. Sorry being blunt here, but the current Board are acting more like an Undergraduate student union organisation and less like people trying to promote horror writing to a wider audience, which is starting to be reflected in Midnight Echo. Should horror fans pick up this issue, for sure there's some very solid content, will horror fans pick up this issue, oh hell no.

Looking at the pick of the fiction turns up some real gems that should feature prominently in year's end best of collections. Gary A. Braunbeck, yes that Braunbeck, delivers Crybaby Bridge #25, a fairly unique take on the haunted bridge concept that seems to permutate various U.S anthologies. The yarn hits the poignant note without ever becoming overly mordent. Martin Livings, fresh from releasing his collection Living With The Dead delivers Stillegeist, which proves that even after death you have to contend with irritating individuals. I Want To Go Home naturally throws a hospital orientated supernatural tale on us as A.J.Brown turns on a horror trope in a fascinating fashion. Just when we thought it was going to be all haunting Robert Mammone throws Blood and Bone on the table, which sees some culling of the herd in a maze that hides dark secrets. Similarly Alan Baxter adds some witchcraft to proceedings with the exceedingly clever Exposure Compensation. And to round out Greg Chapman shows you can never keep a decent revenant down with Mother's House or prevent additional revenants from joining the party for that matter.

In addition to the stories mentioned above Midnight Echo #10 also presents the winners of 2013's short story and flash competitions. Timothy Hawken, Hellbound trilogy, won the flash competition with the superb werewolf flash piece Moonlight Sonata. While Alan Baxter was adjudged joint winner with Zena Shapter in the short story section. Baxter for the traditional monster yarn It's Always The Children Who Suffer and Shapter for the non-horror Darker. I'll leave it to the reader to draw their own conclusions on that state of affairs, yes I went hmmm.

Readers demanded it, we were particular shrill in doing so, but finally Midnight Echo can boast a movie column, though to be honest maybe they shouldn't have bothered. Mark Smith-Briggs interviews Mark Hartley, the dude behind Not Quite Hollywood (2008) and Machete Maidens Unleashed (2010). Unfortunately the focus of the interview is the fracking remake of Patrick, a movie that crashed and burned as no one showed any interested in the remake of a concept that has been done to death by now. Sorry the entire interview is a puff piece with no tough questions, even when Hartley mentions the next project is yet another remake, this time of Fair Game. Betcha that project will be quietly shelved, as this interview should have been.

I was interested however in the interview with Victor Miller, The Man Who Created Jason, which did add some background to the writer and his none involvement with the Friday the 13th franchise beyond the first movie. I'll leave the reader to discover some interesting information in the interview that sheds, for mine, an entirely new light on Miller.

Okay I have to admit the Pix and Panels column by Mark Farrugia let me down this issue, while I enjoyed Witch Haunts as well as the next reader that release was sort of a while ago now and this column smelt of simply promoting works by AHWA members rather than exposing the readership to the wider world of comics being produced in Australia currently. Mark feel free to check out the site for additional avenues to explore, and we don't even cover half the releases in each calendar year.

I've whined about the poetry column enough through previous issue reviews, so pretty much just flick past it each issue now. Have to say though that this issue's one was particularly high on the wanking scale, and should ensure even more fans don't bother with the magazine. Come on the column name is Tartarus, that's just self indulgent piss taking.

Rounding out the content, and hey a quick mention of the art - excellent, there's a couple of articles that talk directly to the magazine theme. Andrew McKiernan's Black Roads, Dark Highways #5 looks at Koori death practices and Fisher's ghost, I assume there's a connection there that escapes me but I had fun with the article regardless. However Historica Horroris: Real Life Hauntings amounted to nothing more than an advertorial! Nathaniel Buchanan waxes lyrical about the Aradale Mental Hospital, and to his credit does mention he invested money in and is partial owner of the Ghost Tour of the former mental asylum. In a major face palming moment this article must have slipped in under the editorial radar else members of the AHWA should be asking some serious questions about its inclusion. I took a full mark off the rating for Issue #10 due to the inclusion of what amounts to a self seeking article, very poor AHWA very poor.

Okay that's my summation of Midnight Echo #10, warts and all Kids, there's some deep problems with the publication that no one seems prepared to take a serious look at. While the issue contains some very solid storytelling, and is worth a purchase on that account alone, there's also a fair degree of white tower outlook creeping in. If the magazine is aimed solely at the AHWA membership then fair enough, the rest of us will go on with our lives in blissful ignorance of Midnight Echo's existence, if however the magazine is seeking a wider audience then my recommendation would be to can the current policy makers. While the advertising team are doing sterling work they are fighting an uphill battle given the slide in content. As it stands Midnight Echo has very limited appeal, to survive it needs to drop the pretensions to literary bullshit and actually talk to the fan base, I would also like to see something approaching a regular release schedule. Worthy purchase to read for the stories, but be prepare for some self indulgence on the part of the AHWA.

Midnight Echo is available from the official site and at around $12.50 AUD for the print version is value for money. Back issues are available for purchase, so you are pretty much covered there.