Weird Tales #346

From the first tale, a horror story, to the last, a blend of urban fantasy and mythology, Weird Tales #346 offers up stories in almost every genre that a reader might desire, with the sole exception of high fantasy—which really isn’t missed with a set of stories this high-quality and varied.

“Bob Bodey’s Body Parts” by William Markley O’Neal is a vicious little story with an ending even more brutal than the one readers are led to expect. Late one night in the Laundromat, Bob Bodey finds a vending machine that dispenses something he never would have expected, and his curiosity leads him into a series of ever-more-dangerous adventures. O’Neal’s writing is good, and he has a knack for appallingly vivid description. Unfortunately, Bob is so pathetic from the start that it’s hard to feel much of an emotional connection to anything that happens. When something bad happens to someone you never liked anyway, the feeling is more of being a voyeur than of involvement. As a story, this works well if the goal is to evoke a sense of disgusted revulsion; if the goal is to horrify, this didn’t quite do it for me. But the language is deftly used, and I’d like to see more from O’Neal.

I was surprised to realize how long Holly Phillips’s “The Past Never Dies” was when I flipped back through after reading it the first time; it’s such a fast, gripping read. Emily, a former convict now in the detective field, is haunted by murder. This time, she can’t figure out how to solve the case until she meets another creature who can see the same things that she can. Well-written, with characters who feel realistic and utterly believable, from start to finish, Phillips provides exactly as much information as we need when we need it and gives an ending as good as the beginning. In a genre where ghost tales are old hat, Phillips brings us something new and compelling.

Phil Brucato’s “Ravenous” didn’t quite work for me. In it, Nicole is forced to confront the idea that winged, magical Kelsey may be something more than—or perhaps something other than—a bandmate who fluctuates between best friend and enemy. While Brucato’s writing is enjoyable and smooth, the end feels almost as though it’s an after-school special about self-esteem translated into a fantasy tale. That said, “Ravenous” is a decent read. Certainly every fantasy fan is familiar with the idea that the solution to a problem may lie within the protagonist herself, so Brucato isn’t really covering any new ground here. Still, genre tropes exist for a reason, and there are many people who like them; this story might well be more to their taste than it was to mine.

The tagline for Tanith Lee’s “Sold” is “In which a demon doesn’t try to trick a human, honest.” And, surprisingly enough, it’s true. I can’t say much else about the plot without giving the whole thing away, but the story is satisfying both for how well it’s told and for how neatly it deals with its subject matter. Lee’s prose is lovely and beautifully descriptive, as always, with only the caveat that perhaps a little less in the way of explanation for the character’s motivations would have resulted in a tidier tale. I’ve never been a fan of lengthy speeches from protagonists, as they smack of info-dumping, and this is one story where the reader could have been given slightly more credit and slightly less hand-holding. Nonetheless, this is another wonderful offering from Lee, with a twist so well-done that it gives us what we always want in a story: the moment of “oh!” followed by “a-ha!”

“The Drunken Mermaids” by Mary Catelli is a light fantasy about what happens when a man is shipwrecked on a deserted island surrounded by mermaids—and the cargo the ship he was on was alcohol. While it breaks no new ground in the realm of fantasy, it’s an enjoyable read with good characterization and plausible explanations. I would have liked to have seen Catelli take her idea a little further, perhaps with more explanation for the motivations of the mermaids or something else that would have been more significant for the world of the story than one man’s commitment to his own continued survival. As it is, “The Drunken Mermaids” is relatively unmemorable despite the quality of Catelli’s writing.

With “That Old-Time Religion,” Ken Scholes has produced the standout story in this issue. Writing about religion or gods is a tough trick to pull off without preaching or slamming one particular religion, but Scholes draws us in from the very beginning. By the time we get to the Reverend Jimmy-June Beech putting up a “very well-hung” idol on his pulpit, we’re completely hooked. Scholes has a great turn of phrase and the ability to craft a story that keeps us sympathetic to our matter-of-fact protagonist all the way through. His portrayal of godhood is funny, alarming, and believable at the same time. I’d love to see more from this writer.

Set in the modern era but with a solid helping of mythological background, Charlotte tries to find the Wild Hunt with the help of her three male companions in “The Furious Host” by Barth Anderson. This story felt like it lacked a trajectory. Events escalate, but the climactic moment is more baffling than compelling, and the backstory given partway through only confuses things further. In a story where everyone seems to be insane, it’s hard to find any place to ground oneself, and the constant shifting is a barrier to understanding either the motivations of the characters or the point of the story. There’s some fascinating ideas here, but “The Furious Host” never fulfills its promise. Maybe readers who like more experimental styles will enjoy this one.