Interzone 244 Jan - Feb 2013 (27 page)

“
Mike O’Driscoll is without doubt one of our
best writers. I often wish he wrote more, because when he does
produce something new – such as the excellent
Eyepennies
– it’s truly an occasion
for celebration”
Tim
Lebbon

“
A musician struggles to come to terms with
his existence following a near-death experience, in a world where
reality is something elusive and the darkness is always waiting. A
beautifully written, evocative novella”
Alison Littlewood

“
A beautiful story suffused with the
entangled mysteries of pain and life, as radiant as it is dark: the
best kind”
Stephen Volk

“
Full of symbols and dread, a Cotard’s
delusion set to O’Driscoll’s cool bluesy prose,
Eyepennies
makes a refined
contribution to the TTA Press canon”
Paul
Meloy

“
An oblique yet beautifully written story
that slowly builds a number of emotional layers. O’Driscoll’s story
reflects music, life and, of course, fear. The launch of the TTA
Novella series is off to a very strong start with this daring yet
emotionally grounded piece of writing that will linger in the brain
of the reader like a haunting Sparklehorse melody”
Dan Howarth, This is Horror

“
The author lures us in with vivid imagery.
He draws us further with non-linear, chaotic sequences that mirror
Mark’s inner journey. Mr O’Driscoll ensures that we are along for
the wild ride by putting us in Mark’s head and letting us
experience the creepy surreality of his life”
Cyd Athens, Tangent Online

“
This is classic psychological horror, and
it’s beautifully written. The prose is a dream, and rolls
poetically off the page into images and metaphors that O’Driscoll
paints effortlessly and with such clarity that even the abstract
nature of the subject matter cannot cloud”
Matthew S. Dent

“
A novella crackling with raw power, this
manages to be incredibly realistic whilst embracing hints of the
supernatural, a story of the darkness for readers who want more to
their horror than blood and gore. Well written, thoroughly
gripping, I highly recommend this”
Mark
West

“
Like many of the great supernatural stories
the reader is left wondering whether what you are reading is real
or if it is just a figment of Mark’s broken mind. This is a
brilliant story that pushed me as a reader, as much with its clever
writing and beautiful prose as it did with some shocking
scenes”
Jim McLeod, Ginger Nuts of
Horror

“
A fine, insightful piece of psychological
horror,
Eyepennies
is an effective showcase of Mike O’Driscoll’s famous
storytelling ability and enticing prose. Highly recommended to
anyone who prefers classy dark fiction rather than gory
horror”
Mario Guslandi

“
The prose is effortless and compelling,
creating images in the mind’s eye both chilling and insightful. The
pace is brilliant, you don’t realise that you are being drawn in
and carried along until you reach a satisfying and haunting
end”
Sean P. Chatterton

“
This had many unsettling images and some
truly horrifying scenes. The theme of pennies on the eyes (to pay
your passage to the next world) is used effectively. This is a good
start to the TTA Novellas series and I will be looking forward to
future tales. I highly recommend this one”
Sam Tomaino, SF Revu

“
Eyepennies
is a
fine portrait of a person under psychological strain. O’Driscoll
maintains the ambiguity over whether Mark’s experiences are
supernatural or delusional in origin (and, indeed, over whether
that makes any practical difference). The novella’s fragmented
structure (reaching back into different periods of the
protagonist’s life) further underlines the diffuse state of Mark’s
mind. This is a good start for the novella series, and I look
forward to future instalments”
David
Hebblethwaite

“
O’Driscoll has written a tightly-constructed
and sympathetic homage to a doomed artist where one man’s memory,
dreams and timeline overlap to mind-bendingly nightmarish effect.
If you like horror that is a bit out of left field, this will be
right up your alley”
Alan Kelly, Rue
Morgue

“
Incredibly haunting, emotional, and at times
outright chilling. One night of particularly disturbed sleep bears
testament to the strength of O’Driscoll’s imagery”
Dread Central

* *

* * * * *

Once again we’re asking you to let us know
what you enjoyed (and what you didn’t) during the previous
year.

You may vote for and against any number of
stories published in issues #238 to #243 inclusive (we publish a
list of eligible works here to help remind you). You don’t have to
have read every issue in order to cast a vote.

As always, we’re as keen to hear your
opinions of the magazine as we are to get your votes, so don’t be
shy in letting us know what you think. We’ll publish as many
comments as we can.

Martin McGrath will be overseeing the poll.
Please send him your votes using one of the methods below.

To vote by post:

Martin McGrath 48 Spooners Drive, Park
Street, St. Albans AL2 2HL, UK

To vote by email:

[email protected]

To vote online:

ttapress.com/interzone/readerspoll/

* *

The results will be published in issue #246,
so please make sure your votes are in before March 31st.

* *

Issue #238

Fata Morgana
Ray
Cluley

Fearful Symmetry
Tyler Keevil

God of the Gaps
Carole Johnstone

The Complex
E.J.
Swift

* *

Issue #239

Twember
Steve
Rasnic Tem

Lips and Teeth
Jon
Wallace

Tangerine, Nectarine, Clementine,
Apocalypse
Suzanne Palmer

Bound in Place
Jacob A. Boyd

Railriders
Matthew
Cook

One-Way Ticket
Nigel Brown

* *

Issue #240

Beasts
Elizabeth
Bourne

The Indignity of Rain
Lavie Tidhar

Seeking Captain Random
Vylar Kaftan

Bloodcloth
Ray
Cluley

A Body Without Fur
Tracie Welser

* *

Issue #241

Steamgothic
Sean
McMullen

Ship’s Brother
Aliette de Bodard

One Day in Time
City
David Ira Cleary

Railroad Angel
Gareth L. Powell

* *

Issue #242

Wonder
Debbie
Urbanski

The Message
Ken
Liu

Needlepoint
Priya
Sharma

Beyond the Light Cone
C.W. Johnson

The Remembered
Karl
Bunker

Strigoi
Lavie
Tidhar

* *

Issue #243

Moon Drome
Jon
Wallace

The Flower of Shazui
Chen Qiufan
translated by Ken
Liu

The Philosophy of Ships
Caroline M. Yoachim

Lady Dragon and the Netsuke Carver
Priya Sharma

Mirrorblink
Jason
Sanfor

* * * * *

Return to
CONTENTS

TTA Press also publish
Interzone's
horror and
dark fantasy sister
Black Static
along with the yearly crime
story collection
Crimewave
and a few other books including
Success… And How To Avoid It
by Mat Coward. The website has
details of recent issues and free podcasts of stories published by
TTA Press along with a means to purchase its print
publications.

TTA Press have both a Facebook page and a reader's
forum on the website (ttapress.com) where we hope you will comment
on any problems or faults or even the good things in this
issue.

* *

Note
this E magazine includes
illustrations from the print edition but (depending on your device)
they may be monochrome.
You can see some of
these in colour here on the TTA Press Website.
(
http://ttapress.com/1543/interzone-244/0/4/
)

* * * * *

Live Link Lists

* *

Readers Poll Links

To vote by
email
:
[email protected]

To vote online
:
http://ttapress.com/1545/vote-now-for-your-favourite-stories-of-2012/0/4/

* *

Still live; the
TTA Advent
Calendar
(
http://ttapress.com/1509/the-advent-calendar-2012/0/4/
)

Ansible and Algis
Budrys
http://ae.ansible.co.uk/?id=titles/benchcont1

(http://skipforward.net/)

* * * * *

Advert links:-

Atomic Fez's
'Dirk
Danger Loves Life' by Chris Rothe
and links for E book
versions. (
http://www.atomicfez.com/book-catalogue/9780986642425.html
)

Darkness Fell and the Demon's Sceptre by Jim St Ruth
[Kindle Edition]
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkness-Fell-Demons-Sceptre-ebook/dp/B0090L9BZA/

Ian Sales'
Whippleshield
Press
(http://whippleshieldbooks.wordpress.com/)

* * * * *

TTA Press
http://ttapress.com/
publishers of

Arrived
: at last the first of a
new
line of TTA novellas with Nina Allan, Mike O’Driscoll
& others
http://bit.ly/N67cEp

For E book editions,
Eyepennies, on Smashwords
http://bit.ly/YJazs7
and on
Amazon Kindle
http://amzn.to/TNgGVX

Interzone, SF and fantasy
short story magazine
.
http://ttapress.com/interzone/about/

Black Static dark
fantasy/horror short story magazine
http://ttapress.com/blackstatic/about/ both Amazon and Smashwords
have E book issues back to #19.

Crimewave - crime fiction
short stories
http://ttapress.com/crimewave/about/ and
for E book editions,

Crimewave 11: Ghosts, on
Smashwords
http://bit.ly/WYCQaC
and on
Amazon Kindle
http://amzn.to/10GSJbo

§
related books and collections of short
stories
.
http://ttapress.com/books/

Alison
by Andrew
Humphrey http://ttapress.com/books/1/alison/

Transmissions from
Beyond
, free Podcasts - stories from TTA publications
http://transmissionsfrombeyond.com/

Air your views on the issue in the TTA
forum
http://ttapress.com/forum or via Facebook (TTA
Press) or Twitter. (TTApress)

To subscribe
to the print
edition
http://ttapress.com/shop

* * * * *

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Interzone

Fiction Editors
> Andy Cox, Andy
Hedgecock (
[email protected]
)

Book Reviews
Editor
>
Jim Steel