Michael Kelly (Editor)
With Simon Strantzas and Adam Golaski in the same publication, you knew it was only a matter of time before the inaugural issue of Shadows and Tall Trees was reviewed here at Speculative Fiction Junkie. The truth is that I meant to write about this one months ago. So much time has elapsed since I initially read this journal that I did what I almost never do just for a review and reread Shadows & Tall Trees - Issue 1 in its entirety.
There were a number of special features that accompanied the release of this first issue of the journal. For one, it was signed by both Michael Kelly and Simon Strantzas. Secondly, it was numbered (which future issues will not be). Finally, and most impressively, Adam Golaski personally mailed a postcard to each purchaser of the inaugural issue. In addition to each postcard being unique and signed by Mr. Golaski, each featured a handwritten line from "an original weird little story currently in progress." Awesome. Just to get a sense of what I'm talking about, here are a couple of pictures of the postcard I received:
From a production standpoint, my only complaint is that the journal seems to have been printed on somewhat inferior quality paper. My copy is only six months old and already I'm convinced that it won't last long. I would pay an extra $5 per issue if it could be printed on something more durable.
The first story in this issue is the excellent "Crow's Nest" by master of urban decay Joel Lane. Mr. Lane's work is often extremely bleak, and this tale is no exception. In it, a twenty-something young man gets some time off work between Christmas and New Years and so returns to North Birmingham (UK) where he grew up. There, he engages in a series of heavy drinking binges and wanders around his boyhood home town, encountering all manner of ghosts from his past.
Another excellent story was "Stone Head" by Adam Golaski. It is the story of a man's estrangement from his suburban existence. It is typical Golaski and is worth the price of admission by itself.
The biggest surprise in this issue by far was "The Ghost Days of Melody Brown" by relative newcomer Geordie Williams Flantz. This is a moving tale of two young girls who continue to live as ghosts near the rural cabin where their father murdered them some years earlier. I had never heard of the author before, but this story put me on notice that Geordie Flantz is a writer to watch in the future.
The remaining stories, including the piece by Mr. Strantzas, were quality pieces but they didn't quite appeal as much as those by Lane, Golaski, and Flantz. The issue also contained interesting movie reviews and at least one book review. I'd like to see more of this sort of thing in future issues.
Shadows and Tall Trees appears to have a bright future and may well become one of the places to go to find new weird fiction.
Rating: 8/10
The True First
Shadows and Tall Trees - Issue 1 was initially published by Undertow Books in an edition of 150 copies in November of 2010. Sadly, the issue is sold out from the publisher. Even more regrettably, the publisher has decided not to release an electronic version of the journal. I think this is a mistake, but nobody asked me. Presumably, some of these stories will find their way into future single author collections by their respective authors.
[This review was not based on a review copy]
6 comments:
S&TT editor Mr. Kelly alerted me to this review. Strange to see my postcard, but pleasing, too--glad it provided some enjoyment. S&TT #2 is due soon and tho I don't have a story in it I did contribute a book review (I wrote a little about preparing that review on my blog (Little Stories) in a post called "A review and a review } New Genre," and I think some of my comments in that post resonate with the introduction to S&TT #2 (by Mr. Kelly).
By the way, Brian J. Showers, who wrote The Bleeding Horse, wanted to contact you about a review, but neither he nor I can find any contact information for you. How about posting an email somewhere? Or a P.O. Box? We want to send you... things...
@Adam: I've added a tab to the website with my contact information.
Also, I'll check out what you wrote about preparing the review that's in S&TT #2. Thanks for the heads up about it.
Nice review, Ben. It really peaked my interest... but then finding out that there is no way to get access to these stories until they are published again somewhere else was a bit of a downer.
@Benjamin U: Yes, I can understand your frustration :( Thankfully, I think I read somewhere that future issues will be more readily available. Plus, now you're aware of the magazine's existence if you weren't already so you can be proactive about snagging a copy.
Issue 2 is available to order now. http://www.undertowbooks.com/archives/300
Thanks for the heads up! I'll order as soon as I get back in town!
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