Stories:
"Fog" – by Jack Cady (short story) 20 pages, but four of them are ads
"Virgin Wings" – by Sydney J. Van Scyoc (short story) 15 pages
"The Bad Hamburger" – by Matthew Jarpe & Jonathan Andrew Sheen (novella) 44 pages
"The Name of the Sphinx" – by Albert E. Cowdry (novelet) 20 pages "Walter and the Wonderful Watch" – by John Morresy (short story) 7 pages
"Christmas in the Catskills" – by Michael Libling (novelet) 23 pages

The December issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine ends the year in a great fashion. There are only six stories in it, but it has a wonderful novella, "The Bad Hamburger," that fills out the page count. This issue has a bit of horror, and also a bit of that Southern touch (two stories that I would classify as horror and two stories that take place in the South). It has a masterfully atmospheric cover that is for "Fog." Charles de Lint talks about a fantasy convention that has also produced a book in his "Books to Look For" column. Also, James Sallis does an in-depth review of a new book on Philip K. Dick that sounds fascinating, especially for fans of the author. Lucius Shepard writes a scathing review of The Chronicles of Riddick that is very entertaining (maybe not so much if you enjoyed the movie). All in all, this is an issue well worth picking up.

The Stories
"Fog" – by Jack Cady
What a wonderfully atmospheric tale to begin the issue! "Fog" is the last story written by Jack Cady, as he died shortly after finishing it. It's a good story to go out on, though it is more horror than SF. In a southern river town in some undetermined time, a black reverend comes to town and forms a following. The local preacher, along with a man called "the Professor," tries to raise an uproar about him. But the reverend makes the mistake of fathering a child on a local woman, and he's very quickly lynched. The Professor doesn't survive much after that. Now, many years later, mysterious apparitions haunt the fog that washes over this town most nights. The reverend is looking for his daughter and the Professor is looking for revenge, or so the stories go. One wild night, much more than the fog is dangerous as the townsfolk go wild. Will the fog, and the creatures within it, overrun the town? Or will a less spiritual force be responsible? This story is almost perfect, barring a couple of bits of dialogue that sound a bit off. Cady has the dialect down wonderfully, the characters speak like real people with real worries. Joe (or "Mr. Joe," as some call him) works perfectly as the narrator, since he is the owner of the general store that also becomes a meeting place for Pete and Annie as they search the fog for Annie's lover's spirit. It's a positively chilling story, and Cady gets the foggy atmosphere just right. This almost seems like it would be a perfect Halloween story.

"Virgin Wings" – by Sydney J. Van Scyoc
This story doesn't work quite as well as "Fog," though I'm not sure I can really say why. The festival of the Spring Virgin has arrived, and Didra's companion, Topa, really wants to go and see the manifestation of the Virgin and she's excited by the festival. Didra, who was thrown out of Congregation of the Dark Veil shortly before it broke up, has misgivings about exposing her lover to the licensed debauchery of the festival, but Topa's enthusiasm is unstoppable. At the festival, an attack by the One cultists (the major belief is that there are four gods, but some cultists still believe there is only One) interrupts the festival and, ultimately, makes her reconsider her relationship with the gods, and with Topa. I think I may just not have "got" this story, but it didn't really grab me at all. I found neither Topa nor Didra that interesting, and the writing didn't speak to me at all. I'm thinking that I just missed the point, and it might seem better to me if I had it. The prose is fine, but I was ultimately left with those seven deadly words: why should I care about these people?

"The Bad Hamburger" – by Matthew Jarpe & Jonathan Andrew Sheen
This is actually quite an interesting story. It's a future of neural nets and artificial intelligences controlling a lot of the aspects of our lives. Is it possible for an AI to be murdered? The police department actually has a section devoted to data crimes, and one of these detectives is called in when an AI turns up "dead." It seems that some AIs are getting addicted to "riding" the emotions of humans who are interfaced with it (called "meat riding"), and the victim seems to have been doing that when it's killed. Detective Koestler is given an AI helper to assist in solving the case. This is a fascinating story in a very possible future where everybody has the ability to hook into the network with their bodies. Told with some wit and a large amount of technical knowledge, "The Bad Hamburger" uses a lot of different styles simultaneously. It's not noir-like, but the sequence where the AI is introduced to Koestler is almost straight out of a Sam Spade novel. I was about to complain about the drastic change in tone when the scene ended and I almost laughed out loud. This one kept me captivated from beginning to end.

"The Name of the Sphinx" – by Albert E. Cowdry
This is another story that just reeks of southern atmosphere, though it's not as oppressive as "Fog." In this one, Cowdry returns to some characters that he has written about before. It's another story that takes place on Azalea Place in New Orleans, and it concerns a mafia refugee witch (Angela) and her husband. It begins with a dream that Angela has about a Sphinx, at the same time that the sphinx appears to the narrator. It's a story of a loving couple and of time being held back. Angela has been using her magic to keep her husband healthy, and in this story that becomes a problem. The story is written in both first and second person, as if the narrator is addressing his wife. I found this very odd at first, but soon got used to it. While it was certainly different, it becomes very important. The characterization is lovely, especially between the couple, but also the college professor Dmitri. When the final revelation is made, it really affected me.

"Walter and the Wonderful Watch" – by John Morresy
This story looks like it wants to be deep (and Gordon Van Gelder's introduction talking about it having a sting appropriate for an election year adds to that impression), but it doesn't really succeed. Walter lives with his family and many other guests in a two room hut in his village, but decides he wants to go off and make something of himself. His uncle gives him a broken watch as a keepsake, but Walter finds on the road that it really does work. The watch is also a talking watch, and gives him some good advice as he enters the big city that appears to be in mourning. Evidently, the king is bored, and when he gets bored, he takes it out on the kingdom. The watch gives Walter some ideas for what he can do in the city, including some political change. While I found the conversation between the watch and the king quite amusing, I ultimately found the story didn't do what it was supposed to do. The situation was just too absurd for my taste. It wasn't a bad story, and its being short certainly helped.

"Christmas in the Catskills" – by Michael Libling
To end the issue, we get a little more Christmas horror. Rick and Lilly, who is seven months pregnant, are trying to get to Rick's family's cottage in the Catskills. Rick takes a shortcut through the mountains, and they end up snowbound. They're found by a local man, a member of a strange community. They're served a wonderful dinner along with some other refugees, and they think they're having a pretty good Christmas despite not being with their family. The locals have a strange tradition of lighting candles on Christmas Eve night, one for each person in the community and every guest. After doing some investigating, Lilly finds the chilling reason. She has attracted the interest of young Markus, who it turns out has used this tradition for his own ends. This is a chilling story, and one that I really liked. It doesn't fit the mood of the season (obviously!), but it gives you a nice start at the end. The characterization is very good, with the slow revelation of Markus' feelings and the relationship between Rick and Lilly. Even the townspeople are well done within the constraints of a twenty-page story. A marvelous way to end the issue, but make sure you have the lights on!

The Articles:
"Books to Look For" – by Charles de Lint
Ancient Spirit, Modern Voice: The Mythic Journeys Art Exhibition - by Karen Shaffer
The Charnel Prince - by Greg Keyes
Witching Hour: The Art of Larry McDougall

"Books" – by James Sallis
I am Alive, and You are Dead: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick - by Emmanuel Carrere

"Films" – by Lucius Shepard
A complete ripping of The Chronicles of Riddick