�Near Absolute Zero� by Jetsie de Vries is a science fiction story with a female narrator. A scientist has destroyed the only known alien artefact, killing a group of scientists in the process. He has seen something beyond a wormhole, and the narrator wants to know what he found and why he destroyed the artefact. The revelation at the end reminded me a little of The Matrix, in the sense that our reality is not what it seems. In the case of this story, though, we and everything we know are part of a huge computer program, which is threatened by a virus capable of wiping everything out. During the first read through I had some problems with the story�s narrator. She dressed and sexually performed the way a heterosexual man would want her to dress and act, that is to say, she seemed more the construct of a heterosexual male imagination. On the second read through this was less of a problem and I was able to focus on the story more. However, I do think the character is a little overly conscious of her body and what she�s wearing in a way that seemed at times narcissistic and fetishistic, something I�ve seen in the female narrators of other male writers, literary and genre. Otherwise the story moved along nicely.

The next work is a poem by Geoff Stevens called �Thoughts of Boris Karloff, Taken During A Tea Break, Whilst Filming �The Bride of Frankenstein� Directed by James Whale, �A Very Queer Gentleman�, and Son of Dudley�. As well as having the longest title of any poem I can remember coming across, this is also one of the best poems I�ve ever seen in a genre mag. Meanwhile, in �At Issue�, Gary Fry offers an eye-watering piece of horror. Ian, the main character, meets a former schoolmate who was once the subject of a bullying campaign by Ian and some of his friends. The man has done well for himself, however, becoming a surgeon, though the scars on his face seem to have interfered with his career somewhat. The scars of course come from a particularly nasty bullying incident that Ian is now clearly very sorry about. But his remorse does not wash with his former victim who has clearly bumped off at least one of the other bullies and intends to deal with Ian before making off to a new life. After reading this revenge tale, you�ll never want to keep pepper in your kitchen again. After this there�s an interview with Simon Clark, a successful horror novelist and short story writer. There�s also a story from Clark, �The Hand of Glory�. Two thieves have broken into a house, but when there appears to be nothing worth taking, Clayton, the narrator�s accomplice, goes mad and starts smashing the place up. It�s then that he finds a shoebox hidden behind a bath panel. Assuming they�ve struck gold, they scarper back to their caravan home. But what they find inside the box is a shrivelled hand. �The Hand of Glory� was used by burglars to put victims to sleep before raiding their homes. The narrator and Clayton decide to try the hand out, but they take it a step further, putting the whole town, and ultimately the world, to sleep by attaching the hand to a TV mast. It�s only at the end, when they leave Whitby, that they realise the extent of the devastation, or that the spell is irreversible. They are the only people left awake. This story has a good pace and there are flashes of dark humour. I liked the narrative voice, though Clayton�s behaviour after he discovers everyone asleep is quite disturbing. This is one of the strongest works in Midnight Street 5.

�Can You See Me?� by Marie O�Regan follows narrator, Steve, who�s been left by his partner Claire. He takes up with Lauren, a woman from his office. Claire though is lurking in the background ready for revenge and apparently threatens the new girlfriend. However it transpires that the two women are lovers and the whole scenario has been acted out for revenge. In other words, Claire, who claims to have something special going with Lauren, has actually got Lauren having sex with her ex-boyfriend. Her reasons for revenge are based on Steve going too far in SM games. Why would she put Lauren at risk then? Why would either of these women waste their time on this narrator, even for revenge? The failed heterosexual relationship is given too much importance in this scenario, and the lesbian relationship is sidelined into a revenge partnership centred on hatred towards a man. Worse, the two women veer from being hopelessly passive to downright psychotic, a depressingly familiar representation of bisexual and lesbian women. Neither of these women are believable either as individuals or as a couple.

�Lushheart� by Tim Nickels is a story that will appear to people who like an element of body horror. Here the narrator and others are sucking blood from the umbilicals of others. These bloodsuckers are not vampires. They seem to be something else entirely, small stunted creatures who depend on others. I�m not a fan of this type of horror so I�m not the best person to judge how well this story might work for those who are. It�s certainly a different take on bloodsucking, something more original. And anyone who wants to know more about the author can read an interview with him at the Midnight Street Extra section of the magazine�s website.

Allen Ashley�s story �War Haven� is one of the best stories in this issue. It references the war in Iraq, and draws on mythology that places the Garden of Eden in the Middle East. The western soldiers in the story have heard of a war haven and the narrator discovers it, a house occupied by a woman who seems to live in a protected zone, shielded from the outside world. She comes from a long line of women who have lived in this place, who have some sort of mythical or divine nature. The narrator lives with her for a time but the outside world appears in the form of an officer, and ultimately the narrator leaves the haven and somehow finds himself in England. There�s something almost dreamlike about the end of this story, as though it�s not quite real. Perhaps the landscape the soldier sees is a mirage, an illusion. This story is a nice conclusion to Midnight Street 5. Other pieces in the magazine include an interesting article on e-publishing by Jon Hartless, while Chris Cartwright provides the cover art - I particularly liked the illustration on the back of the magazine.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.