Jessica Horsting & James Van Hise (ed) - Midnight Graffiti

[andydecker]

Jessica Horsting & James Van Hise (ed) - Midnight Graffiti (Warner Books, 1992, 365 pages)

Content:

Jessica Horsting - Midnight Graffiti (Introduction)
Stephen King - Rainy Season (1989)
J. Michael Straczynski - Say Hello, Mister Quigley (1992)
Gil Lamont - Sinus Fiction (1992)
Steven R. Boyett - Emerald City Blues (1988)
Cliff Burns - Cattletruck (1989)
David J. Schow - Bad Guy Hats (1989)
John Shirley - "I Want to Get Married" Says World's Smallest Man! (1992)
Rex Miller - Spike Jones and the Reverend Sister Claudine (1992)
Joe R. Lansdale - Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland (1989)
Lawrence Person - Salvation (1992)
Nancy A. Collins - Rant (1990)
K. W. Jeter - Blue on One End, Yellow on the Other (1990)
Phil Tilso - The Domino Man (1992)
R. V. Branham - The New Order: 3 Moral Fictions (1992)
Neil Gaiman - Murder Mysteries
R. V. Branham - Heaven, Heaven Is a Place (1992)
Harlan Ellison - Where I Shall Dwell in the Next World (1992)
Dan Simmons - The River Styx Runs Upstream (1982)
James Van Hise - Dark Embrace (1992)

Midnight Graffiti was one of those short-lived American horror fiction magazines which thrived for a while in the Golden Age of the genre. It ran from 1988 to 1992, but it only was published twice a year. I don't know how it was sold, at newsstands or by subscription or book shops. This is a collection of tales from its run. It reads a bit like a who is who of its time. A few of the writers are still widely known, but I doubt that others like Schow, Jeter or Collins are still on the radar of casual readers.

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I need to get my hands on this one.

I’ve only read the King story, which is good pulpy fun, and the Boyett story, which is a grim satire where the Land of Oz gets nuked.

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Joe R Lansdale - Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland: The titular Bob is an inflatable T Rex who, once a Mickey Mouse hat is placed on his head, becomes obsessed with going to Disneyland. Finally, his long suffering “parents” let him go. But he comes back changed…

Not even remotely “horror,” this is a goofy but poignant story about growing up. Recommended.

[pbsplatter]

Cliff Burns - Cattletruck: In a post-apocalyptic America, our narrator--hideously burned, scarred, and disfigured--has been kicked out of the gym-cum-hospital he's been staying at and put on a cattle-car towards the Midwest. Most people shun him for his repulsive appearance, but here comes a friendly little girl over to say hi. . .

Very good story, and one that looks at an underappreciated part of the apocalypse in fiction: How does what remains of government and society try to cope with the crushing practical problems of the catastrophe? 

Lawrence Person - Salvation: Statues of Christ on the cross are coming to life in churches around the nation, and our narrator is one of the men on 'cross duty' responsible for nailing Him back down. This task is both physically and spiritually gruelling, but the alternative is much, much worse. . .

A nice grim little morsel.