Vastarien: Vol. 2, Issue 2 by Jon Padgett

Vastarien: Vol. 2, Issue 2 Reviews

• 
  Karl

  Contents:
  
  i - Acknowledgments
  008 - "Clematis, White and Purple" by D. P. Watt
  017 - "like crickets" by Robin Gow
  021 - "not other's tongues" by Robin Gow
  025 - "types of knife blades: " by Robin Gow
  027 - "The Stringer of Wiltsburg Farm" by Eden Royce
  045 - "The Pelt" by Christi Nogle
  059 - "Silences by Lucy A. Snyder
  061 - "Visions of the Gothic Body in Thomas Ligotti's Short Stories" by Deborah Bridle
  083 - "Eyestalk" by C. M. Crockford
  097 - "Daddy's Departure" Danielle Hark
  099 - "The Sprite House" Trent Kollodge
  115 - "Sirens in the Night" by Paul L. Bates
  125 - "Thomas Ligotti: The Abyss of Radiance" by S. C. Hickman
  141 - "The Milk Man" by Alana I. Capria
  151 - "Trans Woman Gutted" by Valin Paige
  155 - "What Found Nevaeh" by Donyae Coles
  171 - Contributors
  
  art by Giuseppe Balestra, Tatiana Garmendia, and Danielle Hark (including cover art)
• 
  Alex

  Much of this issue keeps you unsettled. Keeps you from unpacking and fully inhabiting a decent but affordable room as with “What Found Nevaeh” by Donyae Coles. Unable to find quite the right piece of furniture to sink into and relax away from the claustrophobic dread of “The Pelt” by Christi Nogle. Unable to be accepted and belong with “The Mannequin Ideal” by Andrew Koury.
  
  “Sirens in the Night” by Paul L. Bates distracts you with its infestation of traditional body horror tropes like things growing under your skin without ever directing your view to the gore and allowing it to happen off-screen. Instead, this clotted gore is spattered across “The Milk Man” by Alana I. Capria and prevents you from washing clean of its effects.
  
  “Clematis, White and Purple” by D. P. Watt was a delightful story about perspective. I would love to see this one adapted as an animated short. “The Stringer of Wiltsburg Farm” by Eden Royce had a wonderful voice and evocative monster. “The Sprite House” by Trent Kollodge was a disconcertingly nihilistic take on the esoteric text that is used to break barriers between worlds.
  
• 
  Matt

  I thought I posted this earlier, but guess I didn't. So here's something...
  
  Totally loved this! Each issue is better than the last. Everything in here, the fiction, the poetry, the non-fiction, the images, are all top notch mind blowing material. In fact, it was this issue that made me change my subscription to the print edition, because this feels like one of those things I want to physically hold and have.
  
  Just get in on this now before you are left behind.
• 
  David

  Loved the artwork, disliked the poetry (fighting the desire to just skip over it, I read them all twice), but there are a few great stories here - “Clematis, White and Purple”, “the Sprite House” and “Sirens in the Night” were particularly enjoyable. The Sprite House was, for me, the most Ligottian in spirit but also lighter in tone. Essays were uneven - “The Abyss of Radiance” made little sense to me.
• 
  Ryan Croke

  As usual, devastatingly beautiful. There were a lot of female-centric stories that were difficult to get through but just beautiful. More of this please.
• 
  Claus Appel

  My favourite stories in this were "Sirens in the Night" and "The Milk Man".
• 
  Jim

  Another great issue of Vastarian! The real stand out for me in this volume was the essay by S.C. Hickman examining one of my very favorite Ligotti short stories The Tsalal. I appreciated the fiction as well. There were many stories from marginalized groups that made for a very different perspective on horror.
• 
  Des Lewis

  Like switching this whole journal off. Its darkest light now out, not even a silhouette of itself. I return my thoughts to the cover image by Anna Trueman, at least to know, simply to know, but know what? It won’t go away.
  
  The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
  Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.