*Please note this is a non-spoiler review*
“And then, mercifully, everything is dark.” If there was ever a line to sum up the overall feeling of ‘Banished‘, Aphotic Realm’s second issue, then that it is (ironically the last line of the first story, Night Terrors, by Jocelyn Baxtor).
With Banished, you are treated to 80 pages filled of strongly written and horrorfying stories dealing with the theme of banishment and survival. Including also is two interesting interviews that give context to the magazine. If this reviewer had to pick a favourite, it would be Geminus by Mandi Jourdan, for its sharpe prose and snappy dialogue.
Each story is tightly paced (giving credit to the editing skills) and is accompanied by some great artwork that you would expect to see in a long running comic book series, and not the second issue of a recently established Literary magazine.
The one criticism to fall on the magazine is the overall look and colour of the background. The colour of the text doesn’t blend strong enough with the background, and can be a minor effect on the overall experience of the reader. However, this is not to take away from the stories and the value of the magazine.
To believe that this is only their second issue, the message is clear from Aphotic Realm: they want to scare you. And perhaps it’ll be in the ways you thought would never happen.
This reviewer reccomends Banished.
Banished is available to buy on Amazon. You can check out their website here.
You can also check out an interview the Horror Club did with the editors of Aphotic Realm.
thehorrorclubblog.wordpress.com 