Review: 13th Moon - Volume Two



I smell them coming.

Sweat. Tears. The sickly scent of candy and halitosis.

Every year. Without fail. I know.

Which ones are kind.

And which are cruel.


Phoebe A. Xavier, who brought us the stunning science fiction anthology series Sidereal Apogee, is the mastermind behind 13th Moon, a 47-page collection of eight tales of supernatural adventure, drama and horror.

In Mr B. Knimble a young New York City graffiti artist uses his college 3D printer to create a demon mask, then wears it whenever he goes out with his buddies - the 666 Crew - to "nuke" the town with paint. When he outgrows the artistic vandal lifestyle he throws the mask away and becomes a respectable family man... but it seems his old life is not ready to let him go just yet...

In Lacewing, Christine and her fellow students are on a field trip deep in the woods, looking for insects that could have a beneficial impact on farming productivity.  Little does she realise, she may have a special affinity with this particular species of naturally efficient hunter...

In Smashing Pumpkin, Trick-or-Treating provides the perfect opportunity for the local young thugs to bully the smaller kids...until a vengeful spirit rises to even the odds.

Like any good horror anthology, this is a diverse mix of stories which lead the reader down some very dark, twisted paths, the ends of which cannot be seen until the final corner has been turned. There is humour here as well as dread, the delightful alongside the disturbing. The writers and artists toy with our expectations and emotions, taking us far from the comforting lights of the familiar world and into shadowy nightmare territories in which the sudden, savage attack is one we never see coming.

The varied artists present a mixed bag of styles, from classic pulp/noir to nostalgic dichromatic clichéd caricature and modern digital expressionism. Here are finely crafted pages, full of subtlety and even beauty, which only makes the unsettling subject matter of each tale all the more chilling.

Happy endings are not traditionally a mainstay of horror fiction, but satisfying shock reversals in which an antagonist you love to hate suddenly ends up in the jaws of the beast most certainly are. Here 13th Moon does not disappoint, serving up delicious garnishes of tangy schadenfreude alongside the meaty main course of trauma and gore. 

The readers' pleasure is all the sweeter for being of the guilty variety...


Contributors: Phoebe A. Xavier, Renan Balmonte, Dan Schmidt, Ben Pyle, Jasen Smith, Leanne Kathleen Ingino, Jorge Gabotto, Juan Manuel Almiron, Chris McAuley, Jeffrey Haas, Eddy Heddington, Diane Yingst and Joseph Cervelin.



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