Horror Garage #10 features its usual treasure trove of stories, interviews, and reviews and continues as one of the best small press horror magazines out there today. The standard-sized magazine features full color covers and a black & white interior. I was impressed with the stories in issue #10. They showed a certain…skewed edginess that was particularly satisfying and rather ghoulish. I particularly enjoyed those that took on modern conventions such as our lust for fast food or our own vanity about or looks. Very solid stuff!

“Meat Clown” by David Reames, leads off this issue. A demonic Ronald McDonald, who makes the clown from “It” seem like Bozo, visits a franchise one evening, promptly eating one diner, and making fast food slaves of the rest.

I won’t say much about Leo Siren’s disturbing “Dismantling the Baby”, the name pretty much says it all. Leo may want to seek counseling!

In “Cold Callers” by Mark Patrick Lynch, man is killed in an auto accident and passes over into the next life, meeting a boyhood friend who was murdered as a child. We soon learn the dead like to have just as much fun as the living, often at our own expense!

“Mexican Boob Job” by Sara Joan Berniker was perhaps my favorite story in this issue because it is so completely on target. A woman, without two nickels to scrape together and living in a rundown trailer with her no good boyfriend, decides to get breast implants to please her man. She finds a Mexican doctor who will do it for free; they only have to pay to travel to his office. But of course, nothing in life is free…

In addition to the stories, Horror Garage #10 features several short, but interesting interviews. First up is Matt Schwartz of the Shocklines website. Shocklines is an outstanding website catering to horror fans as a one-stop shopping spot for books, music, games, clothing, and a huge stock of great small press magazines like Horror Garage.

Writer Thomas Ligotti is tracked down to discuss his current projects and drummer Fenriz of black metal band Darkthrone is also interviewed. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Adrienne Barbeau who has starred in such horror films as “The Fog”, “Creepshow”, “Swamp Thing” and the underrated “The Convent”. Barbeau admits she doesn’t like watching horror films but loves doing them and has fond memories of Creepshow and working with George Romero.

Finally, Horror Garage #10 offers some two dozen music reviews, mostly of the underground scene of black metal, punk, psychobilly, etc…and a feature on Electric Frankenstein. Good stuff…check out their website.

– Tim Janson