Silence and Starsong Magazine: Spring 2023, Volume 1 Number 1

Lovecraft meets Lewis in this collection of the weird and wonderful

Silence and Starsong aspires to dismantle the nuts-and-bolts materialism of sci-fi and bring back a sense of awe. And maybe, just perhaps by acknowledging the spiritual, change how we see the world. H.P. Lovecraft famously advised writers to “never have a wonder taken for granted,” and it’s an admonition the writers here have fully embraced. 

The Stories

• A Matter of Honor by Jason McCuiston: A small group of soldiers on opposing sides (of both country and the Catholic/Protestant divide) at the end of the Thirty Years’ War accept a challenge: stay the night in a haunted churchyard and see whose faith is stronger. When the gates of Hell open, they’re forced to band together. It’s a great, atmospheric start to the collection.

Standout line: “...I suppose the will to survive can bestow upon one an extra measure of strength when the danger is great enough.”

• A Wanderer of Ur by Gaston Nerval: At the dawn of civilization immediately following the biblical Flood, a mercenary named Thark lives a carefree life. When a priest of the Creator God tells Thark he will be the father of a great nation if he slays a witch, the arrogant barbarian seriously underestimates the challenge. Thark obviously shares some DNA with Conan the Barbarian, but giving it an Old Testament twist makes it unique.

Standout line: “‘You are in danger,’ he said, and as she leaned toward him she replied, ‘Not from you.’” 

• Archangel by Frederick Gero Heimbach: During the Cold War the US has nukes, but Soviet missiles can literally unleash Hell on earth. When the Russian submarine loses its priest and spiritual defenses buckle under the pressure, the captain and crew are tortured by demons, past and present. While this longer entry gets very, very dark I love setting and concept.

Standout line: “There are reasons to ask if our policy of weaponized demonology is concordant with the will of God.” 

• The Two Godly Fishmongers by Kevin White: Feuding Quakers are at the heart of this accidental alien abduction story. You have to give it points for the audacity of the concept, but more so for the excellent execution. After the previous tale, it’s like a warm, nourishing bowl of oatmeal on a cold winter day.

Standout line: “‘Embrace Chastity, fie’, barked Dudley, naming his new daughter-in-law, ‘and you just could not wait to do that, could you?’”

• Free Lunch by S. Kirk Pierzchala: A dark fairytale about the dangers of accepting food of unknown origin, Free Lunch is the story of a family that stumbles into the Air BnB from the otherworld. With a clever teen protagonist, it’s a charming, unsettling, little story that will make you think twice about anything that’s too good to be true.

Standout line: “A sickening, soft flutter of giant wings beat against the gray of her amorphous, unsettling dreams…”

• Have Ye Offered Unto Me by Zachary Grafman: The battle between intellect and religion, Christian tradition and pagan, is fully realized in this period piece. There’s a subtle humor throughout the story, which is prerequisite when the syllabus includes ghastly rites in stuffy old England. The growing sense of dread and finally full-fledged horror earns it top marks.

Standout line: “The entire point of the university environment, after all, was the separation of the intellectual, allowing their own set a respite of sanity from the philosophical estate sale of the world.”

• The Gamer by Nathan Karnes: In this case “gamer” means one who places wagers, and the Gamer is in a remote village for a glider race. Or is he? Questions of destiny and free will linger on the fringes. Who is the Gamer, really? You’ll probably be pondering that for a long time. While very dialog heavy, there’s enough world-building here to hold our interest.

Standout line: “The right kind of traveler would doubtless have found this astral anomaly extremely intriguing. He was not the right kind of traveler.”

• The Secret of Phelim Darke by S. Kirk Pierzchala: The second story from Pierzchala is both small in scope and cosmic in implications. At first, it seems to be about a couple with fertility problems before it turns into something much more sinister. While attentive readers might guess the trajectory, the ending is still divine. 

Standout line: “His mind roamed planes and dimensions he knew the other two could not possibly comprehend.”

• The Shadow of the Stain by Patrick Lauser: If Walt Disney had lived long enough to see the final films from Hammer Studios, his nightmares may have looked like this. It’s a story of a haunted forest, cursed girls, and evil (if handsome) young men. Delving into the story’s theme would spoil it, but this atmosphere heavy tale is uncomfortably weird and eerily familiar.

Standout line: “...it seemed that the air he breathed acted like a telescope, lining up and drawing together several rooms.”

• Hidden Empire by T.R. Alexander: When Joseph Cartwright is sent to address some problems within the CIA he learns the sort of things that break men’s minds. And then he shares them with us. How do the people who trade in lives not lose their souls? Maybe they don’t. Conspiracy theorists will find the story all too plausible, and everyone else can appreciate the unsettling “what-if?”

Standout line: “We are building a secret empire as broad as it is hidden.”

The Characters

Through these stories we’re introduced to characters from all times and walks of life. Mercenaries, Quakers, teenage girls, academics, supernatural beings, and more are all represented. Even the shortest stories do an excellent job of developing characters first and letting the plots build from there, so that we always understand who they are, where they are, and why they need to complete their objectives. 

The Worlds

Most of the stories take place in our world, though a few may or may not be high fantasy. Some are contemporary, but many are historical. There’s no lack of variety.

The Politics

None of the stories are terribly political. If anything, it’s all pretty based, “the government is not your friend,” type stuff.

Content Warning

Some mild sensuality, gore, demonic horror, and some poor animals get killed.

Who is it for?

This collection is well-suited to anyone who appreciates the old pulp masters like Howard and Lovecraft, newer voices like Gaiman, dark fairytales, or a juicy conspiracy theory, with the caveat that they’re primarily from a Christian worldview.

Why read it?

It may seem odd to reference the atheist Lovecraft when reviewing such a theistic collection, yet this melding of the weird with sci-fi might not exist without him. But where Lovecraft only saw cosmic horror, some believe in the cosmic hope threaded throughout these stories.