PSYCHOTROPE
#5: A5, 56pp, £2:10 (4/£7:50) from Mark Beech, Flat 6, 10 Ombersley Road, Worcester WR3 7ET (reviewed by Tony Lee).
This issue of Psychotrope opens with an apology for its lateness, signed with a scrawled cross, and an affirmation of the magazine's commitment to publishing stories that meet the personal tastes of editor, Mark Beech. Happily, I can report that, in many respects, Mark's taste in fiction is similar to my own – but one odd thing about Psychotrope is the choice of story titles. Take 'Camel' by Jane Omerod. This tragic romance about a formidable sailor-granny is vividly told by her adoring grandson yet undermined by clever-clever wordplay. We might expect a curious title from D.F. Lewis, and 'Oblongs Of Oblation' is a correspondence-story in which one letter-writer is seemingly ensconced in the weird world of a David Lynch film. 'Diary Of Deviant Wording' by Anthony Cawood echoes the format of DFL's contribution, albeit in a more introspective style. Here, an absence of paragraphs, and the random underlining of letters, words and even punctuation makes this a rather irritating read – despite it consisting of only one page of text. It has little new to say and the writer's intent is so elusive I may have missed the point. Paul Pinn's 'German Jim And The Doors Of Physics' is better, and features a bizarre conversation between "The Lord and the New Creature" (which borders on surrealism), that's enjoyably absurd yet as impenetrable as the story's title. Conversely, 'The Stone Tarot' by Ceri Jordan is a beautifully crafted tale of unrequited love, charged with latent eroticism and bathed in the revealing glow of magic realism.
'House Of Blenheim' is the longest story here. An understated exploration of how power corrupts – and corruption empowers – that spirals downward to score a particularly nasty vicious circle. It's also the first published work of Brum librarian Paul A. Woodward, confirming Psychotrope's support of new writers. 'Skinner, Boxed', by Brian Edward Lindenberger, is about imprisonment and the strange complicity between gaoler and captive in the pursuit of death. 'The Hypermodern Prometheus' by Mark Asheton imaginatively employs chess as both metaphor and means to a pseudo-mythological apocalypse. Strong first lines and unexpected endings are another of this magazine's virtues. 'Six Ways From Sunday' by Kenneth C Goldman starts quite unassumingly but stops on a wickedly grotesque note, while Jason Gould's quirky 'The Rebels Of Cherry Tree Lane' begins with a startling sexual image.
First 50 words free of charge, 10p per word thereafter. Payment in full must accompany your advert. Classified adverts must be relevant to the independent press, and are only accepted subject to availability of space and legality of content.
WANTED
