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LampLight - Volume 1 Issue 1
LampLight is a quarterly magazine of Dark Fiction. This is Volume I, Issue I.
Welcome to the first issue of LampLight. We hope you enjoy the dark tales you'll find inside. We speak with Bob Ford about writing, life and hair products. There is fiction from William Meikle, Nathan Yocum, Rahul Kanakia, Ian Creasey and Mandy DeGeit. J.F. Gonzalez brings us a view into our literary past. with a discussion on reprint anthologies. Kevin Lucia brings us part I of a volume long novella.
Welcome to the first issue of LampLight. We hope you enjoy the dark tales you'll find inside. We speak with Bob Ford about writing, life and hair products. There is fiction from William Meikle, Nathan Yocum, Rahul Kanakia, Ian Creasey and Mandy DeGeit. J.F. Gonzalez brings us a view into our literary past. with a discussion on reprint anthologies. Kevin Lucia brings us part I of a volume long novella.
- GenresShort StoriesHorror
85 pages, ebook
First published August 21, 2012
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 25, 2012
This year has seen the debut of more than a fiction short fiction markets, which probably isn't that newsworthy considering there are new markets popping up every year. But I've had the good fortune to read a couple new online fiction mags that are really promising, and I think I need to include Lamplight Quarterly to that list.
I think I first heard about this magazine from Robert Dunbar, added with the debut issue offered to readers for free, and I decided to give it a go.
Within the table of contents are a couple of familiar names and a few new ones. There are a half-dozen short stories, among them a featured artist who is also interviewed for the magazine. This time around the featured artist was Bob Ford, with a short story called "Early Harvest," followed by an interview conducted by Jeff Heimbuch.
There was also a reprint of one of Ambrose Pierce's stories, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." I haven't read a lot of Pierce's work, and the last time I did was years ago, so this was a nice change of pace and retrospective on classic horror. I think "Lamplight Classics" (the working title for classic reprints) could be a good gateway for folks who don't really go back to read stuff that's older than they are.
There's also the first part of a serial novella. "And I Watered It With Tears, Part 1" by Kevin Lucia. This was one of the stories I was really interested in checking out. Andrew and Deyquan are each down on their luck. Stuck in line to pay his power bill before his lights are cut off at home, he and everyone else in the building are basically scraping by with lives that seem to be slowly going from bad to worse. Well, worse comes in a hurry when a woman at the head of the line has a breakdown and appears to have killed herself in the ladies washroom. But when Andrew and Deyquan see what's become of her, suicide seems unlikely--and the condition of the dead woman's body is the least of their problems. Argh. I gotta wait until the next issue of this quarterly to read Part 2? Argh. Ah well, it's a great hook to entice readers to pay up for that second issue, I'll say that much.
The stand-alone stories are not without their charm either, as I especially enjoyed William Meikle's "The Kelp" and Nathan Yocum's "Elgar's Zoo."
So, I presume the next issue comes out sometime in December. I'll be waiting.
I think I first heard about this magazine from Robert Dunbar, added with the debut issue offered to readers for free, and I decided to give it a go.
Within the table of contents are a couple of familiar names and a few new ones. There are a half-dozen short stories, among them a featured artist who is also interviewed for the magazine. This time around the featured artist was Bob Ford, with a short story called "Early Harvest," followed by an interview conducted by Jeff Heimbuch.
There was also a reprint of one of Ambrose Pierce's stories, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." I haven't read a lot of Pierce's work, and the last time I did was years ago, so this was a nice change of pace and retrospective on classic horror. I think "Lamplight Classics" (the working title for classic reprints) could be a good gateway for folks who don't really go back to read stuff that's older than they are.
There's also the first part of a serial novella. "And I Watered It With Tears, Part 1" by Kevin Lucia. This was one of the stories I was really interested in checking out. Andrew and Deyquan are each down on their luck. Stuck in line to pay his power bill before his lights are cut off at home, he and everyone else in the building are basically scraping by with lives that seem to be slowly going from bad to worse. Well, worse comes in a hurry when a woman at the head of the line has a breakdown and appears to have killed herself in the ladies washroom. But when Andrew and Deyquan see what's become of her, suicide seems unlikely--and the condition of the dead woman's body is the least of their problems. Argh. I gotta wait until the next issue of this quarterly to read Part 2? Argh. Ah well, it's a great hook to entice readers to pay up for that second issue, I'll say that much.
The stand-alone stories are not without their charm either, as I especially enjoyed William Meikle's "The Kelp" and Nathan Yocum's "Elgar's Zoo."
So, I presume the next issue comes out sometime in December. I'll be waiting.
March 23, 2025
For an indie Horror-fiction-zine, that is mainly distributed digitally, with added BoD-Copies, this is absolutely astounding. The mix of content is everything I would hope for, ranging from (of course) short stories, writer interviews, essays on the history of genre fiction to classics - starting, in this first volume, with one of the best known and most influential short stories with Ambrose Bierce's “An Occurrence at Owl Creek bridge�, which I read here for the first time and found absolutely fascinating.
The quality of the original stories is also way above average, with interesting concepts and beautiful prose. Especially Nathan Yocum's “Elgar's Zoo�, which tells a depressing but very empathic story of the apocalypse, and Ian Creasey's “Memories of the Knacker's Yard� with its great premise of a world, in which ghosts can be seen through technology, mixing gothic horror, noir detective story and cyberpunk.
There is also a serialized novella of which we can read the first part in this issue, that is very promising and gives “The Mist�-vibes to the reader. I'm eager to read the rest of it.
The only point of critic I have is the poor print quality (more of an oversized paperback, then a real magazine), and the fact, that the remaining single issues of Volume 1 are only available as e-Book. There is a collection of all the issues as a Volume-1-BoD-Paperback, so, I guess, I'm jumping there next.
The quality of the original stories is also way above average, with interesting concepts and beautiful prose. Especially Nathan Yocum's “Elgar's Zoo�, which tells a depressing but very empathic story of the apocalypse, and Ian Creasey's “Memories of the Knacker's Yard� with its great premise of a world, in which ghosts can be seen through technology, mixing gothic horror, noir detective story and cyberpunk.
There is also a serialized novella of which we can read the first part in this issue, that is very promising and gives “The Mist�-vibes to the reader. I'm eager to read the rest of it.
The only point of critic I have is the poor print quality (more of an oversized paperback, then a real magazine), and the fact, that the remaining single issues of Volume 1 are only available as e-Book. There is a collection of all the issues as a Volume-1-BoD-Paperback, so, I guess, I'm jumping there next.
June 10, 2014
The first three stories in Lamplight 1 -- Early Harvest (Bob Ford), The Kelp (William Meikle), and Elgar's Zoo (Nathan Yocum) -- are absolutely astounding. After each one, especially Bob Ford's, all I could do was to sit back and shiver, and giggle over how unexpectedly good those stories were. Members of the Knacker's Yard, by Ian Creasey, was absolutely enchanting, and maybe the most innovative ghost story I'd read in years.
Other stories in the collection paled, and some were completely forgettable. But, overall, this volume is totally worth picking up.
Other stories in the collection paled, and some were completely forgettable. But, overall, this volume is totally worth picking up.
December 19, 2012
There is a lot to like here. There are some very good short stories included.
June 2, 2016
Early Harvest by Bob Ford and The Kelp by William Meikle are both fantastic stories. My favorites of the bunch for sure.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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