Rod Marsden's crime, horror and science fiction fanzine continues to suffer from editorial incompetence. Reading it cover to cover is a gruelling experience thanks to a procession of first-draft stories that scream out for editing and revision. Even a basic courtesy such as right-justification is denied these poor paginated souls. If there was a law against cruelty to fiction, Prohibited Matter would get life without parole.
   This is not to say the magazine has no audience or receives no praise - quite the opposite. The Letters column dishes up six and a half page's worth of encouragement, platitudes, and pats-on-the-back. Prohibited Matter obviously has a loyal following among fans and fan writers, many of whom are regular contributors. Fan fiction is still fiction, however, subject to the same measures applied to any other book or periodical...
   Science Fiction. Don Boyd opens this section with an article on Paolo Solerio, a visionary architect semi-famous for designing elegant and ecologically sensible cities. While the layouts are the anti-thesis of the subject matter, Boyd's over-view provides enough details to inform the clueless. A good start. 'The Stars Foretell' by Lyn McConchie is the best fiction piece here, albeit written in her typically unfocused and bone-dry manner. Steve Carter's social SF horror yarn 'No Man's Land' was based on a comic book storyline and written in one day. Literally a first-draft, this story fails to build its action toward a satisfying finish. The background, concerning a social engineering experiment gone awry, is adequately described but under-utilised. Saving the worst till last, '...And Died One Day' by Boris Zelensky is a pulse-stopping, brain-fossilising science fiction story about love between two terraformers. The dire standard of this work is well demonstrated by this attempt at imagery:"A tarnished coin of the local sun hung over the low ridge ready to give place in the sky to the stars."
   Crime. 'Critters and Innards' by D. F. Lewis radically redefines the crime genre by featuring a woman whose bodily organs assume sentience and go their separate ways, like a much gorier sequel to Barker's 'The Body Politic'. Fun while it lasted. Geoff Jackson sustains the body-part motif with 'Love is a Razor', one of the most coherent stories he's ever done. Again, this is more horror than crime. Revenge is the theme of 'Tipping the Scales' by Rod Marsden, a contrived story condemned further by the ultra-ultra-ultra-bland delivery. 'What Do You Call a Predator of Predators?: Chastity White' by Robert James Conlon makes 'Tipping the Scales' look respectable, with its disjointed and utterly uninvolving narrative. Book-ending the crime section are three articles: one about the Vaseline Hanson Immigration debate by P. J. Roberts, one 'On Being Politically Incorrect' by Keith Rex, and the other discussing 'The Dynamics of Rumour in the Work Place'. What is the crime connection here? Please explain!
   Horror. 'The Restaurant' by Rod Marsden must be what he calls "avant-garde" story telling. A man trapped in the restaurant from hell ends up in the oven. A weak attempt at surrealism, it lacks the strong prose, sophistication and subtlety need-ed to make it effective. 'Devil Woman of the Deep Part 2' by Don Boyd crushes the mind with its dull, meandering plot, stupid character names, and Sherlock Holmes trappings. Passable monster mayhem at the end. Barbara Custer's 'The Wrong Entree' begins with this screamer: "Donald Weis cringed against the stairs, hugging himself and shivering, while his bosses, Ewald and Dr. Tynan, chewed on Gilroy's right leg." Her tale gives new meaning to the term corporate downsizing. Lastly there is 'Life After Death' by R. G. Riel, who seems determined to make up for the lack of rich and passionate prose by filling his story with nothing else but. In the process he drowns the point of the story, the action, and all sympathy for the character's tragic situation. Riel is a promising writer who is too much in love with the sound of his own wordage.
   In keeping with the avant-garde theme, vertigo-inducing collages by Amanda Steele are plastered all through the magazine. Those designed as illustrations sometimes look comical; see pages 21, 47 and 50. Also, Antoinette Rydyr's flat cover drawing of a fish-woman desperately needs more rendering. Nice teeth, though.
   Tons of unrewarded effort goes into each Prohibited Matter. Unfortunately, quality and quality-control is sorely lacking. Five dollars and five hours of reading time is a high price to pay. Keep your expectations at the fan level and you won't be disappointed.
 

BLOODSONGS #8-9
$5.95  Ed: Cynthia Ariel Conlin  Implosion Publishing
PO Box 533653, Orlando, FL 32853, USA dave@implosion-mag.com

Brief comments: Bloodsongs now looks more professional - better paper and printing. In Issue #8 the non-fiction still crucifies the fiction. Highly professional pieces on Neil Gaiman from David Carroll and adolescent horror fiction by Kyla Ward; both writers have improved since their Tablua Rasa days. Of the fiction, 'Tears for Broken Toys' by Kirstyn McDermott is the standout, although it was edited substantially and even "dumbed down" by Implosion, all without the author's consent or knowledge. Inexcusable. Contributors beware.
   In issue nine 'The Freezing of Sarah' by Aurealis Award winner Sean Williams is top dog in an uneven pack. Heavy metal and subculture articles do not mix with horror fiction. With luck these will be syphoned into Implosion and Bauer's new metal magazine Juggernaut. The review section this time around was okay, if a little fanzine-ish. The Australian content is dwindling. Not bad overall.
 

REEL WILD CINEMA #1-2
$3.00  Editor: John Harrison  2 Glenbrae Court, Berwick VIC 3806, Australia

This is a true fanzine: it covers movies and topics already spotlighted in zillions of other sources. That doesn't stop it from being personable, neat, and ambitious enough to solicit interviews from trash film actors and film makers. What Reel Wild Cinema lacks in originality is balanced by its enthusiasm; I'm keen to see the next one. Look for it in Polyester Books, Melbourne, or write to them.