Posted on: October 3, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The cover on this fiction anthology zine is odd – there is what is presumably a large tick diving into a trunk, whihch really makes sense when one considers the odd fare that one can find in this issue. Trunk Stories begins with a re-telling of the Medea myth by Kirsten Kaschock (Any Oher Name). The story re-tells the Medea myth but is slightly heavy-handing in the nomenclature – the main character is even named Medea, while the male “love” interest is named Jack (instead of Jason). Other pieces are equally as odd, with James Morris’ “Caryatid Torpor” being about two individuals that have somehow placed their SUV at the bottom of the swimming pool, only that “Michael…didn’t know the driver or how he came to be there”. Something that goes beyond even “Caryatid Torpor”, and perhaps anything I’ve had the chance to read since the last Douglas Adams book, has to be the diary-esque “A Girl & Her Dog”, by Mark Bothum. The story has to do with a drunk couple that come in the care of a dog that rapidly outstrips the abilities traditionally ascribed to canine species. The odd style of the zine seems to fit in well with the equally queer cover; hints of Poe and Lovecraftian oddness are the norm in this world. Perhaps if there were more in the way of poems to divide the stories, or in fact anything to give the reader a break Trunk Stories would even be a stronger read. This is a quarterly magazine, so pick up the latest issue.

Rating: 7.3/10

Trunk Stories / $4 / :50 / 48M / [email protected] / William Smith, 470 Prospect Ave, Apt. 3D, Brooklyn, NY 11214 / Reviewed 12 July 2005

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