The last time I picked up an issue of Cemetery Dance it fumed and promised it would be my last one because of a story about how oh so scary and freaky S&M people are. What can I say I hang with a creative crowd? But that was to be my last Cemetery Dance issue I was to by and besides how seriously can you take a horror magazine that does a routine article on Stephen King every month. I grew up after that, all of one year. I realized that one mundane story does not make a horrid periodical. I can get over myself at times.

So I tossed away five bucks in exchange for series of stories of unexpected quality. Real American consumer that's me. My first reaction after my first reading of the mag was that I liked the articles more then the fiction. Kind of bothersome don't you think? While the interviews with authors and reviews were exceptional I do believe that the fiction should be the centerpiece of any magazine that deals with fiction.

About those articles. The interview with David Morrell as conducted by Hank Wagner is the must read for this issue. David Morrell is the guy that wrote the Rambo novel that everyone associates with Sylvester Stalone for some god-awful reason. More importantly he's responsible "Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity" which by my guts and blood is the most hauntingly delicious short story ever written. Mr. Morell tells what kind of research he does with bodyguards (err, sorry I mean protective agent) and why shooting a car in the gas tank won't make it go boom boom kabloey. He also touches on why it's ok for the police and the military to play realistically violent video games but a big no no for the general gaming public.

The other interview of note is with Richard Matherson, which I personally jumped up and down for just because he's written the most realistic vampire novel in creation I am Legend. Unfortunately he's gone and little soft and doesn't want to write horror anymore. He feels that kind of stuff darkens the soul, which may be right and may be wrong but still that's no reason to give up on the granddaddy of all genre fiction. A decent read that most recaps the work he's done in the past.