Eastercon 2025 Souvenir Issue (Fantasy Cover Version)!
Harry Clarke, Jim Fitzpatrick, Stephen Jones, Caitlín R. Kiernan, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Ian McDonald, Maura McHugh, Kim Newman, Lynda E. Rucker, Bram Stoker, David A. Sutton, Peter Tremayne, Jo Zebedee!
Fiction, artwork, reviews and so much more!
Dark bleatings, my non-fiction loving tribe! You may remember me recently bleating on (a lot) about the Hellraiser Special Edition of this magazine, and now I’m here to bleat on about the most recent issue (pictured above). This is Issue 26, and I was delighted to discover in Trevor Kennedy’s charming introduction that this one is Irish genre themed.
As usual for Phantasmagoria, we have a treasure trove of well written and researched features, interviews, reviews, and fiction pieces, all of which I can honestly say were a pleasure to read.
Features
We’re treated to features by Kelly Dunn (excellent writer, by the way), Christopher Gray, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman, Steve Dilks, Randy Broecker, and James Bacon, as well as a few pieces that were written as a group effort.
The Ghost Beating on the Door: Gothic Horror Through Irish Eyes (by Kelly Dunn) gives us gothic origins, Irish influences, details on specific gothic works, and even a little real world history. It was music to my eyes.
Sister Fidelma Mysteries: Absolution by Murder, Revenge of the Stormbringer (by Christopher Gray) enthuses about a few particular books in the Sister Fidelma series (the author of this piece starts with book 34, which has made me highly intrigued because I’d never even heard of this series of murder mysteries but now I want to read them all…)
The Invisible Prince (by David A. Sutton) is one of my favourite features in the issue because it’s about Sheridan Le Fanu, who I didn’t even know was Irish. I hang my head in shame, but I insist I am a fan. This feature provides a detailed overview of the author’s life and work, which was fascinating.
The Bridey Murphy Phenomenon (by Kim Newman) is another fascinating piece of writing about the book and film, ‘The Search for Bridey Murphy’, which is apparently based on true paranormal events. I’d never heard of this phenomenon, nor the fiction that it inspired, but that didn’t stop me from eating up every word Newman wrote about it.
Newman also wrote The Filmography of Brendan Muldowney, once again enlightening me about someone I thought I hadn’t heard of, but in fact was a bit more familiar than I initially thought. Great work.
The Grey God Passes: A Study of the Story by Robert E. Howard (by Steve Dilks) is exactly what is sounds like…a study of the story! Once again, I was unfamiliar with this piece of fiction, and once again I came away from the feature adding things to my wish list.
Harry Clarke – Prince of Dark and Light (by Randy Broecker) is another of my favourite pieces from the entire issue. I was vaguely familiar with Clarke’s artwork, and this detailed look at the dude and his illustrations was just wonderful. I can’t believe how much Edgar Allan Poe art I got to see in these pages. Truly an interesting and beautiful feature.
Hellblazer ‘Dangerous Habits’ – Fighting the Addiction (by James Bacon) was another highlight for me because this is an examination of the comic book series. I’m so interested in comics (though woefully underread), and this was so entertaining.
And let’s not forget the group features, A Compendium of Irish Genre Cinema (interesting AND useful!), Forty-five Years Later: Airgedlamh – Dave McFerran’s Irish Fantasy Fiction Magazine (Dave McFerran is sadly no longer with us and this feature was not only fun and informative, but contained some lovely reflections about him), and my favourite – The Evolution of the Cinematic Horror Genre in Ireland. As a good friend of mine would say, I was “all over this like a dog on hot chips”. This piece discusses themes and trends in Irish cinema, how it’s developed over time, interviews with some key players in the industry, and insights about some of my favourite horror films, including A Dark Song and You Are Not My Mother.
Interviews
We’re also treated to some fantastic interviews, hosted by Trevor Kennedy, Allison Weir, and Sarah Graven Weir.
Trevor Kennedy speaks with Peter Tremayne, a novelist and also someone quite in the know about Celtic history. Trevor also interviewed Caitlin R. Kiernan, an author I’ve recently discovered and have been trying to find out more about, so this was a particular treat. And finally, Trevor interviewed Jim Fitzpatrick, the incredible artist responsible for so many works, including Guerrillero Heroica. I was honestly flabbergasted by this one, and it’s another highlight of the issue.
I really love any interview hosted by Trevor Kennedy. I’ve said that before and I mean it. He always asks such interesting questions, things we never even knew we wanted to know, and I think his interview subjects must enjoy the variety too because these interviews always read like they’re having a great time.
Allison Weir interviews Maura McHugh, a creator and writer across several mediums. This was a fun and informative interview that gave great insight into McHugh’s work. Allison also spoke with Jo Zebedee, an author and also the owner of an award-winning bookstore. I had somehow not heard of Zebedee, but this interview made me want to read everything!
Sarah Groven Weir interviews Ian McDonald, a scifi novelist that of course I have actually heard of, because who hasn’t?! Sarah’s questions gave wonderful insight into his work and character, and it was a lovely read.
We are also treated to many short stories and, of course, reviews. I do normally make sure to individually review fiction stories, and the only reasons I’m not doing that now is because A) you’ll just be reading me singing the praises of each story, and B) while the fiction is always strong, Phantasmagoria is special, in my opinion, because of its utter excellence in its non-fiction, so that’s where I wanted to focus. But in case you’re wondering, Frank Duffy’s story was my favourite in this issue.
Overall, another fantastic issue. I think the strength of this magazine comes from its contributors because they’re so good at writing features and interviews that if I know the topic, they always tell me things I didn’t know about it, and if I don’t know the topic, they make me want to.
It’ll come as no surprise to you that I highly recommend this magazine and this fantastic issue (but don’t forget to check out the Hellraiser Special Edition too!). If you’d like to check it out, I’ve popped the direct link from the website and also the Amazon link below:
Bleeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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