Dark Realms #22 is the latest issue of this very slick magazine that features articles and reviews on a number of different dark topics. While there is no fiction in this new issue, there are a number of wonderful articles on some very diverse subjects. First up is Dark Realm’s usual stockpile of news and film/DVD reviews that cover recent releases such as Final Destination 3, Hostel, The Hills have Eyes, and Underworld Evolution. Written by a number of different staffers, the reviews are always informative although I would take issue with Vincent Kastle’s Review of V for Vendetta. My issue isn’t with his opinion of the film so much as with his heavy-handled liberal slant towards “V”. Let’s save the politics for the real world, shall we Vincent?
Philip Holthoff’s article on the Crescent Hotel was quite chilling. I wasn’t familiar with this gothic looking hotel’s dark past. Built in 1886 it opened and closed numerous times and was eventually bought in 1937 by Norman Baker who. Baker had no medical degree but fancied himself a doctor, even claiming he could cure cancer, attracting patients from all over. He’s alleged to have performed all manner of gruesome experiments on patients including lobotomies. It’s also rumored he disposed of the bodies in a large incinerator. Today numerous rooms within the hotel are said to be haunted by various spirits and these sightings continue right up through the present day
For mythology enthusiasts, Derek Ruthven takes a look at the dark side of the Greek Mythos and it’s numerous monsters, evil gods and the underworld of Hades. Resident enchantress provides the secrets of the I-Ching, the Chinese divination tool and Joseph Iorillo pens a wonderful history of Tarot Cards with explanations of the various cards for laymen like myself.
Other features include a spotlight on fantasy artist Jason Engle whose work has been featured on role-playing game products for Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf Games and Dark Realms regular feature “The Monster Files” that looks at the Hispanic legend of the Weeping Woman. There’s also a truckload of book and music reviews. My only little nit to pick would be a couple of editing gaffes such as the review of the book “The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes” which ends in mid-sentence and doesn’t seem to be continued anywhere else. That aside, Dark Realms is one the best looking horror mags around, each month holding new surprises for readers.
– Tim Janson
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
