Title: Unnerving Magazine #14 – Another Stephen King-Inspired Extended Edition

Publisher: Unnerving

Release Date: October 25, 2020

Recently I did my first movie review here on the site, for the wonderful film ‘The Place of No Words.’ Now, I’m doing another first – a magazine review. It probably won’t become a habit, but when Eddie Generous announced they were doing another King-inspired edition, I was intrigued. But in all honestly, it was three pieces here that REALLY intrigued me the most. When I saw that Andrew Pyper was sharing a bit about King, I was sold. Add in Richard Chizmar discussing King in the slush pile and Charles Ardai talking about how King released ‘The Colorado Kid’ through Hard Case Crime – sold.

But Unnerving Magazine is so much more.

What I liked: Truthfully, I ‘m not 100% sure how to review a magazine issue. I’ve become so mentally focused on ‘book reviewing’ or at least how I review books, that the flow and layout of a magazine is very different.

It begins with an editor’s note (as most magazines do) from Eddie, sharing the ‘why’ of releasing a second King edition. This was a fantastic bit and really showed how King has touched so many people’s lives in ways they never realized.

The fiction in here was fantastic. Bev Vincent, William Meikle and Karron Warren had some phenomenal stories, but the absolute highlight for me was Stephen Graham Jones piece ‘The Spindly Man.’ Holy hell that was a frightening piece, one that both showed why SGJ is a stunning writer but also played homage to King.

The anecdote pieces that were interspersed throughout were great, sharing authors first experience with King. (This was where I found the Pyper bit placed, for those wondering!)

Chizmar’s sharing of having a story from King sitting in his slush pile in his closet was fantastic. For die-hard King fans, this article is a must read bit. Made me laugh thinking that the story was in a file folder.

The absolute gem of this edition was easily Charles Ardai discussing how King came to be a member of the Hard Case Crime family and the effect it’s had on that series and Ardai himself. I wished this article was twenty times longer, it was fantastic. And for those waiting to see the release of King’s next story through them, ‘Later,’ Charles does add some insight into it.

The two features of revisiting King, Cassie and Tracey’s were really well done. Thorough, and definitely topical books that seem to be some of the best King’s ever released, in terms of standing the test of time.

Danger’s Failed Film Pitches were hilarious. I’m a fan of Danger Slater and was always curious about these pieces. I truthfully thought, going in, that these were real movies he’d written screenplays for, but the hilarity of these were fun.

What I didn’t like: I mean, crap. This is usually where I share something that I think might discourage a reader or annoy a reader about a book. A magazine is a completely different beast. So, I’ll treat it like an anthology or collection – not every reader will enjoy every short story. Does that work? Ha! I enjoyed them all… so… moving on.

Why you should buy this: Unnerving always puts out top-notch releases and it’s no secret I’m a big fan of Eddie Generous and his writing. The Unnerving ‘Rewind or Die’ series has been stunning and I’m glad I finally dove into one of the Magazine releases. I think if you’re a big fan of Stephen King, you’ll find something in here that’ll make you smile or inspire you, or in the case of ‘The Spindly Man,’ creep you the hell out.

5/5