Links: Apex Publications / Book's Website / Show Official Info /

Apex's interesting new anthology, Dark Faith, edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon, contains poems, short stories, and other pieces on the meaning of faith. Some provide dark horror while others focus on inner torments. Good and evil share the focus along with what it means to be human.

Diverse and well written, the collection emphasizes faith and its influence on people. Some stories fit the realm of fantasy with demons, angels, and gods. Others involve extraterrestrial beings. Interactions may lead to physical torment, death, salvation, or an eternity of agony. A few offer hope and salvation. In some, the good end justifies the commission of crimes, e.g., commit one evil to prevent a greater evil. Gary Braunbeck's "For My Next Trick I'll Need a Volunteer", which ends the book, aptly illustrates this theme.

Themes vary greatly, but all relate to faith of some ilk: Buddhism, Zen, Christianity, and nihilism intermingle. Some themes have appeared elsewhere before, but many are fresh or offer a new twist. Two fun, but different fairy tale/fables are "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by Kyle S. Johnson and "The Mad Eyes of the Heron King" by Richard Dansky. The first has Jesus telling it like is after men destroy the world and the second deals with the nature of kings, kingship, and human misunderstanding.

Editors Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon have published short stories and written novels that sometimes blur genre lines. They selected and edited the stories for Dark Faith. Apex, a small, independent publisher, specializes in dark horror. They offer single titles, some nonfiction, short story collections, and anthologies of world speculative fiction.