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craigwallwork's review
5.0
In the time I’ve been writing, and submitting, I’ve encountered many magazines that are literally not worth the paper they are printed on. Poorly handled design, formatting and appalling concepts can make even a good story pale into insignificance, which is why I love Sideshow Fables.
Paul Eckert (check out his interview at the Cat O’Nine Tails) had the idea of creating a magazine focused on circus fiction, but as he says, “not just as stories set at a circus or carnival, but also stories that encompass the ideal of the circus…” For paul, the circus is a place where, “entertainment is defined by crossing boundaries and exceeding pre-defined notions of human possibility.” With this in mind, Paul joined up with his brother Travis, and fellow scribe Richard Thomas to create the wonderfully weird and amazing, Sideshow Fables. And I can tell you this, the design and attention to detail gone into this magazine far exceeds most professional and well established magazines around today.
For this reason, it pleased me no end that Paul accepted two of my stories for the magazine, the first being Devil’s Freak (available in issue #1), and now Mr. Wadsworth and the Flea Circus in issue #2.
Devil's Freak is the tale of a young boy born of two circus freaks who, after his father buys a dog from the Devil, realises he can crawl inside the dog's stomach and age 7 times quicker than anyone else.
Mr. Wadsworth is the story of an eccentric millionaire whose vain attempt to rekindle his one lasting memory of happiness experienced at a flea circus, results in an amendment to the laws of physics, and a fantastic demise that illustrates the child in us all. Part Alice through the Looking Glass, and part social commentary, the story removes the boundaries of the conventional and allows us to step into a world of infinitesimal detail.
Paul Eckert (check out his interview at the Cat O’Nine Tails) had the idea of creating a magazine focused on circus fiction, but as he says, “not just as stories set at a circus or carnival, but also stories that encompass the ideal of the circus…” For paul, the circus is a place where, “entertainment is defined by crossing boundaries and exceeding pre-defined notions of human possibility.” With this in mind, Paul joined up with his brother Travis, and fellow scribe Richard Thomas to create the wonderfully weird and amazing, Sideshow Fables. And I can tell you this, the design and attention to detail gone into this magazine far exceeds most professional and well established magazines around today.
For this reason, it pleased me no end that Paul accepted two of my stories for the magazine, the first being Devil’s Freak (available in issue #1), and now Mr. Wadsworth and the Flea Circus in issue #2.
Devil's Freak is the tale of a young boy born of two circus freaks who, after his father buys a dog from the Devil, realises he can crawl inside the dog's stomach and age 7 times quicker than anyone else.
Mr. Wadsworth is the story of an eccentric millionaire whose vain attempt to rekindle his one lasting memory of happiness experienced at a flea circus, results in an amendment to the laws of physics, and a fantastic demise that illustrates the child in us all. Part Alice through the Looking Glass, and part social commentary, the story removes the boundaries of the conventional and allows us to step into a world of infinitesimal detail.
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