A Web of Black Widows is Showcase number 7 from Peter Crowther’s PS Publishing out of the U.K.

It holds six stories by the writer Scott William Carter and features cover art by Glenn Chadbourne.

Carter is an American writer from Oregon who has seen publication in Weird Tales, Analog, Asimov’s, Realms of Fantasy, Chiaroscuro, Ellery Queen, Fantasy Magazine and in a number of anthologies.

Straight off—there’s not a dud work here. Fresh writing with fresh ideas, all held together by clean lines. Each piece is very concise and displays the writer’s lean but imaginative style. In fact his works can sometimes be like a black widow spider; strange, beautiful, minimalist in design, and potentially dangerous.

To the stories:  "A Web of Black Widows" opens the collection. The longest tale of the half dozen, this story is given to us through the courses of several characters. It concerns itself with the decaying orbit of a marriage, the loss of a loved one, pregnancy, tattoos, and the great metaphor of the sea. A realistic work with a bare minimum of strange to lightly shade it. Quite engaging.

Still on a beach we are presented with "The Woman Coughed Up By The Sea." A good piece of flash. It called to mind Poe’s "The Oval Portrait," but only as a dim echo. This little tale is quite contemporary. It involves us, without ever giving us the whole story either of its living or its deceased characters.

"Black Lace and Salt Water" is a Mer fantasy that takes place, largely, on the Oregon coast. It shows the result of a poet’s encounter with the sea folk, and the ramifications for he and his pregnant partner. As with the other stories, this one is finely sketched in plain words.

"She’s Not All There" is a light, humorous piece, the lightest in this showcase. Neatly assembled, compactly written, as usual. There is no flab on Carter’s writing style. Here he demonstrates a talent for the comedic. None the less, this story still conforms to the love and loss theme of the sampler entire. It is a "bride and groom" ghost story with a rather original premise.

The bitter sweet territory of "Front Row Seats" is handled with the skilled ease of storytelling which seems to be a prime facet of Scott William Carter’s method. The clean lines of this romantic fantasy set in the sub genre of the movie theatre tale make it an easy and enjoyable experience. The bow at the end is very nicely tied.

"Static in a Still House." Good title. Good concept. This one’s the prize of the litter. Like so many of the best tales it is grounded in a simple idea with an everyday prop. In this case it’s an electronic baby monitor. Such a scenario could be used in a variety of chilling ways. However, Carter has here chosen to take a wider road with the idea. Not plunging from daylight to darkness but wending his own way through the light and the dark and the grey. Demonstrating a thoughtful imagination.

Scott William Carter makes it look easy. But if anyone thinks that writing good, intriguing fiction with a clear, plain voice is easy . . . Well, they should try it sometime.

Carter seems to me to be a writer who will not box himself into any fiction category. He is a cross-genre traveller. And he travels far, casting his webbed net into strange seas, hauling up peculiar treasures.

All of these stories are restrained but involving pieces. All over this showcase represents the rise of a tall, wide and clean-cut talent, still developing in upwards motion. Here’s to more showcases from PSP.

(This publication was reviewed from a PDF version.)