I Read Stories: Moonchild Issue 5

Moonchild Magazine Issue 5

Moonchild Issue 5, Erased Then Found Collaged, came out in July and, er, well better late than never I guess. Here are some of the highlights of the issue for me, that maybe deserve not to vanish with the end of 2019.

Frankie Nightmare by Brenna Ehrlich; what happens to a nightmare when it is no longer scary, and what happens when it meets its person again? Meeting someone you knew intensely, in a new and embarrassing situation.

Pavement Girl by Claire L Smith, a dark and strange moment of someone who is on the ground. Short and powerful. Or powerless?

Wooden Planes by Courtney Peters, in which the narrator pairs phrases, one original, the other with less metaphorical content. Each, of course, is revelatory. Each set works on their own. Each tell the same story in a vividly different way. I cannot praise the craft of this too much.


Saltwater Soul by Sin Robbon, in which the divine is evoked in a crocodile.

Lives I've Lived Before This One by Wanda Deglane is a list of past lives each summed up in a single sentence. I like lists. It's a good list. It’s also a picture that looks like the items on the list have been printed out and put on a picture. I don’t know if it improves the pieces but it does give it a different texture.

Rapunzel is Snow White in Disguise by Caroline Clouderc is a story about hair and a mother and a daughter. It's relationship with the fairytales is... complicated. Rapunzel’s mother does not want her to have hair, does not want her to be beautiful. And her hair falls out and regrows differently. And Rapunzel... has grown up and is no longer under her mother’s spell. I keep coming back to think about this.


My Hair by Sloan Scott. Another hair related piece, though here the fantastic element is comparing the narrator and her hair to Medusa. The unfantastic elements go through feeding disorders and growing sexuality, so you, know, take care.


Also: the rest. Some pieces that even though they were good, it turned I had less interesting things to say about them! My fault, not theirs.