Noir powerhouse Thuglit has released issue 38, which it appears will be their last.
Started in 2005, Thuglit was one of the longest-running crime fiction zines. Editor Todd Robinson said in an interview with Outside Left that they started the site to continue where Plots with Guns had left off.
Thuglit consistently printed outstanding, well-edited, really really violent work in a very readable format. During the last three years, Kensington released three anthologies, which all received favorable reviews. Thuglit was one of the only publications to print well-known authors alongside newbies. I think many publications claim to do this but, in reality, they don't.
In the statement on the site, there are no specific reasons offered on why they decided to close, though running a small zine obviously requires a lot of time and money--it seems by surviving they're always bucking the trend. The statement also doesn't rule out the possibility of a return, but makes it appear unlikely.
I've dug a lot of Thuglit's stories over the years, but here are a couple that immediately come to mind:
Indirection, In Wait by Kieran Shea. Issue 37. Half-in-the-bag suburban morons go on a moral quest to return some litter to a group of insane meth heads. Trouble ensues.
We All Come From Splattertown by Hugh Lessig. Issue. 17. Harold, Angelo and Benny--old school buddies--go out to play paintball. But Benny ends up sort of dead and Harold uncovers all sorts of shit.
The All-Night Dentist by Vincent Kovar. Issue 8. A dentist with only vampire clients wants revenge on his ex-wife. This comes at a very high price.
What are your all-time Thuglit favorites?
No comments:
Post a Comment