We begin this New Year's edition with another gory tale set in Claudia Christian’s Dark Universes. A roundup of all that’s hip and happening in the publishing world precedes another trip down Picklock Lane. The Captain returns at a microscopic level, and a beggar busies himself with arboriculture. Madness reigns in a dystopian near future and something lurks in the shadows on Temple Street. Three astronauts visit a terrifying planet and the last man on Earth amuses himself playing shopkeeper. A new ghost learns what it's really like on the other side, and an uncontrollable temper is not the only ticking time bomb Scott carries. Charlie learns the truth about his new girlfriend and one man is haunted by memories of a winter journey. A killer gives women chills, a trainee yearns for home, and a visit to Matilda's proves most stimulating. As ever we round off the issue with a review of another blood-spattered sword and sorcery epic..