Magazine Review of Excuse Me Mag. Issue No. 6 (Spring, 2022)
I received a free copy of Issue No. 6 of Excuse Me Mag. with the theme Prized Possessions. Currently each issue retails for $2.00 and, although I received a free copy, I was not paid for this review. I also do not get any compensation from links or affiliates from this magazine or the service it uses.
I really don’t read a lot of magazine because of time, and this isn’t per se a “horror” magazine, but I decided to review it out of the respect that I was sent a free copy and that I enjoyed it. So I put together an abbreviated review to hopefully get the word out on this awesome publisher and magazine.
First Impressions
The first impression is WHOA for the cover. Solid cover which really fits both the theme and the tone fo the magazine, which is a “weird lit” magazine that has hints of horror and hits of oddities that almost feel a little like a cross between Alice in Wonderland and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Solid cover that looks great!
The Good
Some really great stories and art in this one. All contributors are up-and-coming or newer, but some have an established set of works already done. I particularly enjoyed in issue No. 6 “The House” by Brenna Gomez and “Visiting Hours” by Jesse Hilson.
Outside of the writings, I particularly enjoyed the hand-drafted cartoon by Eric Henderson titled “Here Comes the Bear.” It started out kind of stereotypical, but then it kept expanding in a bit of a humorous tone that was entertaining and fun. I definitely enjoyed that bit of wit with it in the old-styled cartoon.
The So-So
I try to also add some so-so to every review. Here, maybe my biggest critique would be that the text fonts and styles for each story are not uniform. Now, that makes each story and the author more unique and allows them to interject a little more personality into their story — which might have been the reason behind that — but I think I generally like a more uniform text and banner. But for a newer magazine with only a few issues, this is pretty good.
I really am not a strict editor and grammar enforcement, because I like to focus on the story and the writing more than the little details. There were some minor things that may twinge some more draconian editors, but overall I have no real complaints and I’m just including this by acknowledging that point.
The Verdict
Excuse Me Mag. is a fun magazine that is short, witty, almost flippant with some art or stories, and overall full of an engaging spark that will keep you tearing through the pages as fast as you can. It is worth both purchasing a copy and following this mag’s journey as it grows, as well as submitting some of your short, weird lit that may fit the unique calls for each issue. During this review, I learned that the next issue has already filled up with a heavy allotment of submissions that went to it. It is nice to see the heavy buzz around it and that others are fighting to be published in this new and up-and-coming magazine.
I mark this one as a SHOULD BUY and everyone should support and grab at least one issue from Excuse Me Mag. to see if it is their style and if they would enjoy it — particularly those who like weird lit.
Given that this is a non-mainstream publication, I put this in the Ghost category of ranking. Upon due deliberation, I rate Excuse Me Mag. No. 6 to be between a 4 and 4.5, which I will round up to 4.5 GHOSTS.
You can pick up your next copy of Excuse Me Mag available at their website link here.
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