First published in February of 2025, ‘The Palmist’ was a limited-edition chapbook published through the Splatterpunk Zine containing two stories written by UK author Jack Bantry and US author Robert Essig.
The chapbook was limited to just 200 unnumbered and unsigned copies.
The Palmist – 15 Pages
It was on the same day Jerry Dimitri contemplated jumping off the freeway overpass that he also first visited the Palmist, Juliana. At the time he’d not been sure what to expect, however, the Palmist had still been nothing like he’d imagined.
Juliana informed him it wasn’t so much fortune telling, but rather a reading of the planets and retrograde, or some other such mumbo jumbo. However, what Juliana gave Jerry was hope. Enough hope for Jerry to decide to carry on.
It was now a good twenty years since his first visit with the Palmist. Since then, Jerry’s life had gradually rebuilt itself. He’d met Fiona, married, and had kids. Life seemed to be working out for Jerry. Nevertheless, he’d decided to go back to see Juliana. For some reason he’d felt he needed to.
But this time, Juliana’s reading didn’t bring Jerry hope. This time, Jerry felt he was losing everything. He couldn’t let that happen. Somehow, he had to change things. Somehow, he had to change the course of his life…
So here we have Bantry and Essig pairing up again. Although, this story probably isn’t quite what you might expect. In fact, it’s probably more akin to a quieter James Herbert style of vignette than one of grisly horror.
Essentially, we’ve got the story of a man who at the lowest point in his life, decides to give life one last shot. From that moment onwards the story tells of his rebuilding. It’s very much a story of hope, echoing the rich tapestry seen in life’s peaks and troughs, which we can all relate to, to some degree.
There’s however, a twist-ending alongside a slithering of grittiness to the final few pages. A mildly downbeat, almost ‘Twilight Zone’ esque change in direction, which hits home with a certain degree of umph, largely due to the investment in characterisation.
Ultimately, it’s a story married with melancholy. A short which embraces sadness like the loving reunion of a long-lost friend. As I said, it’s probably not quite what you were expecting from Bantry and Essig. However, it works.
You Can’t Kill The Dead – 10 Pages
Stephen was jogging along the riverbank when he spotted a fisherman who’d seemingly hooked himself in the back and was now reeling himself in. A blossom of red was spreading across the back of the man’s white shirt emanating from where the hook was lodged in his flesh. Surely it was causing the man a huge amount of pain! So why the hell was he still yanking on the rod?!
Only as Stephen neared the fishman did he realise there was something even more worrying about the situation. With one final yank, the fishman ripped a chunk of bloody flesh out of his back as he turned to face Stephen.
Only then did Stephen realise the man was far more fucked up. At the point where the two were face to face, Stephen realised the man before him wasn’t altogether alive…but rather a thrashing, flailing, lumbering zombie…
In almost a complete change of genre style we have this devilishly wacky slab of tongue-in-cheek zombie horror. A sort of ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ (2004) style black comedy, with a Troma-esque B-Movie edge to the whole shebang.
The tale’s a relatively short but action-rich story, which launches straight into the lurching threat of the undead literally from the very first page. With tongue firmly wedged in their combined cheeks, the co-authors then play out a quickly escalating scene of desperation, which gets wackier and wackier as the authors ramp up the gore.
The story tumbles almost haphazardly towards a concluding finale, packing in lashings of cheesy horror along the way, to ensure the over-the-top entertainment value is kept at a constant high. Oh yes, it’s silly, unpredictable, and so, so much fun.
The chapbook runs for a total of 28 pages.
© DLS Reviews
