Jamais Vu – The Journal of Strange Among the Familiar has just published its second issue, so I thought I’d mention this new forum of horror and fantasy here, as it relates to the Uncanny in its editorial mission. The journal is published by Post-Mortem Press, primarily known for their horror titles (like the fabulous Fear the Abyss anthology, which I contributed to last year). The journal is available in ebook for the Amazon Kindle and other ereaders — and also in print via Createspace — and given the extensive contents, it functions more like a continuing anthology series than simply a magazine, even though editors Paul Anderson and Eric Beebe assemble together the usual things you might expect to find in a mag, like fiction, poetry, film and book reviews, and columns and feature articles. Most of the contributors will look familiar to anyone reading contemporary speculative fiction and horror — from big-leaguers like Harlan Ellison and Jack Ketchum to fresh and rising voices like Stephanie Wytovich and Michael Bailey. Its articles are what make it distinctive from most “horror magazines,” I think, because they explore topics related directly to the uncanny. Issue one, for instance, includes a discussion of “The Strange and Uncanny in Doctor Who” and an essay on “The Medium as the Mirror.” The second volume has just been published and the future of this journal looks very promising. The reviews and columns seem to focus primarily on the strange in pop culture or the uncanny in everyday life, with an emphasis on psychological horror that is refreshing to see. It’s an entertaining and thoughtful contribution to the field.
[You might be wondering — what’s the difference between “jamais vu” and the more common phrase, “deja vu”? Both phrases describe uncanny feelings of time displacement. Deja vu – literally “already lived” — is what we say when we strangely feel like we “have been here before.” Like time repeats. Jamais vu is what we say when we strangely feel like we “have never been here before” even though we most certainly have. In both cases, we are alienated from our surroundings, feeling “out of time.” See wikipedia for more on Jamais Vu.]
