Mittens appeared in Black Static 53, accompanied by Richard Wagner’s artwork (below). Here’s a few reviews of the story:

Stephen Hargadon steps up … with the evocative and imaginative Mittens. Following the discovery of a grotesque murder, the apparent felon – sideshow manager Percy Scollop – pleads his innocence by recounting tales of his history in showbusiness… most importantly, in managing the astounding talents of master knitter Neil O’Neill.

Full of life, drama and a palpable sense of wonder, Hargadon’s Mittens blends the magic of the stage with the malignancy of self-doubt, wanderlust and, yes, bloody murder. O’Neill’s signature stage show is brought to gleaming life – a bombastic spectacle that comes close to placing the reader right before the stage – whilst the gloomy, blood-slicked horror that follows is equally affecting in Hargadon’s hands.

Throw in the twisting effects of an unreliable narrator who may be that worst of narrative leaders – the insane showman – and you have yourself a rollicking good read.

Dread Central

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“The years go quickly but they arrive slowly.” As ever, this Hargadon is crammed with stunning turns of phrase, wise saws, suppurating homilies, witty but down-to-earth conceits … the central conceit of the variety act in question is too good to spoil or unspool in a review such as this … And its staggeringly disturbing finale has to be encountered cold to be fully appreciated.

DF Lewis

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Impresario Peter Scollop is found in a room in the Foxbridge Hotel in Buxton, naked except for a pair of pink knitted mittens, with blood on them, and the dead body of a woman in the cupboard: strangled, her chest cut open and knitting needles in her major organs. Scollop denied everything even his name and that the woman was dead. We get a wonderfully imaginative story with descriptions of the incredibly bizarre acts that he presented to the public. One of the best was Neil Niall O’Neill, the remarkable knitter. He could knit at a remarkable speed. But he went into a rough patch and went out with his most unbelievable act of knitting. But was that his last creation? Imaginative, entertaining and very unsettling

SFRevu

Black Static 53 is available from TTA Press here (or from Amazon). Well worth buying a subscription.

Illustration by Richard Wagner