''Black Static'', formerly ''The 3rd Alternative'', is a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine has won the

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of S ...

for "Best Magazine" while individual stories have won other awards. In addition, numerous stories published in ''Black Static''/''The 3rd Alternative'' have been reprinted in collections of the year's best fiction. ''Black Static'' is published by TTA Press alongside sister publications ''Crimewave'', which takes a similarly idiosyncratic approach to

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

, and the long-running science fiction magazine '' Interzone''.

The 3rd Alternative

Founded in 1994 as ''The 3rd Alternative'', the magazine originally focused on a larger range of dark stories, often publishing

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

, and

slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term sli ...

alongside horror. ''The 3rd Alternative'' ran for 42 issues before going on a short hiatus in 2005 after the acquisition of Interzone magazine by TTA Press.

Black Static

In 2007 ''The 3rd Alternative'' was relaunched. Now focused exclusively on

weird Weird derives from the Anglo-Saxon word Wyrd, meaning fate or destiny. In modern English it has acquired the meaning of “strange or uncanny”. It may also refer to: Places * Weird Lake, a lake in Minnesota, U.S. People *"Weird Al" Yankovic (b ...

and

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

, the magazine was retitled ''Black Static''. Authors published in ''Black Static'' include

Nicholas Royle Nicholas Royle (born 20 March 1963 in Manchester) is an English novelist, editor, publisher, literary reviewer and creative writing lecturer. Literary career Author Royle has written seven novels: ''Counterparts'', ''Saxophone Dreams'', ''The Mat ...

, Conrad Williams,

Christopher Fowler Christopher Fowler (born 26 March 1953) is an English thriller writer. While working in the British film industry he became the author of fifty novels and short-story collections, including the Bryant & May mysteries, which record the adventures ...

Aliette de Bodard Aliette de Bodard is a French-American speculative fiction writer. Writing de Bodard published her first short story in 2006. In 2007, she was a winner of Writers of the Future, and in 2009 was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best ...

, Steve Rasnic Tem,

Nina Allan Nina Allan (born 27 May 1966) is a British writer of speculative fiction. She has published four collections of short stories, a novella and two novels. Her stories have appeared in the magazines '' Interzone'', ''Black Static'' and ''Crimewave ...

, Matthew Holness, Alexander Glass, Simon Avery, Gary McMahon, Gary Fry, Peter Tennant, Carole Johnston, Chris Kelso and Mike O'Driscoll. In addition, ''Black Static'' has also run opinion columns by

Stephen Volk Stephen Volk (born 3 July 1954) is a Welsh screenwriter and novelist who specializes in the horror genre.

and Lynda E. Rucker as well book reviews by Peter Tennant and media reviews by Gary Couzens. In February 2021, the format was changed to a double issue and the ability to purchase subscriptions was ended with the aim of winding the magazine down pending editor Andy Cox's retirement.

Awards

During its 42 issue run, ''The 3rd Alternative'' won a number of awards including a

for "Best Magazine" and a BFA short story award for "Dancing About Architecture" by

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

. Since the magazine relaunched as ''Black Static'', the story "My Stone Desire" by

Joel Lane Joel Lane (1963 – 26 November 2013) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, critic and anthology editor.Chris Morgan, "Lane, Joel", in David Pringle, ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers'' (London: St. James Press, 1998 ...

has won a British Fantasy Award, while other stories have been reprinted in collections such as ''Best Horror of the Year''.Best Horror of the Year #1 edited by Ellen Datlow
, SF Signal, May 27, 2009, accessed November 10, 2010.

References

Science fiction magazines published in the United Kingdom Horror fiction magazines 1994 establishments in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1994 Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Mass media in Cambridgeshire {{fiction-mag-stub