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The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has an autumnal theme to it. The cover and the stories and poems inside are a start, yet the season shows through in the whole magazine. Starting with the Films section by Lucius Shepard, with the sub-heading "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," where he considers the recent Tim Burton offering of Alice in Wonderland. Rather than giving it the praise as some have, he points out all the vast differences this movie had that made it not a pastiche of the previous version. Everyone will have their own opinion of what they thought of the film. Shepard mentions all its faults in detail, holding nothing back which creates the understanding that, although CGI technology has got better over the years, it doesn't automatically mean it has to be the entirety of the movie. He is articulate in his criticism of the film, and gives valid reasons for what he says, even if they are humorous at times.

Story-wise, Heather Lidsley's "Introduction to Joyous Cooking, 200th Anniversary Edition," takes a look at cooking through the modern ages and well into the future. Her use of mundane everyday cooking life at the start was enough to prepare you for the elements of dark sci-fi later once you knew what those cooks of the future would be serving up, complete with recipes. Even though it is too short by comparison to the other stories, it has enough interest about it to be entertaining.

Back by popular demand is Ramsey Shehadeh's "Epidapheles and the Inadequately Enraged Demon," one of two stories about an unsung hero of fantasy, Ephidephales, who has to deal with a different kind of demon this time around. Such comical fantasy stories will remind avid readers of a prior story to this in the The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction December 2009 issue called "Hell of a Fix" by Matthew Hughes. While there might have been mixed opinions on Shehadeh's style of writing, he is still a valuable asset to the magazine. It is humorous and leaves a lasting impression on the mind once read, and who could possibly forget Disembowlebub the Approaching Cheerful?

John Langdon's "The Revel" takes readers through one of the most famous traditional horror stories via several short chapters, breaking the story up with explanations on the theme, the breaks are supposed to show how unsettling the theme is, and would be were it in real life. It makes interesting reading.

Although this magazine promotes and features some of the most readable fantasy and sci-fi literature all year round, that doesn't mean it has no room for the more light-hearted, comical side of this genre, every issue, and this issue is no different. It has a couple of humorous short stories or novelettes that challenge the normality of the others. They can vary from fun to offbeat depending on whether they are sci-fi of fantasy based, yet each one is well-written, and leaves the reader wanting more -- and at times as in this issue, a well-loved character from a previous story ends up in another this time around proving that reader feedback is important in the field along with all those Facebook and Twitter pages. In the July/August issue, there is a reasonable amount of both sci-fi and fantasy stories which still seem fresh and original, and that is what this magazine is all about. Thomas Canty's cover brings the reader toward the fall season with lush greens, browns and golden leaves with acorn motifs.

Sandra Scholes is still reviewing and will probably do so until her eyes go droopy from exhaustion. Other than that, she is currently enjoying the last new book in her collection.