Black Static, formerly The 3rd Alternative, was a British horror magazine edited by Andy Cox. The magazine twice won the British Fantasy Award for "Best Magazine" while The 3rd Alternative twice won the same award for Best Small Press. In addition, individual stories published in the magazine won other awards and were reprinted in a number of collections of the year's best fiction.

Nina Allan is a British writer of speculative fiction. She has published five collections of short stories, multiple novella-sized works, and five novels. Her stories have appeared in the magazines Interzone, Black Static and Crimewave and have been nominated for or won a number of awards, including the Grand prix de l'Imaginaire and the BSFA Award.