What’s in Issue 108

Second Anniversary Retrospective: issues 91-104

Novels	Tala Bar introduces a new character, Zik, in a dream sequence. Meanwhile, Dar, Nim and Nunez recall the importance of the omens in their own dreams as they set off on a difficult swim across the lake to explore the land of the volcano: Gaia, chapter 6: “The Volcano,” part I and part II, installment 1.
Novella	euhal allen entwines a miracle and the mystery of seemingly inexplicable disappearances of one kind or another. There is more than one plot afoot in the conclusion of part IV of The Bridge.
Serials	Gregory Hansen’s interstellar con man, Skidbett Larsen, meets local crime boss Omar the Undertaker and his goon squad. Skidbett’s partner, Lyle, understandably flees in panic. But don’t stop there: the plot is just beginning to boil. They who laugh last, laugh most comfortably on the Investment Horizon. Kenneth Mark Hoover’s fantasy implies a question. Which would you prefer: tawdry servitude or high adventure? You may want to think twice if adventure involves meeting the Engines of Manta-Geth.
Short Stories	Eric S. Brown, well known to our readers for his short horror fiction, seeks to give the genre a new emotional depth. An inconsolable widower’s thoughts and state of mind lead to our understanding of his despair and of who — and what — he might consider to be his Friends. If necessity is the mother of invention, is confusion its father? Ásgrímur Hartmannsson imagines how the invention of writing might have had a lengthy parentage and a difficult birth in The Messenger. New contributor Jason Rizos rounds out the theme of death in this issue’s fiction. From a scientist in a basement to a poet on a tower, by way of the science of nature and the nature of a city, the story depicts Vincent’s strange visions in a way that evokes compassion for his state of mind: “City Life,” part 1 and conclusion.
Flash Fiction	Lou Antonelli is well known to our regular readers as a master of both flash fiction and short stories. The themes of this collection read like today’s newspaper headlines: drug dealing, bioengeneering, personality transfer, even a rock concert. But each story ends with a twist that is just realistic enough to be unsettling as well as humorous: Flash, Bam, Boom: a Flash Anthology.
Poetry	Steven Utley is well known to our readers for his split-second histories of humanity and the universe. This poem is just a little more extensive: it’s about a great civilization advance... well, mostly: Food and Drink: a Brief History.
Article	Kevin Ahearn brings solid credentials to a topic long emblazoned in tabloid newspaper headlines. Kevin reveals that there was indeed a “UFO cover-up” at Roswell, New Mexico, only, it was in plain sight all the time. What was actually covered up had everything to do with world history in the second half of the 20th century: Roswell Revealed.
Essay	Steven Utley describes something everyone can relate to: the world of work. His experiences will surely resonate with anyone who has been a “running-dog lackey” and a friend of the horned lizard in their Day Job.
Discussion	Eric S. Brown complements his story in this issue as well as others with an overview of the horror genre in general: The Horror of the Supernatural.

Departments

Welcome	Bewildering Stories welcomes Jason Rizos.
Challenge	Challenge 108 has questions about Endings, Beginnings and Kinds.
The Reading Room	Jerry Wright reviews Mike Brotherton’s Star Dragon.
Editorial	Ranting and Raving

In Times to Come

This issue ends our Second Anniverary Retrospectives, which began in issue 104. They provide a handy short and selective index to our second year. From now on, you’re on your own!

Our next issues will feature new short stories and serials as well as continuing Gaia and “The Bridge.” If you’ve been following “The Bridge,” you might begin to think about how you might end the story. We’ve already launched an unofficial Challenge and received three responses. When the novella concludes, we’ll issue an official Challenge in the hope that you will send us your ideas. Parts V and VI remain, so you have plenty of notice!

Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
Please write!

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