From the Publisher
ctober is that month that should be the perfect distillation of autumn: cool
but not cold weather, the final explosion of color in the leaves, apple-picking.
But all of this gets swallowed up by the corporate mission-creep that involves
putting skeletons and witches on display in the drugstores in the last week of
August. I understand, you’re eager to have something to sell to bring the business
in, but can you people understand how much I don’t want to think about Halloween
when it isn’t even Labor Day? How that makes Halloween a fucking chore, rather
than a good time? Nothing ruins enjoyment than being told to enjoy something.
O
But that at least is market-driven. It’s the Halloween nerds so eager to caper about
in skeletons, that I really can’t stand. Especially since you take what could be the
oddest, most memento-mori of holidays, and dilute it until it’s basically Goth
Christmas. All so you can have an excuse to watch Tim Burton stop-motion darker
a few weeks early. Be more brainwashed.
My therapist says I’m supposed to let these petty frustrations out. I think it makes
me sound like an old man who found fresh dog poop in his lawn, but whatever. I
guess it helps.
As per last issue’s announcement, we did in fact launch a podcast last month,
Shallow & Pedantic. It was fun, and we knocked off a whole growler in the process.
The next episode will be seasonally-related, and come out later this month. Check
our Facebook page for further details
To the issue: We have a fine exercise in Cyberpunk Noir in As Case in the Empire of
New Texas. Merrily existential. Then we get the conclusion to Cantilever Jones Swings
Low, a story that just keeps going. Then, a filmscript by Alfred Underhill, called
Jonathon Macoon. It’s pleasantly weird. And then, Tygg and Drea return hunting
mythical monsters in The Sword in the Cave, a sequel to previous stories The Dying
Goddess and The Barbarian on the Shore.
Enjoy.
Thomas Fitz
Publisher