She was in the habitat-actually in it, not seated at her workstation on the other side of the glass. She was standing before Napoleon in her white lab coat, which, inexplicably, she unzipped and shirked from her shoulders, allowing it to slide to the marshy floor. She didn't know how she had gotten there or how time had rewound so that the habitat and its great glass window were still intact … she only knew she was there to take the experiment to...

At last Beth takes out her phone and dials Dr. Lairman-there is no answer. She hangs up and dials her mother. She gets the operator instead: "We're sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this message in error, please try again." She hears the sound of helicopters in the distance, very faintly. And something else: military jets. She tries the number again-gets the same...

"Take the fatal shot," said Horseshoe. He must have laid down his rifle because I remember him helping to steady my own. "Easy now, you'll own this forever-" I stared the thing in the eye and squeezed the trigger. It threw back its head, rising up. It gasped for breath, spitting more blood. It barked at the sky. Then it fell, head thumping against the deck. Its serpentine neck slumped. The rest of its blood spread over the boards and rolled around...

dark horse/ˈdärk ˈˌhrs/noun1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds."a dark-horse candidate"Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat before...

Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. In this issue: THE RAISING OF HESTER MACRAEE.M. Anderson QUERY LETTERRiley Winchester OCTOBER MARDI GRASMary Jo Rabe SHE AIN'T HEAVYAnthony Ferguson THE SQUARE OF STARSLaurence...

The Apocalypse. The End Times. Armageddon. Whether it's from a virus or a meteor, the end is always coming. How will you deal with it? Coup dreamed: of angry, orange sunlight and piano music and road markings which disappeared beneath the Mustang's dirty hood; of driving alone along State Route 87-which vanished in the distance like a Möbius Strip undone and laid flat-and the sun sinking below a dark horizon. Nor did the dream remain static but...

dark horse /ˈdärk ˈˌhrs/ noun a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds. "a dark-horse candidate" Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat...

Still he continued: "The wall was necessary. It was necessary, okay? Look, we had to. We had to. People say the money could have been better spent-that it didn't need the spikes, say, or the gangway for the guards, or the mote. But I play into people's fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That's why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest...

As she draws closer, she realizes that the bright lights are a combination of police lights and construction floods. Tragically, there appears to have been yet another accident. She slows to a crawl as she arrives at the scene … is waved around it by a state trooper, at which point she observes a small truck spun around on the shoulder-with a tarp draped over it-and a group of men garbed in green chemical suits, their faces hidden from view just...

dark horse/ˈdärk ˈˌhrs/noun1. a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds."a dark-horse candidate"Join us for a monthly tour of writers who give as good as they get. From hard science-fiction to stark, melancholic apocalypses; from Lovecraftian horror to zombies and horror comedy; from whimsical interludes to tales of unlikely compassion--whatever it is, if it's weird, it's here. So grab a seat before...