the magazine of arts, culture, and ideas
FICTION: Part 10: (Chapters 28-30) +++ Area Code 666 CHAPTER 28: Two hundred seventy-four of our entities were in a Los Angeles television studio watching the show entitled “Real Time.” They hovered above the audience as Bill Maher concluded his opening monologue and gave the run-down of this week’s guests…
FICTION: Part 9: (Chapters 25-27) +++ CHAPTER 25: As details about The Pi Killer became known, the public was horrified but fascinated. Once the story became common knowledge, it was one of the big topics of conversation for people across all walks of life. Police patrols were beefed up, speeches were made, and the media did their best to scare the hell out of their audience…
REVIEW: Having grown up with Doctor Who in the ’70s here in California, where the local PBS stations would run the program on weekends, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of the “new Who” series (SERIES 1[...]
FICTION: Part 8: (Chapters 22-24) +++ CHAPTER 22: We were quite pleased with the publication of Zan’s interview. True, he disobeyed the edict about not revealing any details of our master plan, but as it turned out, there was no problem with his revelations because of the delusional denizens of humanity…
Part 7: (Chapters 19-21) +++ CHAPTER 19: The track blasted out of the huge monitors, a hard-driving beat with plenty of grit slathered with barbecue sauce. There was also a slap-shot of a snare drum that seemed to come at you with a take-no-prisoners attitude…
Part 6: (Chapters 16-18) +++ CHAPTER SIXTEEN: When alone in his library, the Right Reverend Bishop Michael Orestes Melk considered his private moments to be very special. “That is when I am cloistered with my saints,” is how he put it.
Part 5: (Chapters 13-15) +++ CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The theater was packed. The typical pre-show rattle and hum of conversation was subdued despite the standing-room-only crowd, partly because many people were under a demonic form of hypnotic suggestion….
Part 4: (Chapters 10-12) +++ CHAPTER X: Our entity floats high above Laffers, the city’s third most-popular comedy club on the Southern tip of the West Side, then swoops down to hover above the line of white-collar professionals …
Part 3: (Chapters 7-9) +++ CHAPTER SEVEN: Alma is buttoning up her blouse. The cell is as it was, with the same harsh buzzing overhead lighting, yet …
Part 2: (Chapters 4-6) +++ CHAPTER FOUR: The great and powerful Joseph Harrison Logan sits in his office, confidently using his voice-activated personal recording device…
