What’s in Issue 164

News flash: Issues 149-163 and most of the Departmental pages have been restored. Unfortunately, the forum has also been affected by the hard disk crash, and most of Jerry’s book reviews and editorials in the previous 14 issues may have been lost. Contributors to those issues are encouraged to review their submissions to make sure they’re up to date. Very likely they are, but where corrections were made on line, they won’t be. This is a case where our Biographies & Bibliographies really come in handy.

Novels	A new generation begins the long task of uniting the Council and Tunnel worlds in a Galactic Assembly. But remnants of the dread Skeltz have escaped and may some day return in force. And yet that ancient enemy may be the least the Galactics have to fear: euhal allen, The Bridge, IV ; Epilogue: “Into the Shadows of the Stars,” chapter 1: The Dark Future, part 1; part 2; part 3.
Short Stories	A fling with a cad is followed by a pregnancy from hell. And it doesn’t stop there: Tammy Cox, My Demon Spawn. New contributor Michael W. Douglas pens a story in homage to H. P. Lovecraft: Death in the Mind’s Eye. New contributor Brian Grisham tells of a ghost looking for companionship: Petals on the Path. A girl resorts to the occult for relief from her overprotective mother. Think twice about consulting the Powers That Be; you may find out more than you really wanted to know: Mary King, Your Mother Knows. What is the spirit of the times? Astoreth! D. A. Madigan, Electronic Submission. Why might a pair of newfound pet cats have wings? Because they, too, hold memories of skating on the ice: Mary B. McArdle, The Ice Rink.
Flash Fiction	A blind musician sends his listeners to the future in search of the right world: Tala Bar, Passages.
Poetry	Hicory, dicory, doc... The clock strikes twelve and a whole lot of spooky things begin to go bump in the night: Mary King, Poltergeist.
Essays	A spurned lover is treated like a... oh, never mind: L. Roger Quilter, Where Has Love Gone? Is this the cartoon that launched three worthy careers and toppled the towers of teenage male supremacy? Steven Utley, My Greatest Accomplishment.

Departments

Welcome	Bewildering Stories welcomes Michael W. Douglas and Brian Grisham.
Challenge	Challenge 164 thinks this whole issue is downright spooky: Poltering with the Poltergeists.
Letters	Wouldn’t two heads together make a lot more sense than two separately? Mark Koerner, Two Monologues. Jerry Wright & Don Webb still can’t find anything to disagree on: Echoes in the Night.
The Reading Room	Jerry Wright reviews Steve White’s The Prometheus Project. Danielle L. Parker reviews Gardner Dozois’ Year’s Best Science Fiction, 2005.
Editorial	Don Webb corrects a detail in issue 163: A Correction.

In Times to Come

News brief: We were going to have a new statistics counter at the bottom of the home page menu bar, but now it has to be retrieved. When it is, the figures may look a little skimpy, because the feature is new, but we’re confident they’ll pick up. Jerry assures me that all authors will have statistics for their own works. Personally, I think any statistics would be disappointing no matter how good they are. I just whistle a happy tune and assume everybody has read my stuff a zillion times.

In issue 165

Novel : euhal allen, The Bridge IV : conclusion “Building Anew”
Novella : New contributor Thomas Willits, “The Beyond”
Short stories :: New contributor Dario Ciriello, “Tigger Walks the Planck”; New contributor James Finn, “The Gift of Fenice”; Graciela Inés Lorenzo Tillard, “Final Act”; New contributor Geoff Nelder, “Wrong Number”; Robert L. Sellers Jr, “Lycan”
Flash fiction :: New contributor Lara Apps, “Last Call”; Mary King, “Bus 0422”
Poetry : Mary King, “Nadir”
Essays :: D. A. Madigan, “Bill of Goods”; Steven Utley, “Make-Out City”
Review : Danielle L. Parker, Rajnar Vajra’s Opening Wonders

Reminder: “In Times to Come” is a fairly reliable guide to forthcoming titles, but it is unofficial. Space limitations have required moving a few titles around on the schedule in issues 164-169. Issue 166 will see the return of some old favorites: Jörn Grote, Thomas R. and Norman A. Rubin. Please stay with us and let the good times roll!

Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
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