Here at AHMM we like stories that not only entertain, but that are also a bit unsettling. When you see another side of life through the eyes of characters in the gripe of crisis, after all, the effect should not be exactly soothing. And since this issue hits the stands in the midst of the Halloween season, it’s appropriate that a few of these stories also prey on our fears of the supernatural to induce that uneasy feeling. When you knock on our door, these are the kinds of treats we like to give out.

A bed-and-breakfast hosts a guest who claims she is on the verge of turning into a wolf in E. J. Copperman’s “Under a Fool Moon.” A returning veteran investigates the mysterious disappearance of a friend from high school in Bob Tippee’s “Pond Scout.”

Beam Me Up, Elsie
by Sharon Jarvis

“Where’s my blaster?”

Tom Troma was checking his movie outfit in the hotel room mirror when he realized his holster was empty. The missing blaster, a prop from the cult Zeta Zombies films, was worth a pretty penny—and it was an integral part of his Ace Alpha costume.

The pimply kid assigned to be his guide at PhilCon—the annual science fiction convention held in Philadelphia—just shrugged. READ MORE

Pond Scout
by Bob Tippee

After two tours in Afghanistan, I still had both arms and legs and a head full of more killing than a person needs. The whole time I was in the army, I thought I might find Brad Dellinger. I thought maybe, after he and Ricky Sawhill went back to the pond that night, he had caught a bus out of town and enlisted like he always said he would. I didn’t find him. Then I was a civilian again, needing to decide what to do with my life and wishing I still had Brad for help. READ MORE