LampLight: Volume 3 Issue 1

By Jacob Haddon

September 2014

Our featured artist is Yvonne Navarro! She brings us a new tale, called "Drive-in Destiny." Kelli Owen bring us the first part of her serial novella, "Wilted Lilies." J.F. Gonzalez talks about the end of Weird Tales, the rise of comic books, Playboy and other 'Slicks' in this installment of Shadows in the Attic.

Featuring fiction from:

* Gary Braunbeck
* Sana Rafi
* Nick Mamatas
* Roh Morgon

# Featured Artist, Yvonne Navarro

Drive-in Destiny. Two singles, looking for that special someone before the internet. We also talk with her about her writing, Buffy and what's on the horizon.

# Serial Novella, Kelli Owen

Nervous, a girl talks about the death of a young boy, one who, like her, could hear things--things she isn't supposed to hear.

# Shadows in the Attic, J.F. Gonzalez

The death of Weird Tales, the rise of digest-size science-fiction pulps, comics, Playboy and other slick paper magazines, Richard Matheson, and Charles Beaumont.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Apokrupha LLC
• Release date: Sep 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310356483

Book preview

LampLight

A Quarterly Magazine of Dark Fiction

Volume 3

Issue 1

September 2014

Smashwords Edition

Published by Apokrupha

Jacob Haddon, Editor

Katie Winter, Assistant Editor

Benjamin Staisloff, Editor’s Assistant

Paula Snyder, Cover and Masthead Design

All stories copyright respective author, 2014

ISSN: 2169-2122

lamplightmagazine.com

apokrupha.com

Table of Contents

Featured Artist - Yvonne Navarro

Drive-In Destiny

Interview with Jeff Heimbuch

Fiction

Consolation - Gary Braunbeck

Coffee Stains - Sana Rafi

Burning Stones - Nick Mamatas

Little Pink Flowers - Roh Morgon

Serial Novella - Kelli Owen

Wilted Lilies, part 1

Shadows In the Attic - J. F. Gonzalez

The death of Weird Tales, the rise of digest-size science-fiction pulps, comics, Playboy and other slick paper magazines, Richard Matheson, and Charles Beaumont

LampLight Classics

The Thing from— ‘Outside’ - George Allen England

Writer Bios

Subscriptions Submissions and Comments

Drive-In Destiny

Yvonne Navarro

Hi. My name is Fancy. I'm thirty-four and a career woman with my own architectural firm, which has been in business in the Chicago Metropolitan area for about six years. My college degree is in architectural design, which I've put to good use in creating a successful base for my business. I'm independent, well-organized, and financially stable, and I'm looking for a partner who's the same. I also have a well-rounded sense of humor, and you can see from the video what I look like.

* * *

Myles stared at the woman on the television screen and frowned. She was quite pretty, Irish of course, with longish curly, red hair and clear blue eyes the color of the sky when it was winding down towards sunset. If the hair wasn't enough of a giveaway, her skin was that freckled, pale pink that only the true-blooded light Irish had. Degreed and with her own business, she was obviously highly intelligent, plus she was tempering the dating service's recommended video format with a little bit of personality, a touch of sparkle. Creativity, that was a big plus. It was the name—that had to be the thing bothering him. What kind of a name was Fancy for a grown woman? It was so...so... whorish, that name, a ludicrous label for a woman who, at least on videotape, seemed so high class.

* * *

Hello there. I'm Myles, and I'm a successful real estate lawyer working with one of the largest downtown firms. I was voted into my firm's partnership two years ago at age thirty-five, and have established a lucrative and expanding client base in my nine years there. I'm looking for a woman with the same solid values that I have and who is hardworking with a highly intelligent and logical mind of her own. I prefer a quickthinking and independent partner who will make life stimulating rather than a companion who is still trapped by the stereotypical belief that she should act like a cook and bottlewasher. Frankly, I've grown impatient with meeting women who try to be my mother.

* * *

Well, Fancy thought, Myles was certainly a handsome man—so much so, in fact, that she was surprised to see him on the video. She got enough responses to her file tape with Special Partners, Ltd. that she stopped by once a week to scan through them, and usually found that the Fast Forward key was the best tool for the job. But this guy... she couldn't find a single thing wrong with him. His attitude and straightforward conversation on the videotape far exceeded even her stringent standards. She even liked the tiny, sparkling diamond stud embedded in his left earlobe. So many whitecollar men, lawyers, doctors and the like, weren't confident enough of their masculinity to wear an earring, or they thought it made them look gay. She thought it was quite attractive.

* * *

Hello, is this... Fancy?

Yes, it is.

My name is Myles, Myles Paoletti. Special Partners, Ltd. said they contacted you and you gave permission to release your telephone number. I believe you've seen my videotape?

Yes, I did see the tape. It's nice to finally talk with you.

You, too. Listen, I don't know about you, of course, but...well, this is kind of difficult over the telephone. Would you like to get together? We could meet somewhere convenient for both of us.

That's sounds good. I live on the northwest side of the city, but I have a car and I'm flexible. Do you have a suggestion?

* * *

As recreation, I suppose I'm probably into the more athletic things, such as bicycle riding and rollerblading. I exercise regularly, either jogging or aerobics, and I don't believe women should let themselves get flabby because they're busy or it's just not a priority. That's just an excuse to avoid doing something that requires unpleasant physical effort. Lots of women in this decade are leading multiple lives—they're wives, mothers, career women, plus they may be furthering their education or building their own business in the evenings. I'm like many of them in that I've done most of that and still managed to keep my figure and my health. Of course, not everything in my free time is geared towards physical exercise. I like being outside in the fresh air, but I also like reading and going to amusement parks—I love roller coasters—and I enjoy going to the movies. My movie and reading tastes run to stories that are exciting and fastpaced, action oriented. Occasionally I enjoy a good comedy. I don't care for tearjerkers or completely silly comedies, and would much rather spend the time watching something else.

* * *

He was torn. In so many ways the woman on the videotape seemed the answer to everything he'd been searching for all his life. He might've thought that before—people talked themselves into stranger things every day, especially in relationships—but he had a logical mind that always ended up guiding his heart, even in the most heated of situations. When he was younger, Myles had thought that was a strong point; his friends in college were always letting their hearts tell them what to do—like letting the fuel injector system steer the car instead of the wheel—and making horrendous mistakes because of it. He'd considered himself smarter than that for a long time, until he'd looked around and realized he was in his thirties and single, didn't have a steady girlfriend, and all the women at the office thought he was homosexual. A lifetime of mental training was hard to break though, and the perfect example was right here. This woman, this Fancy, was pulling on every heartstring in exactly the right order, but inside his head, the old logic was still poking its fingers into the game, this time by questioning the integrity of the other player.

Because, really, what kind of nineties professional woman would even keep a name like that?

* * *

There's not a lot of extra time in my life, since my work generally requires a sixty-hour week, so what I do with my spare time is very important. I don't spend it watching useless junk on television, though I do get into the programs on PBS and the Discovery Channel, and I like the how-to programs that run on Saturday mornings. I don't spend time in bars—I can't abide the cigarette smoke or the smell of spilled alcohol—and I have someone come in to handle the housekeeping twice a week. I am partial to the better directed spy and action movies, which I prefer to catch when they come out on the biggest screen available, usually McClurg Court downtown. Comedies are all right, though I admit it might take some talking to get me to go. I don't know why that is, but I usually end up enjoying the movie and being glad I saw it. I work out twice a week at the Gold Coast Multiplex, which is the mega-health center on north Clark Street. Besides that, I've studied various methods of martial arts since I was a kid, so I'm no slouch in the way I take care of myself. I weigh the same as I did in college and I'll never have a pot belly when I turn forty, fifty, or beyond. I take care of my body, and frankly I expect my partner to do the same.

* * *

Jesus, Fancy thought in amazement. Who's been keeping this guy a prisoner all my life? The farther she got into the tape, the more she was starting to believe this was the guy she'd been looking for since...well, since forever—in high school, college, and beyond. She'd dealt with far too many of the flashy, nimble-fingered fast talkers at the Rush Street scene, and in her opinion the area around Armitage and Halsted was evolving into a more yuppie-oriented clone of its Division sisters-trip. Down there natural selection was at its most predatory; only the strongest and sleaziest kept surviving the sweaty one-night stands and had the strength and stubbornness—or simple insanity—to try again the following Friday and Saturday. Myles's looks would make him an instinctive shark, and she could certainly appreciate the way women probably focused on him when he walked into a room.

The thought brought a tiny frown with it. Was that it?