Hope in Uncertainty: Filmmaker Doug Cunningham on Highway

INTERVIEW: “Bad things happen to the characters in the film. But the engagement with those bad things has motivated the characters to start writing their own stories (metaphorically speaking) rather than having their stories written for them….”

“Red Lightning” by Ly Faulk

FLASH FICTION: “As she walked by, I tipped my glass and she winked at me. I watched her go, taking with her my fantasies….”

“Noir with a Social Conscience: Ride the Pink Horse (1946)” by William Blick

BOOK REVIEW: “Using a distinct setting, a complex anti-hero, a series of unsavory, as well as empathetic characters, and most notably, a social heartbeat, Dorothy B. Hughes’ Ride the Pink Horse offers an extremely compelling journey.”

“Jim Dandy to the Rescue” by D. V. Bennett

FICTION: “Seeing her in silhouette, my reaction plummeted to the low level of a lonely, recent dumpee, but when she stepped into the light, my imagination ventured into the realm of shame….”

“Kakure Kirishitan: Our Sacred Oribe” by David Ryan

POETRY: “Hundreds dead outside our garden…Fear marks our quiet burden….”

“Street Sweeping in the City that Works” by David Hagerty

FICTION: “A fresh breeze off the lake carried away the roar of cars and the decaying scents of the city. Yet before he’d passed the trinket shop, two police officers blocked his way….”

“Uncanny Valley” By Gary D. Rhodes

POETRY: “I had to remind myself, / uphill or down, / never to speak of this again….”

“No stupid moves: Frank Oz’s The Score” By Anees Aref

REVIEW ESSAY: “Thieves should respect their elders, too.”

“Retribution, with Extreme Prejudice” by Glen Bush

FICTION: “I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. That made me even more nervous, so I started to turn around and answer him but that’s when he hit me with a hard punch to my kidney….”

“Jonathan Latimer, Skilled Artisan of the Crime Genre: Headed for a Hearse (1935)” by William Blick

BOOK REVIEW: “Demonstrates a degree of mastery of plot, character, and structure as the mystery is solved with all twists and turns readers have come to expect from the genre….”