Hieroglyph

Some of E W Farnsworth's cross-genre short stories have confused readers with expectations narrowly confined to traditional genres. The selections in this volume are meant to exemplify how such stories can legitimately entertain without becoming subject to the rules of tiresome new categories of writings that are merely the products of the author's imagination. The first four stories take their origins in science fiction, but each departs from such a model in a different way. 'The Tholochs Come' stems from the idea that extra-terrestrial aliens are well established on Earth and communicating with sympathetic humans who have been institutionalized. 'Not Another Shade of Green' posits a testing relationship between an alien with a tentacle and his artistic, human girlfriend. 'The Guest Lecturer' explores the notion of regular communication across borderless outer space. 'Hieroglyph' is based on recent findings in forensic anthropology as under-ice artifacts in Antarctica come to life in order to summon an alien culture to destroy its creations before their effects can be fully understood on host planet Earth. The other included works are predicated on the relatively new concept of "cosmic horror" along the lines of H P Lovecraft and his friends. These, set in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, portray a menacing environment alive with immanent creatures and affects. The factual bases of these fabrications were experienced by the author personally and transformed fictionally during the interval since he lived in Allentown. 'Rose-Cross Knight on Eleventh Street, ' 'Liar, Liar, Hair on Fire, ' 'The Dirty Dutchwoman, ' 'Gray Day in the Valley, ' 'Hydriotaphia, ' 'Egregiously Fat Women' and 'Stop the Presses!' were inspired by an enlightened editor of the magazine Lovecraftiana. He asked whether E W Farnsworth had ideas like those expressed in his story, 'Exoterics, ' the first of many answering the editor's informal call for more in the same vein. Other such stories are scheduled for publication in Lovecraftiana, and those not accepted there form a distinctive group of outliers such as the seven included here.
As some readers are aware, the author wrote five volumes of stories about the action-adventure hero, Ritchie Walgreen, aka Al Katana, a vigilante wielding two Japanese swords. He planted martial arts studios worldwide to nurture like-minded agents. Abira Katana is one of the master's most adept protégées. The included story about her exploits in Africa, Mexico and France is only one example of the heroics that can be expected from others in Al Katana's global stable of vigilantes.
'The Two Tulips Affair' is a tribute to the noir radio mystery writer Richard Breen and his penchant for wise-cracking black humor. Those who have experienced the audio versions of the 'Pat Novak for Hire Mysteries, ' recorded in 1946-49, will recognize how far short Farnsworth has fallen from his model. 'Curing Claudia's Samhainophobia' began as a plain-vanilla Halloween horror story, but its graphic truth-a mother's inability to listen when her child needed her most-easily broke out of the trivial holiday form and begged for broader appreciation as a psychological exposé. This collection is not the first miscellany the author has presented to a wider readership than the anthologies to which he is accustomed to use as his publishing platforms, and it will not be the last.