Issue 6 – August 2013

Closed Doors by Amandine Van Ray

Table of Contents

Go Through by Alma Alexander
Three Adventures of Simon Says, the Elder by Daniel Ausema
The Painted Bones  by Kelly Simmons
The Tower by Kelly Lagor
The Dross Record by Matthew Timmins
Geddarien by Rose Lemberg
The Latest Incarnation of Secondhand Johnny by Mark Rigney

Editors’ Note:

Welcome, dear readers, to our first non-entomological venture: The Journal of Unlikely Architecture. As you may have noticed, things have changed around here. We’ve redecorated, adopted a dashing new pseudonym, and grown our Unlikely family with two new additions named Cryptography and To Be Determined. They’re charmed to meet you, I’m sure. Never fear though, there are still plenty of bugs lurking in the corners.

Although much has changed — we’ve rearranged all the furniture, slapped on a new coat of paint — there’s no need to be concerned. You’re safe as houses here. Although, when you think about it, how safe are houses, really? As you dive into the pixilated pages of this issue, you’ll find your answer: not very.

You see, it is beneath the veneer of the familiar that the worst danger often lurks. After all, what better hiding place than the one you take for granted, the place you never look at twice because you know it like the back of your hand?

In this issue, you will find the familiar made strange: the innocence of a playground turned hostile and wild, the quiet melancholy haunting your neighborhood bar, dancing houses, and buried secrets. So come in, close the door, and pull up a chair next to the fire. Never mind that loose floorboard, or the hidden switch under the mantle. Pay no attention to those noises — it’s just the wind in the chimney, and the old house settling around you. Comfy? Good. Now let us draw the curtains, dim the lights, and tell you a story…

Cover Art by Amandine van Ray