All of us have opinions about the realities-or non-realities-behind the various stories that we hear about aliens, ghosts and other unusual and not-so-easily-explained phenomena. However, everyone-skeptic and true believer alike-is sure to love the stories in this collection. These stories are fresh, original and creative. Some are humorous; most are scary; all are entertaining for those of us who like stowing away on someone else's literary flights of fancy. These authors take us to places that are unimaginable in the mundane world of our everyday existence.Tom Stiner's "Room 3" allows us to overhear the voice of a long-dead rocker as a guitar-strumming ghost gives new life and new hope to a suicidal man amid the exquisite scenery of Joshua Tree National Park in the California desert. If Stiner pulls at our heart strings and leaves us inspired about the joys of life and music, then Isaiah Ramesses grates against the fear instinct deep within the reptilian core of our primitive brain. "Eyes from Beyond" is just plain terrifying! Melba Pena also dishes up fear, but fear of a different variety. "Mystery on Fog Lane" is a classic-but never trite or stereotyped-tale of the fear brought on by the uncertainty of what lies before us. In this story, dark and unexplored spaces beckon us forward, while simultaneously warning us away. Alex Mittelman, a young man with a brilliant literary future ahead of him, follows a man who is haunted by "The Little Black Bird." Mittelman's unfortunate protagonist finds himself asking the most dreadful of all questions-"will this ever end?" Donna Bruck's "The Visitor" features a solitary figure who also struggles against a presence that loiters around the edges of her world; the visitor's menacing presence leads to a nearly fatalistic acceptance of doom's inevitable descent. Joe Case's "The Raven's Nest" returns to the aviary theme of Mittleman's black bird, but invites its reader into a more bizarre world of death, confusion and the paranormal than most readers have ever dared to imagine. Case leaves the reader envious of his ability to think in original and creative ways about the threats that populate our nightmares. Cris Jolliff's "The Cauldron" calls up traditional images of witchcraft and wizardry, but not the good-always-prevails witchcraft of Harry Potter and company. In Jolliff's haunted forest, evil gains the upper hand. Death is never separated from pain, tragedy and disappointment, but death's abrasions are intensified when inflicted upon a mere child. The ghostly presence in Corrinna Underwood's "The Secret in the Sanctuary" lingers after the completely avoidable, but agonizingly real, death of a shy school boy. Perhaps the child's lingering specter offers some hope of redemption for the guilt-plagued brother who drags on. Finally, if you've ever laid in bed at night with the covers pulled up over your head as a futile linen shield against the non-material forces that seek your demise, then you'll sympathize with Kathryn Pollard's nocturnal fears in "Strange Bedfellows." Not even faith and piety can ward off what lingers in the shadows beyond the safety of her character's bedside sanctuary. As always, each of these stories has won the highly competitive Phyllis Scott short story contest. We are proud to bring these emerging authors to our readers!Phyllis Scott, series editor