In the Midnight Museum - Gary A Braunbeck

Introduction by Terry Dowling.
Artwork by Conny Valentina.

Martin Tyler wants to end it all. Alone and in despair over the death of his parents as well as the death of his youthful dreams and ambitions, he makes the decision to overdose on prescription drugs. Not wanting to bow out in his dingy apartment, and with the first ingestion of drugs beginning to take effect, he drives to downtown Cedar Hill in the hopes of finding a hotel room. Along West Church Street there is a building he used to know as Devito?s Bookstore. Standing out front reminds him of times past; of the fond memories spent there and of a painting of that same building he still keeps - bought from an old street artist.

Striking up a conversation with his six-year old self and watching a strange creature pace along the building?s roof, Martin can feel the drugs taking the shine off reality ? only now this IS his reality. From a room in the Psychiatric facility near Cedar Hill Memorial Hospital, Martin becomes aware of these creatures, of the limits of even the most unbound imagination, and of events that may lead to the extinction of the world.

This is the land of Gash.