It’s late, but the neighborhood is still awake. The Roman candles are just about exhausted, but the steady drumbeat of M80s has another hour to go. Out back your drunken neighbor is giving a pitch-perfect rendition of Bill Pullman’s Independence Day speech from his deck. Across the street, a new eighty-inch beams through a bay window: Mayor Vaughn is telling Chief Brody there’s no need to close the beaches. An intoxicating mix of Coppertone, charcoal briquettes, and chlorine hangs in the air. You settle into your chair and can’t decide if you want the latest issue of Backstreets or to peruse your well-thumbed copy of The Necronomicon, when you notice something wedged in-between them. Is that the new issue of Jersey Devil Press? You hesitate. It is late. Maybe you shouldn’t. You touch the pages cautiously and the journey unfolds in your mind. The space station. The doctor’s office. The bowling alley. A long walk home. Oh, the justice of foxes. Whatever happens in the moonlight. And the KISS tribute band. You understand the fireworks are just beginning.

Bottle Rocket the PDF or Cherry Bomb it online.