Image © Andrew Muff
Letter from the Editors Dear Reader, Welcome to the May 31, 2016 issue of Electric Spec! Every month, we go through hundreds of stories before we narrow it down to the featured few in each issue, so you know the stories we present are winners. Okay, on to this month's selections: Cutting it Fine by Graham Brand--Old-fashioned Earth values meet the final frontier as a simple barber tries to keep his shop from becoming one more small casualty in a vast interstellar conflict. The Watchers by Frances Gow--In 1826, an enigmatic alien presence looms in European skies. One extraordinary inventor may have found a way to discover who these Watchers are... and what they want with our world. Mother by Irene Punti--It's the final science project: to create the perfect template for a new human race. So why do so many of the test subjects have to die in the process? One Slow Trigger Day by D.A. D'Amico & Dean D'Amico--Even in the distant future, it ain't easy being the fastest gun in the West. Red Screamy by Dale W. Glaser--When things go bump in the night, one struggling mother discovers the terrible power in a child's imagination. As a bonus we're also including an emotional story, Runaway from Editor Nikki Baird in Editors' Corner Fiction. Also don't forget to check out our Editors' Corner Nonfiction essay on classic SF for modern readers from Editor Grayson Towler. Thanks for reading, The Electric Spec Team