Editorial
By Ben Coppin

Welcome to the third issue of Darker Matter. In this issue, we have the third and final part of our exclusive interview with Douglas Adams from 1979. We also have five original science fiction short stories. Bud Sparhawk and Ramona Wheeler have provided The Connection, a scarily plausible short-short story of addiction in the modern world. Eugie Foster's story, The End of the Universe, is a thrilling tale of one man's attempt to save the Universe.

Raft, a new story by Larry Tritten, was inspired by a short story by Evan S. Connell Jr. – The Yellow Raft about a pilot shot down in the South Pacific during World War Two. Larry's story is about a very different kind of raft.

Shane Nelson's story, Severance Pay, is probably the darkest of the bunch this month – a dystopian story of the lengths people will go to to survive.

The final story is Robert Jeschonek's Zinzi-zinzi-zinzic, a very original retelling of the classic "aliens take over the world" story.

As well as the stories, we have the second part of I. E. Lester's fascinating article on alien life, this month looking at the ways alien life might form. You can read the first part here.

We also now have a blog, and of course the forums.

A new page you might want to check out is the Top Ten. This is a continually updated table of the top 10 highest scoring stories. Each story has a poll attached to it in which you can express your view of the story by giving it a score from one to ten. The Top Ten table shows the stories with the highest average scores. Please do vote in the stories – not only does it help other readers decide which stories might be most worth reading, it also helps me decide what kinds of stories you'll like to read in the future.

Finally, an appeal. This site is funded entirely by advertising and donations. I'm very keen to keep it free for readers, but if you feel you have enjoyed the site enough and would like to help keep it going and help keep it free, perhaps you'd consider making a small donation. Even a dollar or two is helpful!

Editorial Copyright © 2007 by Ben Coppin.

Next: Douglas Adams Interview