While the countdown continues for the Kickstarter campaign for Crazy 8 Press’ Thrilling Adventure Yarns Volume II, here’s a little taste from my story, the sixth outing starring Leo Persky, aka Terrance Strange, investigative reporter for “the world’s only reliable newspaper,” the Weekly World News. Joining me in this titanic tome of tales are stories by my fellow Crazy 8’ers, Aaron Rosenberg, Michael Jan Friedman, Glenn Hauman, Mary Fan, Bob Greenberger, and Russ Colchamiro, as well as stories by David Mack, Paige Daniels, Will Murray, Karissa Laurel, William Leisner, Danielle Ackley McPhail, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, Greg Cox, Heather E. Hutsell, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Michael A. Burstein, Richard White, Scott Pearson, and Sherri Cook Woosley… and another previously unpublished story by the legendary creator of Doc Savage!
“Man-Bait for the Snake God”
My name is Leo Persky. I’m more popularly known as Terrance Strange, my byline in the Weekly World News, the tabloid newspaper next to the other tabloids at the supermarket checkout. Most people assume that because of our subject matter — the unusual, the supernatural, extraterrestrials et al — that we’re being ironic with the slogan, “The World’s Only Reliable Newspaper.” Ironically, it’s all really, if weirdly, true. Well, except for my byline. And the photo of the handsome, square-jawed adventurer that goes with it. Those came from my grandfather, Jacob, the foremost monster hunter of his day, who thought “Strange” sounded better in his line of work than Persky. So did the News.
“Don’t we have a stringer in Peru we can use instead of flying me halfway around the world?” I asked. Whined.
“If you’d rather,” Rob responded in the tone of voice he uses when he’s about to delight in telling me the even more repulsive alternative he’s got planned, “it is possible to drive from New York City…”
“No.”
“… By bus, to Peru, a total of about 12, 13,000 miles, through South American…”
“Jesus, Rob,” I moaned.
“… Across the 90-miles of roadless swamps and rainforests called the Darien Gap that stretches to the tip of Columbia and…”
I threw my up my hands. “I surrender.”
“You’re getting easy in your old age,” he grinned, exposing the prominent canines that helped fuel the rumors I’d started that he was a vampire. “So. Peru. Up until last week, a country known to be home to 51 indigenous tribes. Now there are 52, thanks to a group discovered high in the mountains of northern Peru by remote mapping drones.”
“And we care… why?”
Rob sailed a photographic print across his desk.
It was a snake.
“It’s a snake,” I said. “I hate snakes.”
“Funny. They speak well of you. Check out the lower left of the shot. See that bundle about halfway down the length of the snake’s body?”
I brought the print closer and squinted at the indicated item. Between the bird’s eye angle and some shadows on the jungle floor, it was hard to make out very many details.
“That’s a man,” Rob said.
“What is? This?” I took a second, even closer look. “Was this taken at some weird angle or with a long lens? Because from this perspective, if that’s a human being, then this snake…”
“… Yeah, factoring in the average height of other indigenous folk in the region, that would make it about 50 to 60 feet long.”
“Holy crap! Amazing, but, you know, cryptozoology isn’t exactly my jam, boss. There’s gotta be somebody better qualified to handle this than…”
He raised a finger to silence me and said, “But, wait! There’s more,” and slid a second photo across the desk to me.
Ten hours and 3,700 air miles later, I was in Peru.
Tags: Aaron Rosenberg, and Russ Colchamiro, Bob Greenberger, Crazy 8 Press, Danielle Ackley McPhail, David Mack, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, Glenn Hauman, Greg Cox, Heather E. Hutsell, Karissa Laurel, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Leo Persky, Lester Dent, Mary Fan, Michael A. Burstein, Michael Jan Friedman, Paige Daniels, pulps, Richard White, Scott Pearson, Sherri Cook Woosley, Thrilling Adventure Yarns, Weekly World News, Will Murray, William Leisner