Norman A. Burza

After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.

Corrine Burns retreats far into plans for her band, The Fabulous Stains, after her mother's death.

Jonas Candide performs his job as state executioner in early 20th century Mississippi like a combination preacher and carnival barker, persuading condemned men to accept their deaths before electrocuting them on his electric chair. After he's assigned his first woman to execute, however, Jonas' sense of purpose is shaken.

Led by Captain Christopher Pike, the crew of the starship Enterprise investigates of a far-off planet which was the site of a shipwreck eighteen years earlier. They encounter telepathic aliens who seek a human male specimen for their menagerie.