Writers are wordless in very few instances. But in the case of a friend gone too soon, a writer who will never be replaced, it’s hard to find words. Yet there is much to write. And for Stephen T. Vessels, a man who defied categorization, we all of us, had a story to write for him, printed here with one of Stephen’s last and best stories, now published for the first time, "The Ki Trees."
So what exactly is The Fifth Fedora? In its simplest terms, it is an anthology of stories inspired by the work and persona of Stephen. He was a man known for many things, the least significant but most iconic of which may be the fedoras he liked to wear, if not his abiding love of Scotch or the fifth dimension he appeared to inhabit, defying all attempts to induct him into the time stream of mundane mortals. His own stories, likewise, defied generalization. Some fantasy, some sci-fi, some noir, a delightful mélange of tentacles and detectives and albino alligators lurking in post-apocalyptic sewers. And so here we’re happy to represent stories that Stephen himself might’ve liked to read, such as “A Million Lost Souls Plus One” by Christina Lay, co-founder of ShadowSpinners Press. “Fallen Angels” by Max Devoe Talley, author of Santa Fe Psychosis.“ From the Journal of Dr. Eduard Charivari” by Monte Schulz, author of Metropolis. “It’s Up to You” by John R. Reed, author of The Mole Train. “Unrequited Loss” by Elizabeth Engstrom, author of When Darkness Loves Us. and contributions by Stacy Allen, Zane Andrea, Jack Eidt, Avery Faeth, Maryanne Knight, Chris Casey Logsdon, Cynthia Ray, Rick Shaw, Silver Webb, Frederick Williams, Cheryl Owen-Wilson, and Eric Witchey.