Taking something away from others — their possessions, their dignity, their liberty, their lives — is the root of taboo. All the stories in this, the fourth collection of tales from Plan B Magazine, touch on what happens when people put their will above that of others. Sometimes it’s amusing, other times heartbreaking, but it no matter what, someone’s day won’t be going according to plan. Table of Contents “Old Friends” by Frank Byrns “Write Your Epitaph” by Laird Long “An Unexpected Invitation” by Daniel Marshall Wood “Bad John” by Adam Howe “Death by Fiction” by J. M. Vogel “The Chunk” by Michael McGlade “The Basement” by MJ Gardner “The Bulldog Ant is Not a Team Player” by Dan Stout “The Mystery of the Missing Puskat” by Lavie Tidhar “Other Wishes” by Richard Zwicker “Afterwards” by Jeff Poole “The World’s Best Coffee” by C. D. Reimer “Zero Sum Game” by Doug J. Black

The first Plan B collection showcases a wide variety of plans gone sideways — private eyes getting stuck on cases they really don’t want to take, petty criminals getting in over their heads, law enforcement professionals on the wrong side of the bars, and upstanding citizens finding themselves to be not so law-abiding after all. These stories are as varied as they are excellent — there are light-hearted tales to make you smile, literary pieces that challenge the definition of crime writing, and realistic portraits of difficult and disturbing decisions. Whatever your tastes, I’m sure you’ll find something to enjoy here and maybe something to surprise you.

Beware of the neighbors. Beware of the neighbors plants. Beware of new friends offering to take you to a party. Above all, beware of family and friends. Take a trip Behind Locked Doors with the talents of these 25 authors of horror and terror: Marc Sorondo, Stephanie L. Morrell, Lawrence Vernon, Krista Krueger, Philip Roberts, C.D. Reimer, Doug Rinaldi, Suzanne Robb, Shells Walter, Chris Marrs, Georgina Kamsika, Roger Bailey, Jeff Jones, Larry C. Kerr, B. Adrian White, Carl Alves, Craig Saunders, Jo-Anne Russell, Opal Edgar, Diane Arrelle, Dorian Dawes, William C. Rasmussen, Brian Mazur, Kristi Peterson Schoonover, and Shane Ward.

A watershed by definition delineates an area of surface water drainage. Thus, the volume of water drained per watershed area, the runoff, would seem a logical characteristic for the correlation of one drainage catchment with another. That is, when two or more watershed systems are about equal in size, shape, orientation, and other drainage characteristics, the measured surface flow from one has been used to calibrate and predict the runoff from the other. Calibration procedures in Prairie watersheds have rarely been possible, owing to areal rainfall variability, difficulty in determining watershed size, the addition of subsurface drainage, and the scarcity of bedrock controlled outflows. Nevertheless, runoff calibrations in comparable Prairie watersheds of small size would seem possible and useful. Runoff resulting from various land uses and agricultural practices could be compared if these watersheds can be calibrated. The long-term runoff records from four adjacent 4 ha watersheds near Swift Current, Saskatchewan, were analyzed to determine if such calibrations are possible.