First Morning Star and Other Tales

This collection of fantasy, science fiction, ghost stories, and amazing tales provides the reader with variety. In "First Morning Star" an archaeologist goes to the ends of the world seeking the origin of civilization. He finds it-in spades. In "Fake Sleeper," a youth finds a creative way to win a drag race with a pooped out jalopy.Many stories flutter between worlds of the living and worlds of the dead. Their spectral cast haunts unsuspecting mortals, often from a recurring cemetery called Sarah's Lot. In "Rob the Horrible," the undead protagonist wanders the world perplexed by effects his ghastly appearance have on the mortals he encounters. In "The Beckoning," a ghost who first frightens a 1960s office lady turns out to be full of tenderness.Through his stark language, haunting imagery, and humor, author Peter Metevelis crosses culture and time with an unaffected easiness, spinning yarns that collectively offer a single experience across cultures. Even while crossing boundaries of time and culture, Prof. Metevelis continues to explore the riddle of mortality.

Born in 1943, Peter Metevelis lived and worked and studied in Japan for nearly twenty years, employed as college teacher, columnist, technical translator, and copy editor. Academically he is a folklorist, and has produced books, articles, and reviews in this field. Today he lives in northern Los Angeles.