“Well, yes.” Henry’s thoughts scrambled wildly, like rabbits in a trap. Strauss! I’m sure I have no need to remind you he was a close friend of this society’s former president.” Gladfield, the very man who invited you to try your inventions, died, Mr. Kelly dropped his arms to his sides, his face thunderous. “I…I thought my inventions made a very good showing.” Or hide behind the podium, perhaps, until everyone left. “I granted you one more opportunity to speak to us, in the hope you might have something useful to say. “These are the souls of the departed! Not mere-mere electrical impulses!” Dr. There is nothing wrong with accepting the findings of science.” But our brains themselves are powered by just such impulses. “Otherworldly spirits do manifest as electromagnetic fields, at least on this side of the veil. You have claimed our beloved dead are nothing more than electromagnetic aberrations-” Strauss,” he said, and Henry tried not to flinch at his cold tone, “for years you have insisted on expounding your wild theories to us. His beard jutted out in front of him, like an angry badger attached to his chin. Kelly, the Psychical Society’s president, slowly folded his arms over his chest. Although the windows were open to let in a breeze, the inescapable heat of early July remained oppressive even after sunset. “Er…” Henry resisted the impulse to tug at his collar. Stony faces stared back at him, and two of the women leaned together, whispering behind their fans. The small lecture hall remained utterly silent, save for the occasional cough or rattle of papers. Almost every member of the Baltimore Psychical Society had come to hear his lecture, and he scanned the faces of the men-and a few women-awaiting the spread of approving smiles. He stepped away from the podium where he’d placed his notes and gazed out over the gathering. “We successfully put an end to the haunting, and the usefulness of my inventions was proven once and for all.” “And that is my report,” Henry Strauss concluded. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Dangerous Spirits by Jordan L. Hawk