“Art is a kind of play, and those who forget how to be playful are likely to produce art that is ever more mature and responsible and ponderous.” — Thomas Disch Zach Powers likes to play—at least when he’s writing. His inventions honor the humble delights of the old pulps, those tales of wonder and…

Christina Holzhauser comes from a speck of a town in Missouri called Portland, a once-popular shipping post located on the banks of the Missouri River. It’s the kind of place where daily events swell to mythic proportions by the time they’re recounted in the local bar the Holzhauser family has owned for close to 80…