Wonder Archives

The Best from WONDERs Past

This site has the web archives of Wonder from #13 to #16. Later issues are at http://www.wondersource.com.

Here is WONDER's Treasure Box -- the gems from nearly ten years of publishing WONDER on paper and the best from our recent web issues as well. They've divided into three categories:

Each WONDER cover story will continue to appear here as well, even after a new issue has been posted.

Graze here at your pleasure... new stuff will appear frequently.

WONDER Originals

Cracking the Star Wars Code by Rod Bennett
Cover story, WONDER #16
Getting There is Half the Fun
By Mike Hertenstein
From issue #16

The God in the Machine: The Double-Vision of Star Trek

By Mike Hertenstein
Cover story, WONDER #15

The Magic Eightball Test and Other Theories about Halloween

By Lint Hatcher
Cover story, WONDER #14

Founder Lint Hatcher mounts a vigorous Christian defense of "All Hallows Eve" -- that much-maligned high holy day in honor of all things spooky.

Inside Darkest Ackerman

Forrest J. Ackerman, interviewed by Lint Hatcher & Rod Bennet
Reprinted from WONDER #7

The World's Greatest Science-Fiction Fan (and "Mr. Monster" himself) reveals all in this classic interview culled from our legendary "All-Monster Spook-tacular."

Monster Fan 2000

By Lint Hatcher & Rod Bennett
Reprinted from WONDER #7

Perhaps our most popular (and controversial) article, comparing the philosophies and world-views behind the classic horror movies of old and today's explicit "splatter films." This is the piece that launched a thousand pieces of hate-mail...and lots of "attaboys," as well!

The History of Miniature Golf (Part I)

By Lint Hatcher
From WONDER #9

The History of Miniature Golf (Part II)

By Lint Hatcher
From WONDER #10

Celebrated Roadside Archaeologist Lint Hatcher delves deeply into Goofy Golf prehistory and beyond. The "Dinosaur Factor" is extremely high here, in this, one of our quirkiest and funniest pieces!

The Gospel According to Frank Capra

By Rod Bennett

Just what is it about Christmas perennial It's A Wonderful Life that haunts America so? Editor Rod Bennett searches high and low in this fascinating piece of detective work...and digs up some surprising and challenging answers.

The Sky Fell on New Jersey

By Rod Bennett
Reprinted from WONDER #9

Where were you on October 30, 1938 -- the Night that Mars Attacked the Earth? Probably most of us weren't born yet...but author Bennett makes you feel like you are right there amidst the panic in this delightful, touching "WONDER Time Machine" retrospective.

Apocalypse Then

By Rod Bennett
Reprinted from WONDER #9

Linked with The Sky Fell on New Jersey above, this article gives the complete factual story behind the famous "War of the Worlds" invasion, a truth even stranger than H.G. Wells' science fiction!

The Great Age of Curiosity

By Bruce Cook
Cover story, WONDER #3

The stars aligned to create something special in the late 1950's...a celestial convergence between the Drive-In Theater and the classic bug-eyed sci-fi movie! Relive that bygone age here in Bruce Cook's "WONDER Time Machine" retrospective.

Stranger Than You Think

By Rod Bennett
Reprinted from WONDER #12

Cartoonist Robert L. Ripley was his own greatest Believe It or Not! and his incredible true-life story reads like a cross between Citizen Kane and Indiana Jones. Explore his fascinating cultural legacy from a uniquely personal viewpoint in this "WONDER Time Machine" retrospective by Rod Bennett.

Jurassic Park and the Death of Stop-Motion Animation

By Rod Bennett
Reprinted from WONDER #9

Possibly WONDER's most admired article, a controversial assessment of the current state (circa 1994) of movie special effects in the wake of the Jurassic Park breakthroughs. This one even drew kudos from some of the creators of Jurassic Park!

That Highway's A-Calling: Ave Maria Grotto

By Rod Bennett

A magical side-trip into one of the true psychedelic miracles of Roadside America! "Little Jerusalem" (at, of all places, Cullman, AL) lifts Rod Bennett to rhapsodies of the New Jerusalem in this whimsical "That Highway's A'Callin'" reprint from our 1993 Christmas Special.

WONDER Fiction

The Whole World is Hanted

By Lint Hatcher
(Being serialized starting in the Fall 2000 issue; not yet complete)

The WONDER Classics

"The Idle City"

By Lord Dunsany

The Man Who Was Thursday

A Victorian Secret Agent goes deep undercover to root out a sect of philosophical terrorists...and may just have discovered God instead! Complete novel.

By G.K. Chesterton

The Golden Key

By George MacDonald

This essential Christian fairy tale about "The Land from Which the Shadows Fall" will haunt you forever once you've read it. One of the chief influences on Lewis' Narnia Chronicles.

Selections from "The Bad Child's Book of Beasts"

By Hillaire Belloc

Delightfully curmudgeonly poetry in the vein of Edward Lear, from one of Christianity's most beloved curmdugeons. If you haven't discovered Belloc yet this is a wonderful place to start!

Sylvie & Bruno

By Lewis Carroll

The Christian Alice in Wonderland! Not many people know that Lewis Carroll (aka Rev. Charles Dodgson of Oxford) was also an ordained Anglican minister and that he wrote this allegorical follow-up to Alice a few years later. Discover it here.

"Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean"

By Lord Dunsany

The Light Princess

By George MacDonald

Manalive

By G.K. Chesterton

Another Chesterton jewel celebrating the sweet wonder and mystery of life. Some think this is his best novel, presented here in an etext by our own webmaster, Jim Henry III, and Chesterton scholar Martin Ward.

At the Back of the North Wind

By George MacDonald

WONDER Correspondent G. K. Chesterton

Orthodoxy

This may be Chesterton's non-fiction masterpiece. Basically, it describes how, just by following his nose in a search for the wonder in life, the author found that he was brought full circle from cynicism and despair to the ancient traditional worldview of Western Civilization. A must-read.

The Case for the Ephemeral

A Piece of Chalk

The Shop of Ghosts

"For Persons of the Name of Smith"


This site has the web archives of Wonder from #13 to #16. Later issues are at http://www.wondersource.com.

Wonder home: http://www.pobox.com/~wonder
Rod Bennett, Editor
Jim Henry, Webmaster