To those who doubted my sanity and/or sobriety, the following is a synopsis of the "Hephaestus Plague". Highly recommend it to all.

PAGE-THE HEPHAESTUS PLAGUE- - This 191 page hard cover is a First Edition that was written by Thomas Page and published by Putnam in 1973. "I consider myself a relatively seasoned veteran of horror in its various literary and cinematic forms-but THE HEPHAESTUS PLAGUE made my skin crawl and pulses race as never before. To add that it is as well written as it is plotted seems de trop, but it's that rare science-fiction work that fascinates the intelligence while enthralling the imagination. it deals with flesh-and-blood creatures-even as you and I-and therein lies the delicious terror." -JUDITH CRIST When an earthquake rips open a quiet Georgia peach farm, thousands of heavy black beetles slowly emerge onto the surface of the earth, terrifying the local inhabitants with their ability to emit an intense flame. The experts are called in, but they remain baffled and helpless as the fire beetles, hitchhiking in tobacco and peach trucks, begin to sweep northward, leaving behind scorched fields and charred buildings. Only James Lang Parmiter, professor of entomology at a small Southern college, realizes that these are not beetles at all, but a form of life never before seen. Working day after day in almost total solitude and silence, this brilliant, strange man, described by a colleague as a "sinister Gandhi," discovers that these creatures were alive at the time of the dinosaur and are much older, more enduring, more intelligent than any other living creature and, thus, far more difficult to wipe out. Parmiter, reluctant to destroy the creatures, finds himself identifying with them; they have buried themselves deep within the earth even as he has sealed himself off in his lab. Desiring more and more to communicate with them, Parmiter arrives at a chilling decision: He will not only study the insects, but will breed them. Even as the East Coast reels in terror from the growing onslaughts of these creatures, Parmiter is overjoyed to learn that his Hephaestus parmitera have finally adjusted to the earth's surface and the females of the species have become pregnant.

Now who is going to be the first to express support and buy me a drink - NOT the swill sloshing around in the basement...THE BASEMENT!!! Caitrin. Forget the Jello Pit. Just mix a drum or two of lime jello with the beer in the basement. Then instead of pumping the beer out, we can shovel out the jello. too bad. It would have made for an interesting shanty sing while we manned the pumps. "Heave Away" could take on a whole new meaning.