The Third Level

The Third Level is Knox's online magazine for science fiction and fantasy, and is part of the Quiver webzine collective. You should submit.

Name

The Third Level is named for a short story by Jack Finney (1911-1995) which appeared in a 1957 collection of the same name. In the story, the disenfranchised protagonist discovers a third level to Grand Central Station, from which he takes a train back in time to the year 1894. Realizing that the third level can transport one to any place as well as any time, he tries to get back to his old hometown: Galesburg, Illinois, the home of Knox College.

Finney was graduated from Knox with the class of 1934 and went on to become a noted author of speculative fiction with several short story collections and novels like The Body Snatchers and Time and Again. The Knox College Archives has a collection of rare, out-of-print, and autographed copies of Finney's works.