Short Story Sale: Danse Macabre anthology, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick

My short story “Death in the Family”, a retelling of the classic folktale Godfather Death, will be in Edge’s upcoming anthology Danse Macabre: Close Encounters with the Reaper, a collection of stories about Death, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick.

About the anthology:

This anthology could be the most unusual and original collection of stories you’ll ever read! Twenty-six literary reflections embody the themed, classical artwork devoted to the spectrum of humanity’s intriguing interactions with the Angel of Death in all his/her/its ­manifestations.

The table of contents, wherein I am in some pretty good company:

• Introduction by Nancy Kilpatrick
• Danse Macabre by Ian Emberson
• The Secret Engravings by Lisa Morton
• Death in the Family by Morgan Dempsey
• Blue-Black Night by Tim Reynolds
• La Senora Blanca by Lucy Taylor
• Totentanz by Nancy Holder
• Totentanz by Erin Underwood
• Out of the Sun by Gabriel Boutros
• Pressed Butterflies by Lorne Dixon
• Matryoshka by Sabrina Furminger
• Fingernails by J. Y. T. Kennedy
• Ghost Nor Bogle Shalt Thou Fear by William Meikle
• Death Over Easy by Suzanne Church
• Mr. Go Away by Brad Carson
• A Song for Death by Angela Roberts
• Therapy by Bev Vincent
• Me and Lou Hang Out by Tom Piccirilli
• Elegy For a Crow by Opal Edgar
• The Angel of Death by Lawrence Salani
• The Physician’s Assistant by Dan Devine
• An Appointment in the Village Bazaar by Stan Hampton, SR.
• The Exclusive by Edward M. Erdelac
• For I Must be About My Father’s Work by Brian Hodge
• The Death of Death by Tanith Lee
• Symeon by Bill Zaget
• Old Man With a Blade by Brian Lumley
• Population Management by Tom Dullemond

I’m happy this story got some legs on it. It was the first thing I wrote after a long bout of writer’s block, and while it was flawed, I liked the heart of it. At the time there was a short story contest, and I wrote this because I liked the prompt, and decided what the hey, just submit it. Obviously it didn’t win, but it was shortlisted, which was a much-needed boost to my self-esteem at the time. When I saw the call for this anthology, I remembered this story, and how it probably wasn’t that far off the mark. So I went over it, rewrote it, and submitted it, and here we are.

Danse Macabre will be coming out in October, just in time for Halloween.