Promotional image for the HellBound Books upcoming horror anthology “Toilet Zone”

I just got word from the folks at HellBound Books that my short story “Retired” will be appearing in their forthcoming horror anthology Toilet Zone. No, wait! It’s not what you think. Here’s the blurb from the submissions page:

…no, don’t panic, we are not looking for lavatory-themed tales of terror – although should your short story involve the smallest room in the house, we’d be more than delighted to read it! The theme for this anthology is short horror stories that will make an ideal sit-down read, just long enough for those extended stays at the convenience, and terrifying enough that they really are best read whilst over water….

This anthology will be compiled by the incomparable author and filmmaker Bret McCormick, so be sure to write to impress!

We have based story length upon the average time spent upon the convenience (10-15 mins) and the average reading speed (200-250 words per minute), so that the stories within this exceptionally unique anthology will be the perfect ‘per visit’ length!

Needless to say, I’m thrilled.

The original submissions call predicted a June 2019 publication date, but apparently that’s been pushed back a bit. I’ll let you know when things have been updated.

Sad to say, I’m not familiar with McCormick’s works, so I pulled the following off of the Google Books page for his novel Hellfire:

For many years Bret McCormick wrote, produced and directed the cinematic equivalent of pulp fiction; really cheap genre movies for home video release. His blood-drenched micro-budgeted horror film The Abomination has a small but avid cult following. His MetaPulp novels are fantastic, fun and full of concepts, characters and events you will not soon forget.

My “go to genre” is more science fiction and fantasy rather than horror, so I’m particularly pleased “Retired” made the cut. I’ll report more developments as they occur.