A Bucket of Halloween? (and a “Sort of” Lagniappe)

“We DO pay for flash fiction,” the guidelines read.  “Halloween theme gives you an edge, but we will consider all forms of horror.  Keep it to a PG-13 level, as we do expect a mixed audience.  Pays five cents per word to 500 words.  No reprints, please.  We will respond to every submission as quickly as we can, but expect 2-4 weeks.”

And so it happened I had a story, if not of Halloween per se, at least Halloween-like, at a little bit over 500 words, but it could use tightening.  I did what was needed and then sent it out — and a week and a day later the email came from Managing Editor Terry M. West:  “Yes, I would like to run this one on September 30.”

The publication is called HALLOWEEN FOREVERMORE and the story in question, “A Bucket of Lo Mein,” the saga of a restaurant bicycle delivery person who works for a man who is not Chinese, but looks a little like Bela Lugosi.  In full disclosure, this is actually the second story I’d sent to HALLOWEEN FOREVERMORE, the first, about chocolate, having been deemed perhaps a bit too much toward the bizarre.  Might I have, instead, something on more of a classic trope?

But of course, I thought — and also about food! — so, for the result, keep an eye out for HALLOWEEN FOREVERMORE in just another week and a day, “a place,” according to the web site, “that celebrates Halloween and the horror genre 365 days a year.  Our goal is to satisfy the casual fan as well as the diehard enthusiast with exclusive content for all things Halloween and horror:  fiction, movies, reviews, interviews and we also offer cool Halloween and horror-themed merchandise all year long.”  And so for a sort of lagniappe — I say “sort of” because this time it’s not my own work I’m offering — I ran across some interesting facts on “The Historical Vampire” in the current issue.  If interested in seeing more, one need but press here.