Expiration Date

Otherworld Stories

by Nancy Kilpatrick (Editor), Kelley Armstrong (Contributor), Lois H. Gresh (Contributor)

Modern lives seem littered with expiration dates. Packaging tells us when our food will go bad; when we can expect appliances to cease functioning; when contracts for the internet finish! But as annoying as these small expiration dates are, they fade to nothing compared to the larger events: when a species goes extinct; when a body of water evaporates, or dies because the PH balance alters; when giant icebergs break apart and glaciers melt forever, threatening the ecosystem of this planet.
Nancy Kilpatrick has gathered together twenty-five original stories by Kelley Armstrong; Nancy Holder & Erin Underwood; Steve and Melanie Tem; Lois Gresh; Gar and Judy Reeves-Stevens; Daniel Sernine; Paul Kane; Sephera Giron; Kathryn Ptacek; Steve Vernon and others to look at the what-if’s of our expiring future.
These stories span a range of emotions. Some will make you laugh, other will make you cry. They are grim and hopeful, sad and joyous, horrifying and comforting. You can expect to be touched in some way.

Introduction by Nancy Kilpatrick

NEGOTIATING OBLIVION
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word by Kelley Armstrong
Banshee by Daniel Sernine (translation by Sheryl Curtis)
Riding Shotgun by Elaine Pascale
The Twenty Seven Club by J. M. Frey
Trinity Death by Steve Vernon
What I Said to Richie was… by Ken Goldman
To Dance, Perchance to Die by David McDonald
Death Doll by Lois H. Gresh

RESISTING EXTINCTION
The Long Wait by R. B. Payne
That Brightness by Mary E. Choo
Night Market by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem
Sooner by Morgan Dambergs
The Great Inevitable by Patricia Flewwelling
In a Moment by Christine Steendam
Death Drives a Cordoba by Ryan McFadden
Prison Break by Tobin Elliott
This Strange Way of Dying by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Deaths of Jeremiah Colverson by George Wilhite

BEST BEFORE / BEST AFTER
The Shadow of Death by Paul Kane
An Inspector Calls by Rebecca Bradley
What Would Lizzie Do? by Sèphera Girón
Ashes to Ashes by Amy Grech
The Greyness by Kathryn Ptacek
things in jars by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Right of Survivorship by Nancy Holder and Erin Underwood

Genres: Short Stories, Anthologies, Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Supernatural, Fantasy

274 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2015

About the author

Nancy Kilpatrick was a Canadian author who wrote stories in the genres of dark fantasy, horror, mystery, erotic horror, and gothic subculture.
She is most known for her vampire themed works.

Reviews

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review copy

Nancy Kilpatrick is a writer and editor. She has published 18 novels, 1 non-fiction book, over 200 short stories, 5 collections of stories, and has edited 12 anthologies.

Her latest is Expiration Date, an anthology of brilliant stories that examine all sorts of expirings, but mainly the ones that are personal, because those are the demises that matter most to us. The collection of stories is broken into 3 parts; Negotiating Oblivion (trying to reason with death); Resisting Extinction (trying to avoid death); and Best Before/Best After (A group of stories tied to death).
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Negotiating Oblivion

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"Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" by Kelley Armstrong - Even vampires come with an expiration date. A clever, likable story. - Kelley is the author of the Cainsville, a modern gothic series and the Otherworld urban fantasy series. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her family.


"Banshee" by Daniel Sernine with translation by Sheryl Curtis - A delightful tale on the legend of the Banshee. - Daniel Sernine has a career spanning more than 40 years, with 39 books to his credit. - Sheryl Curtis is a professional translator from Montreal, Quebec, with translated stories appearing in a variety of popular publications.


"Riding Shotgun" by Elaine Pascale - A fascinating fantasy involving a mythical wolf and death. - Elaine lives on Cape Cod with her husband, son, and daughter. Her writing has been published in several magazines and anthologies. Elaine enjoys a robust full moon, chocolate and collecting cats.


"The Twenty Seven Club" by J. M. Frey - After reading the story, I went back and looked at the title. Perfect, just like this Rock & Roll tale. - J. M. Frey is an actor, author, and fanthroplogist. This is her first horror short.


"Trinity Death" by Steve Vernon - Having the ability to jump into others minds and influence their decisions has its advantages until death enters the equation. - Steve is a hybrid author with both traditionally released ghost story collections — Haunted Harbours; Halifax Haunts; The Lunenburg Werewolf — and independently released e-books such as Flash Virus; Tatterdemon; Big Hairy Deal.


"What I Said to Richie Was…" by Ken Goldman - A charming story of a brother's love. - Ken is a former English and Film Studies teacher, who lives in Pennsylvania and the South Jersey shore. His stories received seven honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror and appear in over 750 publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia.


"To Dance, Perchance to Die" by David McDonald - Another perfect title. Living in a tumultuous time in Europe, a dancer is given the gift of immortality, but what if you don't want to live forever. - David is a professional geek from Melbourne, Australia who works for an international welfare organization. When not on a computer or reading a book, he helps run a local cricket club. He is a member of the Australian Horror Writers Association, the IAMTW and the SuperNOVA writers group.


"Death Doll" by Lois H. Gresh - If you don't expire at your appointed time, it can throw off the balance of life and death. - Lois is the New York Times Best-Selling Author of 27 books and 60 short stories. Lois has received Bram Stoker Award, Nebula Award, Theodore Sturgeon Award, and International Horror Guild Award nominations.

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Resisting Extinction

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"The Long Wait" by R. B. Payne - A wonderful tale of hanging on, lovingly told. - R. B. Payne says he is assembled from stolen body parts, R. B. Payne lives in the hope of someday being human. Meanwhile, he writes. His stories are in Times of Trouble; Chiral Mad, and a graphic dog-men novel from Island Tales.


"That Brightness" by Mary E. Choo - Another story of cheating death. - Mary's work has appeared in many publications, both print and electronic. She has been on the preliminary ballots of the Nebula and Bram Stoker awards (the latter for poetry) and is a two-time Aurora finalist.


"Night Market" by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem - A beautifully written story, but not my favorite. Left me a bit confused. - This spring PS Publishing is bringing out Steve's stand-alone novella In the Lovecraft Museum. The late Melanie Tem’s work has received the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Awards, as well as a nomination for the Shirley Jackson Award.


"Sooner" by Morgan Dambergs - Playing let's make a deal with Death. - Morgan Dambergs has had short stories published in several anthologies, including Rock ‘N’ Roll is Dead and The Big Book of New Short Horror. She hopes to one day publish a novel. She owns a small secondhand bookstore, where she happily spends her days reading, writing, and chatting about books.


"The Great Inevitable" by Patricia Flewwelling - When it comes to making deals with Death, be careful what you ask for. - Patricia is the author of the science fiction novel Helix: Blight of Exiles, and the dieselpunk series. She writes almost anything that can be labelled dark, action-packed, and ironic.


"In a Moment" by Christine Steendam - This story actually brought me to tears. Christine has been writing stories since she could put pen to paper and form words. Now, fifteen years later, her debut novel, Heart Like an Ocean is available and she is working on her second book. Christine makes her home in Manitoba with her husband, two kids, and horse.


"Death Drives a Cordoba" by Ryan McFadden - Great title and another well-told story, although all of this death is getting a bit depressing. - Ryan is a two-time Aurora winning writer from London, Ontario. His most recent writing credits are stories in the anthologies When the Villain Comes Home and Blood and Water.


"Prison Break" by Tobin Elliott - Another clever title - Thanks to a boy's love and belief, even a dog can escape death. - Tobin is a Creative Writing teacher, a freelance editor and writing mentor, and a writer of horror. He has one published short story and three novellas. His first novel, will be published this year.


"This Strange Way of Dying" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. One should make a promise unless they know what the promise is for. - Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s debut novel Signal to Noise, about magic, music and Mexico City, is out now. Some of her stories appear in the collection Love & Other Poisons, and in a bunch of anthologies.


"The Deaths of Jeremiah Colverson" by George Wilhite - An interesting twist on the battle with Death and a chilling look into one possible future. - George is the author of the horror collections On the Verge of Madness and Silhouette of Darkness, as well as nearly one hundred stories and poems in print or online.

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Best Before / Best After

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"The Shadow of Death" by Paul Kane - Even a man who believes he is Death incarnate must face Death. - Paul is the award-winning, bestselling author and editor of over fifty books. His work has been optioned and adapted for the big and small screen.


"An Inspector Calls" by Rebecca Bradley - One of my favorites in a book filled with great reads. - Rebecca puts her background to good use in this story. - She has fond memories of working as an archaeologist in Egypt and the Sudan, and once shared a dighouse with a crowd of millennia-dead Nubians. She now lives in the West Kootenays of British Columbia, with some very lively cats.


"What Would Lizzie Do?" by Sèphera Girón - A totally enjoyable tale of a ghost hunter staying at the Lizzie Borden house. - Sèphera is about halfway to her personal expiration date and still has loads to say. The author of a dozen published books, she’s also penned hundreds of short stories, blogs, articles, and horoscopes.


"Ashes to Ashes" by Amy Grech - The title says it all. - Amy has sold over one hundred stories and three poems to various anthologies and magazines including Dead Harvest, and Shrieks and Shivers from the Horror Zine. Amy is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association.


"The Greyness" by Kathryn Ptacek - This is a somewhat creepy story of a woman whose husband passes unexpectedly, leaving her with an unusual talent, or is it more of a curse? - Kathryn Ptacek's novels (in various genres) are being reissued as ebooks from Crossroad Press and Necon Ebooks. She lives in the beautiful northwest corner of New Jersey where she keeps a lively garden. She also collects teapots and beads.


"things in jars" by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens - A strange yet entertaining little story of tent in the middle of the desert nearby a one pump gas station filled with things in jars. That'll be 25 Cents, please. - Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens are New York and Los Angeles Times bestselling novelists. Stephen King praised their thriller, Icefire, as “the best suspense novel of its type since The Hunt for Red October.”


"Right of Survivorship" by Nancy Holder and Erin Underwood - I loved this tale. After the death of his uncle, Michael O'Dare is drawn into a world he doesn't exactly believe in where he must sign a lease for the rights to the world or it will all return to the possession of the fae. - Nancy is a New York Times bestselling author and has received five Bram Stoker Awards. This is her second short story written with Erin Underwood. - Erin Underwood is a writer and editor as well as the publisher at Underwords Press.


From EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, Expiration Date is available now in both paperback and ebook formats.

Don't miss this solid anthology.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many things in life have an ending or an expiration date. It can range from the food in your refrigerator, to the finish of a horse race, to the stopping of a stop-watch, to the end of a person's life. That's what this group of new stories is all about.

Stuck in that split second before dying (or not dying) in an auto accident, a woman gets to see how her family will survive, both with her and without her. Fascinated by death from an early age, a woman becomes an EMT to get as close to death as possible. She learns that when a person's time has come, getting in the way, and bringing them back to life, is not a good idea. Death makes several appearances in this book.

A group of present-day ghost hunters gets a little too close to the ghost of Lizzie Borden and her axe. A young boy is visiting his very sick younger brother in the hospital; the younger brother's life expectancy is down to minutes. Does he tell his younger brother what he really thinks, that there is nothing after this life, except blackness and decay? On the other hand, does Older Brother tell Younger Brother that he is going to nice place full of green grass, where he will meet his deceased grandparents?

When a person dies suddenly, like in an auto accident, is there someone nearby to help them get to the Other Side, or do they have to find their own way? There are a couple of stories about people who, from the outside, look to be in an irreversible coma, but, on the inside, they are very much alive.

I enjoyed reading this book. All of the stories are excellent; some of them actually reach the level of Wow. Only a couple of stories get into actual horror. Death will affect everyone eventually; these tales provide some possible ways that it will happen. This is highly recommended.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ARC copy of this book for an honest review. What a delight to find so many horror stories in one book. An anthology of stories from various authors. Many of whom are Canadian much to my delight. While there were a few I quickly skimmed through, that I didn't really enjoy, most were thought provoking. Most revolved around the "grim reaper" and death visiting. It was a wonderful mixture of stories.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an arc of this book from librarything in exchange for a review.


Like most anthologies, this one was a mix of good and bad, however the good heavily outweighed the bad. In fact there were only two stories that I didn't finish. There were more 5 star stories in this anthology than in any other I have ever read. I highly recommend it.

[M. Fenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

By random happenstance, the next book on my TBR pile was another collection from Edge Science Fiction & Fantasy Publishing (an imprint of Hades Publications, to get picky). LibraryThing sent me this one, too, as an Early Reviewer giveaway. Expiration Date is a collection of tales all having to do with endings–the death of someone in the story, more often than not. The editor Nancy Kilpatrick sets out the parameters of the anthology in an interesting introduction that got me excited to read the stories.

The book is divided into three sections, “Negotiating Oblivion,” “Resisting Extinction,” and “Best Before/Best After.” I found excellent stories in all three parts. Favorites include: Silvia Moreno-Garcia‘s* “This Strange Way of Dying,” a cool tale of love and death; “The Twenty Seven Club” by J.M. Frey**, which provides a possible explanation for the early deaths of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendryx, et al (you know about the 27 Club, right?); Rebecca Bradley‘s “An Inspector Calls,” which shows the inner workings of ancient Egypt’s funeral industry; R.B. Payne‘s look into the mind of a comatose woman in “The Long Wait;” and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens‘ “things in jars,” a perfect Twilight Zone piece. Each of these authors brings a unique shape to the theme, or, if not exactly brand new, holds it to the light in a way that makes it shine.

My main complaint with Expiration Date is that it relies too heavily on stories that use the overdone (to my tastes) “bargaining with death” trope without really making anything new out of it. I think this weakens the collection and bogs down the middle for me. That said, the collection’s another solid read from Edge and worth checking out. 3.7/5



*I also enjoyed Moreno-Garcia’s translation of Nelly Geraldine Garcia-Rosas’ “Ahuizotl” in the Apex Book of World SF, volume 3
**whose “The Moral of the Story” was one of my many favorites in Wrestling With Gods

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a nice selection of stories. Although one of the main draws for me was a contribution by Kelley Armstrong, I was actually disappointed with her story. It felt more like a chapter taken from a novel than a short story. Many of the stories are from lesser known authors (at least lesser known to me) and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed those contributions even more than the ones from well-known authors. Horror fans should definitely check this out.

Note: I was provided a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally like short story collections as it allows me to experience a number of authors without committing too much time to one book. However, Expiration Date had only three stories that caught and kept my attention - Sorry Seems to by the Hardest Word by Kelley Armstrong; Banshee by Daniel Sernine, and Right of Survivorship by Nancy Holder and Erin Underwood. The other stories passed before my glazing eyes without really registering. However, your tastes my like these three and the twenty-two other stories in the volume.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This collection of stories all rotate around one main topic: Death. Some deal directly with the impact and many others feature Death himself as a main character. This is a greaat compilation with a relatively narrow topic. As would be the case in any short story compilation, I was thoroughly impressed with some of the stories and others left me wanting. All in all though, Expiration Date was fully worth the read.

[Falbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read several of these stories ahead of 'The God of Small Things' and several afterward, and like many anthologies there were a few stories too nostalgic or fantastic for my taste, but several really hit home, especially 'Night Market' and 'The Greyness' that I would highly recommend.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only story I read in this book was the one by Kelley Armstrong: "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word." I enjoyed it and liked the rapport and the give and take between Cass and Zoe. Short, but a good addition to "Otherworld Stories."

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of stories about life and death, some supernatural. I liked most of them.

[Hussain · Rating 2 out of 5]

The award winning author Nancy Kilpatrick

[Edwin Downward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honourable mentions go to:

Death Drive A Cordoba by Ryan McFadden
An Inspector Calls by Rebecca Bradley
Things In Jars by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens