My sci-fi horror story A Piece of the Sky has been accepted into the Wreckollections: Restrained Cries of the Past anthology by Wicked Shadow Press. It’s a story told through the testimony of the surviving member of a two-person asteroid mining crew that picked up an unfortunate souvenir during their expedition.

With all due respect, sir, you don’t know what you’re talking about. There was no way Bakely could’ve known what the thing was when he picked it up. It looked like a rock. Hell, it was a rock, just a hunk of the asteroid’s crust that he grabbed as a souvenir for his kid. There’s no way he could’ve known it was a nest.

My underwater horror story A Sinking Feeling has been accepted into the Take a Breath: A Collection of Claustrophobic Horror anthology by Storyletter XPress Publishing. It’s the story of two survivors trapped in an air pocket in a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean. And they’re not alone.

“How long before help comes?” Andrei asked.

The two of us were sitting on a sodden mattress that was semi-submerged under the water. It wasn’t exactly a life raft, but it was buoyant enough to keep us somewhat dry. Without the mattress, we’d be in the water up to our necks. With it, the water was only up to our ribs.

I glanced at Andrei. Wet hair stuck to his face in thick, matted strips that looked like rotting seaweed. Beads of water clung to his spiny, rust-colored beard. The chattering of his teeth reminded me of the clicking of Scrabble tiles in a velvet bag.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

My psychological horror novelette Make It a Double has been accepted into the Tiny Terrors anthology by Graveside Press. It’s about a consolatory toast that turns into a blessing … and then a curse.

The bartender laughed. He filled the glass, then flipped a shot glass out from under the bar and filled that too. After dropping the whiskey bottle into the well, he picked up the shot and held it aloft in a toast.

“To Michaelson,” he proclaimed. “May whatever luck comes to him, come to you, times two.”

“Amen,” Lewis said as he clinked his glass with the bartender. “From your mouth to God’s ears.”

My short horror story Something’s Wrong With Mom has been accepted by 7th Circle Pyrite. It’s the story of two brothers who wake up in the middle of the night to discover that their mother is on the ceiling. Again.

Grant yanked the blanket away from Jimmy’s face and shook him again, with both hands this time.

Jimmy planted a hand on Grant’s chest and pushed him away. “Stop, I said!”

“You have to get up!”

“Why?”

“Something’s wrong with Mom.”