After the Fall: Tales of the Apocalypse: A Collection of Short Stories

Book excerpt: "A desolate landscape, wracked with upheaval, the uncanny nature of a place once so familiar. A revelation of what was formerly undisclosed, the harbingers of apocalypse are edging ever closer..." The wasteland of abandoned memories, the end of the world or a chance for a new beginning. Be it a personal apocalypse, or one of great cataclysm, the stories that arise from the rubble are tales of aftermath and tales of survival. Bridging the gap between Science Fiction and Horror, the gothic overtones of the apocalyptic imagination are explored to their full extent in these short stories. "After the Fall: Tales of the Apocalypse" is a collection of twenty short stories from some of the best up-and-coming writers of modern science fiction. All apocalyptic or dystopian in nature, some stories bring laughter, while others bring tears, but each is unique in its interpretation of the theme. "-After the Fall-" features: "Casting off" by Robert Holtom (Competition winner) As I sit in a cafe, waiting for a loved one, so I contemplate the end of the world. "Nightshade" by Damon DiMarco Civilization's death rattle as we succumb to the Nightshade virus in a curious and ironic way. "In Debt" by Javier Moyano Perez A dystopian story about a fictitious America enslaved for eternity by merciless creditors and artificial age preservation. "The Dying and the Desolation" by Paul S. Huggins Drake is alive, man and animal alike have been wiped off the planet by a virilent form of rabies, immune or lucky he must adapt if he wants to survive. "Seen and not Heard" by Ilana Masad A mother's fight to retain her sanity and her illegal, secret, son in the post-nuclear dictatorship she lives in. "They Turn Red Then Black" by Spencer Lawes In a run-down village dependent on a river of garbage, two boys desperately try to find a way to stop their crippled mother being raped by the inhabitants of nearby villages. "Diary of a Zee" by Brian LeCluyse Set in an apocalyptic, dying Austin, Texas and told from the point of view of a vegetarian, pot-smoking, hippie, liberal zombie. "The Ambulancemen" by Heather Parry A world turned on its head; a world where the sirens of an Ambulance are to be feared, not respected. "You Call This an Apocalypse?" by Errick A. Nunnally Two foster kids more different than alike, from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Boston during the first day of the zombie apocalypse. Also in the collection: "Rush Hour" by Thomas Brown "Sale of the Century" by Liam Brown "We Don't Go to the River" by Jeremy Watssman "All Clear in the Anderton House" by Claire Fuller "Over the Vanishing City" by Toby Lloyd "Up the Road" by Andrew Saxsma "The End of Time" by Robert Legg "Stasis by Rebecca" Jane Garner "The Comeback Tour" by Andrea Mullaney "Anaesthetised" by Emma Lyskava "The Remnants of Civilization" by Vince Liberato Foreword by Kelly Gardner Cover art: "Wanderers of a Poor Town" by Edwin Yang All proceeds from this collection go towards running competitions for aspiring writers!