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
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

Reader Reviews

Tracy

(4/5)

Apr 25, 2024

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.

Kelly

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...

Rose

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

Frank Errington

(5/5)

Review copyNancy 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 (...

Mimi

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."

Cameron

(3/5)

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.

Edwin Downward

Honourable mentions go to:Death Drive A Cordoba by Ryan McFaddenAn Inspector Calls by Rebecca BradleyThings In Jars by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Paul

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 p...

M. Fenn

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 s...

Hussain

(2/5)

The award winning author Nancy Kilpatrick

Ron

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-tw...

Falbs

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.

Carla

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.

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Popular Genres

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Expiration Date

Expiration Date

Expiration Date

More books from Gar Reeves-Stevens

Reader Reviews