After Death

After DeathDeath. Who has not considered their own mortality and wondered at what awaits, once our frail human shell expires? What occurs after the heart stops beating, after the last breath is drawn, after life as we know it terminates? Does our spirit remain on Earth while the mortal body rots? Do remnants of our soul transcend to a celestial Heaven or sink to Hell's torment? Are we offered choices in an individualized afterlife? Can we die again in the

Death. Who has not considered their own mortality and wondered at what awaits, once our frail human shell expires? What occurs after the heart stops beating, after the last breath is drawn, after life as we know it terminates?

Does our spirit remain on Earth while the mortal body rots? Do remnants of our soul transcend to a celestial Heaven or sink to Hell's torment? Are we offered choices in an individualized afterlife? Can we die again in the hereafter? Is life merely a cosmic joke, or is it an experiment for something greater?

Included within this critically acclaimed anthology are answers to these queries alongside tales and suppositions relating from traditional ghosts to the afterlife of e-coli. Explore the afterworld of an Australian cowboy. Discover what the white light really means to the recently departed. Consider the impact of modern, or future, technology on the dead. Follow the karmic path of reincarnation. Travel from the 999th level of Fengdu's Hell to the gates of Robot Heaven.

Enclosed are thirty-four all-new dark and speculative fiction stories, individually illustrated by Audra Phillips, and exploring the possibilities "after death."

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Eric J. Guignard

Someone to Remember by Andrew S. Williams

Boy, 7 by Alvaro Rodriguez

Sea of Trees by Edward M. Erdelac

The Last Moments Before Bed by Steve Rasnic Tem

The Resurrection Policy by Lisa Morton

High Places by John M. Floyd

Circling the Stones at Fulcrum's Low by Kelda Crich

I Will Remain by David Steffen Tree of Life by Aaron J. French

The Reckless Alternative by Sanford Allen & Josh Rountree

The Thousandth Hell by Brad C. Hodson

Mall Rats by James S. Dorr

Afterword by Ray Cluley

Like a Bat out of Hell by Jonathan Shipley

The Overlander by Jacob Edwards

Forever by John Palisano

My Father Knew Douglas MacArthur by Bentley Little

Robot Heaven by Jamie Lackey

Beyond the Veil by Robert B. Marcus, Jr.

Prisoner of Peace by David Tallerman

A Feast of Meat and Mead by Christine Morgan

Be Quiet At The Back by William Meikle

Cages by Peter Giglio

Hammerhead by Simon Clark

Marvel at the Face of Forever by Kelly Dunn

The Unfinished Lunch by Trevor Denyer

I Was The Walrus by Steve Cameron

The Devil's Backbone by Larry Hodges

The Death of E. Coli by Benjamin Kane Ethridge

Final Testament of a Weapons Engineer by Emily C. Skaftun

Acclimation Package by Joe McKinney

Hellevator by Josh Strnad

In and Out the Window by Allan Izen With Max Barry in the Nearer Precincts by John Langan