The Inanimates I Anthology

It's out! It's available for purchase from Strange, Weird and Wonderful Publishing.

My story, Whistle Stop, appears in this anthology.

Here's a review sent to me by the editors.

A review by James Ward Kirk
 “Whistle Stop”
 Robin Van Eck

Van Eck manages to write a horror story both brutal and beautiful. Her method of description is excellent from the most mundane to the most horrible: “He smiled and helped her into the long sleeves. The tag scratched her neck,” and “Blood and gin trailed down the green porcelain, disappeared down the drain. Acid seared its pipes. The Motel swallowed” are perfect examples. The prose is taut. Upon first glance, I thought choosing a motel for an inanimate object was a bit lazy but by the end of the story I felt empathy for the Motel. If you read this review before you read the story, pour some wine, put “Hotel California” on to play, sit back and prepare to be brutalized—in a beautiful way. I see Poe’s influence in Eck’s writing—study the female characters. Robin Van Eck has a bright future.

I'm especially pleased with this story for a few reasons, the least of which is because it got published.

1. I didn't write this story for the call. I wrote it for myself, wanting to try something different, and then thanks to a dear friend and writing colleague, found this call for submissions. I really didn't think I'd ever find a place where it fit.

2. It's the one and only place I sent it so this is probably the first story I wrote that never saw a rejection.

3. It's classified as horror, but I really don't think it's horror. It's just a good story.

4. It was interesting to write, for the most part, from the POV of something other than a human. As the anthology says, everything has a story.

5. For the same reason above, it was a difficult story to write.

6. And okay, it's published. Technically, internationally published.

Not sure if it's available in e-book or if it will be. But if you feel so inclined, it's only $11.99 plus S&H.