Deadline: August 30th, 2024
Payment: $25 plus contributor’s copy
Theme: A story about a store that sells Gods who are attached to items, or more importantly, the items themselves, further details below

This is an anthology different from most we have done. It is the follow-up to the original GODS & SERVICES, and there is a definite theme to which we will require far stricter adherence.

There is a store. It wasn’t there yesterday. It won’t be there tomorrow. There’s no way it could have fit where it is. The sign in the window obviously is meant to read GOODS & SERVICES, but one of the Os has fallen.

The proprietor is a sort of short, tall, fat, thin, young, old, sometimes a woman fellow named Hiram Priest. The merchandise is flea market quality mixed with priceless and rare antiques all sharing the same space with no apparent organization.

Hiram sells gods. He sells gods by selling items to which a god, long out of work, is attached. After an unwary buyer has purchased an item (and the item can be anything), the god attached to it is then obliged, in exchange for the worshipful offering, to make the character’s life better — in the opinion of the god in question. (For inspiration, watch Tony Randall and Burl Ives in “The Brass Bottle” — or better yet, read the first book.)

Your story does not have to reflect any of the information about Hiram, or indeed have any interactions with him. The key ingredients are the item, the god, and what follows after. The story can be horror, fantasy, or comedy.

All the stories will be inserted into a larger framework , with Hiram Priest relating them to a prospective buyer. Again, the best advice here is to read the original book.

COMPENSATION: $25 plus contributor’s copy; contributors have the right to purchase additional copies at print cost.

DEADLINE: August 30, 2024

SUGGESTED WORD COUNT: Between 3,000 to 10,000 words.

Via: Critical Blast.