If you co-edit an anthology, you’ve got to make sure your story stands up alongside the rest, and fortunately Howey does so.
It’s a neatly constructed story, with the narrative opening with a very stylishly handled opening paragraph, to set the scene, with flashbacks from the protagonist. We quickly see the shit hitting the fan, and gradually find out what the shit is and the role he had in the fan (hmm, not sure where that analogy came from, best I make clear the story does not feature a faecal apocalypse..).
The story gets into the protagonists head, and he is left standing on a lakeside, wife and daughter, but little else left, you want to find out what happens next.
More from ‘The End is Nigh’ here.
What was the significance of the drop of blood?