STORY SHOWCASE #4

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BONDING TIME

by Colin Adams-Toomey

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A little taster…

The silence stretched, and stretched again. Stan looked at him. Tom gulped at his beer. If he were a less charitable person (he hoped he wasn’t, but seriously) he would swear that Stan was letting the silence spin out.

He started to open his mouth – who knew what was going to come out of it – when Stan clunked his bottle down on the table in a decisive way. “Why don’t we get started?” Tom was almost grateful as he stood. He reflected that only Stan could make a person crave manual labor, as an alternative to sitting with him. Probably, he knew that. Not fair (wasn’t it?). It wasn’t. Tom trailed behind his father-in-law.

About the author

Colin Adams-Toomey is a writer and filmmaker based in the United States. His short stories have been published by Gypsum Sound Tales in their anthology Yabblins: Volume 1, as well as the 4th installment of Fraidy Cat Press’ quarterly anthology, in Hellbound Books’ upcoming anthology, Suburban Nightmares, and in Burial Book’s upcoming anthology, Inanimate Things. His film Lost Creek is available on most streaming platforms, distributed by Gravitas Ventures. Colin lives with his beloved wife Hilary and cat Connal, and ever since he was an undergrad studying ancient Ireland, he always wanted to find a home for Crom Cruach. I guess he has now.

We asked Colin…

K&R: What was the spark or idea that led you to write this story?

CAT: That’s a funny question. So, like most of my stories, Bonding Time came from a couple of places. I studied ancient Irish history and language in undergrad (and I’m fluent in Irish Gaelic as an aside). Crom Cruach is a real ancient god, and once I learned about him, I always knew I wanted to write or create something with him in it. Added to that, I am married. While I love my in-laws, I think all of us can maybe relate a little to the old cliches about the in-laws. I started to think about a story that would encapsulate those issues (living vicariously through your children, the difficulty one sometimes has with one’s in-laws), and I remembered Crom Cruach. The two pieces clicked together, and the story was born. Actually, if it matters, this is the third iteration of a story with Crom involved. The first two were treatments pitched at a screenwriting manager, and they might find life somewhere else. This was my way of thinking about in-laws, and also finding a home for Crom in the meantime.

K&R: Do you have any other work do you have out there, for folks to dig into?

CAT: So, in 2025 my story “The Bonny Swan” was released on The Creepy Corner Podcast, in time for Halloween.

Listen to “The Bonny Swan” here!

My story “Trashman” was published in Issue 28 of Stygian Lepus magazine. Prior to that, my story “I Am Still Here” was published summer 2025 in issue 15 of Rock and a Hard Place, and before that, I had my story “Outside Cat” appear in Hellbound Books’ Suburban Nightmares. My story “Good Bones” appears in Inanimate Things Volume 2, and my story “Veiled Lady” appears in volume 1 of Yabblins. I also have a film out called Lost Creek, and it’s available on most streaming platforms. It’s great for Halloween.

K&R: What’s next for you as a writer?

CAT: Stories, always. But the next thing I’m working on is a screenplay for a new film called God’s Acre, with some cool people attached. It’s historical/folk horror. More soon!

K&R: What does “trashy fiction” mean to you, and what do you love about it?

CAT: For me, trashy fiction goes all over the place. I’m a lover of horror, and horror can be very exploitative, very cash-grabby and grindhouse. But it can also be a place where no one is looking, and that gives artists a place to experiment and prove themselves. A lot of great actors and writers got their start in “trashy” horror and have gone on to really interesting things. I continue to believe that “trashy” genres continue to be a safe space where creativity is fostered.

K&R: Hit us with your own favourite “trashy” fiction recommendations!

CAT: If we are talking “trashy” with some stretch of the word, I’m going with one of my favorite authors in the world, Stephen Graham Jones. And I’m going with Zombie Bake-Off. If you haven’t read it yet, you should. Along with the rest of his work. But Zombie Bake-Off feels particularly appropriate because it marries Graham-Jones’ rough and brutal style with his wit and humor, and also his really amazing creativity and imagination. He takes the zombie genre, which I think we can all agree is tired and played-out, and finds a way to make it fun and exciting again. Every time I read something of his I think, “yeah, that’s why we write.” And also “god dammit, he’s really, really good.”

K&R: If you’ve read the rest of the stories in Trash Tales, what’s your favourite, and why?

CAT: This was actually really hard, and that feels like a cop-out answer. But it truly was. If pushed, I might say “Big Bang Bull and the God Particle” by Mark Patrick Lynch, though I really found the whole book worth reading.

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