“We Wish You a Happy Killday” is the story of an international beloved holiday called “Killday” where one day a year everyone over the age of fifteen is permitted to register for a license allowing them to kill one other person. But this year Chad Ovenstock doesn’t feel like killing anyone. His friends and family urge him to participate in the festivities, but he can’t seem to get into the holiday spirit.

On the day before Killday Chad comes in contact with Ambrose, an old friend who suffered a nervous breakdown and is now part of The One Ant Army, a mysterious cult dedicated to making the future disappear. When the holiday finally arrives Chad refuses to participate and tries to survive on his own, surrounded by constant gunfire, countless corpses, and the nagging suspicion that Ambrose may have secretly brainwashed him into becoming a member of The One Ant Army cult.

He visits his aunt in the hospital, gets shot in the arm, and dragged to a party: just another Killday full of traditional high-spirited bloodshed. Shot, wounded, and disorientated from powerful painkillers, Chad struggles to come to terms with his place in the strange and bewildering world around him.

Jason Heroux is the author of three poetry collections, Memoirs of an Alias, Emergency Hallelujah, and Natural Capital, and the novella Good Evening, Central Laundromat (shortlisted for the 2011 ReLit Award). His poetry has appeared in chapbooks and magazines in Canada, the US, Belgium, France, and Italy, and was featured in the anthology Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets. He lives in Kingston, Ontario.