Apex Publications bought a collection of Stoker Award finalst Gene O’Neill‘s stories, which they’ll be publishing in August 2009 under the title A Taste of Tenderloin. These eight stories of the dark side are set in San Francisco’s ‘Loin sector. The ‘Loin, O’Neill explains, is “a colorful section of [San Francisco], but rundown now like the famed Bowery used to be in NYC, hookers, pimps, junkies, all kinds of scam artists, but a certain kind of sleazy excitement in the foggy air at night. Some of the characters in the various stories are composites of real people living in the ‘Loin back then. For example, there is a description in ‘The Apotheosis of Nathan McKee’ of an aging junkie playing classical music on a corner for hat money, a tawdry angel trying to flap her broken wings and fly up out of the sleazy muck.’ The ‘Loin will also be described by one-time resident and Mr. O’Neill’s son, Gavin O’Neill, in the introduction to the collection.”