The best horror of the year

Book - 2009

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808.83873/Best v. 11
vol. 11: 1 / 1 copies available
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Subjects
Genres
Horror fiction
Short stories
Science fiction
Periodicals
Published
San Francisco : Night Shade Books [2009]-
Language
English
Item Description
Editor: 2008-, Ellen Datlow.
Physical Description
volumes ; 23 cm
Publication Frequency
Annual
ISBN
9781597809726
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Even with the overall high quality of the latest of Datlow's anthology series, there are some remarkable highlights. Stories of sinister supernatural intrusions such as Gemma Files' Thin Cold Hands has a particularly visceral twist on the changeling child theme, and Siobhan Carroll's Haunt features a strange entity hiding in the wreck of a ship that pursues sailors who served, unquestioning, aboard slaver ships. Others imagine strange, grotesque apocalypses such as Michael Marshall Smith's Shit Happens, where a mysterious fog causes bowel distress and then an intense hunger for blood, or Adam Troy-Castro's Red Rain, a completely second-person narrative in which you are witness to a mysterious and constant rain of bodies from the sky. And there are stories that reimagine history such as John Langan's Haak, where a professor tells stories within stories concerning Joseph Conrad, a lost Spanish ship, and the great god Pan, or Dale Bailey's aptly titled The Donner Party about an alternate Victorian London where the eating of ensouled flesh is the mark of good breeding. Whatever the source of the horror, this excellent anthology demonstrates that Datlow's reputation as one of the best editors in the field is more than well-deserved.--Nell Keep Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

The 25 stories that Datlow has selected as the best short horror fiction of 2018 are impressive in their thematic breadth and tone. At one extreme there are chillers by Kristi DeMeester, Gemma Files, and Eloise C.C. Shepherd that find grist for nightmares in the intimacy of parent/child relationships. At the other extreme are Michael Marshall Smith's "Shit Happens" and Joe Hill's "You Are Released," tales of apocalyptic horror on the seas and in the air. An array of exceptional stories fall in between them, including John Langan's "Haak" and Siobhan Carroll's "Haunt," which build on fantastical elements in the work of Conrad and Coleridge, respectively; Thana Niveau's "White Mare," about the survival of macabre primitive customs into modern times; Thomas Olde Heuvelt's creepy urban legend thriller, "You Know How the Story Goes"; Dale Bailey's anthropophagus alternate history, "The Donner Party"; and Anne Billson's shape-shifter shocker, "I Remember Nothing." Datlow has drawn her selections from a wide variety of sources that even the most dedicated fans may have overlooked, and her comprehensive introductory overview of the year in horror will uncover still more venues for great scares. This is an indispensable volume for horror readers. (Sept.)

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