The Best Horror of the Year – Volume One

The twenty-one stories and poems included were chosen from magazines, webzines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections. One story and one poem were published in single author collections. One story was originally published in a webzine. The authors reside in the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Wales, and Thailand. Thirteen out of twenty-one stories are by writers whose stories I've never before chosen for a best of the year volume, which is probably a record.

Awards

The Bram Stoker Awards for Achievement in Horror is given by the Horror Writers Association. The full membership may recommend in all categories but only active members can vote on the final ballot. The awards for material appearing during 2007 were presented at the organization's annual banquet held Saturday evening, March 29, 2008, in Salt Lake City, Utah, in conjunction with the World Horror Convention.

2007 Winners for Superior Achievement:

Novel: The Missing by Sarah Langan; First Novel: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill; Long Fiction: "Afterward, There Will Be a Hallway" by Gary Braunbeck; Short Fiction: "The Gentle Brush of Wings" by David Niall Wilson; Fiction Collection (Tie): Proverbs for Monsters by Michael A. Arnzen and 5 Stories by Peter Straub; Anthology: Five Strokes to Midnight, edited by Gary Braunbeck and Hank Schwaeble; Nonfiction: The Cryptopedia: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange & Downright Bizarre by Jonathan Maberry & David F. Kramer; Poetry Collection (Tie): Being Full of Light, Insubstantial by Linda Addison and Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet by Charlee Jacob & Marge Simon; Lifetime Achievement Award: John Carpenter, Robert Weinberg; Richard Laymon President's Award: Mark Worthen, Stephen Dorato, Christopher Fulbright.

The Shirley Jackson Award, recognizing the legacy of Jackson 's writing, and with permission of her estate, was established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic. The inaugural awards were announced at Readercon, held in Burlington, Massachusetts.

The winners for the best work in 2007:

Novel: Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand (Small Beer Press); Novella: Vacancy by Lucius Shepard (Subterranean #7, 2007); Novelette: "The Janus Tree" by Glen Hirshberg (Inferno, Tor); Short Story: "The Monsters of Heaven" by Nathan Ballingrud (Inferno, Tor); Collection: The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron (Night Shade Books); Anthology: Inferno edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor).

The British Fantasy Society announced the winners of the British Fantasy Awards for 2008 at the awards banquet of Fantasycon 2008 in Nottingham, England on September 20.

The Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award: Scott Lynch; BFS Special Award: The Karl Edward Wagner Award: Ray Harryhausen; Best Non-Fiction: Peter Tennant, Whispers of Wickedness website reviews; Best Artist: Vincent Chong; Best Small Press: Peter Crowther, PS Publishing; Best Anthology: Stephen Jones, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18 (Robinson); Best Collection: Christopher Fowler Old Devil Moon (Serpent's Tail); Best Short Fiction: Joel Lane, "My Stone Desire" (Black Static #1, TTA Press); Best Novella: Conrad Williams, The Scalding Rooms (PS Publishing); Best Novel: The August Derleth Fantasy Award: Ramsey Campbell, The Grin of the Dark (PS Publishing).

The International Horror Guild Awards for works from 2007 were announced Friday, October 31, 2008, and posted on the IHG website. Peter Straub, named earlier as the year's Living Legend, was honored in an essay by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz.

Winners for the best work in 2007:

Novel: The Terror by Dan Simmons (Little, Brown); Long Fiction: Softspoken by Lucius Shepard (Night Shade Books); Mid-Length Fiction: "Closet Dreams," by Lisa Tuttle (Postscripts #10); Short Fiction: "Honey in the Wound" by Nancy Etchemendy (The Restless Dead); Illustrated Narrative: The Nightmare Factory, Thomas Ligotti (Fox Atomic/Harper Paperbacks); Collection: Dagger Key and Other Stories, Lucius Shepard (PS Publishing); Anthology: Inferno, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor); Nonfiction: Mario Bava: All the Colors of Dark, Tim Lucas (Video Watchdog); Periodical: Postscripts; Art: Elizabeth McGrath (for "The Incurable Disorder," Billy Shire Fine Arts, December 2007).

Judges for this year's awards were Edward Bryant, Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Ann Kennedy VanderMeer, and Hank Wagner. This was the last year that the award was given.

The World Fantasy Awards were announced November 2, 2008, at the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary, Alberta. Lifetime Achievement recipients were previously announced.

Winners for the best work in 2007:

Life Achievement: Patricia McKillip and Leo & Diane Dillon; Novel: Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay (Viking Canada; Roc); Novella: Illyria by Elizabeth Hand (PS Publishing); Short Story: "Singing of Mount Abora" by Theodora Goss (Logorrhea); Anthology: Inferno, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Tor); Collection: Tiny Deaths by Robert Shearman (Comma Press); Artist: Edward Miller; Special Award, Professional: Peter Crowther (PS Publishing); Special Award, Non-Professional: Midori Snyder & Terri Windling (Endicott Studios Website).

Notable Novels of 2008

The Resurrectionist by Jack O'Connell (Algonquin) is the author's fifth novel, and as with his previous ones his lucid prose easily carries the reader into realms of the phantasmagoric. The story begins with a man taking a job at a very special clinic, hoping that the doctors there can miraculously help his comatose son, who is a patient. A second strand of the story follows the adventures of a group of circus freaks on the run from hostility and discrimination-a graphic novel series the man's son loves. The third strand involves a motorcycle gang, one of whose members has infiltrated the clinic. The strands tenuously come together to create a moving finale.

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow (Harper) is a werewolf novel told in verse, but don't let that scare you away. It's free verse, not rhyming, and the book is wonderfully gripping, in part due to the compression of language. Go and read it, you'll not be disappointed. Highly recommended.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (Doubleday) is a dark, offbeat love story about the deepening relationship between a male, ex-porn-star hideously burned in a terrible accident, and a brilliant sculptor of gargoyles who claims to have been a reincarnated nun from the middle ages where they were lovers. The woman (who most people in the novel believe is mentally ill, but is quite obviously not, to any fantasy reader) tells wonderful stories within the overarching story of their love to both entertain and teach the recovering man. Not really horror- although there are horrific descriptions of the accident that maimed the man and other dark bits- but always absorbing.

The Man on the Ceiling by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem (Discoveries) is an expansion of the multi award-winning novella by the Tems, published in 2000. A kind of fictionalized family memoir, their story is told in sections by each of them. It is imaginative, harrowing, moving, and always thoughtful about transmuting one's life experience into fiction and how that reflects back onto the creator. The book doesn't really add to the brilliance of the novella, but for those who missed that gem this is a worthwhile substitute.

The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll (Farrar, Straus) is about a man who should have died, but didn't. There's a glitch in the system, so he's still around, but he's got a ghost who lives with him (although he doesn't realize it). The ghost-which can manifest as anything it likes, including a fly-is in love with the dead guy's ex-girlfriend. The Angel of Death is not happy. And of course, as in almost all of Carroll's novels, there's a dog.

Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski (St. Martin 's Press) is a clever, violent, fast-moving romp that, if the reader stops to actually think about it, makes very little sense. An executive invites his key personnel to a mysterious Saturday morning meeting in the office and then offers them poison-laced juice to drink-or face a more violent death. Why does he want to kill them and will anyone get out alive?

Infected by Scott Sigler (Crown) is an sf/horror thriller about a series of horrific homicides committed by seemingly normal, happy citizens. The story alternates between the governmental and medical teams tracking down and studying the plague, and a newly infected victim and his efforts to rid himself of what's ailing him. Entertaining, but with large plot holes that hopefully will be plugged in the sequel, titled Contagious.

Sway by Zachary Lazar (Little, Brown) miraculously projects the reader into the lives and minds of some of the prime movers of the sixties: underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger; Brian Jones, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones; and would-be rocker/Charlie Manson follower Bobby Beausoleil. By doing this, Lazar creates something that reads almost like a memoir of the era that started with love and promise, culminating in darkness, with the murders of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the Manson killings, and the near-riot at the Stones' concert at Altamont. The voices are so authentic-sounding, it's as if the author is channeling his characters.

The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford (William Morrow) is a satisfying expansion of Ford's novella " Botch Town," creating a sharp snapshot of growing up on Long Island, New York, in the early 1960s. Two brothers and their young sister investigate mysterious occurrences in the neighborhood, partly with the help of the sister's seemingly preternatural powers of detection. The adult narrator looking back at a dark year in his family's hometown, never intrudes on the story and the characters are so realistic that it's almost painful to read about them. Highly recommended.

Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory (Del Rey) is an impressive first novel that's a dazzling mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. In an alternate reality, archetypical "demons" appear on earth in the mid-1950s, possessing ordinary citizens. There are faint echoes of O'Connell's The Resurrectionist (mentioned above). A young man who was possessed by such a demon when he was a young boy has been troubled ever since, believing that the demon never left. His voyage of self-discovery is traumatic and moving.

The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill (Overlook Press) is a well-packaged little hardcover novella. It's an absorbing ghost story of spurned love, vengeance, and a mysterious painting, but like Hill's more famous The Woman in Black (adapted into a long-running play), its ideal readers are those unfamiliar with the classic ghost stories of the last century and a half. For most everyone else, there's nothing remarkable about Hill's work.

Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout (William Morrow) is a marvelous prose debut by a Mexican graphic novelist about a call-in radio host with a strange and tragic past who becomes caught up by the true ghostly experiences that his callers reveal. Haunting, and with short, snappy chapters, fast-moving.

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindquist (Quercus) was originally published in Sweden in 2004. It came out in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2007, and the movie based on the novel was released in 2008. I saw the movie first and although I ended up enjoying the movie more than the novel, the novel is also quite good. Oskar, a bullied twelve-year-old, lives with his divorced mother in a housing complex, just outside Stockholm. Mysterious neighbors move next door, heralding several brutal murders in the area. Oskar meets one of the new neighbors, Eli, a 200-year-old vampire child as lonely as he is. There are some nice touches as their relationship develops. And there are also some terrific scenes indicating what happens when a vampire doesn't follow its own kind's rules, such as when it enters a dwelling uninvited. Both novel and movie do a terrific job of depicting pre-teen loneliness and the cold, bleak Swedish winter.

The Sister by Poppy Adams (Knopf) is a subtle first novel of psychological suspense narrated by a fascinating voice. Virginia and Vivian are sisters who are unexpectedly reunited after almost fifty years, when Vivian returns to the family home in Dorset where her Ginny has lived alone for decades, continuing her father's work as a lepidopterist. The return of the vivacious and selfish Vivian churns up memories and causes a major upheaval in the measured ordered life that Virginia has constructed for herself.

Rain Dogs by Gary McMahon (Humdrumming) is the author's first novel, although he's written some fine short stories over the years. A rain dog is a dog that cannot find its way home because its trail has been washed away by the rain. This definition serves as the epigraph for the short novel, and perfectly describes the plight of the two main characters. An ex-con returns home, hoping to redeem himself in the eyes of the wife and child he left behind in the aftermath of the violence that sent him to prison. A broken, battered woman who can see ghosts returns to the family she fled two decades ago, sensing that she has unfinished business to attend to. A third, and possibly most important "character," is the never-ending rain plaguing the area. A deluge of Biblical proportions has been brought forth by the inadvertent actions of a grieving woman, unleashing a supernatural power that cannot be controlled. As the storylines converge, the importance-and sometimes poison-of familial relationships is brought into sharp focus.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins) is a charming yet scary coming-of-age story about an orphan brought up by the ghosts in a graveyard after his family is murdered by a mystery man. It's got enough nastiness to scare the pants off kids (the intended audience) and should also be thoroughly enjoyed by older readers. (It won the Newbery Medal and the Hugo Award).

Also Noted

This is not meant to be all inclusive but merely a sampling of dark fiction available during 2008.

The paranormal romance subgenre is booming with unending variations of vampires, werewolves, witches, and ghosts. Here's a mere sampling of some of the vampires novels: The Darkness is the newest in L. A. Banks's (St Martin's Press) vampire Huntress series; Chosen by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin's Press) is the third in a series of young adult vampire novels. The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason (Signet Eclipse) is the third in a series about a family of vampire slayers. The Mark of the Vampire Queen by Joey W. Hill (Berkley Heat) another series entry. Midnight Reign by Chris Marie Green (Ace) is the second book in a vampire series. The Vampire of New York by Lee Hunt (Signet), an 1860s murder mystery involving Dracula. Dark Wars: The Tale of Meiji Dracula by Hideyuki Kikuchi (Del Rey), translated from the Japanese, is about Dracula in 1880 Japan. Vampire Interrupted by Lynsay Sands (Avon), about a vampire training to be a private investigator. The Ravening by Dawn Thompson (Love Spell) is part of a historical vampire romance series. The Undead Kama Sutra by Mario Acevedo (Eos) is the third in a vampire mystery series. Blood Colony by Tananarive Due (Atria) is the third installment of her Living Blood series. Midnight Rising by Lara Adrian (Dell) is a vampire romance. Even Aunt Dimity, of the cozy mystery series by Nancy Atherton, gets into the act with Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter (Viking). Staked by J. F. Lewis (Pocket) is a first novel about vampires and werewolves. Breaking Dawn, another in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown). Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston (Del Rey), fourth in the series about a vampiric private eye. Brides of the Impaler by Edward Lee (Leisure) is the first vampire novel by the prolific author. The Dracula Dossier by James Reese (Morrow) is about Bram Stoker's investigation of the Jack the Ripper murders in London, and using them later for inspiration in writing Dracula. Vampire Zero by David Wellington (Three Rivers Press), the third book in this continuing series. Yellow Moon by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Atria) is the second of the Marie Laveau mystery series. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley) is sixteenth in the Anita Blake series. Vamps: Vampire American Princesses, Vamps: Night Life, and Vamps: After Dark by Nancy A. Collins (HarperCollins) introduces the creator of the Sonya Blue vampire series to the young adult market with the first three books of a new series. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris (Ace) is a new entry in the Sookie Stackhouse series. A Dangerous Climate, a new Count St. Germain novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Tor).

Other supernatural creatures are far less prevalent than vampires but still popular: Werewolves: The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy (Berkley Sensation). Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge (St. Martin 's) is the first book in a series about a werewolf cop. Howling at the Moon by Karen MacInerney (Ballantine) is the first novel of an urban werewolf trilogy. A new werewolf series by L. A. Banks debuted with Bad Blood (St. Martin 's). Ravenous by Ray Garton (Leisure) is about an infestation of werewolves in a small California town. The Wolfman by George Pekearo (Tor) is about a werewolf who trains himself to only hunt and kill those who are evil. It was the first novel by a young writer whose life was cut tragically short and died before the book's publication.

Witches: The Outlaw Demon Wails (Eos) is sixth in the series about a witch who is a private eye. Witch Blood by Anya Bast (Sensation) is part of a series. The 5^th Witch by Graham Masterton (Leisure) about an LA detective embroiled in a struggle against an international crime czar who uses a witch to enable him to take over LA. Fathom by Cherie Priest (Tor) is about an evil water witch who hopes to awaken mankind's long-sleeping enemy.

Demons: Beast of Desire by Lisa Renee Jones (Silhouette Nocturne) is a romance about demon hunters. The Devouring by Simon Holt (Little, Brown), a young adult novel about a girl confronted by demons that feed on fear. Another novel about creatures that feed upon fear is Mary SanGiovanni's Found You (Leisure), the sequel to The Hollower.

Ghosts: Ghost of a Chance by Kate Marsh (Obsidian) is the first book in a series featuring a ghosthunter. The Wicked Dead, the young adult series about ghosts by Stefan Petrucha and Thomas Pendleton, continues (HarperTeen). Seer of Shadows by Avi (HarperCollins) is a young adult ghost story taking place in 1872. Ghost Walk by Brian Keene (Leisure) is about a haunted Halloween attraction.

Zombies, despite all the hype of 2007, seem to have died down in popularity, judging by the tiny number of novels published last year. Soulless by Christopher Golden (Pocket/MTV Books) is about what happens when a séance held in Times Square somehow summons up the living dead. Empire by David Dunwoody (Permuted Press) with the Grim Reaper as a hero, destroying zombies wherever he goes. Blood of the Dead by A. P. Fuchs (Coscom Entertainment), first in the Undead World trilogy.

Some other odds and ends in the novel category: Stephen King had a big new novel out, Duma Key (Scribner) and so did Dean Koontz with Your Heart Belongs to Me (Bantam). Stephenie Meyer's first adult novel, The Host, was published by Little, Brown. Orgy of Souls by Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus (Apex) was a short novel as was Ray Garton's The Folks 2: No Place Like Home, follow-up to his early short novel The Folks (Cemetery Dance). The Midnight Man by Simon Clark (Severn House). Coffin Country by Gary A. Braunbeck (Leisure), which is a prologue to his Cedar Hill series and includes two reprinted Cedar Hill stories. Johnny Gruesome by Greg Lamberson (Bad Moon Books). The Academy by Bentley Little (Signet). Night Children by Kit Reed (Tor). The Economy of Light by Jack Dann (PS) about a retired Nazi hunter called in by authorities to identify what is thought to be Mengele's body in Brazil. Night Work by Thomas Glavinic, translated from the German by John Brownjohn (Canongate), is about a man who wakes up to find the world deserted. Starts off well but loses steam about halfway through. Contagious by Scott Sigler (Crown) is the sequel to Infected, reviewed above. The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd (Chatto & Windus) is another retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The always reliable Patrick McGrath's Trauma (Knopf) is about a psychiatrist trying to manage his own demons. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale (Walker) is the fictionalized re-creation of an infamous case of child murder taking place in 1860 and Scotland Yard Detective-Inspector Jonathan Whicher who attempted to solve it.

Anthologies

2008 was a disappointing year for original horror anthologies with a few exceptions noted below

The Werewolf Pack, selected and introduced by Mark Valentine (Wordsworth Editions Ltd.) provides a good historical overview of the subgenre with seventeen werewolf stories. Four are contemporary tales, with three original to the volume. The originals by Gail-Nina Anderson, Steve Duffy, and R. B. Russell are very fine contributions to the canon, with Russell's and Duffy's both reprinted herein. From the same publisher, The Black Veil and Other Tales of Supernatural Sleuths, selected and introduced by Mark Valentine, has another seventeen stories, four published for the first time. The reprints are by William Hope Hodgson, Arthur Machen, A. F. Kidd, editor Valentine, and others. The strongest originals are by R. B. Russell and Rosalie Parker. The publisher presents both anthologies so that it appears that editor Valentine wrote all the stories-the front jacket doesn't identify him as the editor and the table of contents has story titles with no individual authors. Very odd.

Shades of Darkness edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden (Ash-Tree Press) is the fifth volume of original fiction in the series and it's excellent. The stories are varied and literate and although the anthology started a little slowly for me, most of the stories are good, and several are better than that. This is one of the best original horror anthologies of the year. Stories by Glen Hirshberg and E. Michael Lewis are reprinted herein.

Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy edited by William Schafer (Subterranean Press) is a beautiful hardcover with stunning cover art by Dave McKean, featuring eleven new stories, all of them good. The best of the darker ones are by Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Rachel Swirsky, William Browning Spencer, and Darren Speegle. The Spencer and Lansdale are reprinted herein.

Exotic Gothic 2 edited by Danel Olson (Ash-Tree Press) is a worthy follow-up to the editor's first, mixed reprint and original anthology. EG2 has all new stories taking place all over the world. The most notable were those by George Makana Clark, Barbara Roden, Nicholas Royle, Nancy A. Collins, Edward P. Crandall, Christopher Fowler, Reggie Oliver, Tia V. Travis, and Robert Hood. The Royle is reprinted herein.

The New Uncanny: Tales of Unease edited by Sarah Eyre and Ra Page (Comma Press) makes great use of Sigmund Freud's 1919 essay listing eight uncanny tropes, "irrational causes of fear deployed in literature." The editors sent the original essay to fourteen writers and asked them "to respond directly and consciously, in any way they wished, with a new story." At least five of the stories use dolls or doubles as their central image. Many of the stories are quite good, making this for me, one of the best original horror anthologies of the year.

The Second Black Book of Horror selected by Charles Black (Mortbury Press) was very good overall, with only a few clunkers. The strongest stories were by Mike Chinn, Rog Pile, Steve Goodwin, writing partners L. H. Maynard and M. P. N. Sims, Daniel McGachey, and Gary McMahon. The Third Black Book of Horror selected by Charles Black also came out in 2008 with good stories by Mike Chinn, Paul Finch, David A. Riley, Craig Herbertson, Joel Lane, Gary McMahon, Paul Newman, and Rog Pile.

Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes edited by J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec (Edge) is a thoroughly entertaining anthology of eleven new stories that likely would have had Holmes turning over in his grave (if he existed), as he loathed any hint of the supernatural, and always solved his cases rationally. But despite this, you the reader can enjoy them. Those I liked the best were by Barbara Roden, M. J. Elliott, Martin Powell, Chris Roberson, J. R. Campbell, Kim Newman, and a collaboration by Chico Kidd and Rick Kennett.

We Fade to Grey edited by Gary McMahon (Pendragon Press) has five non-theme dark novelettes and novellas by British writers. Simon Bestwick's "The Narrows" a very powerful, frightening sf/horror story, is reprinted herein.

Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad edited by Tom English (Dead Letter Press) is a hefty, entertaining anthology of sixty-five stories about nasty, demented, or overly influential books and the people who love or obsess over them. It's a good-looking limited edition hardcover tome of almost eight hundred pages, with half the stories original to the volume, and of those, at least eleven are notable. Illustrations by Allen Koszowski.

The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories edited by Ian Alexander Martin (Humdrumming) is the follow-up to last year's promising anthology and it doesn't disappoint. All fifteen stories appear for the first time and some are quite good, particularly those by Christopher Fowler, Davin Ireland, Michael Kelly, Sarah Pinborough, Simon Strantzas, John Travis, and Conrad Williams.Unfortunately, the press ceased publishing.

Desolate Souls, the souvenir anthology of the World Horror Convention 2008 held in Salt Lake City, Utah, was edited by Mark Worthen and J. P. Edwards (Bones & Casket Press). Thematically related in its use of the desert and other desolate areas around SLC, the anthology includes reprints and originals. The best originals were by Scott Edelman, Linda Addison, and Cullen Bunn.

Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press) contains twenty-three stories featuring gay and lesbian characters, with many of the stories revealing the negative consequences of remaining in the sexual closet. There were very good stories by Lee Thomas, Sarah Langan, C. Michael Cook, and Livia Llewellyn.

The Undead: Headshot Quartet edited by Christina Bivins and Lane Adamson (Permuted Press) has four zombie novellas by John Sunseri, Ryan C. Thomas, David Dunwoody, and D. L. Snell. The most ambitious one is Snell's, about a man who awakes in a zombie-filled alley with no memory but the power to create objects out of nothing.

Hell in the Heartlands edited by Martel Sardina and Roger Dale Trexler (Annihilation Press) features sixteen new stories by Illinois writers. There are notable stories by S. C. E. Cooney, Nikki M. Pill, and a particularly good one by Richard Chwedyk.

Dark Territories edited by Gary Frank and Mary SanGiovanni (GSHW Press) is part of an annual anthology series showcasing stories by members of the Garden State Horror Writers. All fifteen stories take place in New Jersey and twelve are published for the first time.

Like a Chinese Tattoo: Twelve Inscrutably Twisted Tales (DarkArts Books) features four writers with three stories each, most originals. Contributors are Cullen Bunn, Rick R. Reed, David Thomas Lord, and J. A. Konrath. The strongest entries are the novellas by Bunn and Konrath.

The Living Dead edited by John Joseph Adams (Night Shade Books) is an almost five-hundred-page anthology of thirty-four zombie stories (one, a brand new novella by John Langan) including stories by Clive Barker, Laurell K. Hamilton, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite, and others.

Read by Dawn, Volume 3 edited by Adèle Hartley (Bloody Books) has twenty eight new stories, too many of which are thin on character and seem to unfold with no rhyme or reason. However, this volume is a definite improvement over the earlier two volumes in the series, and there are notable stories by Scott Stainton Miller, Samuel Miner, Peter Gutiérrez, Rebecca Lloyd, Joel Sutherland, Ryan Cooper, and Jamie Killen.

Blood Lite edited by Kevin J. Anderson is published under the aegis of the Horror Writers Association and has twenty-one stories of humorous horror. The stories that best accomplish this difficult task are by Janet Berliner, Lucien Soulban, Nancy Kilpatrick, and Jim Butcher.

Sins of the Sirens: Fourteen Tales of Dark Desire edited by John Everson (Dark Arts Books) presents 20,000 words of original and reprinted fiction by four writers: Loren Rhoads, Maria Alexander, Mehitobel Wilson, and Christa Faust. Some good stories here.

Houses on the Borderland edited by David A. Sutton (British Fantasy Society) features six very dark novellas, all inspired by William Hope Hodgson's classic novel, The House on the Borderland.

Horror Library, Volume 3 edited by R. J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press) has thirty original stories, the best of which were by Stephen Couch, Lisa Morton, Kurt Dinan, A. C. Wise, and Michael C. Cook.

Traps edited by Scott T. Goudsward (DarkHart Press) has twenty-eight stories, the best by Del Howison, P. D. Cacek, J. M Heluk, and Nancy Kilpatrick.

Deadlines: An Anthology of Horror and Dark Fantasy edited by Cheryl Mullenax (Comet Press) has twenty stories, two reprints.

Ghost Stories edited by Peter Washington (Knopf) is a new hardcover volume from the Everyman Library series featuring stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Eudora Welty and Vladimir Nabokov, Ray Bradbury, and others.

Erie Tales: Tales of Terror From Michigan presented by the Great Lakes Horror Association and edited by Bob Strauss is the group's first anthology in a planned annual series.

And Soon… the Darkness edited by David Byron is a NVF Magazine publication (Turner/Maxwell Books) with seventeen stories.

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19 edited by Stephen Jones (Robinson): Contained twenty-six stories and novellas, a summary of the year, a necrology, and an index of horror booksellers, organizations, small press publishers, and other useful information. For perhaps the first time in many years the volume covering 2007 did not overlap at all with the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.

Poe's Children: The New Horror, An Anthology edited by Peter Straub (Doubleday) is a strong anthology of dark fiction but has nothing to do with Edgar Allan Poe. What it is, is Straub's appreciation of writers not especially known for their horror but who write it brilliantly. Writers such as Elizabeth Hand, Jonathan Carroll, Kelly Link, Dan Chaon, and Brian Evenson. Also, the seasoned writers who have continuously produced excellent dark work for years, those such as Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, David J. Schow, Thomas Ligotti, Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem, and M. John Harrison. The stories by these and the other thirteen authors chosen to represent the field in all its glory may cause disagreements, but the stories are all worth reading and isn't that what any anthology should be about?

Mixed-genre anthologies

Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness edited by Mike Allen (Norilana Books) is the first volume of a projected annual non-theme anthology of all original fantasy fiction. This volume of eighteen stories has a few dark ones, the best by Leah Bobet, Ekaterina Sedia, and Laird Barron. The Ghost Quartet edited by Marvin Kaye (Tor) features four entertaining new stories by Brian Lumley, Marvin Kaye, Tanith Lee, and Orson Scott Card. Hotter than Hell edited by Kim Harrison (and Martin H. Greenberg, credited on the title page, not the cover) (Harper) is a paranormal romance anthology with lots of hot sex and a bit of horror. Twelve stories, with the best of the darker ones by Tanya Huff and Keri Arthur. D.C. Noir 2: The Classics edited by George Pelecanos (Akashic Books) features reprints by Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Russ Thomas, Ward Just, Elizabeth Hand, Pelecanos himself and other writers not as well-known. Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics edited by Lawrence Block (Akashic Books) features reprints by Joyce Carol Oates, Jerome Charyn, Donald. E. Westlake, Barry N. Malzberg, Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, editor Block, and a host of other well-known writers. Unusual Suspects: Stories of Mystery and Fantasy edited by Dana Stabenow (Ace) features all original stories on the above theme. The best darker stories were by Sharon Shinn and Laurie R. King. Cone Zero: Nemonymous 8 edited by D. F. Lewis (Megazanthus Press) is the editor's continuing experiment in oddly structured anthologies. This one seems to require contributors to use the term "cone zero" somewhere in their story. Four are simply titled "Cone Zero" and two use that phrase in addition to other words. There's not even an introduction to explain the meaning or purpose of Lewis's little game. For this issue, instead of holding the contributor's names back from readers until the next issue of the series, the editor supplies all the names but doesn't reveal who wrote which story. Five of the fourteen stories are both dark and notable. They're by Dominy Clements, A. J. Kirby, Sean Parker, Eric Schaller, and S. D. Tullis. Voices edited by Mark S. Deniz and Amanda Pillar (Morrigan Books) focuses on the history of a hotel's rooms from 1928-2008 and contains original stories by Robert Hood, Gary McMahon, Martin Livings, and others. Better off Undead edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Daniel M. Hoyt (DAW) contains original stories about vampires, haunts, zombies, and mummies but the tone is unusually light. Despite this, there were notable darker stories by Jay Lake, Kate Paulk, and Devon Monk. Alembical: A Distillation of Four Novellas edited by Lawrence M. Schoen and Arthur Dorrance (Paper Golem) features four speculative fiction novellas, including a powerful nightmarish future America envisioned by Jay Lake and a moving ghost story by James Van Pelt. Dreaming Again edited by Jack Dann (HarperVoyager, Australia / Eos, US) follows up Dann's previous non-theme anthology showcase of Australian voices (co-edited with Janeen Webb) the World Fantasy Award-winning Dreaming Down-Under. The second volume is hefty, and there are good darker stories by Trent Jamieson, Lee Battersby, Simon Brown, Sara Douglass, and Terry Dowling. Writers for Relief edited by Davey Beauchamp (Dragon Moon) does something I've never seen a publisher do before: It misspelled one of the two big name contributors' names every place it appears, including on the Table of Contents and under the title of his story. The anthology has a few horror stories in it. The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow (Del Rey) featured several dark stories, including those by Margo Lanagan, Nathan Ballingrud, Anna Tambour, Richard Bowes, and Laird Barron. The Lanagan and Barron are reprinted herein. Istanbul Noir edited by Mustafa Ziyalan and Amy Spangler (Akashic Books) has three good darker stories by Takan Barlas, Sadik Yemni, and Müge 0plikçi. Writers of the Future, Volume XXIV edited by Algis Budrys (Galaxy) has three notable dark stories by Ian McHugh, Sarah L. Edwards, and Al Bogdan. Fast Ships, Black Sails edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (Night Shade Books) is an entertaining mixed-genre bag of pirate stories. The best of the darker stories were by Conrad Williams, and the collaboration by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette. Killers edited by Colin Harvey (Swimming Kangaroo Books) is a good dark crime anthology with notable stories by editor Harvey, Eugie Foster, Philip J. Lees, and Lee Thomas. The Lone Star Stories Reader edited by Eric T. Marin (LSS Press) showcases fifteen varied stories originally published on the website between 2004 and 2008. Otherworldly Maine edited by Noreen Doyle (Down East) combines twenty-one reprinted and original science fiction, fantasy, and dark fantasy stories about Maine by Mark Twain, Stephen King, Elizabeth Hand, Gardner Dozois, Edgar Pangborn, Steve Rasnic Tem, Gregory Feeley, Melanie Tem, and others. Scary Food: A Compendium of Gastronomic Atrocity edited by Cat Sparks (Agog! Press) is more weird and occasionally disgusting than scary but still, it's a fun little book with entries by Gillian Pollack, Anna Tambour, Stephen Dedman, Margo Lanagan, Lee Battersby, and other Australian writers. Wilde Stories 2008: The Best of the Year's Gay Speculative Fiction edited by Steve Berman (Lethe Press) includes some horror, including stories by Lee Thomas, and collaboration by Joel Lane and John Pelan. Wastelands edited by John Joseph Adams (Night Shade) reprints twenty-one post-apocalyptic stories by writers including Stephen King, Octavia E. Butler, Jonathan Lethem, George R. R. Martin, Nancy Kress, and others, plus an original by John Langan. The New Weird edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (Tachyon) attempts to define what just might be un-definable-a mode of literature practiced by a diverse group of writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror who (sometimes) appear preoccupied by the grotesque in their fiction. Some of the writers have been publishing for decades: Kathe Koja, M. John Harrison, Clive Barker, Michael Moorcock, Thomas Ligotti, and Paul Di Filippo, to name just a few of those whose work is included. The problematic argument of "the new weird's" difference from slipstream and/or literary cross-genre fiction aside, there are some very good stories, novel excerpts, and essays.

Collections

The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories by Brian J. Showers (Mercier Fiction) is an attractive-looking little hardcover of seven original stories, adapted by the author from the regional tales of Dublin and its environs. Some of the stories are very creepy, and the book has a gorgeous dust jacket by Scott Hampton and lovingly rendered black and white interior illustrations by Duane Spurlock.

Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters by John Langan (Prime) debut showcases only five stories, all novelettes or novellas, with one new novella. Langan's work is influenced by his work in academia and his interest in the literature of both Henry James and M. R. James. I'm especially fond of Langan's novella "Mr. Gaunt," but all his stories are worth reading. His fine story notes are illuminating to readers who want to know "where did you get that idea."

Other Voices by Andrew Humphrey (Elastic Press) is the second collection by this talented writer. This one, introduced by Eric Brown, contains twelve stories, all but one reprints from such venues as The Third Alternative, Crimewave, Midnight Street, and Bare Bone, and at least half of them received honorable mentions in the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series.

A Thread of Truth by Nina Allen (Eibonvale Press) is an impressive first collection by a writer whose stories I've admired in the magazines Supernatural Tales and Dark Horizons, and in the anthology Strange Tales. Its eight stories are a combination of dark fantasy and dread, mystery, and the occasional barely fantastical. Six appear for the first time in the collection, which came out mid-2007. (first seen in 2008)

Hell Is Murky by John Alfred Taylor (Ash-Tree Press) is a very pleasurable first collection of twenty strange tales published between 1978 and 2007 in venues as varied as The Twilight Zone Magazine, All Hallows, Space and Time, and Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Four of the stories are original to the collection.

Rope Trick: Thirteen Strange Tales by Mark P. Henderson (Ash-Tree Press) is the author's first published fiction book. The best of the stories are subtle, mysterious, and well-told ghost and haunted house tales, a few lead the reader into a tantalizing maze that unfortunately trails off. All but three of the stories included are previously unpublished.

Coffin Nails by John Llewellyn Probert (Ash-Tree Press) has several new stories among the eighteen in the book. Probert is excellent at creating tension but for me, some of the endings falter, which is a shame. The author provides an entertaining introduction to the volume and afterwords for each story, explaining its genesis.

Scattered Ashes by Scott Nicholson (Dark Regions Press) collects the best of the author's short stories published between 1998 and 2008, with three originals. Nicholson writes in a variety of tones and voices and this is a good introduction to his short work. One reprint appeared in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twentieth Annual Collection.

Glyphotech and Other Macabre Processes by Mark Samuels (PS Showcase 4) has eleven stories, and is the author's third collection. It contains some of Samuels's more recent stories, including one I originally published in Inferno and one reprinted in YBFH #19. Two stories appear for the first time. With an introduction by Ramsey Campbell. The striking jacket art is by Jason Van Hollander.

Ghost Realm by Paul Finch (Ash-Tree Press) showcases nine new stories and novellas featuring hauntings from around Great Britain. These stories have something in common with most of Finch's stories: rough, thoroughly unlikable men who are prone to violence (the women are usually victims of their mates' stupidity/insensitivity). Singly, the stories are often very effective, but all together, in a collection, the oppressiveness can be overwhelming.

Worse Than Myself by Adam Golaski (Raw Dog Screaming) is the first collection by someone who up to now, has been better known for his editorship of New Genre Magazine than his short fiction, but this collection of literary supernatural fiction should change that. The reprints were originally published in Supernatural Tales and All Hallows, and in original anthologies from Ash-Tree Press and Tartarus Press. Six of the eleven stories appear for the first time and although a few founder, most are very good. This trade paperback is the perfect opportunity to check out Golaski's work. "The Man from the Peak" is reprinted herein.

The Autopsy and Other Tales by Michael Shea (Centipede Press) is a gorgeous, over-sized, illustrated volume of twenty-one of the author's best stories and novellas, including some of my favorites: the creepy Lovecraftian Fat Face and the novella I, Said the Fly. The book reprints all eight stories from Polyphemus, published by Arkham House in 1988. Laird Barron has written an introduction to Shea's work. Also included is one story published for the first time.

The Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes (Candlewick Press) is a tour de force by a writer best-known as the editor of two excellent young adult horror anthologies: The Restless Dead and Gothic! Retelling the Edith Wharton ghost story "Kerfol," about the murder of a French aristocrat in the seventeenth century from the point of view of a servant girl, Noyes then adds four new ghost tales, all of which take place in the unlucky house over the next four centuries.

Just After Sunset by Stephen King (Scribner) is this prolific author's first collection since 2002 and has thirteen stories published between 1977 and 2008, with "N," a very good novelette, appearing for the first time. With an introduction and story notes by the author.

The Number 121 to Pennsylvania by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance) contains fourteen stories, novellas, and a screenplay of one of the novellas. One novella and the screenplay appear for the first time.

How to Make Monsters by Gary McMahon (Morrigan Books) has fourteen stories about monsters, most human or produced from human fear or anger. Half of the stories appear for the first time.

Slivers of Bone by Ray Garton (Cemetery Dance) is the long-delayed hefty collection of thirteen stories (including two new novellas) by the author best known for his novel about vampire truck-stop hookers, Live Girls.

Halloween and Other Seasons by Al Sarrantonio (Cemetery Dance Publications) is the author's third collection and contains eighteen stories published between 1979 and 2007.

H. P. Lovecraft: the Fiction (Barnes & Noble), part of the B &N Library of essential writers, is a huge volume collecting all his stories in one volume for the first time. It has sixty-eight stories,.

The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson by William Jones (Chaosium) is a clever and entertaining collection of ten interrelated stories of Lovecraftian fiction with the framing device of a manuscript of "cases" left by a professor of Medieval studies at Columbia University. Four of the "cases" were previously published.

Haggopian and Other Stories: Best Mythos Tales, Volume 2 by Brian Lumley (Subterranean) collects twenty-four more of the author's Lovecraftian stories.

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard (Del Rey) has sixty-one stories, poems, and story fragments. Introduction by Rusty Burke and illustrations by Greg Staples.

Brimstone Turnpike edited by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance) features five novellas by Thomas F. Monteleone, Scott Nicholson, Mike Oliveri, Harry Shannon, and Tim Waggoner connected by interstitial material written by the editor. In each story, the main character meets an old man at a ruined gas station on a deserted highway, and is given a gift.

Shadows and Other Tales by Tony Richards (Dark Regions Press) is the British author's first U.S. collection and covers the globe with the twenty-one horror stories, two published for the first time. Passport to Purgatory also by Tony Richards (Gray Friar Press) occasionally overlaps with Shadows and Other Tales but most of the fifteen reprints cover different territory.

Voices from Hades by Jeffrey Thomas (Dark Regions Press) is a collection of stories loosely related to the author's novel Letters from Hades published in 2003. Here are seven stories (two published for the first time) about dead people who have been consigned to Hades.

Experiments in Human Nature by Monica O'Rourke (Two Backed Books), one of the few female proponents of extreme horror, has included an interesting mix of twenty-three stories, four published for the first time.

Other Gods by Stephen Mark Rainey (Dark Regions Press) collects sixteen stories published over the past twenty years, with one new story included.

Degrees of Fear and Others by C. J. Henderson (Dark Regions Press) features twenty stories and vignettes, two published for the first time, many inspired by Lovecraft.

Skeleton in the Closet and Other Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz (Subterranean) is the second volume in the Reader's Bloch collection and contains a lot of his earlier stories originally published in the pulps.

Gleefully Macabre Tales by Jeff Strand (Delirium Books) showcases thirty-two of the author's mostly humorously grotesque horror stories. Most of the stories are very brief, some are gross (they were entries in WHC gross-out contests). This is most definitely taste specific. It's got appropriate jacket art by Alan M. Clark.

The Garden of Ghosts by Scott Thomas (Dark Regions Press) is a charming collection of eighteen brief ghost stories, all published for the first time. Most are more poignant than horrific but there are a few good scares here.

Inconsequential Tales by Ramsey Campbell (Hippocampus) includes twenty-four stories never before collected-and two never before published. Campbell provides an introduction explaining the inspiration for each story in the volume.

Queen of the Country by d. k. g. goldberg (Prime) has fourteen horror stories (two, never before published) by the late author, who succumbed to cancer in 2005.

Beneath the Surface by Simon Strantzas (Humdrumming) is the debut collection by an expert in British urban ennui. Of the twelve stories, seven appear for the first time.

Tales of the Callamo Mountains by Larry Blamire is a self-published collection of thirteen stories of Western horror by a filmmaker and sometimes actor that's better than most self-published books, and I recommend that readers seek it out.

Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications) has fifteen stories, a few published for the first time.

The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder (Picador) contains three novellas tinged with darkness by a multi-award-winning Japanese writer.

Peripheral Visions by Paul Kane (Creative Guy Publishing) collects twenty-one stories (three appearing for the first time) of dark fantasy and horror by this British writer.

Ennui and Other States of Madness by David Niall Wilson (Dark Regions Press) has sixteen diverse stories (two new) and an original novella-the collection includes Wilson's Stoker Award-winning story "The Gentle Brush of Wings."

Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand by Louise Hawes (Houghton Mifflin) is a young adult collection of seven dark, retold fairy tales.

Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H. P. Lovecraft, Commemorative Edition edited and with an afterword by Stephen Jones (Gollancz) with illustrations by Les Edwards.

Sredni Vashtar: Sardonic Tales by Saki (Tartarus Press) collects thirty-one weird and macabre stories and one novel by noted satirist Hector Hugh Monroe, known by the pen name, Saki. Mark Valentine's introduction gives the reader a glimpse of Saki's life, and explores possible influences on his fiction.

The Triumph of Night and Other Tales by Edith Wharton (Tartarus Press) includes the preface to her collection, Ghosts. In it, she bemoans the literal mindedness of some of her readers who ask how a ghost "could write a letter or put it in a letterbox." The book includes fifteen stories, all those that first appeared in Ghosts and four that were published elsewhere.

A Natural Body and a Spiritual Body: Some Worcestershire Encounters with the Supernatural by J. S. Leatherbarrow (Ash-Tree Press) is a new edition of a twelve-story collection originally published privately in 1983. The Ash-Tree edition contains the original twelve ghost stories plus a previously uncollected story, a preface by the author, and an introduction by James Doig.

Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye by Ingulphus (Arthur Gray) (Ash-Tree Press) with ten stories and one poem, is intended as the "true" history of Jesus College's Everlasting Club, whose members were sworn to meet annually on All Souls' Day. The stories were originally published between 1910 and 1919 in two Cambridge magazines under the pseudonym Ingulphus but then were collected by a publisher and their author revealed to be Arthur Gray, Master of Jesus College.

Mixed-Genre Collections

Unwelcome Bodies by Jennifer Pelland (Apex Publications) is this promising writer's debut collection, and features eleven, mostly dark science fiction stories, three published for the first time. Her best work terrifies in its brutal depiction of future possibilities, but I personally would welcome a little more subtlety. Crazy Love by Leslie What (Wordcraft of Oregon) showcases seventeen, mostly darkly edged stories. Bull Running for Girls by Allyson Bird (Screaming Dreams) is a promising debut with most of the twenty-one stories appearing for the first time, some very good. Islington Crocodiles by Paul Meloy (TTA Press) is a marvelous introduction to this talented author's work, most of which were originally published in The Third Alternative. Meloy's stories are sometimes science fiction, sometimes crime fiction but what they all have in common is his sharp, precise language and a very dark tone. Of the ten stories, three appear for the first time. Summer Morning, Summer Night by Ray Bradbury (P.S./Subterranean Press) contains twenty-seven old and new stories, all set in Greentown, Illinois. Midnight Call and Other Stories by Jonathan Thomas (Hippocampus Press) debuts a new voice with twenty-five stories, most published for the first time, several quite dark. Creeping in Reptile Flesh by Robert Hood (Altair Australian Books) contains fourteen stories (three previously unpublished) of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Voices from Punktown by Jeffrey Thomas (Dark Regions Press) collects eleven more stories set in the terrifically vital, violent, and imaginative world created by Thomas. Two of the stories are new. Sheep and Wolves by Jeremy C. Shipp (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is a mix of the dark and the absurd, with the author taking a little too much delight in creating surrealist images at the expense of developing memorable characters and a story. But it's an interesting first collection. Wild Nights! by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco) is a collection of five novellas about the last days of Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Henry James, and Ernest Hemingway, each written in the author's style. Masks by Ray Bradbury (Gauntlet) features fragments of a never finished novel called The Masks written in the mid-1940s. There are also six previously unpublished stories written between 1947 and 1954 ranging in length from two pages to twenty pages. This is a fascinating view into the imagination of a master. Fourtold by Michael Stone (Baysgarth Publications) contains four novellas about war, magical powers, and grotesqueries. The book has a foreword by Garry Kilworth. Where Angels Fear by Ken Rand (Fairwood Press) is the first of two volumes of the collected short fiction by Rand, who died in 2009. Included are thirty-four sf/f/dark fantasy stories, of which thirteen are appearing for the first time. The Loved Dead and Other Tales by C. M. Eddy, Jr. (Fenham Publishing) is a collection of thirteen stories ranging from horror to mystery by a friend and sometimes collaborator of H. P. Lovecraft. Some of the stories are reprinted here for the first time since their original publication in the pulps. Edited and with an introduction by Jim Dyer. The Wall of America by Thomas M. Disch (Tachyon) includes twenty stories by the late author published between 1981 and 2008 in venues ranging from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, OMNI Magazine, and Interzone to Playboy and The Hudson Review. The Best of Michael Swanwick by Michael Swanwick (Subterranean) has twenty stories from throughout this master craftsman's career including several award winners, some quite dark. With an introduction by the author explaining the origin of each story. Little Creatures by Michael McCarty [and Special Guests] (Sam's Dot) has twenty-five brief stories, eleven published for the first time. Some of the stories are sf/horror. Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade) is the first collection of this lauded young science fiction writer, several of whose short stories are tinged with horror. The ten stories included were published between 1999 and 2008 (one original to the collection). One, "The Fluted Girl," was reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 17. City of the Sea and Other Ghost Stories by Jerome K. Jerome (Ash-Tree Press) is best known for his comic novel Three Men in a Boat and this is the first book collecting all his ghost stories, humorous and horrific in one volume. With an extensive introduction about the author and his work by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link (Viking), aimed at the young adult market, contains nine stories, several award winners-and all but one previously published. At least a few of the stories are darkly tinged. Australian artist Shaun Tan has created wonderful black and white decorations. PS reissued a beautiful boxed set of the classic Ray Bradbury collection alternately titled The Day It Rained Forever and A Medicine for Melancholy. There is a lot of overlap between the two volumes, but some stories only appeared in one or the other. Both books have different jacket covers and endpapers by Tomislav Tikulin. Jonathan Eller introduces A Medicine for Melancholy and Caitlín R. Kiernan introduces The Day It Rained Forever. Some of Bradbury's most memorable stories appear here, including the two title stories, "The Wonderful Ice-Cream Suit," and "Perchance to Dream." The books also contain the story illustrations that originally accompanied them in their first magazine publications. The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford (Harper Perennial) consists of sixteen science fiction, fantasy, and dark fantasy stories published between 2002 and 2008, two appearing for the first time. Ford's got a prodigious imagination and always seems keen to push the limits of dream logic. The Best of Lucius Shepard (limited edition includes a trade paperback titled Skull City and Other Lost Stories (Subterranean) is a retrospective of eighteen stories and novellas-or twenty-nine with the extra book-ranging from very early work like "The Taylorville Reconstruction" to his recent award-nominated novella "Stars Seen Through Stone." Oddly, for a project that should be very special, nowhere in either book is there anything other than the stories: no introduction, no commentary by Shepard or anyone else. Nor is there a first publication page.

Journals, Newsletters, Magazines, and Webzines

I feel it's important to recognize the work of the talented artists working in the field of fantastic fiction, both dark and light. The following artists created art that I thought especially noteworthy during 2008: Cameron Gray, Newel Anderson, Lydia Burris, Sarah Xu, Minouk Duin, David Leonard, Ben Sowards, Dave Leri, Luke Ramsey, Donna Kendrigan, Andrew McKiernan, James Birkbeck, Vincent Chong, Steven Archer, Victoria Alexandrova, Jason Levesque, Jason Van Hollander, Saara Salmi, Will Koffman, Daniele Serra, Jane Chen, Brian Smith, Eleanor Clarke, Hendrick Gericke, Vincent Sammy, Pierre Smit, Kobus Faber, Laura Givens, Brad Foster, Dora Wayland, Chrissy Ellsworth, Keith Boulger, Carrie Anne Baade, Fatima Asimova, K. J. Bishop, Eric M. Turnmire, Sandro Castelli, John Picacio, Tim Mullins, Wayne Blackhurst, Steve C. Gilberts, Rodger Gerberding and Suzanne Clarke, Aunia Kahn, Zak Jarvis, Kiriko Moth, Bartlomiej Jurkowski, John Stanton, Harry Fassl, Sean Simmans, Dean Harkness, David Migman, Travis Anthony Soumis, and David Gentry.

There's an enormous annual turnover in small-press magazines, and most rarely last more than a year or two, so it's difficult to recommend buying a subscription to those that haven't proven their longevity. But I urge readers to at least buy single issues of those that sound interesting. Most magazines have web sites with subscription information, eliminating the need to include it here. The following are, I thought, the best in 2008.

Some of the most important magazines/webzines are those specializing in news of the field, market reports, and reviews. The Gila Queen's Guide to Markets, edited by Kathryn Ptacek, emailed to subscribers on a regular basis, is an excellent fount of information for markets in and outside the horror field. Market Maven, edited by Cynthia Ward, is a monthly email newsletter specializing in professional and semi-professional speculative fiction market news. Ralan.com is the web site for up-to-date market information. Locus, edited by Charles N. Brown, Liza Groen Trombi, and Amelia Beamer, and Locus Online, edited by Mark Kelly, specialize in news about the science fiction and fantasy fields, but include horror coverage as well. The only major venues specializing in reviewing short genre fiction are The Fix (http://thefix-online.com/), The Internet Review of Science Fiction (www.irosf.com/), and Locus but none of them specialize in horror. Dead Reckonings: A Review of Horror Literature edited by S. T. Joshi and Jack M. Haringa and published by Hippocampus Press is a fine review journal focusing on contemporary work while also considering the classics. In addition to the reviews, it includes the regular column "Ramsey Campbell, Probably." The first issue of Studies in the Fantastic edited by S. T. Joshi announces its intention to "provide a useful forum for scholars of various disciplines to probe the history, theory, and historical significance of weird fiction, ranging from the analysis of specific authors and works to broader cultural issues raised by the popularity and dissemination of the genre." Issue #1 contains articles by John Langan, George M. Johnson, Joshi, and others, plus original fiction and original and classic poetry. Wormwood: Literature of the Fantastic, Supernatural and Decadent edited by Mark Valentine brought out two issues in 2008, with articles by Peter Bell on Robert Aickman's work as an anthologist, Joel Lane about Fritz Leiber's taking the supernatural tale out of the countryside and into the industrial city, Mike Barrett's overview of Michael McDowell's fiction, Douglas A. Anderson's attempt to resurrect Alexander Crawford, an almost forgotten author of four novels, the ongoing series by Brian Stableford about the decadent world view, and other interesting items. The journal also runs a "late reviews" column covering rare fantasy and supernatural literature, and Camera Obscura, covering recent but possibly overlooked books. Lovecraft Annual edited by S. T. Joshi and published by Hippocampus Press is a journal devoted to H. P. Lovecraft. The second, two-hundred-plus-page issue has meaty articles on Lovecraft and his work, plus reviews. A must for anyone seriously interested in Lovecraft's work. Dissections edited by Gina Wisker, David Sandner, Michael Arnzen, Al Wendland, and Lawrence Connolly put out two online issues in 2008, with articles about the evolution of the heroine in horror film, the evolution of zombies and other pertinent subjects. Poetry is also featured on the website.

Friends of Arthur Machen is a worldwide society aiming to "promote a wider recognition for Machen's work." Members receive the semi-annual Faunus: The Journal of the friends of Arthur Machen edited by Mark Valentine and Ray Russell. The eighteenth issue was published in 2008 as an attractive cloth-bound limited edition. It contains material by Machen and critical essays on his work. The Ghost Story Society was formed in 1988 to provide admirers of the classic ghost story with an outlet for their interest, and membership of the Society now numbers more than four hundred worldwide. The Society offers members an opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas through regular publication of its journal, All Hallows, which now averages two hundred pages per issue and contains fiction, articles, and letters concerning ghost stories past and present.

A Ghostly Company, a literary society devoted to the ghost story in all forms, was created in 2004 to take up the slack left by the Ghost Story Society, which moved to Canada. It sponsors regular meetings and informal gatherings in the U.K. (foreign members welcome).

The British Fantasy Society has existed for over thirty-five years in order to promote and enjoy the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror in all its forms. Members receive a copy of Prism, the organization's news magazine, with book and games reviews, an events column, and the occasional article. They also receive the dark fantasy fiction magazine, Dark Horizons, and all BFS special publications. The two issues of Dark Horizons brought out in 2008 were the last edited by Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards, and featured especially good fiction and poetry by Joel Lane and Karl Bell plus interviews with Charles de Lint and Terry Pratchett. New Horizons edited by Andrew Hook is a new, sister publication to Dark Horizons, and will be publishing fantasy. The first issue had interviews with writer Tony Richards and publisher of Eibonvale Press, David Rix.

Horror Writers Association is a useful organization that exists to "promote and protect the careers of professional horror writers and those seeking to enter their ranks, while at the same time using its best endeavors to raise the profile of the horror genre in the publishing industry and among readers in general." There are three levels of membership. The organization gives out the annual Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement.

Magazines

Rue Morgue, edited by Jovanka Vuckovic, is a monthly media magazine covering horror in all its bloody glory (with the still photos to prove it), but in between the gore there are often thoughtful articles and columns. In 2008 the magazine did major features on Sweeney Todd, with an interview with director Tim Burton, a history of the various theatrical productions, and an article about the London neighborhood in which Sweeney supposedly flourished. One issue was dedicated to vampires, showcasing the brilliant Swedish Let the Right One In by interviewing both the director, Tomas Alfredson, and the author of the novel, John Ajvide Lindqvist. Another issue was dedicated to celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Famous Monsters of Filmland and its creator Forrest J. Ackerman.

Fangoria, edited by Anthony Timpone, is a monthly media magazine covering both big and small budget horror productions, the grislier the better. It features columns on film news, DVD releases, video games, and books. All monsters all the time. And guilty of bad punning throughout. The articles are less varied and lightweight compared to those in Rue Morgue.

Video Watchdog, a bi-monthly edited by Tim Lucas, is one of the most exuberant film magazines around, and is one of my favorites, because I'm usually inspired to watch or re-watch at least one movie they review in every issue. The magazine is invaluable for the connoisseur of trashy, pulp, and horror movies and enjoyable for just about everyone. In 2008 there was a lengthy article about the long-running Doctor Who series, a profile and overview of George Méliés, the early filmmaker, and his work. The magazine runs regular columns by Ramsey Campbell and Douglas E. Winter.

Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer continues to reinvent itself with attractive and quirky cover art and design and some lively nonfiction. During 2008 there were interviews with China Miéville, cartoonist/animator Bill Plympton, and Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy. The March/April issue ran a fun feature of mini profiles of "the eighty-five weirdest storytellers" in honor of the magazine's 85^th anniversary. The weird ones range from Laurie Anderson, Andy Kaufman, Penn & Teller, and Shirley Jackson to J. G. Ballard, Franz Kafka, Andy Warhol, and the Coen Brothers. The stories I enjoyed best in 2008 were by John Kirk, Matthew Pridham, Calvin Mills, Sarah Monette, Karen Heuler, Kelly Barnhill, Cat Rambo, Ramsey Shehadeh, a collaboration by W. M. Pugmire and M. K. Snyder, and a novella by Michael Moorcock.

Cemetery Dance edited by Robert Morrish is way behind its schedule with one issue, a Charles L. Grant tribute, published two years after his death, and most of the book reviews over two years old. This is not promising-there was also only a single issue published in 2007. In 2008's #58, there were interviews with Stephen Graham Jones, T. E. D. Klein, David Morrell, and Robert Masello, plus written tributes to Grant and a reprint of one of his stories. The original stories in the issue were a mixed bag, with the most interesting by Sarah Monette, Karen Heuler, and Ian Rogers. The publisher promises to get back on track in 2009.

Black Static edited by Andy Cox brought out six excellent issues in 2008, with most of the fiction good to excellent-twenty-two stories received honorable mentions-plus a generous number of movie and book reviews and some author profiles. Daniel Kaysen's "The Rising River" is reprinted herein.

Supernatural Tales #14 edited by David Longhorn was an excellent issue, with very good stories by Simon Strantzas, Tony Lovell, C. E. Ward, and Stone Franks. This is a British magazine that could really use your support if you enjoy weird supernatural fiction.

GUD (Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine) edited by Kaolin Fire, Sue Miller, Julia Bernd, and Debbie Moorhouse publishes twice a year. It's a perfect-bound magazine that looks like an anthology and contains fiction and poetry with good-looking cover and interior art. The spring issue was darker than the two issues from 2007, and contained notable stories by Kirstyn McDermott, Jeff Somers, Paul Haines, and good poetry by Kristine Ong Muslim and Samantha Henderson.

Shroud edited by Timothy P. Deal is a new bi-monthly magazine publishing dark fiction and featuring interviews with author Brian Keene and dark artist Mike Pucciarelli. There are also book and movie reviews. The best fiction was by John Mantooth, Curtis Bradley Vickers, Maura McHugh, Tim Waggoner, Ken Bruen, and Tom Piccirilli.

Not One of Us edited by John Benson continues to publish unusual, often dark fiction. There were two issues out in 2008, a special one-off called Home and Away, and the first in a planned annual series of chapbooks, Follow the Wounded One by Mike Allen. The best dark stories and poems were by Shane Nelson, Amanda Downum, Sonya Taaffe, and Karen R. Porter.

Dark Discoveries edited by James R. Beach is meant to be a quarterly, but so far has only been published twice a year since 2005. Original fiction, reviews, interviews. There was a very good story by Tim Lebbon in #11.

Something Wicked edited by Joe Vaz is a very promising science fiction and horror quarterly now in its second year, being published in South Africa. There was some fine dark fiction by Michael Bailey, Inge Papp, Widaad Pangarker, Paul Marlowe, Tauriq Moosa, Ian R. Faulkner, and Jonathan C. Gillespie.

Midnight Echo issue 1 edited by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mondis will be a semi-annual showcase for dark fantasy and horror, with a revolving team of editors, and published under the auspices of the Australian Horror Writers Association. However, submissions are open to everyone. The strongest stories in the first issue are by Deborah Biancotti, Paul Haines, Martin Livings, and the World Fantasy Award-winning British writer Robert Shearman. There will be a series of interviews with new Australian writers in each issue.

Mixed-Genre Magazines

Realms of Fantasy edited by Shawna McCarthy is a bi-monthly that sometimes publishes dark fantasy and occasionally even horror. In 2008 there were notable dark stories by Margaret Ronald, Graham Edwards, and Sharon Mock. The Edwards is reprinted herein. The magazine features a regular, always erudite column on "folk roots," plus book and movie reviews, and a gallery of beautiful samples of fantastic art with text by Karen Haber. Zahir edited by Sheryl Tempchin is published three times a year. The spring issue had a minimal amount of horror in its seven stories but the summer issue had notable dark fiction by Matthew David Brozik, Sarah Odishoo, and Daniel Brugioni. Postscripts is a well-designed quarterly published by Peter Crowther and edited by Nick Gevers. 2008 saw the publication of very good dark stories by Paul Jessup, Eric Schaller, John Grant, Sarah Monette, R. B. Russell, T. M. Wright, and William Alexander. Fictitious Force edited by Jonathan Laden is a quarterly magazine of "speculative fiction," encompassing science fiction, fantasy, and occasionally horror. The best horror in 2008 was by Aliette de Bodard. On Spec edited by Susan MacGregor, Barb Galler-Smith, Diane L. Walton, Robin S. Carson, and Barry Hammond continues its run as the most prominent Canadian sf/f/h magazine with notable dark stories by Claude Lalumière, Daniel LeMoal, Tyler Keevil, and Lisa Carreiro, and a charming fantasy by Kate Riedel. The LeMoal is reprinted herein. Borderlands, the Australian magazine edited by Stephen Dedman, had strong dark fiction in 2008 by Simon Brown, Lyn Battersby, and Shane Dix. Aurealis edited by Stuart Mayne is a long-time fixture in Australia with mixed-genre fiction. Although the copyright page of #40 says 2007, the issue actually came out in 2008 with seven stories, a science article, and book reviews. The best of the darker stories were by Adam Browne, Nathan Burrage, and Paul Haines (also published in issue #2 of GUD). Space and Time edited by Hildy Silverman is a quarterly mix of science, fiction, and horror prose and poetry. During 2008, there were good dark stories and poetry by Jennifer Crow, Gordon Linzner, Laurel Hickey, Kevin Brown, Kendall Evans, Day al-Mohamad, and Doug Russell. Albedo One edited by John Kenny, Frank Ludlow, David Murphy, Roelof Goudriaan, and Robert Neilson published two issues in 2008, neither with much horror, but there was a strong dark story by James Steimle. Talebones edited by Patrick Swenson is a well-produced perfect-bound digest-sized magazine that showcases science fiction and dark fantasy stories and poetry. There were two issues in 2008, with notable dark fiction by Julie McGalliard and Lon Prater. Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, edited by an Australian cooperative, published six issues in 2008. In addition to its fiction, which is mostly sf/f, there are reviews and interviews with Australian luminaries. There were good darker stories by Tessa Kum, Penny-Anne Beaudoin, Cat Sparks, Kent Purvis, Sarah Totten, and Henry Loïc. Shimmer edited by Beth Wodzinski regularly publishes a variety of good fiction, including some dark material. There were notable darker stories in the spring issue by Tinatsu Wallace, M. K. Hobson, Joy Marchand, and Angela Slatter. The Art issue, specially edited by art director Mary Robinette Kowal, asked four writers to produce fiction inspired by the art selected for the issue. There was an especially good dark story in this issue, also by Slatter. Crimewave 10 edited by Andy Cox returns after skipping a year, and the new issue is excellent, with consistently strong stories, especially those by Simon Avery and Daniel Kaysen. Midnight Street edited by Trevor Denyer brought out two issues in 2008, with reviews, poetry, interviews, and notable dark fiction by Simon Bestwick, Andrew Humphrey, and Joel Lane. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Gordon Van Gelder often publishes dark fantasy and sometimes publishes horror. In 2008, there were strong darker stories by Albert Cowdrey, Scott Dalrymple, Laura Kasischke, John Kessel, Stephen King (also in the King collection), Ted Kosmatka, Marc Laidlaw, Rand B. Lee, Richard Mueller, M. Rickert, James Stoddard, and Steven Utley. Asimov's Science Fiction edited by Sheila Williams occasionally publishes dark fantasy and in 2008 included good ones by Carol Emshwiller, Peter Higgins, Derek Künsken, Tanith Lee, Ian R. MacLeod, Lawrence Person, S. P. Somtow, and Elizabeth Bear (charming and not horrific but Lovecraftian).

The best webzines publishing horror in 2008: Chizine edited by Brett Alexander Savory, Sandra Kasturi, Gord Zajac, and Hannah Wolf Bowen had some fine dark fiction and poetry by David Tallerman, Brenta Blevins, Mia Nutick, Lon Prater, Mildred Tremblay, Michael R. Colangelo, An Owomoyela, and a collaboration by Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt. Strange Horizons showcases reviews and nonfiction columns and essays in addition to fiction. The fiction is edited by Susan Marie Groppi, Jed Hartman, and Karen Meisner and in 2008 there were good dark stories by Tina Connelly, Haddyr Copley-Woods, and Kris Dikeman. Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show edited by Edmund R. Schubert, while better known for its science fiction and fantasy, had strong dark work by Scott Emerson Bull, John Brown, Alethea Kontis, and James Maxey. Apex Science Fiction and Horror edited by Jason Sizemore is a monthly online webzine with consistently readable fiction. There were notable horror stories by James Walton Langolf, Andrew C. Porter, George Mann, Mary Robinette Kowal, William T. Vandemark, and Lavie Tidhar. Apex's print edition published good dark stories by Lavie Tidhar and Ryck Neube and featured Angela Slatter's informative essay about variations of "Little Red Riding Hood." Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt produced two issues of their little magazine Flytrap, and although most of the stories weren't dark, there were a few standouts by Greg Van Eekhout, M. Rickert, and Catherynne M. Valente. Lone Star Stories edited by Eric T. Marin runs an interesting mix of material and in 2008 had a notable dark story by Samantha Henderson, and good dark poetry by Elizabeth Bear and Elizabeth Hand. McSweeney's 27 edited by Dave Eggers had a facsimile notebook by Art Spiegelman, a small book titled Lots of Things Like This, created to accompany an art show and consisting of art from the show, plus a book of fives stories and one very effective suspense novella by Stephen King.

Poetry magazines, web sites, and chapbooks

Star*Line, the Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Society edited by Marge Simon is a long-running bi-monthly poetry magazine. There was a good dark poem by JoSelle Vanderhooft. Mythic Delirium, edited by Mike Allen, publishes two issues a year. In 2008 there was strong dark poetry by Jeannine Hall Gailey, Sonya Taaffe, Jessica Paige Wick, Gemma Files, and Jacqueline West. The Magazine of Speculative Poetry edited by Roger Dutcher is published twice a year. In 2008 there was an excellent dark poem by JoSelle Vanderhooft. Dreams and Nightmares, edited by David C. Kopaska-Merkel, has been publishing two or three issues annually since January 1986.

Signs & Wonders by Jennifer Crow (Sam's Dot) is a collection of over forty poems, all published previously. Crow's horror poetry has consistently received Honorable Mentions from me over the years. With illustrations by Marge B. Simon.

A Guide to Folktales in Fragile Dialects by Catherynne M. Valente (Norilana/Curiosities) is a must buy for anyone interested in dark fantasy poetry. Valente is one of the field's most talented poets and prose writers and this collection, with gorgeous cover art by Connie Toebe and lush, thought-provoking poems by Valente, is a perfect introduction to her poetic work. All but two of the poems are reprints. The Phantom World by Gary Crawford (Sam's Dot) has thirty poems, all previously published. Holy Land by Rauan Klassnik (Black Ocean) contains over fifty tiny poems, each only a few powerful lines long. More than half appear for the first time. The Journey to Kailash by Mike Allen (Norilana/Curiosities) is an excellent new collection by one of the best cross-genre poets in the genres of fantasy and dark fantasy. Ten of the more than sixty poems appear for the first time. The Nightmare Collection by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press) contains a good variety of this master poet's work, including a few appearing for the first time. Outgrow by Stella Brice (Art Club Press) is an impressive collection of thirty-nine ferocious reinterpretations of fairy tales. Dwarf Stars 2008 edited by Deborah Kolodji and Stephen M. Wilson (Science Fiction Poetry Association) presents the best speculative poems of ten lines or less from 2007. Included are a few horror and dark fantasy poems. The 2008 Rhysling Anthology edited by Drew Morse (Science Fiction Poetry Association) features ninety-six science fiction, fantasy, and horror poems considered the best of 2007 by the members of the association. This is the thirty-first Rhysling volume and it's used by members to vote for the best short and best long poems of the year. Virgin of the Apocalypse by Corinne de Winter (Sam's Dot) has fifty-six poems, all but nine published for the first time. Spores from Sharnoth and Other Madnesses by Leigh Blackmore (P'rea Press) contains forty-five fantasy and horror poems. Clark Ashton Smith: The Complete Poetry and Translations, Volume 1: The Abyss Triumphant and Clark Ashton Smith: The Complete Poetry and Translations, Volume 2: The Wine of Summer edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press) represents an impressive achievement by Smith and by the editors, as they've included almost one thousand poems (about three hundred previously unpublished) written over fifty years and have made textual corrections by consulting the original manuscripts.

Nonfiction

Shadows over New England by David Goudsward and Scott T. Goudsward (BearManor Media) is a very entertaining guide to places (real and imaginary) in New England that have been the inspiration for horror stories, novels, and movies. Taboo Breakers: 18 Independent Films That Courted Controversy and Created a Legend by Calum Waddell (Telos) analyzes eighteen titles that Waddell believes pushed boundaries and used shock tactics to sell tickets. Even if you haven't seen some of the movies, the descriptions are so detailed that you get the idea. There are interviews with the directors, writers, and occasionally actors. Some of the movies included are Blood Feast, Night of the Living Dead, Cannibal Holocaust, Coffey, and The Plague Dogs. Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography of the World's Most Popular Author by Justin Brooks (CD) has over nine hundred entries and covers all of King's published and known unpublished works from 1959 to the end of 2005. The New Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker, edited and with a foreword and notes by Leslie S. Klinger (W. W. Norton), is a joy to behold. The book is massive, with over six hundred pages rich with material including the original 1897 text of the novel, annotations, illustrations, and photographs. Also included are an introduction by Neil Gaiman and a lengthy article on the context of Dracula.

The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula by Eric Nuzum (St. Martin's Griffin) explores the vampire in pop culture. Dark Banquet: Blood & the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures by Bill Schutt (Harmony), in which a zoologist takes readers on a voyage into the world of some of nature's strangest creatures-the sanguivores-those that subsist on blood. Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde by David Huckvale (McFarland) explains "how Hammer commissioned composers at the cutting edge of European musical modernism to write their movie scores, introducing the avant-garde into popular culture." With illustrations. The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula by Mark Dawidziak (Continuum) is a relatively brief (188 pages) but dense guide for the non-expert aficionado. Spirits and Death in Niagara by Marcy Italiano (Schiffer) is a guide to the supernatural and macabre in the towns of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian-US border. Shock Festival by Stephen Romano (IDW) is an illustrated history of one hundred and one of the strangest, sleaziest, most outrageous movies you've never seen-because they're imaginary. With hundreds of exclusive, never-before-seen original movie posters and memorabilia items (of the non-existent films). A Halloween Anthology: Literary and Historical Writings Over The Centuries by Lisa Morton (McFarland) has twenty-seven entries including poems, short stories, excerpts from books on folklore, Irish and Scottish folk tales, and a one-act play. Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word: Essays on Writing & Appreciating the Genre by Matthew Warner (Guide Dog Books) collects columns originally written between 2002 and 2007 for horrorworld.org and the Hellnotes newsletter. The Monster Hunter in Modern Popular Culture by Heather L. Duda (McFarland) surveys books, films, television shows, and graphic novels showing the evolution of the monster hunter from white, upper-class, educated male to everything from a vampire to a teenage girl with supernatural powers. Videodrome: Studies in the Horror Film by Tim Lucas (Millipede Press) celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Cronenberg film. Movie expert and publisher of Video Watchdog, Lucas has interviewed cast and crew, including exclusive, never-before-published interviews with Cronenberg, provides commentary and analysis of the film, and over sixty black-and-white and color photographs, many never before seen. The Great Monster Magazines: A Critical Study of the Black and White Publications of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s by Robert Michael "Bobb" Cotter (McFarland). Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide by Glenn Kay (Chicago Review Press) provides a chronological listing, with summaries and reviews, for more than two hundred and fifty films released from 1932 to 2008. Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel) seems like the perfect companion volume to the Zombie Survival Guide of several years ago, covering the history, culture, and science of zombies. It also analyzes how an actual zombie epidemic might play out in the real world. Hazel Court Horror Queen: An Autobiography by Hazel Court (Tomahawk Press) is lavishly illustrated. Arts of Darkness: American Noir and the Quest for Redemption by Thomas S. Hibbs (Spence) is a critical examination of noir and neo-noir films through the lens of spiritual journeys and religious redemption. Dreams and Nightmares: Science and Technology in Myth and Fiction by Mordecai Roshwald (McFarland). A New Dawn: Your Favorite Authors on Stephenie Meyers' Twilight Series (Ben Bella) edited by Ellen Hopkins and Leah Wilson has thirteen essays and is available only through Borders. Horror Panegyric by Keith Seward (Savoy Books) has a critical essay on the Lord Horror novels of David Britton plus excerpts from those novels. The Vampire Hunter's Handbook by Raphael Van Helsing (Pavilion) is an illustrated guide/diary about vampires. Metamorphoses of the Werewolf: A Literary Study from Antiquity Through the Renaissance by Leslie A. Sconduto (McFarland). American Exorcist: Critical Essays on William Peter Blatty edited by Benjamin Szumskyj (McFarland) collects thirteen essays on Blatty's work. A Hideous Bit of Morbidity: An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I edited by Jason Colavito (McFarland) collects reviews and essays showing how the critical reception to horror evolved during that period. Silver Scream: 40 Classic Horror Movies Volume One 1920-1941 by Steven Warren Hill (Telos) is a dense, compact guide covering early horror movies including The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Frankenstein, and The Devil Bat. Each movie is covered in detail, with a description of the plot, highlights, memorable quotes, lowlights, goofs, trivia, cast and crew, music, the movie's context in film history, changes that shaped the production, and video availability, critical words-the author's opinions, and another perspective-introducing "guest" reviewers for each film. Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak (St Martin's/A Thomas Dunne Book) is a biography of the writer, with eight pages of black-and-white photographs. Dissecting Hannibal Lecter: Essays on the Novels of Thomas Harris by Benjamin Szumskyj (McFarland) examines all five of Harris' novels, including Black Sunday, his first, oddly prescient novel about terrorism. Book of Souls by Jack Ketchum (Bloodletting Press) is a short collection of personal essays by the author, providing insight into his fiction. Essential Solitude: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth (Hippocampus Press) is a two-volume set edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi. The first volume covers 1926-1931 and the second 1932-1937. The introduction provides context for the hundreds of letters, which are annotated by the editors. The Book of Lists: Horror by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (Harper) has an introduction by Gahan Wilson and includes everything from the top six grossing horror films of all time in the United States (adjusted for inflation) and the eight worst monster movie costumes to eight memorable quotes from horror writers. The Fly at Fifty: The Creation and Legacy of a Classic Science Fiction Film by Diana Kachmar & David Goudsward (BearManor Media) celebrates The Fly by including profiles and interviews with many of those connected to both adaptations of the original story-which is itself included and well worth reading. Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition, annotated and transcribed by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller (McFarland), is a fantastic book that provides insight into the choices Stoker made in the creation of his masterwork. The notes, photographs, and newspaper clippings reproduced in the book are housed in the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia. Flowers from Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film by Jim Harper (Noir Publishing) provides an absorbing primer for newcomers to its subject, covering the past twenty-five years worth of movies leading up to the most recent crop of Japanese horror films. The book is broken down into chapters covering specific types of horror movies and some of the genre's most influential directors. Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands by Michael Chabon (McSweeney's Books) collects fifteen essays and reviews by Chabon about such subjects as M. R. James's ghost stories, Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, golems, and Cormac McCarthy's The Road-this last essay referencing previous post-disaster novels by John Christopher, John Wyndham, J. G. Ballard, Roger Zelazny, Richard Matheson, and Walter M. Miller, Jr. Servants of the Supernatural: The Night Side of the Victorian Mind by Antonio Melechi (William Heinemann) covers the keen interest and experimentation with mesmerism and spiritualism that even the learned exhibited during the Victorian era. Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide by Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt with illustrations by Tatsuya Morino (Kodansha International) is a seemingly serious guide to the traditional Japanese creatures that do men harm, separated into chapters covering ferocious fiends, gruesome gourmets, annoying neighbors, the sexy and the slimy, and the wimps. Each chapter gives the name of the monster, where it can be found, how to identify it, and how to survive an attack. Basil Copper: A Life in Books compiled and edited by Stephen Jones (PS) is a marvelous combination memoir/biography of a living legend of horror with photographs of Copper and his friends over the years, articles by him, and bibliographies of his prose and media work. Also included is the previously unpublished teleplay of Copper's adaptation of M. R. James's ghost story, "Count Magnus." The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi (Grand Central) is a riveting true crime investigation of a series of brutal, unsolved murders committed over a period of decades. Preston and his family move to Florence in 2000, the dream of a lifetime, and he becomes fascinated with the unsolved crimes (one of which took place in the olive grove next to his home, years before). He joins forces with journalist Mario Spezi and together they dig deeper into the failed investigation, finding themselves facing bizarre accusations by the police.

Chapbooks and other small press items

KRDR: Welcome to the Ether (Earthling Publications) features three new stories by Peter Atkins, Glen Hirshberg, and Kevin Moffett with interstitial material by Atkins and Hirshberg. The chapbook is the physical manifestation of the readings that the three writers gave in California during the month of October. The Shallow End of the Pool by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press) is an unbelievable yet intriguing story about a warring, formerly married couple who have each taken one twin to raise and rigorously train to fight to the death once the children are old enough. Cemetery Dance publishes a chapbook story series and in 2008 brought out The Lost by Sarah Langan, about a young woman who is literally disappearing from her own life. Overtoun Bridge by Bev Vincent, a ghost story about a bridge from which dogs have jumped to their deaths for over thirty years. Tanglewood by Ronald Kelly is about a guy with a marriage going sour whose car breaks down when he takes a short cut through the woods. Bone Harvest by James A. Moore is about two unlucky amateur botanists who venture into a unique wood in which something resides that's even more dangerous than the weird plants that grow there. Triptych: 3 Tales of Terror by Michael Kelly and Carol Weekes (Undertow Publications) has two reprints, and an original about suburban ennui that's not at all horrific. Redemption Roadshow by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy Press) is a tautly written story about an Arizona Highway Patrolman who begins noticing the crosses and shrines dotting the side of the road commemorating loved ones who have died in car accidents. When he hears about the "long cool woman"-a woman in a coma since she was a child who purportedly can speak with the dead along the road, he finds himself burning for redemption. Miranda by John Little (Bad Moon Books) is about a man aging backwards and Miranda is the woman he meets on his journey-with the same condition. Off the top of my head I can think of (obviously) F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and the award-winning story "Morning Child" by Gardner Dozois. I'm also pretty sure there are at least a half-dozen earlier stories with the same MacGuffin. The Reach of Children by Tim Lebbon (Humdrumming) is about a ten-year-old boy grief-stricken at his mother's death. His father drinks to dampen his misery and talks to a mysterious pine box under the bed. The boy begins to hear a voice coming from the box, saying things he might not want to hear. Nice job. Follow the Wounded One by Mike Allen (Not One of Us) is about a man who is becoming increasingly disoriented by what he believes are hallucinations of being hunted by a giant, blue-eyed being with horns. The Long Way by Ramsey Campbell (PS) is about a young boy who loves writing scary stories but hides them from his strict family. The boy must pass a deserted street with one lone house on his weekly trip to and from taking his disabled uncle shopping and one day he sees someone or something that frightens him more than the stories he makes up. It's a lovely hardback book with a fine black and white illustration by Wayne Blackhurst on the cover. The Gray Friar Christmas Chapbook 2007 presents seven stories by writers who have been published by Gray Friar Press. Four of the stories appear for the first time. Living with the Dead by Darrell Schweitzer (PS) is a compelling novella about a town that houses the regularly arriving dead, delivered and deposited by ships in the night and left in piles on the wharf come morning. Grotesque without being frightening but a very good read. A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults edited by Lavie Tidhar (BFS) contains ten very brief stories using the children's primer book characters (sometimes along with their dog, Spot). Cover and interior art is by John Keates, and Jeff VanderMeer has written an introduction. Most of the stories are trifles but Conrad Williams's is more than that. Divagations by John Maclay (Delirium Books) is a small, attractive hardcover containing six new stories. The book is number five in the publisher's chapbook series. Suckers by J. A. Konrath and Jeff Strand (Delirium Books) is a fun, silly story about the adventures of a guy out to find the "correct" spaghetti sauce for dinner and a crazy nut of a private eye hired to rescue a Goth teen from the clutches of wannabe vampires. Orpheus and the Pearl by Kim Paffenroth (Magus Press) takes place in a suburb of Boston during the 1920s and is about a female follower of Freud hired to "cure" the ailing wife of a famous research scientist. A common horror trope made new. Tails of Tales of Pain & Wonder by Caitlín E. Kiernan (Subterranean) accompanied the third edition of Kiernan's collection Tales of Pain and Wonder, and includes seven story fragments from over the years. Little Graveyard on the Prairie by Steven E. Wedel (Eclipse) has three stories, two of them reprints. The title story is new, and it's about a lonely, broken former farmer who sees ghosts and is losing his sanity. Red by Paul Kane (Skullvines Press) is about a grisly serial killer that turns out to be more than he seems in this fast-paced novella. The Situation by Jeff VanderMeer (PS) is an imaginative and surreal oddity about the office from Hell, in the tradition of Eileen Gunn's classic "Stable Strategies for Middle Management," Thomas Ligotti, and Franz Kafka. Charles Urban's Brutal Spirits edited by Gary McMahon (The Swan River Press) is presented as a mss found by McMahon, a friend of the late (non-existent?) Charles Urban. It's a clever and nicely creepy tale about a haunted multi-story parking garage. The Oz Suite by Gerard Houarner (Eibonvale Press) contains three intriguing stories riffing on the real versus imaginary worlds of the Wizard of Oz. One story was previously published, the second two are new.

Odds and Ends

Black Box edited by Shane Jiraiya Cummings (Brimstone Press) is a multimedia follow-up to Shadow Box, featuring dozens of pieces of horror flash fiction, most by Australians, plus sound effects and music.

The Complete Collected Essays of H. P. Lovecraft edited by S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus) can now be bought as a CD-ROM. The disc includes the five volumes that were previously released in trade paperback. Also included is the complete run of Lovecraft's amateur magazine, The Conservative.

The Sirenia Digest by Caitlín R. Kiernan is a PDF file emailed monthly to subscribers. In it she always includes a story or vignette or two, an excerpt from a novel-in-progress, and occasionally a guest's story (Sonya Taaffe has contributed fiction on several occasions). You can subscribe by going to Kiernan's website.

The Nightmare Factory, Volume 2 by Thomas Ligotti (HarperCollins/Fox Atomic Comics) collects graphic adaptations of "Gas Station Carnivals," "The Clown Puppet," "The Chymist," and "The Sect of the Idiot." Ligotti provides introductions. Stuart Moore and Joe Harris adapted the stories and the art is by Bill Sienkiewicz, Toby Cypress, Vasilis Lolos, and Nick Stakal.

Fantasy Classics, Graphic Classics, Volume 15 edited by Tom Pomplun (Eureka productions) includes work by Lord Dunsany, Mary Shelley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, L. Frank Baum, Clark Ashton-Smith, and H. P. Lovecraft, illustrated by various artists.

Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa (First Second) is a graphic novel translated from French about a father determined to save his young son's life, despite the three shadows that want to take him away. He takes the child on a journey to cheat fate, encountering pain and ugliness and magic along the way. Dark and moving.

Where Madness Reigns: The Art of Gris Grimly (Baby Tattoo Books) is a fun introduction to the grotesque yet charming cartoonish art of this illustrator, which ranges from evil bunnies to a pill-filled Elvis. The book includes samples from a 2007 gallery exhibition and privately owned art that has never before been published.

The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Gris Grimly (HarperCollins) is a clever, rhyming pirate journey taken by two children who meet with all types of wicked, ugly, and dangerous creatures beneath the city where they live.

Sparrow art book series number six by Rick Berry (IDW Publishing) is a small square hardcover book of a variety of darkly fantastic and sometimes erotic subjects. Berry is best-known for illustrating Stephen King's and Harlan Ellison's work.

Poe: A Screenplay by Stewart O'Nan (Lonely Road Books) is a limited edition of O'Nan's so far unproduced screenplay about Edgar Allan Poe's life. With an introduction by Roger Corman, a beautiful black and white frontispiece by artist Jill Bauman, and an afterword by O'Nan explaining why he wrote the screenplay.

Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner (Underwood Books), covered the year 2007 and was juried by five fantasy artists. The book continues to be the showcase for the best in genre art-the sheer variety of style and tone and media and subject matter is impressive. The volume was heftier than in the past, having added over twenty pages. John Jude Palencar was honored with the Grand Master Award, and to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the series an award for Best in Show was given to James Jean. Arnie Fenner provided an overview of the political and cultural year plus a necrology. The jury convened in Kansas City all day where they decided on Gold and Silver awards in several categories. This is a book for anyone interested in art of the fantastic, dark or light.

The brilliant Shaun Tan strikes again with his gorgeously illustrated Tales From Outer Suburbia (Allen & Unwin/Scholastic), a book of fifteen brief, strange, occasionally dark and always delightful stories. For children and adults.

A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft (Centipede Press) is a massive, beautifully rendered undertaking with a preface by Stuart Gordon, introduction by Harlan Ellison, and afterword by Thomas Ligotti. The book is divided into three sections covering: the early art, created in the 1920s to 1950s and including such artists as Hannes Bok, Virgil Finlay, and Lee Brown Coye; the middle art, created in the 1960s and 1970s including Bernie Wrightson, Harry O. Morris, Stephen Fabian, H. R. Giger; and modern art, including J. K. Potter, John Jude Palencar, Ian Miller, Les Edwards, Bob Eggleton. In all, there are at least eighty-five artists represented, and text by Stefan Dziemianowicz introducing the three sections and some of the artists (except for the entry on H. R. Giger, written by Harlan Ellison). In the back is a section of thumbnails of each piece of art found inside the book, and mini-biographies of each artist. The book is two feet high, with full page illustrations in color and in black and white. Pricey but gorgeous.