The Century's Best Horror Fiction: Volume Two, 1951-2000

by John Pelan (Editor), Bob Leman, Charles Beaumont

In celebration of the new millennium, Cemetery Dance Publications has commissioned a spectacular two-volume anthology project under the editorship of noted author and historian of the horror genre, John Pelan.

John will be selecting one story published during each year of the 20th Century (1901-2000) as the most notable story of that year -- all 100 stories will then be collected in The Century's Best Horror Fiction.

The ground rules are simple: Only one selection per author. Only one selection per year.

Two huge volumes, one hundred authors, one hundred classic stories, over 700,000 words of fiction -- history in the making!

Uncle Isiah / Russell Kirk -- I am nothing / Eric Frank Russell -- The altar / Robert Sheckley -- Call not their names / Everil Worrell -- Ringing the changes / Robert Aickman -- Lonely road / Richard Wilson -- Founding father / Clifford D. Simak -- That hell-bound train / Robert Bloch -- The howling man / Charles Beaumont -- The house / Fredric Brown -- Sardonicus / Ray Russell -- The aquarium / Carl Jacobi -- The mirror of Cagliostro / Robert Arthur -- A lovely bunch of coconuts / Charles Birkin -- The shadowy street / Jean Ray -- The mirror / Arthur Porges -- Carcinoma angels / Norman Spinrad -- Come / Anna Hunger -- The last work of Pietro of Apono / Steffan B. Aletti -- The lurkers in the abyss / David A. Riley -- The derelict track / Dorothy K. Haynes -- The price of a demon / Gary Brandner -- Like two white spiders / Eddy C. Bertin -- Sticks / Karl Edward Wagner -- The barrow troll / David Drake -- It only comes out at night / Dennis Etchison -- The man who loved the midnight lady / Barry N. Malzberg -- Within the walls of Tyre / Michael Bishop -- Mackintosh Willy / Ramsey Campbell -- The autopsy / Michael Shea -- The reach / Stephen King -- Horrible imaginings / Fritz Leiber -- One for the horrors / David J. Schow -- The pilgrimage of Clifford M. / Bob Leman -- The night people / Michael Reaves -- Night moves / Tim Powers -- Evil water / Ian Watson -- The night they missed the horror show / Joe R. Lansdale -- The earth wire / Joel Lane -- Stephen / Elizabeth Massie -- The glamour / Thomas Ligotti -- Calcutta, lord of nerves / Poppy Z. Brite -- The family underwater / Lucy Taylor -- The box / Jack Ketchum -- The toddler / Terry Lamsley -- Tears seven times salt / Caitlin R. Kierman -- The crawl / Stephen Laws -- As above, so below / Brian Hodge -- Mr. Dark's carnival / Glen Hirshberg -- Reconstructing Amy / Tim Lebbon.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

866 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2011

Reviews

[Squire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second volume of editor John Pelan's high-concept horror anthology is as exceptional as the first. Covering the years for 1951 to 2000, Pelan again provides short, but illuminating notes before each story about his reasons for the selections he made as well as the stories and authors he has a personal relationship with. More here than in the first volume, the reader understands how the horror genre developed into its 21st century incarnations.

Highly recommended for every fan of the horror genre.

For me, the most memorable story in Volume II was the stunning 1993 selection: The Family Underwater by Lucy Taylor. Other favorites include The Altar by Robert Sheckley, The Aquarium by Carl Jacobi, Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner, Stephen by Elizabeth Massie, The Box by jack Ketchum, The Autopsy by Micheal Shea (which makes King's Survivor Type look like a children's story) and Fritz Leiber's Jamesian ghost story Horrible Imaginings. The only one that didn't seem up to snuff was the Lansdale story--okay, but it paled in comparison to every other selection.

Here's the TOC for Volume II:

1951: Russell Kirk — Uncle Isiah
1952: Eric Frank Russell — I Am Nothing
1953: Robert Sheckley — The Altar
1954: Everil Worrell — Call Not Their Names
1955: Robert Aickman — Ringing the Changes
1956: Richard Wilson — Lonely Road
1957: Clifford Simak — Founding Father
1958: Robert Bloch — That Hell-Bound Train
1959: Charles Beaumont — The Howling Man
1960: Fredric Brown — The House
1961: Ray Russell — Sardonicus
1962: Carl Jacobi — The Aquarium
1963: Robert Arthur — The Mirror of Cagliostro
1964: Charles Birkin — A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts
1965: Jean Ray — The Shadowy Street
1966: Arthur Porges — The Mirror
1967: Norman Spinrad — Carcinoma Angels
1968: Anna Hunger — Come
1969: Steffan Aletti — The Last Work of Pietro Apono
1970: David A. Riley — The Lurkers in the Abyss
1971: Dorothy K. Haynes — The Derelict Track
1972: Gary Brandner — The Price of a Demon
1973: Eddy C. Bertin — Like Two White Spiders
1974: Karl Edward Wagner — Sticks
1975: David Drake — The Barrow Troll
1976: Dennis Etchison — It Only Comes Out at Night
1977: Barry N. Malzberg — The Man Who Loved the Midnight Lady
1978: Michael Bishop — Within the Walls of Tyre
1979: Ramsey Campbell — Mackintosh Willy
1980: Michael Shea — The Autopsy
1981: Stephen King — The Reach
1982: Fritz Leiber — Horrible Imagings
1983: David Schow — One for the Horrors
1984: Bob Leman — The Unhappy Pilgrimage of Clifford M.
1985: Michael Reaves — The Night People
1986: Tim Powers — Night Moves
1987: Ian Watson — Evil Water
1988: Joe R. Lansdale — The Night They Missed the Horror Show
1989: Joel Lane — The Earth Wire
1990: Elizabeth Massie — Stephen
1991: Thomas Ligotti — The Glamour
1992: Poppy Z. Brite — Calcutta Lord of Nerves
1993: Lucy Taylor — The Family Underwater
1994: Jack Ketchum — The Box
1995: Terry Lamsley — The Toddler
1996: Caitlín R. Kiernan — Tears Seven Times Salt
1997: Stephen Laws — The Crawl
1998: Brian Hodge — As Above, So Below
1999: Glen Hirshberg — Mr. Dark's Carnival
2000: Tim Lebbon — Reconstructing Amy

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume Two was just as good as the first volume - 50 authors/50 stories covering the 2nd half of the 20th century. The only problem with both volumes is that there are a lot of other horror writers I wasn't as familiar with I now have to add to my reading list.

[Tzu-Mainn Chen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This anthology of horror picks a single "best" horror short story or novella for every year between 1951 and 2000, with each author only allowed a single representation. Taken as a historical study it's pretty fascinating how the notion of horror changes over decades; even more so when you see an occasional outlier whose early year belies a modern sensibility.

Unfortunately I don't think the editor's tastes quite match mine (or perhaps I'm getting too old to be frightened by the things that terrified me as a kid). Although some of the selections are excellent - "Calcutta, Lord of Nerves" and "The Box" come to mind - most of them elicited little more than a shrug or a yawn. I remember reading "Year's Best" anthologies back in the '90s, and there are many stories from back then that still stick in my mind, far more than most of the ones in this anthology.

Again, that may just be a matter of taste, and perhaps I should be glad that this book didn't bring back the sleepless nights of my younger years. Still, I can't help but feel disappointed that the bulk of the stories in this book did not inflict the little deaths that I remember from the tales of my past.

[Bill Borre]

"The Mirror" by Arthur Porges - A man buys a house with a large mirror over the fireplace that has been painted over. Despite being warned by a man in town that the previous family was murdered and the kids said they saw things in the mirror he decides to remove the paint. One evening he and his wife leave their five children alone in the house and they use a second mirror to see more of what's reflected. This reveals a monster that rips them to shreds.

"Reconstructing Amy" by Tim Lebbon - Jake reconstructs his dead wife Amy through dolls he comes across that have particular characteristics that remind him of her.

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 3 out of 5]

“That Hell-Bound Train,” by Robert Bloch (1958): 7.5
- An ultimately shallow tale, and a famous one at that. One nonetheless perceives the connections between the two: like the workman’s ditty framing the story, Bloch’s largely smuggled in a folk tale in horror clothes, as evidenced by the flattened “horror”, the breezy narrative development, the moral message of the immoral tale, and the demotic affectations of style and substance. Take from those what you will, but it creates a certain constrained spectrum of quality control — as hard to rise above a certain level as it is to fall below it.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I've got a lot of reviews to write.