Dark Terrors: The Gollancz Book of Horror

Dark Terrors #1

by Stephen Jones (Editor), David A. Sutton (Editor), Mandy Slater (Contributor)

A showcase anthology of the very best in horror and dark fantasy writing by modern masters of the macabre. Here is a hair-raising collection comprising some of the very finest in horror and dark fantasy. Drawing from both sides of the Atlantic, each volume features the work of some of the genres' biggest-selling names as well as their rising stars. In Dark Terrors I, tales by Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Kim Newman, Richard Christian Matheson, Graham Masterton, and Brian Lumley chill the blood.

Contents:

More Tomorrow by Michael Marshall Smith
The Puppets by Ramsey Campbell
Sampled by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Hungry Moon by Graham Masterton
Love Eats by Lisa Morton
Uzzi by Brian Lumley
Splatter of Black by Charles Gramlich
The Laundry Imp by Christopher Fowler
Food for Thought by Mandy Slater
Screens by Terry Lamsley
All My Friends Are Here by Charles Wagner
Eternity Ltd by Mark Morris
The Lagoon by Nicholas Royle
At the Crossroads, Burying the Dog by Jeff VanderMeer
The Travelling Salesman's Christmas Special by C. Bruce Hunter
A Feast at Grief's Table by Roberta Lannes
Bleed by Richard Christian Matheson
Where the Bodies Are Buried 3: Black and White and Red All Over by Kim Newman
I've Come to Talk With You Again by Karl Edward Wagner
Fee by Peter Straub

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Supernatural

379 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

Stephen Jones is an eighteen-time winner of the British Fantasy Award.

Reviews

[Charles]

All right, so I have a story in this one too. It's still a very good collection.

[Conner Horak-Flood]

A fabulous collection of spooky stories. Not a weak-link in the bunch. Despite its page-count, I flew through it. Perfect for a dark and stormy October night.

[Document Of Books]

A nostalgic collection of short horror stories from 1995, fantastic!

[Jeanette Greaves]

One of my favourite anthologies, which gets off to a kicking start with a very disturbing Michael Marshall Smith story.

[Liam Ostermann]

'Between 1995 and 2002, Dark Terrors: The Gollancz Book of Horror was Britain's premier non-themed anthology of original horror stories.

Over six volumes, it published some of the biggest names in the field as well as many newcomers who have gone on to forge impressive careers in the genre.

Edited by the World Fantasy Award-winning team of Stephen Jones and David A. Sutton, Dark Terrors established itself as a cutting-edge market for some of the most literary and disturbing fiction being produced on both sides of the Atlantic, winning the British Fantasy Award and the International Horror Guild Award in the process.'

I quote the above from some web site because it sums up this volume and the others in the series perfectly. I read many of the anthologies Stephen Jones assembled and loved them because of the strong 'literary' quality of the stories selected. Published in the 1990s the authors and writing is very much of my time so some younger readers may feel that they are not 'au courant' but if a story is good the abscence of the internet or mobiles shouldn't matter. If it does you probably an idiot.

[Thomas]

A Great anthology... it's mostly pretty "quiet horror", which is interesting considering this was peak Splatter Punk. I'm a big fan of the "Dark Voices" series from Pan. These are a lot more sedate, but still very, very well written. I don't generally write reviews, but I can see here that the feelings on the final story (and one of the longest) in the book, "Fee" are pretty divided. I was planning on leaving the final 30 or so pages for another reading session; I couldn't. I had to finish "Fee". I felt like I needed a shower when I was done, but, like a loose tooth you can't help put probe at, I couldn't not see how it was all going to end up. It's not paranormal or supernatural, but the level of psychopathology is startling. Easily the most truly horrifying in the anthology. It does not pull any punches.

[Jay Rothermel]

A great anthology of new and established dark voices circa 1995.

Among the stories:

“Screens” by Terry Lamsley: A man unravels a bizarre series of deaths in his village, realizing the horror stems from a television screen's influence.

“A Feast at Grief's Table” by Roberta Lannes: A grieving widower meets a woman who looks like his late wife.

“Bleed” by Richard Christian Matheson: A boy, recovering from a strange illness on Halloween.

“Where the Bodies Are Buried 3: Black and White and Red All Over” by Kim Newman: A journalist gains fame by sensationalizing a shocking murder case.

“I've Come to Talk with You Again” by Karl Edward Wagner: A writer's friends are slowly dying.

“Fee” by Peter Straub: A young boy endures his father's breakdown while caring for his sick mother, culminating in a horrific realization.

[Jac]

Very good stories, except the last one, "Fee" - skip it.

[Jane Nye]

Two stars for the only two stories that were worth reading. I was not a fan of most of the authors writing styles, I found it hard to follow most story lines.

[CasualDebris]

I am very impressed with this anthology. The writing is strong and the stories are very good, with the exception of only two. The strongest stories are More Tomorrow (Michael Marshall Smith), The Puppets (Ramsey Campbell), The Hungry Moon (Graham Masterton), Uzzi (Brian Lumley) and Fee (Peter Straub), while other notables are All My Friends Are Here (Charles Wagner), The Lagoon (Nicholas Royle), At the Crossroads, Burying the Dog (Jeff VanderMeer) & The Travelling Salesman's Christmas Special (C. Bruce Hunter).

I was largely impressed with the combination of strong characterization, effective writing & a good plot. I am often disillusioned with horror. It opts largely for violence & relies on stereotypical characters that are lost amid plot. Due to this I read the genre sporadically, & avoid many novels that might actually be good: I've wasted enough of my life on trash. Bad writing is also a factor with many horror writers, & it is primarily due to this that the genre has a bad reputation among many, from non-horror writers to members of the general public. Writers like Ramsey Campbell & Peter Straub, as with most of the stories in this collection, are great examples of effective, intelligent horror. The only two stories in the collection I did not care for (they are not terrible, just not very good) are Food for Thought (Mandy Slater) & Splatter of Black (Charles Gramlich), both simply forgettable. This volume would make a good introduction to horror for those only mildly interested in the genre, or anyone seeking good horror writing.

(For synopses of stories & other info, please visit the IBList at http://www.iblist.com/book67981.htm)

[Carolyn]

Some of the stories were very good. I wish I had skipped Fee by Peter Straub. To me it was not horror it was just sick.

[Mark]

Another sterling collection from Jones & Sutton

[Tamsin]

A great set of short stories! Some slightly more terrifying than others but it's a good read!