The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: Ten Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction

by Ellen Datlow (Editor, Contributor), Laird Barron (Contributor), Suzy McKee Charnas (Contributor)

For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. In this anniversary edition, Datlow brings back her favorite stories of the series’ last decade in a special edition encompassing highlights from each edition of the work. For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. In this anniversary edition, Datlow brings back her favorite stories of the series’ last decade in a special edition encompassing highlights from each edition of the work. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers Neil Gaiman Kim Stanley Robinson Stephen King Linda Nagata Laird Barron Margo Lanagan And many others With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers. And in this anniversary edition, we share the most important stories which have been covered in the last decade of horror writing.Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers Neil Gaiman Kim Stanley Robinson Stephen KingFor more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. In this anniversary edition, Datlow brings back her favorite stories of the series’ last decade in a special edition encompassing highlights from each edition of the work. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers Neil Gaiman Kim Stanley Robinson Stephen King Linda Nagata Laird Barron Margo Lanagan And many others With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers. And in this anniversary edition, we share the most important stories which have been covered in the last decade of horror writing. Linda Nagata Laird Barron Margo Lanagan And many others With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers. And in this anniversary edition, we share the most important stories which have been covered in the last decade of horror writing.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Audiobook, Collections, Fantasy

554 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 2, 2018

About the author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

Reviews

[Karl]

Contents:

ix - Introduction by Ellen Datlow
001 - "Lowland Sea" by Suzy McKee Charnas
023 - "Wingless Beasts" by Lucy Taylor
037 - "The Nimble Men" by Glen Hirshberg
049 - "Little America" by Dan Chaon
065 - "Black and White Sky" by Tanith Lee
091 - "The Monster Makers" by Steve Rasnic Tem
099 - "Chapter Six" by Stephen Graham Jones
111 - "In a Cavern, in a Canyon" by Laird Barron
129 -"Allochthon" by Livia Llewellyn
139 - "Shepherds’ Business" by Stephen Gallagher
157 - "Down to a Sunless Sea" by Neil Gaiman
161 - "The Man from the Peak" by Adam Golaski
175 - "In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos" by John Langan
207 - "The Moraine" by Simon Bestwick
225 - "At the Riding School" by Cody Goodfellow
239 - "Cargo" E.Michael Lewis
255 - "Tender as Teeth" by Stephanie Crawford & Duane Swierczynski
275 - "Wild Acre" Nathan Ballingrud
299 - "The Callers" by Ramsey Campbell
311 - "This Stagnant Breath of Change" by Brian Hodge
329 - "Grave Goods" by Gemma Files
361 - "The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine" Peter Straub
391 - "Majorlena" by Jane Jakeman
397 - "The Days of Our Lives" by Adam L. G. Nevill
413 - "You Can Stay All Day" by Mira Grant
429 - "No Matter Which Way We Turned" by Brian Evenson
431 - "Nesters" by Siobhan Carroll
449 "Better You Believe" by Carole Johnstone
469 - About the Authors
479 - Acknowledgment of Copyright
483 - About the Editor

[Roxie Voorhees · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book club read and I am glad it is over!

⭐⭐Lowland by the Sea by Suzy McKee Charnas
⭐⭐Wingless Beasts by Lucy Taylor
⭐⭐The Nimble men by Glen Hirshberg
⭐⭐⭐Little America by Dan Chaon
⭐⭐⭐⭐Black and White Sky by Tanith Lee
⭐⭐⭐Monster Makers by Steve Rasnic Tem
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Chapter Six by Stephen Graham Jones
⭐⭐⭐In a Cavern, In a Caynon by Laird Barron
⭐⭐⭐Allochthon by Livia Llewellyn
⭐⭐⭐Shepard's Business by Stephen Gallagher
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Down to a Sunless Sea by Neil Gaiman
⭐⭐⭐⭐The Man From the Peak by Adam Golaski
⭐⭐⭐In Paris, In the Month of Kronos by John Langan
⭐⭐⭐⭐The Moraine by Simon Bestwick
At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow
⭐⭐⭐Cargo by E. Michael Lewis
⭐⭐Tender as Teeth by S. Crawford & Duane Swerczynski
⭐⭐Wild Acre by Nathan Ballingrud
⭐⭐⭐The Callers by Ramsey Campbell
⭐⭐⭐⭐The Stagnant Breath of Change by Brian Hodge
⭐⭐⭐⭐Grave Goods by Gemma Files
⭐⭐⭐⭐The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine by Peter Straub
⭐⭐Majorlena by Jane Jackman
⭐⭐⭐⭐The Days of Our Lives by Adam L. G. Nevill
⭐⭐⭐⭐You Can Stay All Day by Mira Grant
⭐⭐⭐No Matter Which Way we Turned by Brian Evenson
⭐⭐⭐Nesters by Siobhan Carroll
⭐⭐Better You Believe by Carole Johnstone

[Armand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last year, I read the latest installment in Datlow's Best Horror of the Year series. Only a handful of the hundred-plus books that I devoured back then garnered 5 stars from me, and it was one of them. Add to that the fact that this book is a distillation of what the editor considers the very best stories of the preceding 10 volumes and I guess I may be forgiven if I came into this with very high expectations.

In the Introduction, Datlow discusses some horror novels and single-author collections that she liked. Only a few of these managed to stir my interest.

I respect Datlow's editorial discernment but there are a few pieces here that made me scratch my head, knowing that she had such an embarrassment of riches from which to select more worthy fare. For instance, I knew that one of my absolute favorite King stories, The Little Green God of Agony, was anthologized somewhere in this series. Sadly, it wasn't included, while some entries that left me indifferent at best were.

The ones here are mostly alright, but this book took a long time to get going. In any case, the following caught my fancy:

Black and White Sky - an epic glut of magpies bury Britain in a shroud

In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos - two disgraced ex-soldiers are sent on a most curious mission: to escort their previous mentor, a Mephistophelian virtuoso of torture and intel extraction

At The Riding School - the ancient blood mysteries practised in secrecy in an elite riding school comes to a head when its headmistress blackmails a fugitive vet to commit a crime

The Callers - a boy stumbles upon a bingo game for old ladies, one with sinister prizes

The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine - I've read this years ago in one of the volumes in the Best New Horror series. That I can remember it until now is a testament to how powerful it is.

I'm rating this 7/10 or 3 stars out of 5.

[Joanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Individual story ratings:

Lowland Sea by Suzy McKee Charnas-5
Wingless Beasts by Lucy Taylor-5
The Nimble Men by Glen Hirshberg-3
Little America by Dan Chaon-4
Black and White Sky by Tanith Lee-4
Monster Makers by Steve Rasnic Tem-4
Chapter Six by Stephen Graham Jones-5
In a Cavern, in a Canyon by Laird Barron-4
Allochton by Livia Llewellyn-3
Shepherd’s Business by Stephen Gallagher-5
Down to a Sunless Sea by Neil Gaiman-5
The Man from the Peak by Adam Golaski-3.5
In Paris-in the Mouth of Kronos by John Langan-4
The Moraine by Simon Bestwick-5
At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow-5
Cargo by Michael E. Lewis-5
Tender as Teeth by Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski-5
Wild Acre by Nathan Ballingrud-5
The Callers by Ramsey Campbell-4
This Stagnant Breath of Change by Brian Hodge-4.5
Grave Goods by Gemma Files-4
The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine by Peter Straub-4
Majorlena by Jane Jakeman-3.5
The Days of our Lives by Adam L. G. Nevill-4
You Can Stay All Day by Mira Grant -4.5
No Matter Which Way We Turned by Brian Evanson-3
Nesters by Siobhan Carroll-4
Better You Believe by Carole Johnstone-5

[Andrew “The Weirdling” Glos · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology book is always a mixed bag- some good, some ok, some outright bad. This one is a collection of “best of” stories from ten years of “best of” books. So, on the whole, the quality of these stories is very high. There’s a little of something for everyone here- monsters, supernatural, psychological, sci-fi and futuristic, period pieces, fantasy. All lovers of horror short fiction will find something that plays to their favorites, and a few things that stretch their boundaries. Good book!

[Charli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Total rating: 3/5
Despite having some really excellent horror in here, this anthology was bogged down by mediocre and downright awful short stories that do not live up to the title.

Lowland Sea by Suzy McKee Charnas 2.5/5
The concept of the red sweat really intrigued- what’s more horrifying than seeing people covered in a bloody film? The writing was pretty good, maybe not as intriguing as the actual illness. I was uncomfortable, however, with the stories portrayal of Africa: all we as readers see of it is as the source of the sickness and a place where people get sold into slavery. Which would make sense if the main character was white and clueless but the main character is from Africa. Also, I don’t think we ever find out what country??? The narrator talks about Africa like it’s a country when it’s a humongous continent with so many different cultures, climates, etc. the fact that a disease would spread to the entirety of Africa before ever hopping over to Italy seems very convenient and not very likely.

Wingless Beast by Lucy Taylor 3.5/5
This story definitely had me going for the first couple of pages. The character progression and intrigue in this story are great. Writing is pretty solid and keeps you involved even after you know what’s going to happen.

The Nimble Men by Glen Hirshberg 3/5
I like the story itself but the ending felt like it was supposed to be cleanly wrapped up but I still had so many questions. I don’t mind the questions so much if it didn’t feel like a recap ending

Little America by Dan Chaon 3.5/5
I really liked this werewolf (ish?) tale between a turned boy and the un-turned man who is protecting him. Has it been done before? Yes (think Girl with all the gifts) but it was still a nice character study.

Black and White sky by Tanith Lee 4/5
It was a longer story but in Tanith Lee fashion, incredibly original and well written. She turns something strange but also seemingly innocuous into something terrifying. One day in England, magpies begin rising from the sky. Over and over again without stopping. Planes are crashed, cars ruined, and people left to their own devices under a black and white sky.

The Monster Makers by Steve Rasnic Tem 2/5
An interesting concept somewhat ruined by poor execution, the monster makers tries to do too much in too few pages. A grandfather narrates a tale of out of control grandchildren who cast spells (?) and turn people into werewolves (?). Excuse the question marks but I am not quite sure of the mechanics of the story. The grandfathers inner monologue and his love for his children was nice but everything else in the story was tremendously confusing.

Chapter Six by Stephen Graham Jones 2.5/5
An anthropology doctorate student and his advisor find themselves in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. This is such an interesting take on the zombie survival narrative and it would have been amazing if it was handled better. Instead of taking an anthropological lens to the zombies (figuring out their evolution, why they travel in hordes (or herds)) we mostly get an anthropologists idea of survival- trailing after a zombie horde and eating the bone marrow of the zombies latest victims. The story was overly focused on being as anthropological as possible and the moral tale of saving over surviving gets lost until the very end.

In A Cavern, In A Canyon by Laird Barron 3.5/5
Altogether a clever and creepy read. I applaud the author for introducing a different type of monster to the story, one that feels like a mixture of a banshee and siren.

Allochthon by Livia Llewellyn 4/5
This was beautifully dizzying and terrifying. It was confusing but in the way that just adds to the terror. The only thing is found offbeat was the beginning where the author talks about nature and land being alive- it explains more than it needs to and feels like an essay explaining the story

Shepherd’s Business by Stephen Gallagher 3/5
Over all, I liked the piece but it didn’t feel much like horror to me. The end just felt sad.

Down to a Sunless Sea by Neil Gaiman 4/5
My only complaint is that I wish Neil Gaiman had a longer piece in this book.

The Man from the Peak by Adam Golaski 1/5
Everybody talks about Mary Janes but can we for a moment acknowledge that there is also a type of male character that is an obvious wishful self-insert of the author: who is extremely attractive with women fighting over him and doesn’t seem to have a single fault to him. This book was like a b-rated horror movie- so many boobs and so much gore- except worse because I was never actually scared.

In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos by John Langan 2.5/5
I wasn’t super hooked with this story but I did like the Ancient Greek mythos.

The Moraine by Simon Bestwick 4/5
This might be the scariest story in the book for me. It was clever and gripping and had excellent character development. Also, makes me think twice about hiking in the mountains.

At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow 0/5
This was such an aggravatingly stupid story that I was barely able to finish it. The biggest horror of it is that the editor thought this was “the best of the best horror.” I highly advise anyone who is triggered by sexual assault to avoid this story at all costs.

Cargo by E. Michael Lewis 3/5
Atmospherically creepy and realistically horrifying, this story takes a look at Jonestown from the perspective of a pilot flown in to take the bodies back home.

Tender as Teeth by Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski 3.5/5
This was a refreshing take on the zombie narrative- focused instead on an aftermath where zombies have been cured and are forced to face the reality of what they’ve done

Wild acre by Nathan Ballingrud 3/5
The narrator of this werewolf piece was intensely aggravating but I did really like the end.

The Callers by Ramsey Campbell 3/5
Let me just say, the elderly are an underutilized source in the horror genre. Who knew bingo could be so freaky?

This Stagnant Breath of Change by Brian Hodge 3/5
I would have given this a higher rating because I liked the story but why do white authors keep using the n- word? I don’t care that you’re trying to portray racism or whatever, it is not our word to use.

Grave Goods by Gemma Files 1.5/5
I really wanted to like this story. The main character is trans, two other main characters are First Nations and African, all the characters are women. I wanted to but I actually kind of hated it? The trans narrative got bogged down by a super transphobic character and a cis-savior arc(similar to white savior) and on top of that, the writing was just plain awful.

The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine by Peter Straub 1/5
This was weird and not in a good way. I’m still not sure what was going on the whole time. Also, the main relationship is a man and woman who fell in love when she was 15 and he was 38 so yeah. Another super triggering one for self harm and underage manipulation.

Majorlena by Jane Jakeman 4/5
Short and sweet. Majorlena may be a new favorite monster.

The Days of Our Lives by Adam L. G. Nevill 3/5
After finishing this story, I am thoroughly confused but pretty satisfied, I think. The juries still out.

You Can Stay All Day by Mira Grant 4/5
Hands down my favorite zombie piece in this book. Mira Grant did what the anthropology story should have done and focused her characters knowledge of animal behavior on the zombies which of course, just like in the classics, are not referred to as zombies. I felt so in sync with this main character and her need to put her animals before other people and herself.

No Matter Which Way We Turned by Brian Evenson 3.5/5
Horror flash fiction is the way to my heart, honestly.

Nesters by Siobhan Carroll 4.5/5
Historical Horror fiction is such an underutilized genre fuse (not including gothic/Victorian). Siobhan Carroll takes us to the heart of the dust bowl where something else is happening under the dust/ something dangerous, alien.

Better You Believe by Carole Johnstone 3.5/5
This story definitely made me never want to mountain climb ever. Similar to Descent, it works on the very real fears of avalanches, falling, asphyxiation. The monster is the mountain or the horrors we put ourselves through for seemingly no reason. By the time the supernatural comes into play, it is not horrific, it is merely a product of the horrific. And that makes it even scarier.

[Joe Piccoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.6 TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Introduction—Ellen Datlow
2. 4* Lowland Sea—Suzy McKee Charnas
3. 4* Wingless Beasts—Lucy Taylor
4. 3.5* The Nimble Men—Glen Hirshberg
5. 3.25* Little America—Dan Chaon
6. 4* Black and White Sky—Tanith Lee
7. 2* The Monster Makers—Steve Rasnic Tem
8. 3* Chapter Six—Stephen Graham Jones
9. 4* In a Cavern, in a Canyon—Laird Barron
10. 3* Allochthon—Livia Llewellyn
11. 2* Shepherds’ Business—Stephen Gallagher
12. 3* Down to a Sunless Sea—Neil Gaiman
13. 3* The Man from the Peak—Adam Golaski
14. 4* In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos—John Langan
15. 4* The Moraine—Simon Bestwick
16. 4* At the Riding School—Cody Goodfellow
17. 4* Cargo—E.Michael Lewis
18. 4* Tender as Teeth—Stephanie Crawford & Duane Swierczynski
19. 4* Wild Acre—Nathan Ballingrud
20. 4 The Callers—Ramsey Campbell
21. 5 This Stagnant Breath of Change—Brian Hodge
22. 4 Grave Goods—Gemma Files
23. 5 The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine—Peter Straub
24. 4 Majorlena—Jane Jakeman
25. 3 The Days of Our Lives—Adam L. G. Nevill
26. 4 You Can Stay All Day—Mira Grant
27. 3* No Matter Which Way We Turned—Brian Evenson
28. 4 Nesters—Siobhan Carroll
29. 4 Better You Believe—Carole Johnstone

[Kate (Looking Glass Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Editor Ellen Datlow has curated collections of horror fiction for more than a decade. The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction edited by multiple Hugo Award winning Ellen Datlow is a collection of some of the best short horror found in the Best Horror of the Year collection over the past ten years.

A huge number of authors are included in this volume with a total of twenty-eight short stories. Such authors include Mira Grant, Neil Gaiman, Siobhan Carroll, Peter Straub, and many, many more.

It’s always fascinating seeing what stories the editor will choose for compilation or anniversary volumes such as this. Datlow chose some very memorable stories here. Of course, as with all anthologies, some stories will get more mileage than others depending on the reader.

The stories seemed to be harshly divided for me. Half were extremely memorable, and ones I’ve greatly enjoyed in previous Best Horror of the Year anthologies. Others were ones I must have read before, but even upon a second reading still don’t find especially memorable or intriguing.

Such is the nature of anthologies, though, and to be honest, part of why I pick so many up. There is always something fascinating or intriguing within. I also love seeing each editor’s personal taste and curation style, and learning how they line up with my own reading habits.

I do continue to love the Best Horror of the Year series, which is edited by Ellen Datlow, and I will be picking up additional volumes in the future. This volume in particular is enormous, so if large books feel intimidating to you, do be warned. That said, the short stories are easy to get through by nature. I do highly recommend the audiobook, which I listened to via Scribd. I usually do listen to this series via audiobook, and each one has fantastic narrators.

Overall, The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction edited by Ellen Datlow is collection that I enjoyed. Not all short stories left a lasting impression, but all were enjoyable in the moment, and several are ones that will stick with me for a long time to come. If you like horror or enjoy Ellen Datlow’s anthologies, this is a book you don’t want to miss out on.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want an idea of what you’re diving into before committing, “The Nimble Men” by Glen Hirshberg and “The Moraine” by Simon Bestwick are available for a free listen at PseudoPod.

http://pseudopod.org/2010/10/31/pseud...
http://pseudopod.org/2016/12/15/pseud...

I’ve read a number of the anthologies that helped form this book, and the table of content determination had me scratching my head several times. Many of these authors had significantly stronger examples of their work included in a different year. That said, this may be the perfect TOC for you.

“Lowland Sea” was a fascinating modern retelling of The Masque of the Red Death. “Allocthon” is a grim cosmic horror tale that while it is aware of “The Colour Out of Space” and “The Lurking Fear” it owes them no loyalty and plucks out their eyes to have for their own. “In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos” by John Langan is a moody piece that wrestles with “enhanced interrogation techniques” and captures a moment in amber that society would prefer forgotten. “At the Riding School” by Cody Goodfellow was a grotesque modern revisitation of miscegenation horror. “Cargo” was a nice dark piece that shone a light on a little explored impact of the Jamestown tragedy. “Tender as Teeth” by Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski is some exceptional character work exploring the burden of viral infamy. “You Can Stay All Day” by Seanan McGuire (as by Mira Grant) is an excellent take on the zombie story, focusing on the people instead of the zombies. This one uses the perspective of a zookeeper during the initial outbreak.

“In a Cavern, in a Canyon” by Laird Barron has some excellent character work, but certain monster beats hit me more with “The Moraine” elsewhere in this book, as well as “Bug House” by Lisa Tuttle. “Grave Goods” by Gemma Files felt like it would have benefited from being expanded into a novelette or novella, as there were so many characters yearning for more room to breathe.

[Laura Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite stories were:

Lowland Sea—Suzy McKee Charnas
At the Riding School—Cody Goodfellow
Tender as Teeth—Stephanie Crawford & Duane Swierczynski
Grave Goods—Gemma Files
You Can Stay All Day—Mira Grant
Better You Believe—Carole Johnstone

The others were solid, but the ones I listed I especially enjoyed. The first and last stories were EXCEPTIONAL.

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out that I am a finicky consumer of contemporary horror. Although I have found authors I like, many of them fall into the “literary horror” category, those authors whose publishers go out of their way to distance them from the genre ghetto. (The authors usually seem much less concerned about this than their publishers.) When it comes to more traditional horror, I have learned that short stories are more likely to please than novels, and that the “best of” annuals edited by Ellen Datlow are a dependable resource for getting to know both new authors and old hands at the game. This new publication ups the games by choosing the “best of the best” from the past ten anthologies.

In her introduction, Datlow prepares the reader for the familiar tropes of zombies, vampires, serial killers, and werewolves, but she makes the point that they are there because horror writers keep finding new twists. Nathan Ballingrud’s “Wild Acre” combines werewolves and the recession of 2008. Siobhan Carrol’s “Nesters” places a variation of Lovecraft’s “The Color out of Space” in the Oklahoma dust bowl of the Great Depression. There are a few more coincidental crossovers to popular culture. In “The Moraine” by Simon Bestwick, a young couple gets trapped in what could be a version of Tremors without the gags. The post-zombie apocalypse narrative in Stephanie Crawford’s and Duane Swierczynski’s “Tender as Teeth” has cropped up in several feature films. Suzy McKee Charnas’s “The Lowland Sea” recasts “The Masque of the Red Death” at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s a perfect match.

My nomination for the best of the “best of the best” is Adam L.G. Nevill’s “The Days of Our Lives.” I couldn’t tell you the plot because it barely has one, and the back story remains vague. The characters survive in a perpetual state of drudgery, danger, murder, and panic. As they title implies, they are just doing what they have to do, and it is a nightmare.

[Matthew R. Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this collection of short horror stories to be pretty good. I will say, the first two stories that open this collection I did find quite boring. They were very slow and actually made me question whether I should keep reading. The third story however, really grabbed my attention and made me want to continue reading. After that, I enjoyed many more of the stories I found in this collection. Some of them are beautiful, some of them are quite ugly, and some of them make you really rethink how you look at things, but, all of them are truly horror stories. I rated this book a four out of five due to the fact that the first two stories I found to be quite boring, and honestly thought this collection could’ve done without them. Otherwise, I think it was a good collection, with some great stories, and I would recommend anyone read this book.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most horrifying thing about these stories is that they are supposedly among the best of the best. I can't imagine how disappointing the mediocre horror stories are.

[Matthew McElroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to have to borrow a few other people's strategy and rate the individual story. It's an excellent read, but Datlo could have been a bit more strict as an editor. At nearly 500 pages, this would have benefited from being cut under 400, to really let the best stories shine. There are some stories here l, which just aren't "best of the decade" worthy. But the good stuff is better than I anticipated. There is a wide-range of authors. I will read more of their work when I have an opportunity.

(I took this already typed list of stories and page numbers from Goodreads User: Karl, who published his review in 2018)
xi - Introduction by Ellen Datlow- Wow, at 15 pages, way too long; it's also repetitive- there is a summary of the authors and their work at the end of the book
001 - "Lowland Sea" by Suzy McKee Charnas- 5 stars- how would you respond to a betrayal? great themes of hubris, immigration and nationalism
023 - "Wingless Beasts" by Lucy Taylor-5 stars- what does the wild hold? What role will strangers play in your life?
037 - "The Nimble Men" by Glen Hirshberg- 4- what happens when you give in to your fears?
049 - "Little America" by Dan Chaon
065 - "Black and White Sky" by Tanith Lee - 2 stars- the fear of the inexplicable
091 - "The Monster Makers" by Steve Rasnic Tem
099 - "Chapter Six" by Stephen Graham Jones
111 - "In a Cavern, in a Canyon" by Laird Barron
129 -"Allochthon" by Livia Llewellyn
139 - "Shepherds’ Business" by Stephen Gallagher 5 stars- what would you do to get your child back?
157 - "Down to a Sunless Sea" by Neil Gaiman 5 stars- the fear of losing family
161 - "The Man from the Peak" by Adam Golaski
175 - "In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos" by John Langan 4 stars- what is the legacy of violence in our culture?
207 - "The Moraine" by Simon Bestwick 5 stars- just heartbreaking
225 - "At the Riding School" by Cody Goodfellow- 5 stars if the gods and monsters of Greek mythology were real
239 - "Cargo" E.Michael Lewis
255 - "Tender as Teeth" by Stephanie Crawford & Duane Swierczynski
275 - "Wild Acre" Nathan Ballingrud
299 - "The Callers" by Ramsey Campbell
311 - "This Stagnant Breath of Change" by Brian Hodge
329 - "Grave Goods" by Gemma Files
361 - "The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine" Peter Straub
391 - "Majorlena" by Jane Jakeman 5 stars- the legacy of violence in places you never should have been
397 - "The Days of Our Lives" by Adam L. G. Nevill
413 - "You Can Stay All Day" by Mira Grant
429 - "No Matter Which Way We Turned" by Brian Evenson
431 - "Nesters" by Siobhan Carroll 4 stars- what if the two things you wanted most were both just mirages?
449 "Better You Believe" by Carole Johnstone
469 - About the Authors
479 - Acknowledgment of Copyright
483 - About the Editor

[Ben Loory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorites:

"The Nimble Men" by Glen Hirshberg
"Little America" by Dan Chaon
"Chapter Six" by Stephen Graham Jones
"Shepherds' Business" by Stephen Gallagher <--- scary!
"The Days of Our Lives" by Adam Nevill

and the one that will haunt me:

"Black and White Sky" by Tanith Lee

[Scott Niles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something for all tastes in this great collection! Highly recommend!

[Allie Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best is doing a lot of heavy lifting for some of these selections.

[Lucy Batson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weirdly not amazing considering that it's supposedly the best of the "Best Horror of the Year" from the previous decade, but still fairly solid with a handful of real stunners.

[Tracy Hollen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this big, thick book of horror stories. It's been a long time since I've picked up a horror anthology, but after hearing the editor on a podcast, I was intrigued. I'm glad I got it! After reading The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2016 a few years back, I sort of wrote off short speculative/fantasy fiction because so many of the stories in that book were trash. I used to read short horror fiction voraciously in the 80s and 90s. In fact, now that Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction is making a bit of a splash, I am deeply regretting getting rid of all my books a few years ago! I had a treasure trove.

Any how, this anthology is great. Most stories are good, and some are excellent. I think I've probably outgrown horror a little bit, but I still liked sticking my claw back into the witch's cauldron.

[Jordi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long overdue reading debt: to dig into Ellen Datlow’s horror short fiction year’s best anthologies. What best place to start than this “anthology of anthologies” picking up stories from the first 10 years up to 2018?

The best reward was probably discovering new authors I was not aware - I was specially intrigued by the stories from Adam Golaski, Stuart LG Nevill, Dan Chaon and Steve Rasnic Tem.

If I had to pick a few favorites in addition to those, I would start with the devastating “Allocthon” by Livia Llewellyn, a nightmarish loop of an eternal Sunday morning in an apparent suburban paradise, inner hell for the protagonist - a house wife drowned by the grayness of her life. It plays real well with the lovecraftian idea that the landscape is alive - the day may come that we may need to answer its terrible call.

There’s also small masterpieces from veteran writers as Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub or Neil Gaiman - all of them shaking in different ways. And even more, there’s my personal old favorites, some of them with stories I haven’t read before: Laird Barron, John Langan, Nathan Ballingrud and the late Tanith Lee.

[Razzle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-curated collection of horror stories with divergent approaches. Overall top-shelf stuff, even if it wasn't all to my tastes. It actually gives a nice sense of the breadth of the genre, and I bet there's something for every horror reader in here.

My top five:

1. "Black and White Sky" - Lee: A surreal and unique story of what happens when the magpies get weird.

2. "The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine" - Straub: A nasty tale about some nasty people, with some very creepy and ambiguous moments.

3. "Lowland Sea" - Charnas: This was the first story in the collection, and its 'Masque of the Red Death' vibes hit extra strong in 2020.

4. "The Days of Our Lives" - Nevill: Now this is a bad marriage.

5. "The Man From the Peak" - Golaski: The narrator is an unbearable person, but he still doesn't deserve a visitor from the peak.

The stories by Stephen Graham Jones, Laird Barron, and John Langan were also very good, but I already like those writers.

[Alisi ☆ wants to read too many books ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize, when I bought this, that this would be a compilations of her ... compilations. Let's milk that cow for all it's worth, right? Bizarrely, the intro has Datlow saying she hardly gets to read books because she's too busy reading short stories but wants to give us a list of handful of books she did read and loved... then gave us like an hour straight of book titles. Hmmm... I wonder if there was a kick back for that advertisement?

Regardless, I thought the first half of this book was okay. I'd read all these before, obviously, but it was nice to revisit the better stories in this series. The second half fell off the rails for me though. It felt like she started this with good intentions but midway through she just said 'fuck it'.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

As solid a contribution as the rest, even if it is a bit of a money grab. These are great anthologies each year, affordable and lengthy and filled with a wide variety of horror. I liked way more stories in this volume than I normally do.

My favorites include:

Black and White Sky - Tanith Kee
The Man from the Peak - Adam Golaski
Grave Goods - Gemma Files
The Stagnant Breath of Change - Brian Hodge
Sheperds' Business - Stephen Gallagher
In a Cavern, in a Canyon - Laird Barron
Chapter Six - Stephen Graham Jones
Cargo - E. Michael Lewis
Wild Acre - Nathan Ballingrud

Honorable Mentions
You Can Stay All Day - Mira Grant
The Moraine - Simon Bestwick
Lowland Sea - Suzy McKee Charnas
Tender as Teeth - Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski

[John Bastin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read much horror lately, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a look and see what good horror is like, these days. Good? Naw, it's really not so much. Most of these were just long, dragged out tales with little real horror to find. They're mostly boring and not worth spending the time. The Neil Gaiman story was good, I'll recommend that one. I had high hopes for Peter Straub from previous experience, but it was long and tedious and not really what I would consider "horror." Messy, a little gory, but mostly boring.

So if you like your reading to be true horror, I'll have to recommend you look elsewherel.

[Christi Nogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology. All of the stories were strong, but some personal favorites were "Little America" by Dan Choan, "In a Cavern, in a Canyon" by Laird Barron, "Allocthon" by Livia Llewellyn, "The Man from the Peak" by Adam Golaski, "The Days of Our Lives" by Adam Nevill, "Nesters" by Siohhan Carroll, and "Better You Believe" by Carole Johnstone.

[Collin Greenwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

More bad than good, even as a mixed bag anthology. Some were okay, a couple were great, but most were dull at best and disgustingly amoral at worst. 'At the Riding School' was both blatantly sexist and very rapey. Not at all recommended.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some solid stories, but they didn’t really live up to the title.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

For something called the best of the best horror most of the stories in this book were pretty bad

[Xenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few good short stories that really spooked me. This Volume didn't impress me as others. But it was a fun read.