What do you think?
Rate this book
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Thirteen
From Ellen Datlow (“the venerable queen of horror anthologies” (New York Times) comes a new entry in the series that has brought you stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman comes thrilling stories, the best horror stories available.
For more than four 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. Now, with the thirteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, 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.
For more than four 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. Now, with the thirteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, 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.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
126 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Datlow
274 books1,874 followersEllen 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
January 10, 2022
The Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen was to be my final book of 2021, the perfect closure of my reading year… Or so I thought. What actually happened is that it didn’t even make it to the first book of 2022 because it starts so damn slow! My initial impression of the first few stories is such a poor one that I seriously wondered if this really can be the best horror of any year at all! I was wrong, though, a slow start does not necessarily mean a bad anthology. As we all know anthologies usually are a mixed bag – it’s next to impossible to find consistently awesome ones and even if they were filled with only good stories we’d start petty bickering and comparing them to each other. Even though I was a little disappointed of the weak start (and honestly thought it would all go downhill from there because anthologies usually start really strong to get you hooked), I was very pleasantly surprised by the middle streak of genuinely scary and/or original stories which basically saved this anthology for me.
I’ll just shortly mention my highlights, as I do with every anthology;
“Cleaver, Meat, and Block” by Maria Haskins – Zombie apocalypse meets (or meats?) end of pandemic, but is it really over “when it is all over”?
“Scold’s Bridle: A Cruelty” by Richard Gavin – This short but effective piece of writing does its title justice! My god, seriously, just researching the titular torture device gave me the shivers.
“Mine Seven” by Elana Gomel – I’m enormously enjoying the fact that Datlow steadily includes more horror that doesn’t stem from the USA in her anthologies! Elana Gomel seasons her short story about a trip to the Arctic Russia with monstrous Chukchi mythology!
“Sicko” by Stephen Volk – What can I say except AWESOME? Volk’s own take on Robert Bloch’s Psycho, an alternate version of the story in which things don’t quite go as you anticipate.
“Heath Crawler” by Sam Hicks – An exquisite shorty of cosmic horror revolving around a man who takes his dog to a walk in a park and meets an artist of a different kind.
“The Devil Be at the Door” by David Surface – There aren’t enough good haunted house stories around, so I’m thrilled every time I find one like this; a story about cosmic horrors, lost relatives and houses that eat you up!
"Scream Queen" by Nathan Ballingrud – Ballungrad is the undisputed MASTER of scary and here he shows why: an older actress who in her heydays starred in a cult movie about a satanic possession and still carries the scars and consequences of that experience. I’m sure it’s like nothing what you think. Shivers!
"Two Truths and A Lie" by Sarah Pinsker – A young woman, returning to her home town for her best friend’s brother’s funeral, discovers through her finds in the deceased’s house that the children of the town have been subject to some sort of seances disguised as a TV show. This was so well done and goes right under your skin!
So as you see, it was, in the end totally worth it, AGAIN, and I’m sure that many stories I couldn’t warm up to at my first reading will do better on a second glance.
I’ll just shortly mention my highlights, as I do with every anthology;
“Cleaver, Meat, and Block” by Maria Haskins – Zombie apocalypse meets (or meats?) end of pandemic, but is it really over “when it is all over”?
“Scold’s Bridle: A Cruelty” by Richard Gavin – This short but effective piece of writing does its title justice! My god, seriously, just researching the titular torture device gave me the shivers.
“Mine Seven” by Elana Gomel – I’m enormously enjoying the fact that Datlow steadily includes more horror that doesn’t stem from the USA in her anthologies! Elana Gomel seasons her short story about a trip to the Arctic Russia with monstrous Chukchi mythology!
“Sicko” by Stephen Volk – What can I say except AWESOME? Volk’s own take on Robert Bloch’s Psycho, an alternate version of the story in which things don’t quite go as you anticipate.
“Heath Crawler” by Sam Hicks – An exquisite shorty of cosmic horror revolving around a man who takes his dog to a walk in a park and meets an artist of a different kind.
“The Devil Be at the Door” by David Surface – There aren’t enough good haunted house stories around, so I’m thrilled every time I find one like this; a story about cosmic horrors, lost relatives and houses that eat you up!
"Scream Queen" by Nathan Ballingrud – Ballungrad is the undisputed MASTER of scary and here he shows why: an older actress who in her heydays starred in a cult movie about a satanic possession and still carries the scars and consequences of that experience. I’m sure it’s like nothing what you think. Shivers!
"Two Truths and A Lie" by Sarah Pinsker – A young woman, returning to her home town for her best friend’s brother’s funeral, discovers through her finds in the deceased’s house that the children of the town have been subject to some sort of seances disguised as a TV show. This was so well done and goes right under your skin!
So as you see, it was, in the end totally worth it, AGAIN, and I’m sure that many stories I couldn’t warm up to at my first reading will do better on a second glance.
March 8, 2022
Unlucky #13! You probably know by now what you're signing up for with a Datlow anthology.
“Exhalation #10” (A. C. Wise)
A filmmaker and a cop track down the scene of a snuff film. Actually not one of my favorites in _The Ghost Sequences_, serial killers aren’t for me, and I thought it was vastly shown up by the thematically similar “Excerpts From A Film…”
“A Hotel in Germany” (Catriona Ward)
A movie star’s assistant suffers through her job. A tale of monstrous servitude absolutely buzzing with anxiety and misery; between title and first page I usually have a good idea of what a story will be but I did not see this one coming.
“A Deed Without a Name” (Jack Lothian)
A riff on the witches in the Scottish play. Didn’t do much for me conceptually; somewhat irritating stylistically.
"Lords of the Matinee" (Stephen Graham Jones)
A man escorting his father-in-law to the movies for the afternoon hears some unexpected things. Like last year's "This Was Always Going to Happen," a nicely-off-kilter premise delivered with astounding clarity and level of craft.
"Cleaver, Meat, & Block" (Maria Haskins)
What happens after a zombie apocalypse if the zombies wake up and you have to go back to living with people who endangered/killed your family during a pandemic? Impossibly resonant, and yet written and published pre-COVID. Very good.
“The Eight-Thousanders” (Jason Sanford)
A vampire larks about the top of Mt. Everest, feeling numb. Tech bros are also there, feeling numb. My reaction as a reader? Numb.
“Scold’s Bridle: A Cruelty” (Richard Gavin)
A man is coerced into making torture devices. Well crafted but not my kind of thing: nothing weird or supernatural or surreal about it, just people tormenting one another.
“Come Closer” (Gemma Files)
You notice a house, creepy, seemingly abandoned, and moving, shifting through your neighborhood - toward your home? You know I’m a sucker for second person, and creative haunted houses, and this is my kind of nightmare of a story.
“It Doesn’t Feel Right” (Michael Marshall Smith)
Parents struggle with their “uncontrollable creatures.” Negotiations told in a coolly ironic kind of business speak (at least to start). Boy did this one hit too close to home.
“Mine Seven” (Elana Gomel)
Post-Soviet arctic tourism, plus monster. The monster is cool, American assimilation is a good topic, this story was verging on great but had some structural wobbliness and a lack of clarity at a few points.
“Sicko” (Steve Duffy)
Psycho fan fiction: Marion leaves the hotel before Bates returns, and then horror seeps in from another direction (patriarchy). Probably meaningful if you have some emotional investment in Psycho (or have seen it recently enough to recall any details).
“Mouselode Maze” (Christopher Harman)
A pair of landscapers run into odd things afoot in the decrepit maze of a Tudor mansion being renovated into a hotel spa. A very nice work in the Jamesian mode (from Ghosts and Scholars, after all) that manages not to be pastiche.
“Heath Crawler” (Sam Hicks)
A man walking his dog meets an unsavory man with an even more unsavory dog on the heath. Can’t claim to have made much sense of it but what atmosphere! Hicks’s growth and success rate in the small handful of stories she’s published is astounding.
“The Devil Will Be at the Door” (David Surface)
Students investigate a haunted house. Some nice musings on mourning the unseen world of both religion & ghost stories give way to an overly complicated setup; the meat of the story suffers for its proximity to the Files entry.
"Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking" (Tom Johnstone)
A woman spins stories about her parents meeting, her mom's agency, her dad's disturbing puppet warehouse. Puppets as a horror device don't resonate with me, but the tinges here of class and patriarchy worked very well.
“Scream Queen” (Nathan Ballingrud)
A failed filmmaker interviews an actress, who starred in one cult classic decades ago, about exploitation and devotion. Feels more in the register of NALM than Wounds, until it doesn’t. Beautiful and sad; as excellent as you’d expect. The standout.
“We Do Like to Be Beside” (Peter W. Sutton)
A boy’s family goes missing at the beach - something to do with their creepy neighbors? His panic (and the griminess of the atmosphere) are conveyed well; the ending feels a bit formulaic.
“Contrition (1998)” (J. A. W. McCarthy)
A weird movie plays in a decrepit theatre staffed by a crew of misfits. Can you believe the movie makes people do weird things? Suffused with almost unbearable tension and palpable self-loathing. Captures the late 90s well. Good stuff.
“Tethered Dogs” (Gary McMahon)
A tough bartender accompanies a pimp to see an oracular prostitute caught in a kind of Valdemar-esque liminal state. Stiff dialogue and an overall feeling of having been excised from a longer work, in a bad way.
“In the English Rain” (Steve Duffy)
Surrey, 1979, two teens explore an abandoned house owned by John Lennon. I’d love to never hear about the Beatles again but willing to give Duffy benefit of the doubt. In return I got a story about a serial pedophile. Very disappointing.
“A Treat For Your Last Day” (Simon Bestwick)
A man reminisces about a disastrous childhood vacation. A true crime-y thing that isn’t in my usual wheelhouse, but this worked because the focus isn’t on the gore but on the man’s regret and yearning for a different life.
“Trick of the Light” (Andrew Humphrey)
A bickering couple vacation at the beach, discuss “Oh, Whistle, And I’ll Come to You, My Lad.” Felt like it couldn’t decide how subtle or explicit it wanted to be and mostly just made me want to reread “Oh, Whistle…”
“Two Truths and a Lie” (Sarah Pinsker)
A woman, helping a friend clear his hoarder brother’s house, is reminded they were all on a weird children’s show. It felt more absurd than creepy (although I think the latter was the intention), and the timbre of the whole thing was vaguely irritating, although I can’t say exactly why. Just won a Nebula, so don't take my word for it, I guess.
“The Whisper of Stars” (Thana Niveau)
A group of fossil hunters in Siberia meet a gruesome end, mostly. The climax was ok (shades of “The Other Side of the Mountain”) but has little to do with most of what went before. Reaches for the numinous, but fails to grasp it.
“Exhalation #10” (A. C. Wise)
A filmmaker and a cop track down the scene of a snuff film. Actually not one of my favorites in _The Ghost Sequences_, serial killers aren’t for me, and I thought it was vastly shown up by the thematically similar “Excerpts From A Film…”
“A Hotel in Germany” (Catriona Ward)
A movie star’s assistant suffers through her job. A tale of monstrous servitude absolutely buzzing with anxiety and misery; between title and first page I usually have a good idea of what a story will be but I did not see this one coming.
“A Deed Without a Name” (Jack Lothian)
A riff on the witches in the Scottish play. Didn’t do much for me conceptually; somewhat irritating stylistically.
"Lords of the Matinee" (Stephen Graham Jones)
A man escorting his father-in-law to the movies for the afternoon hears some unexpected things. Like last year's "This Was Always Going to Happen," a nicely-off-kilter premise delivered with astounding clarity and level of craft.
"Cleaver, Meat, & Block" (Maria Haskins)
What happens after a zombie apocalypse if the zombies wake up and you have to go back to living with people who endangered/killed your family during a pandemic? Impossibly resonant, and yet written and published pre-COVID. Very good.
“The Eight-Thousanders” (Jason Sanford)
A vampire larks about the top of Mt. Everest, feeling numb. Tech bros are also there, feeling numb. My reaction as a reader? Numb.
“Scold’s Bridle: A Cruelty” (Richard Gavin)
A man is coerced into making torture devices. Well crafted but not my kind of thing: nothing weird or supernatural or surreal about it, just people tormenting one another.
“Come Closer” (Gemma Files)
You notice a house, creepy, seemingly abandoned, and moving, shifting through your neighborhood - toward your home? You know I’m a sucker for second person, and creative haunted houses, and this is my kind of nightmare of a story.
“It Doesn’t Feel Right” (Michael Marshall Smith)
Parents struggle with their “uncontrollable creatures.” Negotiations told in a coolly ironic kind of business speak (at least to start). Boy did this one hit too close to home.
“Mine Seven” (Elana Gomel)
Post-Soviet arctic tourism, plus monster. The monster is cool, American assimilation is a good topic, this story was verging on great but had some structural wobbliness and a lack of clarity at a few points.
“Sicko” (Steve Duffy)
Psycho fan fiction: Marion leaves the hotel before Bates returns, and then horror seeps in from another direction (patriarchy). Probably meaningful if you have some emotional investment in Psycho (or have seen it recently enough to recall any details).
“Mouselode Maze” (Christopher Harman)
A pair of landscapers run into odd things afoot in the decrepit maze of a Tudor mansion being renovated into a hotel spa. A very nice work in the Jamesian mode (from Ghosts and Scholars, after all) that manages not to be pastiche.
“Heath Crawler” (Sam Hicks)
A man walking his dog meets an unsavory man with an even more unsavory dog on the heath. Can’t claim to have made much sense of it but what atmosphere! Hicks’s growth and success rate in the small handful of stories she’s published is astounding.
“The Devil Will Be at the Door” (David Surface)
Students investigate a haunted house. Some nice musings on mourning the unseen world of both religion & ghost stories give way to an overly complicated setup; the meat of the story suffers for its proximity to the Files entry.
"Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking" (Tom Johnstone)
A woman spins stories about her parents meeting, her mom's agency, her dad's disturbing puppet warehouse. Puppets as a horror device don't resonate with me, but the tinges here of class and patriarchy worked very well.
“Scream Queen” (Nathan Ballingrud)
A failed filmmaker interviews an actress, who starred in one cult classic decades ago, about exploitation and devotion. Feels more in the register of NALM than Wounds, until it doesn’t. Beautiful and sad; as excellent as you’d expect. The standout.
“We Do Like to Be Beside” (Peter W. Sutton)
A boy’s family goes missing at the beach - something to do with their creepy neighbors? His panic (and the griminess of the atmosphere) are conveyed well; the ending feels a bit formulaic.
“Contrition (1998)” (J. A. W. McCarthy)
A weird movie plays in a decrepit theatre staffed by a crew of misfits. Can you believe the movie makes people do weird things? Suffused with almost unbearable tension and palpable self-loathing. Captures the late 90s well. Good stuff.
“Tethered Dogs” (Gary McMahon)
A tough bartender accompanies a pimp to see an oracular prostitute caught in a kind of Valdemar-esque liminal state. Stiff dialogue and an overall feeling of having been excised from a longer work, in a bad way.
“In the English Rain” (Steve Duffy)
Surrey, 1979, two teens explore an abandoned house owned by John Lennon. I’d love to never hear about the Beatles again but willing to give Duffy benefit of the doubt. In return I got a story about a serial pedophile. Very disappointing.
“A Treat For Your Last Day” (Simon Bestwick)
A man reminisces about a disastrous childhood vacation. A true crime-y thing that isn’t in my usual wheelhouse, but this worked because the focus isn’t on the gore but on the man’s regret and yearning for a different life.
“Trick of the Light” (Andrew Humphrey)
A bickering couple vacation at the beach, discuss “Oh, Whistle, And I’ll Come to You, My Lad.” Felt like it couldn’t decide how subtle or explicit it wanted to be and mostly just made me want to reread “Oh, Whistle…”
“Two Truths and a Lie” (Sarah Pinsker)
A woman, helping a friend clear his hoarder brother’s house, is reminded they were all on a weird children’s show. It felt more absurd than creepy (although I think the latter was the intention), and the timbre of the whole thing was vaguely irritating, although I can’t say exactly why. Just won a Nebula, so don't take my word for it, I guess.
“The Whisper of Stars” (Thana Niveau)
A group of fossil hunters in Siberia meet a gruesome end, mostly. The climax was ok (shades of “The Other Side of the Mountain”) but has little to do with most of what went before. Reaches for the numinous, but fails to grasp it.
November 10, 2025
As usual, Ellen Datlow doesn’t disappoint. The stories in this collection are a little tamer than I had hoped for, but still had some wonderful moments of dread, and just a soupçon of disgust. Nothing in this collection would rank below a 3/5, all were good, and some really good. Nothing blew my face off, but there are certainly some standouts. The collection starts strong, with great stories by A. C. Wise, Catriona Ward, Jack Lothian, and Stephen Graham Jones right out of the gate. Other stories that stood out to me, or got under my skin in all the right ways, were by J. A. W. McCarthy, Gary McMahon, Gemma Files, Nathan Ballingrud, and Sarah Pinsker. The collection does not have a lot of gore or grime, and most of the horror leans toward disturbing and psychological, though the supernatural have their time to play, too. While I would have enjoyed a bit more splatter, camp, body horror, and cosmic horror to balance the dark, brooding, psychological tenor of the collection I still found a good deal of diversity across the stories, and I was consistently entertained.
March 1, 2024
Poor to middling collection overall unfortunately. :(
May 6, 2022
This is starting off well. The first story was fantastic. Interesting characters, emotional depth, with a gruesome backdrop, and melancholy ending but one that made perfect sense.
Next few stories are varying degrees of good, and then comes "It Doesn't Feel Right" which I thought was fantastic. I'm definitely inclide to like stories about evil children, and this one finds just the right blend of Romero style zombie influence (without being a straight up zombie story) with a parent's inablity to deal with their little darling hell spawn that has turned completely. This was a lovely nasty little story.
From there, a good run of very solid stories broken only by the lame "We Do like To Be Beside." Fortunately an immediate remedy was provided with the excellent "Contrition (1998)" which is just another data point in my continued realization that I frequently like stories that use film as part of their framework. And I love that the characters realized the potential of the film and continued to propagate it.
Ends on a good note with a couple excellent stories. Once again Datlow proves herself to be a master of anthologies.
Next few stories are varying degrees of good, and then comes "It Doesn't Feel Right" which I thought was fantastic. I'm definitely inclide to like stories about evil children, and this one finds just the right blend of Romero style zombie influence (without being a straight up zombie story) with a parent's inablity to deal with their little darling hell spawn that has turned completely. This was a lovely nasty little story.
From there, a good run of very solid stories broken only by the lame "We Do like To Be Beside." Fortunately an immediate remedy was provided with the excellent "Contrition (1998)" which is just another data point in my continued realization that I frequently like stories that use film as part of their framework. And I love that the characters realized the potential of the film and continued to propagate it.
Ends on a good note with a couple excellent stories. Once again Datlow proves herself to be a master of anthologies.
September 28, 2021
Review in October 2021 issue of Library Journal: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?revie...
Excellent as usual and the overall best resource for understanding the year that was in the genre.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Full range of scares, year in review, new voices
Draft Review:
Each year, Datlow, the most critically acclaimed Horror editor in the world, considers the very best short horror fiction published in print and online, from all over the world. The only limitation is that it was published during the previous year, in English. Datlow has a track record of breaking new voices who are now household names, such as Stephen Graham Jones, through these volumes, and this year is no different. While mainstays like Jones, Gemma Files, and Nathan Ballingrud are featured, emerging names like A.C. Wise, Pete Sutton, Thana Niveau, and Catriona Ward make up the bulk of the 24 stories, a novella, and poem included here. Datlow’s keen editorial eye allows her to craft an anthology that represents the full breadth of the genre while still ensuring an enjoyable reading experience.
Verdict: Not only a must purchase for the quality of stories included in the volume, but also for the amazing tool that is Datlow’s extensive “Summation” section where she recaps the year in awards, key publications, and Horror news. Readers will not find a more comprehensive, and yet still easily digestible, snapshot of the entire genre anywhere else.
Excellent as usual and the overall best resource for understanding the year that was in the genre.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Full range of scares, year in review, new voices
Draft Review:
Each year, Datlow, the most critically acclaimed Horror editor in the world, considers the very best short horror fiction published in print and online, from all over the world. The only limitation is that it was published during the previous year, in English. Datlow has a track record of breaking new voices who are now household names, such as Stephen Graham Jones, through these volumes, and this year is no different. While mainstays like Jones, Gemma Files, and Nathan Ballingrud are featured, emerging names like A.C. Wise, Pete Sutton, Thana Niveau, and Catriona Ward make up the bulk of the 24 stories, a novella, and poem included here. Datlow’s keen editorial eye allows her to craft an anthology that represents the full breadth of the genre while still ensuring an enjoyable reading experience.
Verdict: Not only a must purchase for the quality of stories included in the volume, but also for the amazing tool that is Datlow’s extensive “Summation” section where she recaps the year in awards, key publications, and Horror news. Readers will not find a more comprehensive, and yet still easily digestible, snapshot of the entire genre anywhere else.
March 1, 2024
Obligatory 'with any big anthology, a fair few of the stories are gonna fall by the wayside. This isn't because they're inherently bad, and is more likely due to the fact that they're just a little forgettable.' Typically, for a horror short to stand out in my mind, it needs to either have some good characters or a unique concept, or, better yet, both. Anyways, with that out of the way:
Exhalation #10 - 3.5 stars - A kinda fun 'Blowout' type spin on a tired, if tried and true, concept (investigating a serial killers tapes). I liked the two main characters enough that, even though the plot wasn't all that special, I still enjoyed reading it. Should have ended a page earlier though. Everything wraps up too neatly (especially what with the MC winning an Oscar, like... come on.)
A Hotel in Germany - 3 stars - Movie star's little helper has a not-so-secret secret. Some GR reviewers cited this as one of the standouts. Engh. Ward does a great job of slowly revealing information to the reader, but I just wasn't as taken with the concept or characters as some other readers seem to be.
A Deed Without a Name - 2.5 stars - A twist on Macbeth told from the POV of one of the three witches. It's okay. Generally speaking (there are a couple of exceptions) I'm not a big fan of stories where the whole selling point is putting a spin on a classic by switching up the perspectives, but that's just little old me.
Lords of the Matinee - 3.5 stars - A guy takes his senile FIL to the movies and... stuff ensues. This is the goofiest story in the whole collection from a conceptual standpoint, but written with utter seriousness. Regardless of whether it's meant to be funny or not (I assume it was), it gets points for making me laugh.
Cleaver, Meat, and Block - 4 stars - In a world where people who were once zombies have been cured, a girl reckons with the fact that her neighbours ate her parents. This is one of the few concepts here that I would actually love to see fleshed out. How do you forgive someone who, while not in control of themselves, killed your family? If you were the zombie, how do you forgive yourself? The story's pretty good as it is, and there's a sprinkling of ambiguity, but it still feels like it's barely breaking the surface of whta could be a potentially great novel on the nature of guilt, forgiveness, suspicion, hatred, etc. Although who knows, maybe such a book already exists.
The Eight Thousanders - 3.5 stars - Vampire on Everest. Now... I know 'vampire on blank' isn't exactly a fresh take, but I have a soft spot for cute female monsters that want nothing more than to kill you gently, and also, Everest, so... seven out of ten.
Scold's Bridle: A Cruelty - 2.5 stars - Weirdly pretentious title seems more fitting of a AA vidja game than a short story (e.g. Hellblade: Sensua's Sacrfice, A Plague Tale: Innocence). A man short on cash puts his skills to the test and devises a certain torture contraption for his neighbour that is then used for exactly the reason you'd expect. Umm... yeah, I dunno, man. Conceptually, it's a welcome departure, and very short, but then you could also just Google scold's bridle.
Come Closer - 2.5 stars - A house keeps getting closer. Honestly, great concept, pretty freaky, but Files' prose... I dunno, maybe it's just not for me. Case in point, here's a line from page 112: 'Still, rotating bedroom-centric polyamourous circuit show he co-stars in aside, Joe...' Like, I get what she's trying to say most of the time, but no. Long, run-on, synonym-laden sentences do not always equate to eloquence, and though some of Files's sentences and metaphors are great, others just trip you up and disrupt the flow. That being said, writing-wise, this is one of the more unique entries in this volume. Maybe it'll work for you.
It Doesn't Fell Right - 3.5 stars - Hapless father and a son who won't wear his damn shoes. Read this one aloud to the wife. I was enjoying it quite a bit up until the last couple of pages when it goes headfirst into the deep-end. but then I guess if it ended realistically it wouldn't be much of a horror story. Or would it?
Mine Seven - 2.5 stars - Arctic vacation goes wrong. Cool setting, but weirdly disjointed. Skips around in time for no discernible reason and introduces all these random people around the midpoint that are only there to die... Felt kind of first drafty, at least plot-wise.
Sicko - 2.5 stars - What if 'Psycho,' but different. Again, I'm not a big fan of retreads or basic perspective twists on familiar narratives, I think they're kind of lazy. The tension here stems from wondering whether what is supposed to happen is going to happen... which is to say this isn't very tense. It bugs me that you would need to have some familiarity with the source material to appreciate this. At the same time, I wouldn't say Sicko feels lazy so much as a little pointless.
Mouselode Maze - 2.5 stars - Just your typical haunted maze story. Not much to note. Around this point in the collection, the tales started to get a little same-y, (not so much conceptually as stylistically) and so, naturally, a few came and went without much fuss. Approached independently, maybe they'd have a better chance of standing out.
Heath Crawler - 2.5 stars - Man walking his dog encounters creepy man walking his dog. Another favourite for some people. Might have to reread because I just don't remember it very well at all.
The Devil Will Be at the Door - 2.5 stars - Haunted house that makes people forget you. The idea of people simply forgetting you exist is a creepy one. Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten the characters myself, so... success?
Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking - 2.5 stars - Puppets and an evil ventriloquist or something. I've yet to read an evil ventriloquist story that really hit me, but there's gotta be one out there, right?
Scream Queen - 4 stars - Interviewing an old lady renowned for starring in a horror movie way back when goes terribly wrong. I like the buildup to this a lot, and holy hell, the MC, who once dreamed of becoming director but is getting on in years, actually stands out. I did not like the ending though. Cosmic horror is really hit or miss for me, to the point that it often feels like a cop-out, like 'ooh, voids and elder gods and eyeballs everywhere, isn't that spooky??!?!?!' I mean, it was the first time, but then you overdid it. 'Scream Queen' just so happens to go one step too far into boogabooga territory. Would have benefitted from some ambiguity.
We Do Like To Be Beside - 3 stars - Family beach day goes horribly wrong. Another 'forgetting people ever existed' story. Some nice descriptions and weird happenings made this slightly memorable, if all over place.
Contrition - 3.5 stars - Movie that shows people all the bad shit they've done. I mean, I feel like we've all read and seen dozens of variations of this very concept, but there's a reason it keeps cropping up.
Tethered Dogs - 3 stars - Makeshift chiropractor has his hands full. Could not remember what this was about based on the name alone. I think I enjoyed it while I was reading it, though.
Bloody Rhapsody - 2.5 stars - A poem. Two pages. Can't remember what I thought of it.
In the English Rain - 3.5 stars - Two young friends break into a house that Lennon briefly stayed in. Another story where I liked the buildup quite a bit. The leads are pretty interesting, but the eventual horror elements... let's just say this story left me conflicted. It's sad, but also really silly considering revolves around 'I Am the Walrus.' Right.
A Treat for Your Last Day - 3.5 stars - A family picnic gone sour. Pretty brutal. Wisely focuses on the MC's feelings about the past.
Trick of the Light - 2.5 stars - Vacationing couple find themselves trapped in something resembling an M.R. James story (one I have not read; I did not get the references). I found the central relationship more compelling than the horror elements, but of course, as is typical with scary stories, that dynamic is cast to the wayside in order to make room for more silhouettes and evil entities in the third act.
Two Truths and a Lie - 4.5 stars - My favourite story in the collection. Reminded me of Lisa Tuttle. A constant liar gets to remembering her time on a creepy old children's show. I liked the plot, I liked the ending, and I felt sad for MC.
The Whisper of the Stars - 3.5 stars - Arctic expedition (not a vacation this time) goes terribly wrong. Some decent character building that gets cut short so some scary stuff can happen in the last two pages. Still, the image of a woman blindly dipping her face in someone else's blood because it's the only way to melt the ice freezing her eyelids shut is... pretty messed up. Kudos.
Perhaps if these stories were rearranged, some of the middles ones would have rated a little higher. Unfortunately, there's not just not that much variety in terms of tone . None of these were outright bad, but few were capital-g Great.
Two Truths, Cleaver, and Scream Queen take the top spots.
Exhalation #10 - 3.5 stars - A kinda fun 'Blowout' type spin on a tired, if tried and true, concept (investigating a serial killers tapes). I liked the two main characters enough that, even though the plot wasn't all that special, I still enjoyed reading it. Should have ended a page earlier though. Everything wraps up too neatly (especially what with the MC winning an Oscar, like... come on.)
A Hotel in Germany - 3 stars - Movie star's little helper has a not-so-secret secret. Some GR reviewers cited this as one of the standouts. Engh. Ward does a great job of slowly revealing information to the reader, but I just wasn't as taken with the concept or characters as some other readers seem to be.
A Deed Without a Name - 2.5 stars - A twist on Macbeth told from the POV of one of the three witches. It's okay. Generally speaking (there are a couple of exceptions) I'm not a big fan of stories where the whole selling point is putting a spin on a classic by switching up the perspectives, but that's just little old me.
Lords of the Matinee - 3.5 stars - A guy takes his senile FIL to the movies and... stuff ensues. This is the goofiest story in the whole collection from a conceptual standpoint, but written with utter seriousness. Regardless of whether it's meant to be funny or not (I assume it was), it gets points for making me laugh.
Cleaver, Meat, and Block - 4 stars - In a world where people who were once zombies have been cured, a girl reckons with the fact that her neighbours ate her parents. This is one of the few concepts here that I would actually love to see fleshed out. How do you forgive someone who, while not in control of themselves, killed your family? If you were the zombie, how do you forgive yourself? The story's pretty good as it is, and there's a sprinkling of ambiguity, but it still feels like it's barely breaking the surface of whta could be a potentially great novel on the nature of guilt, forgiveness, suspicion, hatred, etc. Although who knows, maybe such a book already exists.
The Eight Thousanders - 3.5 stars - Vampire on Everest. Now... I know 'vampire on blank' isn't exactly a fresh take, but I have a soft spot for cute female monsters that want nothing more than to kill you gently, and also, Everest, so... seven out of ten.
Scold's Bridle: A Cruelty - 2.5 stars - Weirdly pretentious title seems more fitting of a AA vidja game than a short story (e.g. Hellblade: Sensua's Sacrfice, A Plague Tale: Innocence). A man short on cash puts his skills to the test and devises a certain torture contraption for his neighbour that is then used for exactly the reason you'd expect. Umm... yeah, I dunno, man. Conceptually, it's a welcome departure, and very short, but then you could also just Google scold's bridle.
Come Closer - 2.5 stars - A house keeps getting closer. Honestly, great concept, pretty freaky, but Files' prose... I dunno, maybe it's just not for me. Case in point, here's a line from page 112: 'Still, rotating bedroom-centric polyamourous circuit show he co-stars in aside, Joe...' Like, I get what she's trying to say most of the time, but no. Long, run-on, synonym-laden sentences do not always equate to eloquence, and though some of Files's sentences and metaphors are great, others just trip you up and disrupt the flow. That being said, writing-wise, this is one of the more unique entries in this volume. Maybe it'll work for you.
It Doesn't Fell Right - 3.5 stars - Hapless father and a son who won't wear his damn shoes. Read this one aloud to the wife. I was enjoying it quite a bit up until the last couple of pages when it goes headfirst into the deep-end. but then I guess if it ended realistically it wouldn't be much of a horror story. Or would it?
Mine Seven - 2.5 stars - Arctic vacation goes wrong. Cool setting, but weirdly disjointed. Skips around in time for no discernible reason and introduces all these random people around the midpoint that are only there to die... Felt kind of first drafty, at least plot-wise.
Sicko - 2.5 stars - What if 'Psycho,' but different. Again, I'm not a big fan of retreads or basic perspective twists on familiar narratives, I think they're kind of lazy. The tension here stems from wondering whether what is supposed to happen is going to happen... which is to say this isn't very tense. It bugs me that you would need to have some familiarity with the source material to appreciate this. At the same time, I wouldn't say Sicko feels lazy so much as a little pointless.
Mouselode Maze - 2.5 stars - Just your typical haunted maze story. Not much to note. Around this point in the collection, the tales started to get a little same-y, (not so much conceptually as stylistically) and so, naturally, a few came and went without much fuss. Approached independently, maybe they'd have a better chance of standing out.
Heath Crawler - 2.5 stars - Man walking his dog encounters creepy man walking his dog. Another favourite for some people. Might have to reread because I just don't remember it very well at all.
The Devil Will Be at the Door - 2.5 stars - Haunted house that makes people forget you. The idea of people simply forgetting you exist is a creepy one. Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten the characters myself, so... success?
Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking - 2.5 stars - Puppets and an evil ventriloquist or something. I've yet to read an evil ventriloquist story that really hit me, but there's gotta be one out there, right?
Scream Queen - 4 stars - Interviewing an old lady renowned for starring in a horror movie way back when goes terribly wrong. I like the buildup to this a lot, and holy hell, the MC, who once dreamed of becoming director but is getting on in years, actually stands out. I did not like the ending though. Cosmic horror is really hit or miss for me, to the point that it often feels like a cop-out, like 'ooh, voids and elder gods and eyeballs everywhere, isn't that spooky??!?!?!' I mean, it was the first time, but then you overdid it. 'Scream Queen' just so happens to go one step too far into boogabooga territory. Would have benefitted from some ambiguity.
We Do Like To Be Beside - 3 stars - Family beach day goes horribly wrong. Another 'forgetting people ever existed' story. Some nice descriptions and weird happenings made this slightly memorable, if all over place.
Contrition - 3.5 stars - Movie that shows people all the bad shit they've done. I mean, I feel like we've all read and seen dozens of variations of this very concept, but there's a reason it keeps cropping up.
Tethered Dogs - 3 stars - Makeshift chiropractor has his hands full. Could not remember what this was about based on the name alone. I think I enjoyed it while I was reading it, though.
Bloody Rhapsody - 2.5 stars - A poem. Two pages. Can't remember what I thought of it.
In the English Rain - 3.5 stars - Two young friends break into a house that Lennon briefly stayed in. Another story where I liked the buildup quite a bit. The leads are pretty interesting, but the eventual horror elements... let's just say this story left me conflicted. It's sad, but also really silly considering revolves around 'I Am the Walrus.' Right.
A Treat for Your Last Day - 3.5 stars - A family picnic gone sour. Pretty brutal. Wisely focuses on the MC's feelings about the past.
Trick of the Light - 2.5 stars - Vacationing couple find themselves trapped in something resembling an M.R. James story (one I have not read; I did not get the references). I found the central relationship more compelling than the horror elements, but of course, as is typical with scary stories, that dynamic is cast to the wayside in order to make room for more silhouettes and evil entities in the third act.
Two Truths and a Lie - 4.5 stars - My favourite story in the collection. Reminded me of Lisa Tuttle. A constant liar gets to remembering her time on a creepy old children's show. I liked the plot, I liked the ending, and I felt sad for MC.
The Whisper of the Stars - 3.5 stars - Arctic expedition (not a vacation this time) goes terribly wrong. Some decent character building that gets cut short so some scary stuff can happen in the last two pages. Still, the image of a woman blindly dipping her face in someone else's blood because it's the only way to melt the ice freezing her eyelids shut is... pretty messed up. Kudos.
Perhaps if these stories were rearranged, some of the middles ones would have rated a little higher. Unfortunately, there's not just not that much variety in terms of tone . None of these were outright bad, but few were capital-g Great.
Two Truths, Cleaver, and Scream Queen take the top spots.
January 27, 2022
This was a really good collection of stories. A really nice mix of tales. My favorites were by Stephen Graham Jones, Jack Lothian, Catriona Ward, Maria Haskins, Sam Hicks, Pete W. Sutton, JAW McCarthy, Thana Niveau, and Sarah Pinsker. I am teaching all of those stories in my Advanced Creative Writing Workshop. If I had to pick a favorite, it might be Sarah's, "Two Truths and a Lie," so unsettling. Great work as always, Ellen.
April 30, 2022
Overall: 4.5 out of 5.
I have come to the realization that while none of these volumes is ever going to be properly brilliant all the way through, there will always be at least half the stories that really do it for me. Here are my thoughts on them all, in order of appearance.
"Exhalation #10" - Disappointed. Beginning with a premise of extraordinary promise - a kind of horror superhero story - "Exhalation #10 ends without an ending. It just kind of stops, and I hate it when stories don't finish what they start.
"A Hotel in Germany" - Highly inventive vampire fiction. Not particularly scary, but it's a horrifying situation all the same. Well thought out.
"A Deed Without a Name" - even to name the premise of this piece would be a spoiler too delicious to clumsily ruin here. Good fun all around here.
"Lords of the Matinee" - it might be sacrilege to say, but I just don't dig this Stephen Graham Jones fellow as much as some folks do. His prose is generally great but this story is pretty middle of the road for me.
"Cleaver, Meat, and Block" - stories that are about willingly becoming a monster to survive are a favorite of mine, and this post-apocalyptic dance with cannibalistic death is a barnstormer.
"The Eight-Thousanders" - another vampire tale, but wholly unique from "A Hotel in Germany." A unique setting and topical premise make this one stand out.
"Scold's Bridle: A Cruelty" - an early favorite. Just a cruel twisted story that you can't put down. SAW meets Clive Barker. Ugh. Shivers! Plus, high marks for being the first one I could imagine happening right next door to me.
"Come Closer" - Gemma Files is the scariest writer currently working in short fiction. Another case of: "Here it is! The worst thing that could possibly happen! And it's RIGHT HERE WITH YOU!" Don't read this one before bed.
"It Doesn't Feel Right" - A super-cool what-if that ends in a terrific bloodbath. Anybody with a "difficult" child probably has imagined a scenario like this. Very re-readable.
"Mine Seven" - the setting is the star here, but the plot itself is ultimately forgettable.
"Sicko" - skip this one. It's just the plot of Psycho with nothing added but Marion's interiority. Not sure what it's doing in this book. Almost insulting.
"Mouselode Maze" - confusing prose here, but ultimately very scary. The author excels at frightening prose, even if his storytelling isn't quite there.
"Heath Crawler" - shades of Washington Irving! Some fun old-school horror short fiction. Not ground breaking but devilish fun all the same. Strange title be damned.
"The Devil Will Be At Your Door" - Very scary, in a "and so it goes on and on," kind of way. I love horror that's endlessly cyclical.
"Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking" - far more complex than it appears on the surface. Uses the "spooky doll" cliché in some great new ways.
"Scream Queen" - absolutely brutal. Full-force terror here. Just a great premise perfectly executed, with great characters as well. Should be a movie, or at least a short film.
"We Do Like to Be Beside" - DNF. Had no idea what was going on.
"Contrition (1998)" - Just a brilliant premise, and one that seems so obvious that I'm shocked I haven't read it before. McCarthy's a name to watch in the future.
"Tethered Dogs" - masterful manipulation of dread here. I felt reviled, and then I read it again, and again. High marks.
"Bloody Rhapsody" - the only poem of the bunch. Seemed out of place. I know horror poetry is a thing, but it's so hit or miss for me. This one missed me.
"In the English Rain" - this one, more than any other, reminded me of my real-life nightmares. Genuine discomfort reading this one. Not sure if others will feel the same way. Get out of my head, Mr. Duffy!
"A Treat For Your Last Day" - quick and brutal, made worse by the child-like innocence of the narrator. Thrilling. Don't read around your parents.
"A Trick of the Light" - fun for shutterbugs. Scary, but made more unpleasant by the unlikeable characters.
"Two Truths and a Lie" - deeply unsettling and uncanny. Just on the wrong side of possible, but close enough that you think - could it happen? Has it happened? Is it happening to me?
The Whisper of Stars - a whopper of a closer. Great whizbang cosmic horror. Niveau is another name to watch very, very closely.
FAVORITES:
"It Doesn't Feel Right"
"Come Closer"
"Two Truths and a Lie"
"The Whisper of Stars"
NEAR MISSES:
"Sicko"
"Exhalation #10"
"Mine Seven"
I have come to the realization that while none of these volumes is ever going to be properly brilliant all the way through, there will always be at least half the stories that really do it for me. Here are my thoughts on them all, in order of appearance.
"Exhalation #10" - Disappointed. Beginning with a premise of extraordinary promise - a kind of horror superhero story - "Exhalation #10 ends without an ending. It just kind of stops, and I hate it when stories don't finish what they start.
"A Hotel in Germany" - Highly inventive vampire fiction. Not particularly scary, but it's a horrifying situation all the same. Well thought out.
"A Deed Without a Name" - even to name the premise of this piece would be a spoiler too delicious to clumsily ruin here. Good fun all around here.
"Lords of the Matinee" - it might be sacrilege to say, but I just don't dig this Stephen Graham Jones fellow as much as some folks do. His prose is generally great but this story is pretty middle of the road for me.
"Cleaver, Meat, and Block" - stories that are about willingly becoming a monster to survive are a favorite of mine, and this post-apocalyptic dance with cannibalistic death is a barnstormer.
"The Eight-Thousanders" - another vampire tale, but wholly unique from "A Hotel in Germany." A unique setting and topical premise make this one stand out.
"Scold's Bridle: A Cruelty" - an early favorite. Just a cruel twisted story that you can't put down. SAW meets Clive Barker. Ugh. Shivers! Plus, high marks for being the first one I could imagine happening right next door to me.
"Come Closer" - Gemma Files is the scariest writer currently working in short fiction. Another case of: "Here it is! The worst thing that could possibly happen! And it's RIGHT HERE WITH YOU!" Don't read this one before bed.
"It Doesn't Feel Right" - A super-cool what-if that ends in a terrific bloodbath. Anybody with a "difficult" child probably has imagined a scenario like this. Very re-readable.
"Mine Seven" - the setting is the star here, but the plot itself is ultimately forgettable.
"Sicko" - skip this one. It's just the plot of Psycho with nothing added but Marion's interiority. Not sure what it's doing in this book. Almost insulting.
"Mouselode Maze" - confusing prose here, but ultimately very scary. The author excels at frightening prose, even if his storytelling isn't quite there.
"Heath Crawler" - shades of Washington Irving! Some fun old-school horror short fiction. Not ground breaking but devilish fun all the same. Strange title be damned.
"The Devil Will Be At Your Door" - Very scary, in a "and so it goes on and on," kind of way. I love horror that's endlessly cyclical.
"Let Your Hinged Jaw Do the Talking" - far more complex than it appears on the surface. Uses the "spooky doll" cliché in some great new ways.
"Scream Queen" - absolutely brutal. Full-force terror here. Just a great premise perfectly executed, with great characters as well. Should be a movie, or at least a short film.
"We Do Like to Be Beside" - DNF. Had no idea what was going on.
"Contrition (1998)" - Just a brilliant premise, and one that seems so obvious that I'm shocked I haven't read it before. McCarthy's a name to watch in the future.
"Tethered Dogs" - masterful manipulation of dread here. I felt reviled, and then I read it again, and again. High marks.
"Bloody Rhapsody" - the only poem of the bunch. Seemed out of place. I know horror poetry is a thing, but it's so hit or miss for me. This one missed me.
"In the English Rain" - this one, more than any other, reminded me of my real-life nightmares. Genuine discomfort reading this one. Not sure if others will feel the same way. Get out of my head, Mr. Duffy!
"A Treat For Your Last Day" - quick and brutal, made worse by the child-like innocence of the narrator. Thrilling. Don't read around your parents.
"A Trick of the Light" - fun for shutterbugs. Scary, but made more unpleasant by the unlikeable characters.
"Two Truths and a Lie" - deeply unsettling and uncanny. Just on the wrong side of possible, but close enough that you think - could it happen? Has it happened? Is it happening to me?
The Whisper of Stars - a whopper of a closer. Great whizbang cosmic horror. Niveau is another name to watch very, very closely.
FAVORITES:
"It Doesn't Feel Right"
"Come Closer"
"Two Truths and a Lie"
"The Whisper of Stars"
NEAR MISSES:
"Sicko"
"Exhalation #10"
"Mine Seven"
September 23, 2022
My favorites in the anthology are as follows:
“Lords of the Matinee” by Stephen Graham Jones:
A trip to the movies with his father-in-law results in a horrifying discovery. Jones does an excellent job using hearing as the story’s foundation and exposing the underbelly of relationships and cutting deep.
“A Hotel in Germany” by Catriona Ward: IN GERMANY
The assistant of a movie star devotes her life to making sure every need is met. Ward subverts expectations over and over in this piece while navigating established vampire tropes and building a wicked cool world. She delivers backstory in measured doses like an extended release drug.
“Cleaver, Meat, and Block” by Maria Haskins:
In the aftermath of a plague, a young girl deals with grief and threats from her past by using the skills she gained while working in her grandparents’ butcher shop. The ending is inevitability perfect. I absolutely adore the grandmother.
“The Eight-Thousanders” by Jason Sanford:
A trip up Mount Everest tests a man’s relationship with his entitled boss and bonds him to a creepy creature. The addiction of the climbing challenge is nicely shown as the horror of their predicament of climbing in adverse weather conditions unfolds.
“Heath Crawler” by Sam Hicks:
A man’s strange encounter while walking his dog leads him to search for connection. This piece is full of lush description, which increases the tension by creating an unsettling mood and 3-D setting.
“Two Truths and a Lie” by Sarah Pinsker:
While Stella helps Marco excavate his dead brother Denny’s hoarder house, she discovers Denny’s obsession with a strange cable access show both she and Denny appeared on as children. This story, which explores truth, lies, fate, family ties, and manifestation, was also chosen for inclusion in this Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories.
“Contrition (1998)” by J. A. W. McCarthy:
A film affects its viewers in disturbing ways. The journey of Alex, the protagonist, is nothing short of unsettling.
“Scream Queen” by Nathan Ballingrud:
Documentary film makers interview a reclusive movie star whose experiences on the set of cult horror classic involved real life freaky phenomena. The cosmic horror elements are top notch.
“The Whisper of Stars” by Thana Niveau:
A Siberian expedition becomes a nightmare as the group travel further and further into the wilderness. The description of breaths turning into ice crystals was beautiful even as it demonstrated the deadliness of the freezing temperature.
“Lords of the Matinee” by Stephen Graham Jones:
A trip to the movies with his father-in-law results in a horrifying discovery. Jones does an excellent job using hearing as the story’s foundation and exposing the underbelly of relationships and cutting deep.
“A Hotel in Germany” by Catriona Ward: IN GERMANY
The assistant of a movie star devotes her life to making sure every need is met. Ward subverts expectations over and over in this piece while navigating established vampire tropes and building a wicked cool world. She delivers backstory in measured doses like an extended release drug.
“Cleaver, Meat, and Block” by Maria Haskins:
In the aftermath of a plague, a young girl deals with grief and threats from her past by using the skills she gained while working in her grandparents’ butcher shop. The ending is inevitability perfect. I absolutely adore the grandmother.
“The Eight-Thousanders” by Jason Sanford:
A trip up Mount Everest tests a man’s relationship with his entitled boss and bonds him to a creepy creature. The addiction of the climbing challenge is nicely shown as the horror of their predicament of climbing in adverse weather conditions unfolds.
“Heath Crawler” by Sam Hicks:
A man’s strange encounter while walking his dog leads him to search for connection. This piece is full of lush description, which increases the tension by creating an unsettling mood and 3-D setting.
“Two Truths and a Lie” by Sarah Pinsker:
While Stella helps Marco excavate his dead brother Denny’s hoarder house, she discovers Denny’s obsession with a strange cable access show both she and Denny appeared on as children. This story, which explores truth, lies, fate, family ties, and manifestation, was also chosen for inclusion in this Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories.
“Contrition (1998)” by J. A. W. McCarthy:
A film affects its viewers in disturbing ways. The journey of Alex, the protagonist, is nothing short of unsettling.
“Scream Queen” by Nathan Ballingrud:
Documentary film makers interview a reclusive movie star whose experiences on the set of cult horror classic involved real life freaky phenomena. The cosmic horror elements are top notch.
“The Whisper of Stars” by Thana Niveau:
A Siberian expedition becomes a nightmare as the group travel further and further into the wilderness. The description of breaths turning into ice crystals was beautiful even as it demonstrated the deadliness of the freezing temperature.
March 20, 2024
Ellen Datlow is a professional editor and she's on top of the world. She puts out one good anthology after another. There's just one little problem... she's a stapler. And now, she's going to find out just how hard life can be when everyone expects you to staple things. This zany story and more featured in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror Volume 13.
January 10, 2022
Horror short stories have a fundamentally different feel than horror novels. The fuse is shorter, and there’s palpable tension and unease from the start - qualities that never let up. The combined effect is like biting straight into the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop while someone jams increasingly discordant chords on a nearby piano. It’s weird. I love it.
Most of the stories in “The Best Horror of the Year (Volume 13)” don’t quite hit this sensation for me. Many of them follow the well-worn tread of starting with an evocatively unsettling environment and ending with the revelation that what was unsettling was *actually* horrifying - a revelation that I would greet with a shrug and tepid agreement. A few others were told in such a way that I felt like I would probably be scared if I actually understood what had happened. One made me actively laugh out loud - although there was a slightly humorous bent to the story so maybe that was intended. None of them made me afraid of closing my eyes to go to sleep.
I suspect the problem is simply that I’ve read a lot of horror fiction and accidentally inoculated myself against many frights that would have left me petrified years ago. In other words the genre and the quality - and there is a lot of quality writing in this anthology - haven’t changed; I have. So while “The Best Horror of the Year (Volume 13)” didn’t quite have the effect I was hoping for, it still passed the time in numbingly pleasant fashion while lending me the occasional out-of-focus flash back to my younger days. And that’s not so bad!
Most of the stories in “The Best Horror of the Year (Volume 13)” don’t quite hit this sensation for me. Many of them follow the well-worn tread of starting with an evocatively unsettling environment and ending with the revelation that what was unsettling was *actually* horrifying - a revelation that I would greet with a shrug and tepid agreement. A few others were told in such a way that I felt like I would probably be scared if I actually understood what had happened. One made me actively laugh out loud - although there was a slightly humorous bent to the story so maybe that was intended. None of them made me afraid of closing my eyes to go to sleep.
I suspect the problem is simply that I’ve read a lot of horror fiction and accidentally inoculated myself against many frights that would have left me petrified years ago. In other words the genre and the quality - and there is a lot of quality writing in this anthology - haven’t changed; I have. So while “The Best Horror of the Year (Volume 13)” didn’t quite have the effect I was hoping for, it still passed the time in numbingly pleasant fashion while lending me the occasional out-of-focus flash back to my younger days. And that’s not so bad!
Read
August 30, 2025I have enjoyed 10 of the 25 stories in here, so I will just mention them without giving the anthology a star review.
I only gave one story 5 stars - Exhalation #10 by A.C. Wise, the opening story of this collection, which is the best short story I have ever read in my life.
The devil will be at the door by David Surface (terrifying), Scream queen by Nathan Ballingrud (great storytelling), and A treat for your last day by Simon Bestwick (one of my worst nightmares) were almost 5 stars, as well.
I also enjoyed Lords of the matinee (Stephen Graham Jones), Cleaver, Meat, and Block (Maria Haskins), Come closer (Gemma Files), It doesn't feel right (Michael Marshall Smith), Two truths and a lie (Sarah Pinsker), and The whisper of stars (Thana Niveau), all of which were 4 stars.
I only gave one story 5 stars - Exhalation #10 by A.C. Wise, the opening story of this collection, which is the best short story I have ever read in my life.
The devil will be at the door by David Surface (terrifying), Scream queen by Nathan Ballingrud (great storytelling), and A treat for your last day by Simon Bestwick (one of my worst nightmares) were almost 5 stars, as well.
I also enjoyed Lords of the matinee (Stephen Graham Jones), Cleaver, Meat, and Block (Maria Haskins), Come closer (Gemma Files), It doesn't feel right (Michael Marshall Smith), Two truths and a lie (Sarah Pinsker), and The whisper of stars (Thana Niveau), all of which were 4 stars.
February 8, 2022
26 short stories. If I add up what I rated each story, they average out to 3 stars each but I enjoyed the 5 stars more than I hated the 1 stars so I bumped this up to 4 stars overall. There were a lot of haunted house stories and stories set in the arctic so that appealed to me personally. Other people have given 5 stars to stories I thought were 1 star reads, so there's definitely something for everyone in this collection.
September 7, 2023
This collection contained a lot of solid stories with some exceptional gems, but some part of me didn't feel as wowed as I had with previous entries in this series. Two of my hands-down favorites were Maria Haskins' "Cleaver, Meat, and Block" and Ballingrud's "Scream Queen".
Any fan of horror should check out this collection regardless.
Any fan of horror should check out this collection regardless.
October 15, 2023
When a book is claimed to be the "best", you'd expect certain standards. And it's always a mixed bag when you have numerous authors. But I really, really enjoyed nearly all of the stories in this collection, some more than others. I'd like to get the other books in this series, and one day compare stories... maybe.
March 4, 2022
Favorites:
Cleaver, Meat, and Block
Mouselode Maze
The Devil Will Be at the Door
Scream Queen
Tethered Dogs
In the English Rain
Two Truths and a Lie
Cleaver, Meat, and Block
Mouselode Maze
The Devil Will Be at the Door
Scream Queen
Tethered Dogs
In the English Rain
Two Truths and a Lie
May 30, 2023
I loved this collection from beginning to end. Even the stories that were a teensy bit boring or not to my taste were still knockouts. This is a superstar line up of horror authors and I learned a lot about effective writing. This will be one of my "read again" comfort books in the near future.
April 16, 2022
3.5 stars
July 26, 2022
Of course, another fantastic collection of exceptionally well-written, thought-provoking scary stories. Ellen Datlow’s ability to collect truly great short stories is legendary at this point!
My particular favorites were Exhalation #10, Mouselode Maze, Heath Crawler, Scream Queen, Contrition (1998), In the English Rain, Two Truths and a Lie, and The Whisper of Stars.
My particular favorites were Exhalation #10, Mouselode Maze, Heath Crawler, Scream Queen, Contrition (1998), In the English Rain, Two Truths and a Lie, and The Whisper of Stars.
December 7, 2022
A solid entry, cannot wait for this year's and how it shambles into focus before me.
April 7, 2022
Murakami's cover design for this anthology is one of my favourites so far, that's my first impression of the book. I've been looking forward to this for some time, Ellen Datlow compiles the best anthologies, and her yearly round up is always welcome.
As with any multi author anthology, there is going to be some variation in how the stories appeal to individual taste, so I'll comment on the ones that made the biggest impact.
AC Wise's 'Exhalation #10' hit me just right. The protagonist has an uncanny ability to hear things that nobody else can, and when an unrequited flame contacts him in the middle of the night, asking him for help with a murder case, he is drawn into a dark world where he is haunted by corrupted clips from a film they made together when they were young together.
Catriona Ward's 'A Hotel in Germany' is a brilliant story. A selfish celebrity takes comfort from her bonded servant, who has no option but to serve her. As the story progresses, we find out more about the relationship between the two, and the reveal perfectly satisfied my needs as a reader.
Jack Lothian's 'A Deed Without A Name' gives us the backstory to a very well known literary scene. I enjoyed the story, and the idea behind it.
Steven Graham Jones is rightly known as one of the great horror writers of our time. 'Lords of the Matinee' treads a fine line between humour and horror, with a brilliant story about suspicion and the banality of evil. It's nearly a month since I read this story, and I'm still thinking about it.
Maria Haskin's 'Cleaver, Meat and Block' takes the zombie genre and turns it on its head. What if the zombies weren't dead, and what if they recover and return to their communities? This dark tale examines how horrific crimes committed in times of trouble are often covered up. But how do the victims feel about it?
Gemma Files' story 'Come Closer' is about a haunting house. I love stories about people who are haunted by houses. (I've written one myself). This one expertly weaves a tension and sense of hopelessness into the tale. It's a great little horror story, and deserves its place in this collection.
Oh, and here comes Michael Marshall Smith with his perfectly written, perfectly creepy, perfectly memorable story 'It Doesn't Feel Right.' He did it again, he made my hair stand on end even as I laughed at how utterly brilliantly he wrote a story that could so easily have been bungled. Yeah, I kinda love his stories, I've been a fan since 'The Man Who Drew Cats'. Sorry about the fangirling, but it's inevitable.
J A W McCarthy's 'Contrition' hit hard too. The manager of a small town cinema accepts a large payment to show an unknown film. The staff realise that there's something deeply strange about the film, and one girl decides it's time to watch it herself. The story has a very satisfying ending that made me wish that the film really did exist.
Simon Bestwick's place in this anthology makes me happy, he's a lovely guy who writes unlovely stories set in a world that I find very familiar. We grew up in the same kind of places at the same time, so he's placed just right to subvert all my memories. I don't mind at all. 'A Treat For Your Last Day' is one of his best short stories yet.
Sarah Pinsker's 'Two Truths and a Lie' is a perfectly constructed story. It reminds me of Lisa Tuttle's story 'Flying to Byzantium' in many ways. It gives the same sense of disconnect, and arrives there very cleverly.
I can hardly wait for Volume Fourteen.
As with any multi author anthology, there is going to be some variation in how the stories appeal to individual taste, so I'll comment on the ones that made the biggest impact.
AC Wise's 'Exhalation #10' hit me just right. The protagonist has an uncanny ability to hear things that nobody else can, and when an unrequited flame contacts him in the middle of the night, asking him for help with a murder case, he is drawn into a dark world where he is haunted by corrupted clips from a film they made together when they were young together.
Catriona Ward's 'A Hotel in Germany' is a brilliant story. A selfish celebrity takes comfort from her bonded servant, who has no option but to serve her. As the story progresses, we find out more about the relationship between the two, and the reveal perfectly satisfied my needs as a reader.
Jack Lothian's 'A Deed Without A Name' gives us the backstory to a very well known literary scene. I enjoyed the story, and the idea behind it.
Steven Graham Jones is rightly known as one of the great horror writers of our time. 'Lords of the Matinee' treads a fine line between humour and horror, with a brilliant story about suspicion and the banality of evil. It's nearly a month since I read this story, and I'm still thinking about it.
Maria Haskin's 'Cleaver, Meat and Block' takes the zombie genre and turns it on its head. What if the zombies weren't dead, and what if they recover and return to their communities? This dark tale examines how horrific crimes committed in times of trouble are often covered up. But how do the victims feel about it?
Gemma Files' story 'Come Closer' is about a haunting house. I love stories about people who are haunted by houses. (I've written one myself). This one expertly weaves a tension and sense of hopelessness into the tale. It's a great little horror story, and deserves its place in this collection.
Oh, and here comes Michael Marshall Smith with his perfectly written, perfectly creepy, perfectly memorable story 'It Doesn't Feel Right.' He did it again, he made my hair stand on end even as I laughed at how utterly brilliantly he wrote a story that could so easily have been bungled. Yeah, I kinda love his stories, I've been a fan since 'The Man Who Drew Cats'. Sorry about the fangirling, but it's inevitable.
J A W McCarthy's 'Contrition' hit hard too. The manager of a small town cinema accepts a large payment to show an unknown film. The staff realise that there's something deeply strange about the film, and one girl decides it's time to watch it herself. The story has a very satisfying ending that made me wish that the film really did exist.
Simon Bestwick's place in this anthology makes me happy, he's a lovely guy who writes unlovely stories set in a world that I find very familiar. We grew up in the same kind of places at the same time, so he's placed just right to subvert all my memories. I don't mind at all. 'A Treat For Your Last Day' is one of his best short stories yet.
Sarah Pinsker's 'Two Truths and a Lie' is a perfectly constructed story. It reminds me of Lisa Tuttle's story 'Flying to Byzantium' in many ways. It gives the same sense of disconnect, and arrives there very cleverly.
I can hardly wait for Volume Fourteen.
March 7, 2022
Lucky Volume Thirteen, to cover our first plague year.
Though the coronavirus is largely absent from these pages. I don't know how much lead time authors require to incorporate current events in their fiction, but the epidemics here are of garden-variety rage cannibals and face-eating moppets. Several authors went on holiday. There are Arctic adventures gone wrong. There are climbing excursions gone wrong. There are days at the beach gone wrong. Other contributors understandably retreated to decades past when, as everyone of a certain age knows, everything was better. This is a slimmer than average volume, though editor Ellen Datlow repeated the word "notable" so many times in her "Summation 2020" that it must have padded the book out by a couple of pages (Editor's tip: Once you've noted something, it's redundant, if not downright maddening, to point out again and again and again that it's "notable," even if it's "especially notable.")
After the Summation and a fairly forgettable opening story, I slapped my bookmark down at Catriona Ward and went to find something more interesting to read. Catriona Ward, I wondered, where have I heard that name? A quick Google didn't rattle anything loose in my memory. A day later, I got a message from my best friend in Texas asking me if I'd ever heard of Catriona Ward. His protege in El Lay had recommended her. When the universe (or at least a weird coincidence) reaches across the country from the opposite coast to tap you on the shoulder, it might pay off to pay attention. "If you leave a space you can never predict what will arrive to fill it." That's one of several catchy one-liners Ward packs into "A Hotel in Germany" like full-size American tourists stuffed into European accommodations. Yes, it's yet another vampire story, but so innovatively written, some readers might not even notice. I still can't recall where I heard Ward's name before I read this, but I think I'll remember it from now on. And I'll tell my buddy in Texas.
Three of horror's oldest and most venerable weird sisters return in "A Deed Without a Name," summoned by Jack Lothian. I'm a big Bard buff, and although I won't risk bad luck calling it by name, Lothian expands on what's been my favorite tragedy since acting it out in high school lit class and getting slaughtered all over the blackboard. I've accumulated versions by Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski and that longform black metal video starring Michael Fassbender, as well as a stubbornly blood-spotted souvenir T-shirt from London's Globe Theatre (and I eagerly anticipate the upcoming Coen take). Lothian's story sketches in some choice apocryphal details to add to my mini-collection. (It is a tale reviewed by an idiot.)
"It can happen, I think. It did happen." The metal-shards-in-the-meals murder discovered (or imagined) in Stephen Graham Jones' "Lords of the Matinee" might be conceivable in a world where there was no such thing as product safety testing or autopsies or, you know, teeth. Not so much in any worlds where those things exist. In the story's defense, it could be a delusion, all in the narrator's mind. I can buy that. But someone, either Jones or his protagonist, didn't think this one all the way through.
Like Lothian, Stephen Volk does some construction on canon in "Sicko," elaborating on the genre's most infamous shower. For a long stretch, Volk may test some readers' patience, contributing little that's new, simply rehashing events most of us should know by heart, like a condensed novelization of a movie that already has a novel attached. Then Volk veers off at the pivotal point, sending Hitchcock's heroine back to Phoenix to a fate of sexual humiliation rather than a creatively cut immortality in fatality. It's a left turn that serves little purpose other than to deliver a message about toxic masculinity, and it takes us out of horror territory altogether, raising the question: What is "Sicko" doing in these pages? It's not a badly written story, but was this offroad excursion really necessary? If Volk was so intent on sabotaging a perfectly fine psychological thriller by tacking on a ponderous sermon, he should have written in a Simon Oakland character in a clerical collar.
In "Mouselode Maze," landscapers compete for a project at a refurbished hotel with a hedge maze attached. Author Christopher Harmon never manages to convey what exactly is so scary about this maze. We're just supposed to accept that it is. If yew trees make you quiver, look out. A mere mention of the leafy labyrinth can make one of the characters break out in a sweat, spill his coffee, leap from his chair or otherwise overreact just short of messing his trousers. I'm going to take a wild guess and peg Harmon for a big Ramsey Campbell fan. Both authors share a tendency toward obtuseness in their prose that dulls its impact. "Supporting the large bulk of the leathery bag, a cluster of thin limbs dancing on the spot; not exactly feet, not exactly hands thudded against the ground." That seems like it should mean something, yet I read it over and over and over, and somehow it never does. It's not Harmon's fault, but I was listening to the "Figure Eight" song on my Schoolhouse Rock CD (it has lots of good tips for aspiring horror writers), so the infinity reveal failed as well.
Nathan Ballingrud writes one for those of us who can't turn loose of our physical media. Streaming's not sufficient, we need special editions of our favorite movies with bonus retrospectives, interviews and exhaustive geek detail. In "Scream Queen," a pair of movie fans score an interview for such a featurette with the star of a cult B (or worse) movie elevated by "the barn scene," an unnervingly authentic demonic possession. The actress reminisces about a production lacking in talent and money for special fx that substituted stark, screaming realism summoned from beyond.
Gary McMahon's "Tethered Dogs" is slight but striking, built around a single twisted (sorry) image that's likely to linger in readers' imaginations.
In Steve Duffy's "In the English Rain," two very likable teens bond over Shakespeare, cappuccino and Kate Bush. Drawn irresistibly by a neighborhood legend, they explore the abandoned house next door rumored to have been owned by John Lennon. Their unauthorized magical mystery tour uncovers the heinous deeds of an evil egg man. And yes, it's raining.
Despite the adjectival refrain of the Summation, this may be the least notable volume in the "Best Horror" series. I found it difficult to come up with anything to say, positive or negative, about much of it. It's not bad. It's certainly not good. It just kind of accumulates, without so much as a chill or a shiver, until there are enough pages to put out the requisite annual edition. It feels obligatory, inconsequential and inessential. Like a placeholder while the horror community is still processing the misery and insanity of 2020. 2021 took us even further down the crapper, so it could be that the really dark stuff surfaces in Volume 14. Now that might be worth a shudder.
Though the coronavirus is largely absent from these pages. I don't know how much lead time authors require to incorporate current events in their fiction, but the epidemics here are of garden-variety rage cannibals and face-eating moppets. Several authors went on holiday. There are Arctic adventures gone wrong. There are climbing excursions gone wrong. There are days at the beach gone wrong. Other contributors understandably retreated to decades past when, as everyone of a certain age knows, everything was better. This is a slimmer than average volume, though editor Ellen Datlow repeated the word "notable" so many times in her "Summation 2020" that it must have padded the book out by a couple of pages (Editor's tip: Once you've noted something, it's redundant, if not downright maddening, to point out again and again and again that it's "notable," even if it's "especially notable.")
After the Summation and a fairly forgettable opening story, I slapped my bookmark down at Catriona Ward and went to find something more interesting to read. Catriona Ward, I wondered, where have I heard that name? A quick Google didn't rattle anything loose in my memory. A day later, I got a message from my best friend in Texas asking me if I'd ever heard of Catriona Ward. His protege in El Lay had recommended her. When the universe (or at least a weird coincidence) reaches across the country from the opposite coast to tap you on the shoulder, it might pay off to pay attention. "If you leave a space you can never predict what will arrive to fill it." That's one of several catchy one-liners Ward packs into "A Hotel in Germany" like full-size American tourists stuffed into European accommodations. Yes, it's yet another vampire story, but so innovatively written, some readers might not even notice. I still can't recall where I heard Ward's name before I read this, but I think I'll remember it from now on. And I'll tell my buddy in Texas.
Three of horror's oldest and most venerable weird sisters return in "A Deed Without a Name," summoned by Jack Lothian. I'm a big Bard buff, and although I won't risk bad luck calling it by name, Lothian expands on what's been my favorite tragedy since acting it out in high school lit class and getting slaughtered all over the blackboard. I've accumulated versions by Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski and that longform black metal video starring Michael Fassbender, as well as a stubbornly blood-spotted souvenir T-shirt from London's Globe Theatre (and I eagerly anticipate the upcoming Coen take). Lothian's story sketches in some choice apocryphal details to add to my mini-collection. (It is a tale reviewed by an idiot.)
"It can happen, I think. It did happen." The metal-shards-in-the-meals murder discovered (or imagined) in Stephen Graham Jones' "Lords of the Matinee" might be conceivable in a world where there was no such thing as product safety testing or autopsies or, you know, teeth. Not so much in any worlds where those things exist. In the story's defense, it could be a delusion, all in the narrator's mind. I can buy that. But someone, either Jones or his protagonist, didn't think this one all the way through.
Like Lothian, Stephen Volk does some construction on canon in "Sicko," elaborating on the genre's most infamous shower. For a long stretch, Volk may test some readers' patience, contributing little that's new, simply rehashing events most of us should know by heart, like a condensed novelization of a movie that already has a novel attached. Then Volk veers off at the pivotal point, sending Hitchcock's heroine back to Phoenix to a fate of sexual humiliation rather than a creatively cut immortality in fatality. It's a left turn that serves little purpose other than to deliver a message about toxic masculinity, and it takes us out of horror territory altogether, raising the question: What is "Sicko" doing in these pages? It's not a badly written story, but was this offroad excursion really necessary? If Volk was so intent on sabotaging a perfectly fine psychological thriller by tacking on a ponderous sermon, he should have written in a Simon Oakland character in a clerical collar.
In "Mouselode Maze," landscapers compete for a project at a refurbished hotel with a hedge maze attached. Author Christopher Harmon never manages to convey what exactly is so scary about this maze. We're just supposed to accept that it is. If yew trees make you quiver, look out. A mere mention of the leafy labyrinth can make one of the characters break out in a sweat, spill his coffee, leap from his chair or otherwise overreact just short of messing his trousers. I'm going to take a wild guess and peg Harmon for a big Ramsey Campbell fan. Both authors share a tendency toward obtuseness in their prose that dulls its impact. "Supporting the large bulk of the leathery bag, a cluster of thin limbs dancing on the spot; not exactly feet, not exactly hands thudded against the ground." That seems like it should mean something, yet I read it over and over and over, and somehow it never does. It's not Harmon's fault, but I was listening to the "Figure Eight" song on my Schoolhouse Rock CD (it has lots of good tips for aspiring horror writers), so the infinity reveal failed as well.
Nathan Ballingrud writes one for those of us who can't turn loose of our physical media. Streaming's not sufficient, we need special editions of our favorite movies with bonus retrospectives, interviews and exhaustive geek detail. In "Scream Queen," a pair of movie fans score an interview for such a featurette with the star of a cult B (or worse) movie elevated by "the barn scene," an unnervingly authentic demonic possession. The actress reminisces about a production lacking in talent and money for special fx that substituted stark, screaming realism summoned from beyond.
Gary McMahon's "Tethered Dogs" is slight but striking, built around a single twisted (sorry) image that's likely to linger in readers' imaginations.
In Steve Duffy's "In the English Rain," two very likable teens bond over Shakespeare, cappuccino and Kate Bush. Drawn irresistibly by a neighborhood legend, they explore the abandoned house next door rumored to have been owned by John Lennon. Their unauthorized magical mystery tour uncovers the heinous deeds of an evil egg man. And yes, it's raining.
Despite the adjectival refrain of the Summation, this may be the least notable volume in the "Best Horror" series. I found it difficult to come up with anything to say, positive or negative, about much of it. It's not bad. It's certainly not good. It just kind of accumulates, without so much as a chill or a shiver, until there are enough pages to put out the requisite annual edition. It feels obligatory, inconsequential and inessential. Like a placeholder while the horror community is still processing the misery and insanity of 2020. 2021 took us even further down the crapper, so it could be that the really dark stuff surfaces in Volume 14. Now that might be worth a shudder.
October 28, 2023
Like any collection, this is a mixed bag. Heavy on haunted houses, which is a trope I enjoy.
Top five stories, for me, not in order:
1. "Come Closer" by Gemma Files - I like most of what Files writes, and this twist on a haunted house story was no exception. A path opens in the trees before you, and you have to tread it . . . That's what we tell ourselves sometimes, when we're about to make a mistake.
2. "Two Truths and a Lie" by Sarah Pinsker - A compulsive liar and a creepy public access TV show from the '80s. "Do you remember The Uncle Bob Show?"
3. "Contrition (1998)" by J.A.W. McCarthy - I really like horror stories about media (a la "The King in Yellow"), and this was an excellent tale about a little-known film and its effects. "'Two days only, exclusive screening of A. Todesfurcten's Contrition.' Is that really the last thing you want to see before you die?"
4. "The Whisper of Stars" by Thana Niveau - This story probably isn't to everyone's taste, but I think it did a great job of mixing survival horror with supernatural horror. I have to take the ending somewhat figuratively, though, or it gets a little silly. The tundra was a strange, alien landscape. Here the light was weird, fragile, and tentative.
5. “Scream Queen” by Nathan Ballingrud - Oh yes, this is everything. A cinematic connection, excellent characterization, and what an ending. Her defining moment was the midnight scene in the barn.
Just realized that 4/5ths of my favorites were written by female authors! Neat!
Top five stories, for me, not in order:
1. "Come Closer" by Gemma Files - I like most of what Files writes, and this twist on a haunted house story was no exception. A path opens in the trees before you, and you have to tread it . . . That's what we tell ourselves sometimes, when we're about to make a mistake.
2. "Two Truths and a Lie" by Sarah Pinsker - A compulsive liar and a creepy public access TV show from the '80s. "Do you remember The Uncle Bob Show?"
3. "Contrition (1998)" by J.A.W. McCarthy - I really like horror stories about media (a la "The King in Yellow"), and this was an excellent tale about a little-known film and its effects. "'Two days only, exclusive screening of A. Todesfurcten's Contrition.' Is that really the last thing you want to see before you die?"
4. "The Whisper of Stars" by Thana Niveau - This story probably isn't to everyone's taste, but I think it did a great job of mixing survival horror with supernatural horror. I have to take the ending somewhat figuratively, though, or it gets a little silly. The tundra was a strange, alien landscape. Here the light was weird, fragile, and tentative.
5. “Scream Queen” by Nathan Ballingrud - Oh yes, this is everything. A cinematic connection, excellent characterization, and what an ending. Her defining moment was the midnight scene in the barn.
Just realized that 4/5ths of my favorites were written by female authors! Neat!
March 21, 2022
As always, Ellen Datlow has chosen a good batch of stories for this volume. I didn't skip any stories or stop reading halfway through any of them. There were not, however, any stories that really knocked my socks off in this volume as there have been in past volumes. There was also a marked lack of diversity in this collection. Datlow has always preferred Western stories, and that's never been more apparent than in Volume 13. There were no less than three stories about British families going on holiday to the beach. I think I'd be thrilled never to read another, not because the stories aren't good, but because I've just read so many takes on that scenario. I can't pick any favorites from this book, because while all the stories are good, none stood out to me tremendously. If you like this series, I think you'll be satisfied with this one, though it's definitely not my favorite of the bunch.
Read
January 18, 2024Favourites:
- Lords of the Matinee by Stephen Graham Jones
- Cleaver, Meat, & Block by Maria Haskins
- Come Closer by Gemma Files
- Scream Queen by Nathan Ballingrud
- Contrition (1998) by J. A. W. McCarthy
- A Treat For Your Last Day by Simon Bestwick
- Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker
- The Whisper of Stars by Thana Niveau
- Lords of the Matinee by Stephen Graham Jones
- Cleaver, Meat, & Block by Maria Haskins
- Come Closer by Gemma Files
- Scream Queen by Nathan Ballingrud
- Contrition (1998) by J. A. W. McCarthy
- A Treat For Your Last Day by Simon Bestwick
- Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker
- The Whisper of Stars by Thana Niveau
February 19, 2022
Standouts:
Cleaver, Meat, and Block by Maria Haskins
It Doesn’t Feel Right by Michael Marshall Smith
The Devil Will Be At the Door by David Surface
Scream Queen by Nathan Ballingrud
Contrition (1998) by JAW McCarthy
Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker
Cleaver, Meat, and Block by Maria Haskins
It Doesn’t Feel Right by Michael Marshall Smith
The Devil Will Be At the Door by David Surface
Scream Queen by Nathan Ballingrud
Contrition (1998) by JAW McCarthy
Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker
July 20, 2022
A lot of the stories I didn't quite 'get', but that's the chance you take with an anthology. Some you get, some you don't. Some are disturbing, some just leave you scratching your head. A diverse selection, though, so that was good.
April 22, 2023
It turns out that the best horror of any year, was the friends that we made along the way, in that specific year
January 3, 2023
Ellen Datlow's taste runs slightly more florid and angsty than mine.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews