The Best Horror of the Year Volume Ten

SUMMATION: 2017

Here are 2017’s numbers: There are twenty-one stories, novelettes, and novellas in this year’s volume, ranging from 1,500 words to 17,900 words. There are almost 20,000 more words this year than there were last year. The material comes from anthologies, collections, magazines, webzines, and eBook-only publications. Eleven of the contributors live in the United States, five in the United Kingdom, three in Canada, and one in Australia. Eleven stories are by women (two stories are by one of them) and ten are by men. The authors of nine stories have never before appeared in my best of the year series.

The Horror Writers Association announced the winners of the 2015 Bram Stoker Awards^® April 29 on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. The presentations were made during a banquet held at the organization’s second StokerCon. The winners were as follows:

Superior Achievement in a Novel: The Fisherman by John Langan (Word Horde Press); Superior Achievement in a First Novel: Haven by Tom Deady (Cemetery Dance Publications); Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel: Snowed by Marie Alexander (Raw Dog Screaming Press); Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel: Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Love of Edgar Allan Poe by James Chambers (Moonstone); Superior Achievement in Long Fiction: The Winter Box by Tim Waggoner (Dark Fuse); Superior Achievement in Short Fiction: “The Crawl Space” by Joyce Carol Oates (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April); Superior Achievement in a Screenplay: The VVitch by Robert Eggers (Parts and Labor, RT Features, Rooks Nest Entertainment, Code Red Productions, Scythia Films, Maiden Voyage Pictures, Mott Street Pictures, Pulse Films, and Very Special Projects); Superior Achievement in an Anthology: Borderlands 6 edited by Thomas F. Monteleone and Olivia F. Monteleone (Borderlands Press/Samhain); Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection: The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror by Joyce Carol Oates (Mysterious Press); Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (W. W. Norton); Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection: Brothel by Stephanie M. Wytovich (Raw Dog Screaming Press).

The Specialty Press Award: Omnium Gatherum.

The Richard Layman President’s Award: Caren Hanten.

The Silver Hammer Award: James Chambers.

Mentor of the Year went to Linda Addison.

Life Achievement Awards: Dennis Etchison and Thomas F. Monteleone.

The 2016 Shirley Jackson Awards were given out at Readercon 28 on Sunday, July 16, 2017, in Quincy, Massachusetts. The jurors were Nadia Bulkin, Robert Levy, Helen Marshall, Robert Shearman, and Chandler Klang Smith.

The winners were: Novel: The Girls, Emma Cline (Random House); Novella: The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle (Tor.com Books); Novelette: “Waxy” by Camilla Grudova (Granta); Short Fiction: “Postcards from Natalie” by Carrie Laben (The Dark); Single-Author Collection: A Natural History of Hell by Jeffrey Ford (Small Beer Press); Edited Anthology: The Starlit Wood, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe (Saga Press) and the Board of Director’s Award to Ruth Franklin in recognition of the biography, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life.

The World Fantasy Awards were presented October 30, 2016, at a banquet held during the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio. The Lifetime Achievement recipients, Terry Brooks and Marina Warner, were previously announced. The judges were Elizabeth Engstrom, Betsy Mitchell, Daryl Gregory, Juliet Marillier, and Nalo Hopkinson.

Winners of the Best Work 2016: Best Novel: The Sudden Appearance of Hope, Claire North (Redhook; Orbit UK); Best Long Fiction: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, Kij Johnson (Tor.com Books); Best Short Fiction: “Das Steingeschöpf,” G.V. Anderson (Strange Horizons 12/12/16); Best Anthology: Dreaming in the Dark, Jack Dann, ed. (PS Australia); Best Collection: A Natural History of Hell, Jeffrey Ford (Small Beer);

Best Artist: Jeffrey Alan Love; Special Award, Professional: Michael Levy & Farah Mendlesohn, for Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press); Special Award, Non-Professional: Neile Graham, for fostering excellence in the genre through her role as Workshop Director, Clarion West.

Chalk by Paul Cornell (Tor.com Books) begins with a brutal act perpetrated on a bullied British teenager, accidently awakening an ancient power that becomes the embodiment of revenge against those who wronged the boy.

The Bone Mother by David Demchuk (ChiZine Publications) is a series of related vignettes about monsters and magical creatures trying to survive in three villages on the Ukrainian/Romanian border in a time of war. Moving, horrifying, terrifying. A quick, enjoyable read.

Mormama by Kit Reed (Tor) is a marvelous southern gothic about a cursed ancestral home with three elderly sisters living within. When a divorced relative and her young son move in and an accident victim with no memory hides out in the basement the haunts become active, whispering ugly secrets.

The Dark Net by Benjamin Percy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is an entertaining ride into the dark side of the internet where all sorts of things can be acquired and where awful secrets reside. Demons are intent on using the dark net to create havoc in the world by infecting everything digital. A reporter in Portland, Oregon, stumbles on the plot by accident, and her blind niece—using a new device that enables her to see—might be the key to stopping it. What’s most interesting about the plot is how it dovetails nicely with our dependence on and anxieties about the ubiquitous technology that inextricably links us worldwide.

The Boy on the Bridge by M. R. Carey (Orbit) takes place in the same post-apocalyptic world as The Girl with All the Gifts, the terrific 2016 novel and movie. However, it’s not a sequel—it’s been called a “sidequel,” which seems about right. A fungus that mutated from insects has turned most people in England into “hungries”—mindless creatures with a craving for fresh meat—animal or human.

A group of scientists, soldiers, and a brilliant fifteen-year-old boy who is the only survivor of a hungries attack embark on an expedition to Scotland from the last human holdout in England in an attempt to find caches of Cordyceps cultures spread around the countryside by an earlier expedition to test whether specific environments might be less hospitable to the pathogen—or better yet, contain a cure. Initially, the relationship of the boy and the epidemiologist who has taken care of him since he was orphaned plus the road-trip plot seem to indicate a trajectory similar to that of The Girl with All the Gifts, but oh, does it move along.

Carey’s characterizations make this book pop. It’s fascinating to watch the relationships evolve, and characters who initially only appear in the background begin to emerge into the light. Because the reader really cares about most of them, the book is edge-of-your-seat suspenseful—and agonizing. Despite what you think is going to happen, there are plenty of surprises. Highly recommended.

Under a Watchful Eye by Adam Nevill (Macmillan) is about what happens when an old, unwelcome acquaintance inserts himself back into the life of a horror writer, imposing his disgusting, debased presence into the writer’s comfortable existence. With him, he brings mysterious and threatening creatures, acolytes in thrall to a cult leader dead almost thirty years. It’s a real challenge to keep readers engrossed in a novel with a horrible, disgusting character playing a dominant role in the first third of the book, but Nevill manages to do so.

The Changeling by Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau) takes the reader for an emotionally wrenching rollercoaster ride when a horrific act destroys the seemingly idyllic life of a New York couple and their infant. Apollo Kagwa’s father disappears, leaving him with strange dreams and a box of books. Apollo becomes a rare book dealer and a father himself. When his wife, Emma, starts behaving oddly, he’s alarmed, but before he can do anything she does something horrible and unforgivable—and disappears. The story becomes a dark fairy tale about Apollo’s odyssey into a world just beyond our ken, with magic that can empower or destroy.

Hannah Green and Her Unfeasibly Mundane Existence by Michael Marshall Smith (HarperCollins) is a charming dark fantasy about a preteen whose parents split, leaving her perplexed, angry, and feeling betrayed—especially when she’s sent to her grandfather’s home in Santa Cruz, California. The Devil discovers that his sacrifice machine, used to convert evil deeds into energy, is not working properly. There are certainly horrific aspects—the Devil plays a major role, as does a consciousless criminal and his gang. But there are also many fun and funny bits, including the regular appearance of a stupid, but well-meaning “accident” imp who usually looks like a giant mushroom.

Devil’s Day by Andrew Michael Hurley (Tartarus Press) follows the author’s celebrated, award-winning debut novel The Loney, and again uses his ability to create a sense of place that overpowers the reader in an atmosphere of dread. This dread emanates from the secrets of the Lancashire moors, where the Devil might (or might not) come calling and the inhabitants find it necessary to propitiate him. John Pentercost and his pregnant wife return home for his grandfather’s funeral. John wants to stay. His wife does not. Engrossing but not as satisfying as The Loney, and the end is somewhat confusing. Worse than that, though, is the character of John, who appears to be a jerk caring little about his wife’s wishes or needs, only his own. Has he always been a selfish jerk, or is it the influence his childhood home exerts on him the longer they remain there?

The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath (Hutchinson) is the deservedly celebrated writer’s ninth novel. He’s written a marvelous story haunted by a ghost and by the persistence of evil. It takes place in the theatrical world of post-WWII London, which is still reeling from the devastating bombings and privation. A celebrated actor in his prime dies unexpectedly, leaving his widow grief-stricken and in shock. When she accidently discovers an ugly secret about her late husband her state of mind—and the plot—takes a darker turn.

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld (HarperCollins) is by the author of the acclaimed first novel The Enchanted, published in 2014. Is The Child Finder horror? Probably not, although it is a crime novel about child abduction and abuse. A young woman, herself a former child abductee who remembers little of her experience yet is haunted by it, has taken it upon herself to find other lost and abducted children. The book is brilliant, suspenseful, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. One of the best novels of the year.

Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman (Ecco) is the author’s second novel and is very different from his first, the acclaimed Bird Box. Post WWII, a washed-up band from Detroit is asked by the US Army to go on a secret mission to a desert in Africa from where a mysterious sound emanates. Their job is to find discover the source of that sound—a sound that neutralizes atomic weapons and negatively affects those who hear it. A second thread of the novel is about one band member who is recuperating from awful, life-threatening wounds he suffered in that desert, while the Army questions him. Suspenseful and chilling.

The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge (Penguin Press) is a clever novel about a woman whose husband has disappeared while researching a mysterious period in H. P. Lovecraft’s life and the writer’s relationship with a young fan named Robert Barlow. Not horror, but it’s fun and might be of interest to those interested in Lovecraft as a character and in imaginings about the science fiction’s Futurians. Come to Dust by Bracken MacLeod (Trepidatio Publishers) is about what happens when—for no apparent reason—dead children come back to life. The Grip of It by Jac Jempc (FSG Originals) is about an urban couple who move into a haunted house in rural Wisconsin. Bad Magick by Steven L. Shrewsbury and Nate Southard (Weird West Books) is about Aleister Crowley, an ex-Confederate guerilla, and a group of Jesuits fighting evil in 1901 El Paso, Texas. Universal Harvester by John Darnielle (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) takes place in late 1990s Midwest, in which several residents discover that parts of the video tapes they rent contain alarming bits of stray footage of possible criminal behavior. This is a strange novel, more weird than horror. Every time it threatens to edge into horror, it never quite makes it. Shadows on the Bayou by Patrick Malloy (Bedlam Press) is about a man who ignorantly sells his soul in what he thinks is a tourist attraction in New Orleans and finds himself unable to leave the city. The Vampire Years by Eric Del Carlo (Elder Signs Press) has vampires winning a war against humankind, sending survivors to reservations in an uneasy truce. Borne by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) is a marvelously inventive novel told from the point of view of a scavenger living with her partner in a no-man’s land of feral children and monstrous bear-like killing machines. It’s not quite horror, not quite science fiction, but might be the quintessential work of the weird. The scavenger discovers a small… object— plant, animal, machine-mysterious something that she dubs Borne. As Borne grows and their relationship deepens it becomes a threat to the status quo of the couple’s survival. The Time Eater by Aaron French (JournalStone) is about a man unexpectedly forced to confront his past when a dying college friend asks him to visit. Last Man Screaming by Steve L. Shrewsbury (Weird West Books) is a Lovecraftian Western set in 1899 El Paso, Texas. A Summer with the Dead by Sherry Decker (Elder Signs Press) is about a woman taking refuge from her abusive husband on her aunt’s farm, only to be plagued by terrible dreams about the farm’s history. The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn (Gallery Books) is about the disappearance of a young boy from a town where history seems to be repeating itself. See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt (Atlantic Monthly Press) revisits the case of Lizzie Borden, who infamously murdered her parents by whacking them with an ax. Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (Flatiron Books) is about a single mom becoming involved with a married man who turns out to be her new boss. Her relationship with him and his wife take a dark turn in this thriller. Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King (Scribner) is a novel about what happens when most of the women in the world fall asleep, leaving only men awake. The Adventures of the Incognita Princess by Cynthia Ward (Aqueduct Press/Conversation Pieces) is about Lucy Harker, daughter of Dracula and Mina Harker, who, as a spy for the British government, is assigned to guard a military officer on the way across the Atlantic—on the Titanic. Ubo by Steve Rasnic Tem (Solaris) is about a group of humans trapped in a mysterious place called Ubo by roach-like creatures/scientists who force them into scenarios where they play violent men from human history. Hounds of the Underworld by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is a supernatural noir set in New Zealand about a room full of blood but no body, and the consulting detective (accompanied by her troublesome brother) assigned to the case. In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson (Skyhorse Publishing) is a Supernatural Western noir, with a brutal killer on the loose. Corpselight by Angela Slatter (Jo Fletcher Books) is the second in a dark fantasy series about an investigator of the weird who acts as guardian for her city, Brisbane, Australia. Little Heaven by Nick Cutter (Gallery Books) is about three mercenaries hired to check on someone who might have been taken against their will to a cult enclave in New Mexico. The Lovecraft Squad: Waiting edited by Stephen Jones (Pegasus Books) is a multi-authored novel based on the idea that H. P. Lovecraft’s novella The Shadow Over Innsmouth was real, and that a group of stalwart men and women joined together to investigate and defeat other-worldly invaders. Volk: A Novel of Radiant Abomination by David Nickle (ChiZine Publications) takes place about twenty years after the author’s previous novel, Eutopia, and once again features eugenicists and parasitic monsters doing their best to destroy humanity as we know it. Moriah by Daniel Mills (ChiZine Publications) is about a former army chaplain of the American Civil War who, nine years later, is sent to an isolated village in Vermont to investigate possible supernatural occurrences. The Greenwood Faun by Nina Antonia (Egaeus Press) is a beautifully produced hardcover weird fiction debut, with a foreword by Mark Valentine.

It’s important to recognize the work of the talented artists working in the field of fantastic fiction, both dark and light. The following created dark art that I thought especially noteworthy in 2017: Sandro Castelli, Joachim Luetke, Tran Nguyen, Vince Haig, George C. Cotronis, Richard Wagner, Vincent Chong, J. K. Potter, Armando Veve, Greg Chapman, Sam Dawson, Luke Spooner, Ilona Reny, Dusan Kostic, Daniele Serra, Natalia Maroz, Yaroslav Gerzhedovich, Kim Bo Yung, Allen Koszowski, Tara Bush, Mikio Murakami, Psychoshadow, Erik Mohr, Jason Zerillo, Galen Dara, Jason C. Eckhardt, Douglas Klauba, Paul Lowe, David C. Verba, and John Stanton.

Tim Lucas’s lovingly produced, long-running, digest-sized movie magazine Video Watchdog^® stopped publication with its 184th issue, published in June 2017. RIP. It will be missed by genre movie aficionados everywhere. BFS Journal edited by Allen Stroud is a nonfiction perk of being a member of the British Fantasy Society. It’s published twice a year and includes reviews, scholarly articles, and features about recent conventions. In 2017 there were articles about Religion in Fantasy, Bladerunner, shapeshifting vampires, and a variety of other topics of interest. BFS Horizons is the fiction companion to the journal; #5 was edited by Phil Lunt. There was a good piece of fiction by Steve Toase in the issue. The Ghosts & Scholars M. R. James Newsletter is published annually and edited by Rosemary Pardoe. It contains mostly nonfiction articles and reviews, with an occasional piece of original fiction. Lovecraftian Proceedings 2 edited by Dennis P. Quinn (Hippocampus Press) is a journal that published some of the academic papers presented at the Henry Armitage Symposium held at the 2015 NecronomiCon, in Providence, Rhode Island. In addition to those papers selected for inclusion, there are abstracts of all the other papers presented that year. Dead Reckonings: A Review of Horror and the Weird in the Arts edited by Alex Houstoun and Michael J. Abolafia is an important journal filled with reviews and articles about fiction and film. It’s published by Hippocampus Press and two issues were published in 2017. The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural, and Fantastic Literature edited by Brian J. Showers brought out three issues in 2017. In those issues there was an article about the insect literature of Lafcadio Hearn, a fragment of an unpublished book by Irish mystic and poet, A. E., the introduction by Elizabeth Bowen to The Second Ghost Book, published in 1952, an article exploring the influences of Ireland on Caitlín R. Kiernan’s writing, plus other articles and reviews of books, magazines, and theater. Issue #10 concentrated on Lord Dunsany’s place among his Irish peers, featuring reviews of Dunsany’s work written by his contemporaries A. E., Elizabeth Bowen, Forrest Reid, and Austin Clarke; introductions by W. B. Yeats and Padraic Colum; and reminiscences of the author by Katharine Tynan, Oliver St. John Gogarty, and Seán Ó Faoláin.

Black Static edited by Andy Cox is still the best, most consistent venue for horror fiction. In addition to essays, book and movie reviews, and interviews there was notable fiction by Eric Schaller, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Danny Rhodes, Ian Steadman, Scott Nicolay, Charles Wilkinson, Tim Lees, Ray Cluley, Kristi DeMeester, Tim Casson, YZ Chin, Ruth J. Booth, Sarah Read, Ralph Robert Moore, Mark Morris, Carole Johnstone, Mel Kassel, Carly Holmes, and Mike O’Driscoll. The Read and the Morris are reprinted herein.

Nightmare edited by John Joseph Adams is a monthly webzine of horror. It publishes articles, interviews, book reviews, and an artists’ showcase, along with two reprints and two original pieces of fiction per month. During 2017 there were notable stories by Andrew Fox, Jenn Grunigen, Kathleen Kayembe, Eric Schaller, Nate Southard, Cadwell Turnbull, Caspian Gray, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Caroline Ratajski, and Carrie Vaughn.

Supernatural Tales edited by David Longhorn is a regularly published repository of excellent supernatural fiction, in addition to book and movie reviews. In the two issues from 2017 there were notable stories by Tom Johnstone, Jane Jakeman, Gary Fry, Helen Grant, and Charles Wilkinson.

Tales from the Shadow Booth Volume 1 edited by Dan Coxon is the debut issue of a new journal (that looks like an anthology) of mostly new dark fantasy and horror fiction. The magazine looks promising, with strong stories by Sarah Read and Stephen Hargadon.

Mythic Delirium edited by Mike Allen, is a quarterly magazine of fantasy fiction and poetry. In 2017 there was notable dark work by Maura McHugh, Jennifer Crow, and Jane Yolen. Weirdbook edited by Douglas Draa brought out three issues in 2017. The long-running magazine publishes both prose and poetry. The strongest work in 2017 was by James F. Mabe, Christian Riley, Charles Wilkinson, Chad Hensley, Gillian French, Chris Kuriata, Clay F. Johnson, Patrick Tumblety, Tom English, and C. R. Langille. Not One of Us edited by John Benson is one of the longest-running small press magazines. It’s published twice a year and contains weird and dark fiction and poetry. Issue #50 was especially good. In addition, Benson puts out an annual “one-off” on a specific theme. The theme for 2017 was “Care.” There were notable stories and poems throughout the year by Sonya Taaffe, Billie Hinton, Tim Major, Michael Piel, Rose Keating, K. S. Hardy, and Gillian Daniels. The Major is reprinted herein. Shimmer published by Beth Wodzinski, edited by several people, comes out every other month and usually contains a good mix of fantasy and dark fantasy, with the occasional science fiction story. During 2017 there was notable dark work by Malon Edwards, Martin Cahill, Heather Morris, Lina Rather, Sonya Taaffe, Maria Haskins, and Ashley Blooms. The Dark, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Sean Wallace, is a monthly webzine dedicated to dark fantasy and horror. It publishes new stories and reprints. During 2017, there were notable new stories by Kristi DeMeester, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Carlie St. George, Ian Muneshwar, Octavia Cade, and Kelly Stewart. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction edited by C. C. Finlay is one of the longest running sf/f/h magazines in existence. Although it mostly published science fiction and fantasy, there’s usually a few healthy dollops of horror during the year. During 2017 the strongest horror stories were by Cat Hellisen, Marc Laidlaw, David Erik Nelson, Rachel Pollack, Robert Reed, James Sallis, Shannon Connor Winward, Rebecca Campbell, G. V. Anderson, Leah Cypess, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Lisa Mason, R. S. Benedict, Amy Griswold, and Justin C. Key. The Nelson is reprinted herein. The Stinging Fly is a biannual magazine of Irish writing, mostly mainstream, but issue #35 guest edited by Mia Gallagher was subtitled “Fear and Fantasy” and included notable dark fiction and poetry by Lucy Sweeney Byrne, Gerard Hanberry, Roisín O’Donnell, Natasha Calder, Dawn Watson, and Oliver Arnoldi. Gamut is a new monthly online magazine edited by Richard Thomas, focusing on crime and dark fiction. It publishes new and reprinted stories and poems. The strongest new work in 2017 was by Mel Kassel, Holly Goddard Jones, Stephen Graham Jones, Chloe N. Clark, Andrew McSorley, Mercedes M. Yardley, Kate Jonez, Damien Angelica Walters, Maria Haskins, Lina Rather, Judy Jordan, S. L. Coney, Eric Reitan, E. Catherine Tobler, Letitia Trent, and Cassandra Khaw. Dark Discoveries edited by Aaron French only brought out one issue in 2017, with a good, new story by Paul Tremblay, book and movie reviews, and interviews with Kelly Wilde, Peter Levenda, Paul Tremblay, and Ellen Datlow. Apex magazine edited by Jason Sizemore is an online magazine that publishes a variety of genre fiction. There were notable dark stories published in 2017 by John Hornor Jacobs, Lyndsie Manusos, Annie Neugebauer, Rich Larson, and Ursula Vernon. Lamplight: A Quarterly Magazine of Dark Fiction edited by Jacob Haddon brought out three issues in 2017. It published originals and reprints. The strongest stories were by Nate Southard, Andrew Reichard, Noelle Henneman, and Morgan Crooks. Tor.com publishes new sf, fantasy, and horror weekly, and the acquisitions and editing is done by several in-house editors and several consultants (I’m one of the latter). In 2017 there were notable horror and dark fantasy stories by Lucy Taylor, Cassandra Khaw, Kelly Robson, Max Gladstone, Sunny Moraine, and A. C. Wise. The Robson is reprinted herein. Uncanny edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas publishes both nonfiction and fiction. The fiction veers toward the weird, and sometimes is quite dark. In 2017 there were notable stories by Maurice Broaddus, T. Kingfisher, Mary Robinette Kowal, S. Qiouyi Lu, and Catherynne M. Valente.

Horror Library Volume 6 edited by Eric J. Guignard (Cutting Block Press) is an excellent, un-themed anthology of twenty-seven stories. More than half the stories are notable, particularly those by Marc E. Fitch, Thomas P. Balázs, and Carole Johnstone. The Fitch and the Johnstone are reprinted herein.

Halloween Carnival Volume 1—5 edited by Brian James Freeman was published by Cemetery Dance’s new e-book imprint Hydra. It’s a series of mini-anthologies to be published for Halloween, with new stories and reprints. There are notable new stories by John R. Little, Lee Thomas, Kealan-Patrick Burke, Lisa Tuttle, and Norman Prentiss.

Dark Screams Volume Seven edited by Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar (CD-Hydra) contains six stories, four of them new. The best originals are by Kaaron Warren, Bill Schweigart, James Renner, and a novella by Brian Hodge. The Hodge and the Warren are reprinted herein. Dark Screams Volume Eight had six stories, all new but one. The best was Glen Hirshberg’s oddity “India Blue” about cricket.

Nights of the Living Dead edited by Jonathan Maberry and George A. Romero (St. Martin’s Griffin) is an anthology of twenty new stories taking place on the night that the infamous zombie apocalypse began. Unfortunately, only a few entries bring much new to the table, but there are some notable stories by Mira Grant, Brian Keene, Joe R. Lansdale, Mike Carey, and David Wellington. The Grant is reprinted herein.

In the Footsteps of Dracula edited by Stephen Jones (Pegasus Books) is an all-reprint anthology of stories featuring Count Dracula throughout history.

Terror Tales of Cornwall edited by Paul Finch (Telos) is the first new volume in the series since 2015. Telos has taken over publication from Gary Fry’s Gray Friar Press, which shut down in 2016. This new volume continues with the same editor and same format, with brief historical vignettes breaking up each story. All but two are new. There are notable stories by Ray Cluley, Mark Morris, Reggie Oliver, John Whitbourn, DP Watt, Mark Samuels, Sarah Singleton, and Steve Jordan.

Darker Companions: Celebrating 50 Years of Ramsey Campbell selected and edited by Scott David Aniolowski and Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (PS Publishing), features twenty new stories honoring the great Ramsey Campbell. The strongest stories are by Cody Goodfellow, Kaaron Warren, Orrin Grey, Adam L. G. Nevill, Jeffrey Thomas, Alison Littlewood, Gary McMahon, Michael Griffin, Marc Laidlaw, and Christopher Slatsky. The Grey is reprinted herein.

Shadows and Tall Trees Volume 7 edited by Michael Kelly (Undertow) epitomizes the idea of, and is the most consistent venue for weird, usually dark fiction. This volume features nineteen varied stories, covering a wide range of themes. Well worth your time. There were notable stories by Brian Evenson, Harmony Neal, Michael Wehunt, V. H. Leslie, Laura Mauro, Charles Wilkinson, Robert Levy, Simon Strantzas, Malcolm Devlin, Robert Shearman, M. Rickert, Conrad Williams, and Manish Melwani.

Hellfire Crossroads 6: Horror with Heart edited by Trevor Denyer (Midnight Street Press) has twenty-two stories, most of them horror, some dark fantasy, and a few mainstream. There were notable stories by Len Dawson, David Penn, Alex Zivko-Clark, Steve D. Hamilton, Andrew Darlington, Neal Privitt, and Tony Fosgate.

The Dark Half of the Year: By the North Bristol Writers edited by Ian Milstead and Peter Sutton (Far Horizons) focuses on the ghostly in these eighteen stories by regional writers. The best are by Madeleine Meyjes and Clare Dornan.

New Fears edited by Mark Morris (Titan Books) is an excellent all-original un-themed anthology with nineteen stories. Most of the stories are really, really good. The Gallagher is reprinted herein.

Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales edited by Ellen Datlow (Pegasus Books) is an anthology of fifteen dark stories and one poem about various kinds of birds, all but two published for the first time.

Haunted Nights edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton (A Blumhouse Book/Anchor Books Original) is the most recent Horror Writers Association anthology and features sixteen new stories about horror’s favorite holiday, Halloween, and others’ cultures celebrations held around the same time. John Langan’s novella is reprinted herein.

Wicked Haunted: An Anthology by the New England Horror Writers edited by Scott T. Goudsward, Daniel G. Keohane, and David Price (NEHW Press) is an all-original anthology of twenty-four stories and poems about hauntings, with interior art by Ogmios, Judi Calhoun, and Kali Moulton. There are notable stories by James A. Moore, Trisha J. Wooldridge, and KH Vaughn.

Witches: Weirdbook Annual #1 edited by Douglas Draa (Wildside) is the first in a project annual series. It has twenty-one stories and twelve poems. The best was by Matt Neil Hill.

California Screaming edited by Danielle Kaheaku (Barking Deer Press) has fourteen new stories that take place in California. The strongest are by Sarah Read, E. S. Magill, and Aaron C. Smith.

A Breath from the Sky: Unusual Stories of Possession edited by Scott R. Jones (Martian Migraine Press) is an anthology of twenty-one stories, five reprints. There were notable stories by Jonathan Raab, Megan Arkenberg, Gordon B. White, Cody Goodfellow, Premee Mohamed, and Aaron Vlek.

The Beauty of Death II: Death by Water edited by Alessandro Manzetti and Jodi Renee Lester (Independent Legions Publishing) is a big anthology of thirty-nine stories. Eleven are reprints. There are notable original stories by John Langan, Nicola Lombardi, Lisa Morton, Michael Arnzen, Michael Bailey, Simon Bestwick, Daniele Bonfanti, Daniel Braum, Marge Simon, and Lucy A. Snyder.

A Suggestion of Ghosts: Supernatural Fiction by Women 1854—1900 edited by J. A. Mains (Black Shuck Books) features fifteen ghost stories never reprinted after their initial publication. Cover art by Les Edwards. Interiors by Mike Mignola.

Great British Horror 2: Dark Satanic Mills edited by Steve J. Shaw (Black Shuck Books) is a solid annual anthology showcasing modern British horror (with one international author). This volume of eleven stories and novelettes has notable work by Charlotte Bond, Carole Johnstone, Andrew Freudenberg, Cate Gardner, Marie O’Regan, and Angela Slatter.

Unspeakable Horror 2: Abominations of Desire edited by Vince A. Liaguno (Evil Jester Press) features twenty LGBT horror stories, all but three new. There are notable new stories by Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, and Marshall Moore.

Imposter Syndrome edited by James Everington and Dan Howarth (Dark Minds Press) is an all-original anthology of ten stories about doppelgängers, changelings, and other types of duplicates—real or not. There are notable stories by Georgina Bruce, Ralph Robert Moore, and Timothy J. Jarvis.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep edited by P. D. Cacek and Laura J. Hickman (Necon Books) is a charity anthology with all proceeds going to the Jimmy Fund/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The book is in tribute to the late Bob Booth, known as Papa Necon. Included are thirty-four short stories, poems, and a comic. Nine are reprints. The best of the originals are by Doungjai Gam, Tony Tremblay, and Marianne Halbert.

Tales from Miskatonic University Library edited by Darrell Schweitzer and John Ashmead (PS Publishing) has terrific cover art and end papers by J. K. Potter. Most of the thirteen stories are a bit too close to mythos pastiche for my taste, but there are two notable contributions by P. D. Cacek and A. C. Wise.

Black Wings VI: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror edited by S. T. Joshi (PS Publishing) features twenty-two stories and poems (all but one new). The best are by Ann K. Schwader, Donald Tyson, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jonathan Thomas, and David Hambling.

Shadows Over Main Street, Volume 2 edited by Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward (Cutting Block Books) is an enjoyable volume of seventeen stories (all but two new) combining Lovecraftian horrors with small-town living. There were notable new stories by Max Booth III, Suzanne Madron, James Chambers, Michael Wehunt, and Lucy A. Snyder.

The Children of Gla’aki: A Tribute to Ramsey Campbell’s Great Old One edited by Brian M. Sammons and Glynn Owen Barrass (Dark Regions Press) has contributors writing in response to a Lovecraftian story written by Campbell in 1964. That story is reprinted in the volume, along with seventeen new tales. Most are too narrowly focused on the one creature, but there are notable entries by John Langan, Pete Rawlik, and Tim Curran.

Looming Low Volume 1 edited by Justin Steele and Sam Cowan (Dim Shores) is a good anthology of twenty-six weird, mostly dark stories. There are notable stories by Gemma Files, S. K. Miskowski, A. C. Wise, Brian Evenson, Michael Wehunt, Daniel Mills, Livia Llewellyn, Kaaron Warren, Lisa L. Hannett, Kristi DeMeester, Jeffrey Thomas, Richard Gavin, and Nadia Bulkin. The Miskowski and the Wise are reprinted herein.

Tales from a Talking Board edited by Ross E. Lockhart (Word Horde) contains fourteen new stories about Ouija boards, tarot cards, and other mechanisms of divination. There are notable stories by Nadia Bulkin, Scott R. Jones, Wendy N. Wagner, Matthew M. Bartlett, J. M. McDermott, S. P. Miskowski, and Kristi DeMeester.

Another anthology inspired by Ouija boards is Intersections: Six Tales of Ouija Horror—no editor listed (Howling Unicorn Press), with stories by six crime and horror writers.

Dark Places, Evil Faces compiled by Mark Lumby (PS Publishing) benefits a British cancer facility—it has twenty-five stories, reprints and originals.

Sycorax’s Daughters edited by Kinitra D. Brooks, Linda D. Addison, and Susana M. Morris (Cedar Grove Publishing) has forty-two gothic and horror stories and poems by African American women. Most are new. The strongest are by Eden Royce, Vocab, Tanesha Nicole Tyler, Zin E. Rocklyn, Nicole D. Sconiers, Tracey Baptiste, and Regina N. Bradley.

The Mammoth Book of the Mummy edited by Paula Guran (Robinson) has nineteen stories about mummies, three new. The best of the new ones is by Stephen Graham Jones.

Several best of the years covering horror were published: Year’s Best Body Horror edited by C.P. Dunphey (Gehenna and Hinnom) includes more than forty very short stories, several reprints from between 2002—2016, and the rest new stories published for the first time. It’s intended to be an annual. Year’s Best Hardcore Horror Volume 2 edited by Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax (Comet Press) promises to have the best extreme horror fiction of 2016 that breaks boundaries and trashes taboos, with lots of blood and gore. The Year’s Best Weird Fiction Volume Four edited by Helen Marshall and Michael Kelly (Undertow Press) contains fifteen stories from a variety of venues including Granta Online, Nightmare, Tor.com, Interzone, and other magazines webzines, anthologies, and collections. The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2017 edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books) has thirty-seven stories from magazines, webzines, anthologies, and collections. Three choices overlap with my own best of the year.

Through a Mythos Darkly edited by Glynn Owen Barrass and Brian M. Sammons (PS Publishing) describes itself as “steampunk” Mythos-inspired anthology, but it’s not steampunk at all. So if you pick it up expecting the trappings of that era, you’ll be disappointed. Nonetheless, of the seventeen new stories, there are some notable ones by John Langan, Damien Angelica Walters, Konstantine Paradias, Tim Waggoner, and Don Webb. Ride the Star Wind edited by Scott Gable and C. Dombrowski (Broken Eye Books) is filled with new stories combining space opera with cosmic weird, and I admit that it’s not my cup of tea. Not much horror in it. The only stories that really got to me were by Brian Evenson and Deserina Boskovich. Each story is illustrated by a different artist, in black and white. Blood Business: Crime Stories from This World and Beyond edited by Mario Acevedo and Joshua Viola (Hex Publishers) is an anthology of twenty-seven crime stories: half supernatural, half not. The best are by Stephen Graham Jones, Patrick Berry, and Jason Heller. Adam’s Ladder edited by Michael Bailey and Darren Speegle (Written Backwards) contains eighteen new stories of dark science fiction exploring the course of evolution. The strongest horror stories are by Laird Barron, John Langan, and Mark Samuels. Mixed Up: Cocktail Recipes (and Flash Fiction) for the Discerning Drinker (and Reader) edited by Nick Mamatas and Molly Tanzer (Skyhorse Publishing) contains more than two dozen recipes and stories by writers including Maurice Broaddus, Jeff VanderMeer, Ben Percy, Elizabeth Hand, Carmen Maria Machado, and many others. There are a few notable darker tales by Hand, Machado, and Percy. The Machado is reprinted herein. Nightscript III edited by C. M. Muller (Chthonic Matter) is an interesting, varied volume of twenty-three new stories. There are notable tales by M. R. Cosby, Charles Wilkinson, Rebecca J. Allred, Adam Golaski, David Surface, Stephen J. Clarke, Clint Smith, Inna Effress, M. K. Anderson, Christi Nogle, and Daniel Braum. The Effress is reprinted herein. Boundaries and Other Horror Stories from Finland edited by Matti Järvinen and translated by Jukka Särkijävi (Nysalor-Kustannus) features ten stories published in English for the first time. They’re more dark fantasy than horror. Darkly Haunting edited by Robert Morgan (Sarob Press) is a mini-anthology of five, all-new, intriguingly weird tales by Rhys Hughes, Peter Holman, James Doig, Colin Insole, and D. P. Watt. Eight Ghosts: The English Heritage Book of New Ghost Stories edited by Rowan Routh (September Publishing) features new stories (some dark) by eight British writers who were given time to explore, after hours, their chosen heritage site and write a ghost story about it. The best of them are by Sarah Perry, Mark Haddon, Andrew Michael Hurley, and Kamila Shamsie. In addition to the stories is a brief overview of how the castles, abbeys, and houses of England inspired ghost stories, plus a gazetteer of English Heritage hauntings. The Scarlet Soul: Stories for Dorian Gray edited by Mark Valentine (The Swan River Press) is an interesting anthology of ten new weird and dark stories inspired by Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. There are notable horror stories by John Howard, Timothy J. Jarvis, and Lynda E. Rucker. Mrs Rochester’s Attic: Tales of Madness, Strange Love and Deep, Dark Secrets edited by Matthew Pegg (Mantle Lane Press) feature twenty-two stories inspired by the fate of Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre. All but seven are new. The stories never really gel around the theme, but there are notable ones by Josh Jones, Grace Haddon, and Douglas Ford. Pacific Monsters edited by Margrét Helgadóttir (Fox Spirit) is the fourth volume in the publisher’s series of monster stories from around the world and features fourteen stories and comics taking place in Antarctica, Hawaii, New Zealand, Guam, and Australia. The strongest were by Michael Grey, Rue Karney, and Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada. Behold! Oddities, Curiosities & Indefinable Wonders edited by Doug Murano (Crystal Lake Publishing) has sixteen stories, two reprints. The best of the darker ones are by John Langan, Lisa Morton, and Patrick Freivald. Murder Ballads edited by Mark Beech (Egaeus Press) is a rich anthology of seventeen weird and/or horrific dense stories and novellas inspired by classic ballads. The best of the dark ones are by Stephen J. Clark, Philip Fracassi, Lisa L. Hannett, Timothy J. Jarvis, Angela Slatter, and Colin Insole. Mad Hatters and March Hares edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor) is an all-original anthology of eighteen stories and poem inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The stories are mostly fantasy and dark fantasy, with some horror. The darkest stories are by Stephen Graham Jones, Matthew Kressel, Katherine Vaz, and Angela Slatter. Strange California edited by Jaym Gates and J. Daniel Batt (Falstaff) is a mixed bag of twenty-six science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror stories about the Golden State. There was notable horror by Patricia Lundy and Melissa Monks. From Ancient Ravens by Mark Valentine, Ron Weighell, and John Howard (Sarob Press) is a mini-anthology with each of the three weird, dark tales dredging up the past to bad end. Hellboy: An Assortment of Horrors edited by Christopher Golden (Dark Horse) features sixteen new stories related to Hellboy and his friends. The balance of the anthology seems weighted toward dark fantasy rather than horror. Each story has an illustration by Mike Mignola. If you’re a Hellboy fan and not expecting horror stories, you’re the audience for this fun anthology.

It, Watching by Elizabeth Massie (Dark House Press) is an overview of Massie’s work over thirty-three years. This seventh collection contains seventeen stories and a poem. Three of the stories are new.

And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe by Gwendolyn Kiste ( JournalStone) is a debut collection of fourteen stories, five previously unpublished, by a promising new writer.

Nights of Blood Wine by Freda Warrington (Telos) is a collection of fifteen stories, ten of them set in the world of her vampire series Blood Wine. Another five are fantasy and horror. Four stories are new.

She Said Destroy by Nadia Bulkin (Word Horde) is a smart, powerful debut collection with thirteen stories of horror and weird fiction, one of them new. Three of them were nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award.

Ornithology by Nicholas Royle (Cōnfingō Publishing) is a fine new collection of sixteen dark, sometimes uncanny stories about birds, two published for the first time.

Cthulhu and Other Monsters by Sam Stone (Telos), the author’s second collection, features sixteen horror stories, six published for the first time.

Made for the Dark by John Llewellyn Probert (Black Shuck Books) is the author’s sixth collection of stories and brings together stories eighteen pieces published since 2010. Three stories appear for the first time.

Behold the Void by Philip Fracassi (JournalStone) is a strong debut collection with nine horror stories, five previously unpublished. Laird Barron provides the introduction. One of the originals is reprinted herein.

13 Views of the Suicide Woods by Bracken Macleod (ChiZine Publications) is another strong debut collection, with twelve stories, three new.

I Will Surround You by Conrad Williams (Undertow Publications) is the author’s powerful third collection and features fourteen dark stories, two of them new.

Seven Strange Stories by Rebecca Lloyd (Tartarus Press) is the author’s excellent fourth collection of eerie dark stories and novellas. Two are reprints. The original “Where’s the Harm” is reprinted herein.

The Carp-Faced Boy and Other Tales by Thersa Matsuura (Independent Legions Publishing) is a strong second collection, with ten horror stories, several of them inhabited by creatures from Japanese folklore. All but two of the stories are new. With an introduction by Gene O’Neill.

The Night Shop: Tales for the Lonely Hours by Terry Dowling (Cemetery Dance) is the Australian, multi-award-winning author’s fourth horror collection (his non-horror fiction has also been collected) and it’s a terrific sampling, with eighteen disturbing stories, three of them new. Dowling’s at the top of his game.

The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument and Other Forbidden Knowledge by Brett J. Talley (JournalStone) collects thirteen Lovecraftian tales, five new.

The Prozess Manifestations by Mark Samuels (Zagava) is the author’s sixth collection. It’s a slim volume of six, somewhat related stories, some horror, at least one Kafkaesque.

Strange is the Night by S. P. Miskowski (Trepidatio Publishing) is better known for her award-nominated novellas, but her short stories have been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies in the past few years. This is the first time they’ve been collected, with thirteen stories, three of them new.

The Dreamer in Fire and Other Stories by Sam Gafford (Hippocampus Press) is another debut. It contains seventeen stories (six new) heavily influenced by H. P. Lovecraft.

Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories by Deborah Sheldon (IFWG Publishing) has twenty-one dark fantasy and horror stories, ten of them new.

Inferno: Tales of Hell and Horror by Angeline Hawkes (Elder Signs Press) is a series of linked stories about twenty-five sinners, their sins, and their punishments. Introduction by Robert Weinberg.

Infernal Parade by Clive Barker (Subterranean Press) is a beautifully produced little hardcover of six interrelated stories comprising a novella originally published in 2004. The jacket art and interior illustrations are all by Bob Eggleton. A gorgeous collectible for Barker fans and readers.

Goblin by Josh Malerman (Earthling) is the press’s annual Halloween offering. The six novellas make up a novel, set in the town of Goblin.

Exploring Dark Short Fiction #1: A Primer to Steve Rasnic Tem edited by Eric J. Guignard (Dark Moon Books) celebrates the four-decade-long career of an underappreciated master of horror and the weird. This introduction to Tem’s work includes six stories, one especially creepy new one, an interview, bibliography, and commentary throughout by Michael Arnzen. With illustrations throughout by Michelle Prebich.

Disexistence by Paul Kane (Cycatrix Press) has twenty-one stories, five of them new. With an introduction by Nancy Holder and story notes by the author.

Hasty for the Dark by Adam LG Nevill (Ritual Limited) is a self-published collection of ten stories (two new). Included are excellent story notes. Two of the stories were reprinted in previous volumes of my Best Horror of the Year series.

Fire. Plus by Elizabeth Hand (PM Press) is number eighteen in the publisher’s “Outspoken Authors” series. The mini-collection features three stories (one new), one autobiographical piece from 2004, several nonfiction essays and reviews, and a new interview of Hand by Terry Bisson. Hand is one of several contemporary writers who slides effortlessly between genres, most recently writing a dark, occasionally supernatural-tinged crime series. The new story “Fire” is short, intense, mainstream, yet dark. Singularity by Melanie Tem (Centipede Press) collects sixty of the late, award-winning writer Melanie Tem’s most important short fiction, highlighting her diversity and mastery of her art. With illustrations by Jessica Fortner and an afterword by Caitlín Kiernan. Strange Weather by Joe Hill (William Morrow) features four impressive novellas, three new. “Snapshot” was originally published in two issues of Cemetery Dance; “Aloft” is a fantasy about a grieving young man who when jumping out of a plane to skydive, magically lands on a sentient cloud that would like him to stay to keep it company; “Loaded” is a terrifyingly believable story of easy access to guns, revenge, and psychosis; “Rain” is about a mysterious and deadly rain that begins its fall in Colorado. The Unorthodox Dr. Draper and Other Stories by William Browning Spencer (Subterranean Press) collects ten years’ worth of Spencer’s most recent stories, which includes nine stories and one poem. His work is surreal, funny, horrific, and very well written. Tales of Falling and Flying by Ben Loory (Penguin Books) is this quirky writer’s second collection of forty very brief tales and vignettes. Strange, sometimes unsettling, sometimes funny, but always entertaining. Wind Through the Fence: And Other Stories by Jonathan Maberry (JournalStone) collects twelve stories by the bestselling author of the Joe Ledger series of thrillers. The selection demonstrates Maberry’s versatility in the fields of sf, dark fantasy, crime, and horror. One story is new. Written in Darkness by Mark Samuels (Chômu Press) adds four reprints to an earlier collection with the same title originally published by Egaeus Press in 2014. You Should Come With Me Now: Stories of Ghosts by M. John Harrison (Comma Press) is the author’s first collection of short fiction in fifteen years and contains forty-two stories and flash fiction pieces of surrealism, fantasy, and a wee bit of horror. A few appear for the first time. The Wish Mechanics by Daniel Braum (Independent Legions Publishing) includes twelve stories of science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror. Five are published for the first time. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (Greywolf Press) is the celebrated author’s debut collection, and has made quite a splash in the literary world, having been nominated for the National Book Award. Although usually more weird than dark, several of her stories over the years have been horror, including “The Husband Stitch,” reprinted in this collection. You Will Grow Into Them by Malcolm Devlin (Unsung Stories) is a strong debut collection of ten stories by a new writer of dark fantasy, weird fiction, and horror. Four of the stories are published for the first time. Speaking to Skull Kings by Emily B. Cataneo (Trepidatio Publishing) is another debut by a new writer. The collection contains twelve stories of fantasy and dark fantasy, two of them new. Behind You by Ralph Robert Moore (self-published) is the author’s fourth collection. Among the eighteen mixed-genre stories are four new ones. Most of the stories are mainstream, a few are dark. Next are two mainstream collections that skirt the dark but don’t actually delve very deeply into it: The Doll’s Alphabet by Camilla Grudova (Coffee House Press) is the author’s first collection of thirteen very short stories. Most are surreal and bizarre, with hints of fairy tales and an edge of darkness. The Dark Dark by Samantha Hunt (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) is also a debut, this with ten stories, mostly new. Weird doings, some dark. The Dream Operator by Mike O’Driscoll (Undertow Publications) is the author’s second collection of stories. In it are eleven science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror stories. Three are published for the first time. Holidays From Hell by Reggie Oliver (Tartarus Press) features fourteen stories, one new in this seventh collection. With a gracious introduction by Robert Shearman. The Echo of the Sea & Other Strange War Stories by Paul StJohn Mackintosh (Egaeus Press Keynote Edition III) is a lovely little hardcover book containing four WWII stories (one reprint) that deal with Nazi attempts to harness supernatural forces to their cause. None is horror. Anthony Shriek by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (Centipede Press) is a gorgeous new edition of this 1992 novel, originally published in the Dell Abyss line. It’s illustrated by David Ho and has an introduction by Eileen Gunn. In addition to the novel, the volume features a number of reprinted stories and poems published between 1975 and 1997, plus two new prose pieces and seven new poems. Haunted Worlds by Jeffrey Thomas (Hippocampus Press) is another varied and imaginative collection of reprints and five new stories by the creator of the world of Punktown. Thomas often mixes sf and horror and weird fiction to good effect. With an introduction by Ian Rogers and story notes by the author. Thomas had a second collection out from Lovecraft eZine Press: The Endless Fall and Other Weird Fiction. This one collects fourteen stories, one new. Naked Revenants and Other Fables of Old and New England by Jonathan Thomas (Hippocampus Press) is the fifth collection of weird and often dark tales by the author. This volume has twenty-one stories and poems, nine new. The Lay of Old Hex: Spectral Ballads and Weird Jack Tales by Adam Bolivar (Hippocampus Press) is a collection of thirty-three reprinted and new tales, ballads, and vignettes about a man with a silver key that takes him on many a weird journey. Not much horror. With an introduction by K. A. Opperman. Telling the Map by Christopher Rowe (Small Bee Press) is the author’s debut collection and contains ten stories, all but one reprints. Although most of his work is science fiction or weird fantasy, there’s the occasional strain of darkness running through it (three of the stories were originally published by me). Call for Submissions by Selena Chambers (Pelekinesis) features fifteen stories reprinted from a variety of anthologies and small press magazines. One was nominated for a 2016 World Fantasy Award. Dis Mem Ber and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense by Joyce Carol Oates (The Mysterious Press) presents seven dark suspense stories originally published in magazines and anthologies, including one from my avian horror anthology, Black Feathers. William Meikle had two collections out in 2017: Carnacki: The Edinburgh Townhouse & Other Stories (Lovecraft EZine Press) is an entertaining collection of ten new tales about William Hope Hodgson’s creation Carnacki, the ghost-finder, and his friends, often plagued by the supernatural. In The Ghost Club: Newly Found Tales of Victorian Terror (Crystal Lake Publishing) we have another entertaining collection of fourteen inventive new stories written in the styles of Bram Stoker, Jules Verne, Madam Blavatsky, Rudyard Kipling, and ten other illustrious writers of the period. The Big-Headed People and Other Stories by D. F. Lewis (Eibonvale Chapbook Line #2) consists of an expanded version of the title story plus four shorter stories. Old Hoggen and Other Adventures by Bram Stoker (The Swan River Press) is a lovely little hardcover book that collects nine stories by the author of Dracula, with a preface by Brian J. Showers and an introduction by John Edgar Browning and Brian J. Showers. My House Gathers Desires by Adam McOmber (BOA Editions) is an excellent literary mix of horror and fantasy of fifteen stories, all previously published in various small literary magazines. Black Pantheons: Collected Tales of Gnostic Dread by Curtis M. Lawson (Wyrd Horror) is a debut of mostly dark fantasy with eleven stories, all but three new. A Flutter of Wings by Mervyn Wall (The Swan River Press) has eleven pieces of fiction from throughout Wall’s writing career and includes both satire and darker material. Tales from Harborsmouth by E. J. Stevens (Sacred Oaks Press) contains four stories and novellas about a supernatural detective. Dear Sweet Filthy World by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean Press) is the author’s fourteenth collection of short stories and vignettes. All twenty-eight were originally published in her subscription-only Sirenia Digest. One was reprinted in an earlier volume of the Best Horror of the Year series. Up the Rainbow: The Complete Short Fiction of Susan Casper edited by Gardner Dozois (Fantastic Books) is a lovely memorial to the late author of speculative fiction and horror and includes twenty-four stories written solo and in collaboration (one original). The volume also features seven of Casper’s fascinating trip reports and an afterword by Andy Duncan. Writing Madness by Patrick McGrath (Centipede Press) is a big deluxe hardcover collection of this expert in the macabre’s short stories, introductions, essays, and reviews. Blood and Water, McGrath’s first collection (and the work that first piqued my own interest in his short stories), is reprinted in its entirety, as is McGrath’s most recent, three-story collection, Ghost Town. Joyce Carol Oates introduces the book. Danel Olson edited it and wrote the afterword. Jacket and interior illustrations are by Harry Brockway.

Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan (Tor.com Books) is a wonderful, darkly disturbing cosmic horror story about a cult that believes aliens have come to liberate their bodies, a secret agent tasked with tracking down their missing leader, and a terrifying mystery woman who travels back and forth in time. Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones (Tor.com Books) is a vivid, dread-inducing supernatural ghost story about a teenage boy who believes he sees his dead father haunting the house where he lives with his mother and younger brother. Over time, the supernatural begins to subsume the everyday world of Junior and his family. Paymon’s Trio by Colette de Curzon (Nightjar Press) was written in 1949 and this is its first publication. Even back then, its plot—about the discovery of a demonic piece of music and its effect on those who play it—would have been old hat. Despite this, it’s well-told. Other Nightjar Press titles (the press is run by writer Nicholas Royle) published in 2017 were The Automaton by David Wheldon, a weird story about a young boy in pre-WWI England whose family theater hires an impresario with a chess-playing, elegant automaton; two stories by Claire Dean: Bremen, an uncanny tale of identity, loss, and marzipan people and The Unwish about fairy tales, two sisters, and their uneasy relationship. Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance) is a Castle Rock tale about a twelve-year-old girl who is given a box full of buttons and levers to care for by a mysterious man. I’ll Bring You the Birds From Out of the Sky is a terrific novella by Brian Hodge (Cemetery Dance), whose short fiction keeps getting better and better (and longer). This one is about a young woman with roots in rural West Virginia who brings a piece of art by her great grandfather to the city to be appraised by a dealer of folk art. Hodge is great at building a sense of dread in his stories. The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford (Tor.com Books) is about a group of friends who meet up during a break from college and what they discover when they excavate an abandoned outhouse on the edge of town. The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson (Tor.com Books) is about a woman whose blood creates new versions of herself that are bent on the original’s destruction. How I Learned the Truth About Krampus by Tom Johnstone (Eibonvale Press) is a chiller about a man’s belief that his missing baby son has been taken by his real father, the ancient evil precursor to the contemporary jolly Santa Claus. The Book Club by Alan Baxter (PS Publishing) is about a man whose wife disappears after attending one of her book club meetings. Under suspicion by the police and devastated by the idea that she’s been abducted and murdered, he discovers even worse possibilities. In the Country of Dreaming Caravans by Gerard Houarner (Bedlam Press) is a beautifully told story of a little girl, sold by her parents to a desert caravan, who tells stories in order to save her own life. The Teardrop Method by Simon Avery (TTA Press) is about a woman who, after someone close to her dies, discovers she can hear music in those who are dying. Sacculina by Philip Fracassi (JournalStone) is about a fishing boat crew facing sea monsters. Liars, Fakers, and the Dead Who Eat Them by Scott Edelman (Written Backwards) is a good-looking chapbook consisting of two new zombie stories. With an introduction by Brian Keene. The Borderland Little book chapbook series continued with Joe Hill’s A Little Silver Book of Sharp Shiny Scissors featuring a miscellany of nineteen snippets of fiction and nonfiction within a beautiful silver hardcover. David Morrell’s A Little Gold Book of Protector Tales includes three stories about people willing to sacrifice their lives for strangers. Jonathan Maberry’s A Little Bronze Book of Cautionary Tales presents four of his own favorite stories. The Doll House by Edward Lee (Necro Publications) was originally published 2015 as A Little Magenta Book about a Dollhouse by Borderlands Press. Quite unlike Lee’s usual blood and guts work, this was written in homage to one of Lee’s favorite writers: M. R. James. Pretty Marys All in a Row by Gwendolyn Kiste (Broken Eye Books) is a tale told by a ghost named Resurrection Mary about various other “Marys” from urban legends, all existing in one house. Festival by Aaron J. French (Unnerving) is about a young couple who stumble across a cult while on their romantic getaway at an isolated camp with hot springs. The Process (is a Process All Its Own) by Peter Straub (Subterranean Press) is an expanded version of the story originally published last year in Conjunctions (and reprinted in The Best Horror of the Year Volume Nine). The signed limited hardcover is a beauty, with its jacket illustration by Susan Straub and designed by Michael Fusco-Straub. Small Ghosts by Paul Lewis (Telos) is about a recent widower who returns to where he grew up to help his mother deal with her dying father. The dying man was a policeman who years earlier was the investigator in an undisclosed series of child murders that haunted both him and his wife throughout their lives.

When the Night Owl Screams by Michael H. Hanson (Moon Dream Press) contains over one hundred brief poems, with an introduction by Alessandro Manzetti. Visions of the Mutant Rain Forest by Robert Frazier and Bruce Boston (Crystal Lake Publishing) is a powerful collaborative collection of poetry and fiction, using the world the two authors created decades ago. There are five new poems and two new pieces of fiction. Diary of a Sorceress by Ashley Dioses (Hippocampus Press) is a volume of almost one hundred weird and dark poems, most previously published in small press poetry journals. PseudoPsalms: Sodom by Peter Adam Salomon (Bizarro Pulp Press) is the author’s third collection of poetry and includes almost one hundred short poems. Escape Claws by Angela Yuriko Smith (self-published) is a combination of about thirty pieces of poetry and text about the author living in haunted houses when growing up. A Collection of Nightmares by Christina Sng (Raw Dog Screaming Press), with thirty-one poems, is the author’s first full-length collection of dark poetry. The 2017 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Poetry of 2016 selected by the Science Fiction Poetry Association edited by David Kopaska-Merkal (Science Fiction Poetry Association) is used by members to vote for the best short and long poem of the year. The volume includes ninety-eight short poems and fifty-four long poems originally published in eighty different publications and venues in 2016. Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase Volume IV edited by David E. Cowan has been supporting its poet members by publishing a juried anthology of new poems for the last four years. The 2017 edition features more the fifty horror poems. There are some especially notable ones by Stephanie M. Wytovich, Robert Perez, Megan Hart, and a collaboration by Marge Simon and Alessandro Manzetti. Fungi from Yuggoth by H. P. Lovecraft (Hippocampus Press) is a good-looking hardcover edition of a thirty-six sonnet cycle Lovecraft wrote in a little over a week. This annotated edition is edited by David E. Schultz and illustrated by Jason C. Eckhardt. No Mercy by Alessandro Manzetti (Crystal Lake Publishing) is an excellent collection of eighteen horror poems (all but one new). Sheet Music to my Acoustic Nightmare by Stephanie M. Wytovich (Raw Dog Screaming) is another excellent collection of more than one hundred poems, several about murder, all dark. Selected Poems by A. E. (The Swan River Press) has been published to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Irish poet George William Russell’s birth. It includes poems written and published throughout his career, essays by W. B. Yeats and other of his contemporaries, and a bibliography. ’Til Death: Marriage Poems by Janice Leach and James Frederick Leach (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is a collaborative collection of more than seventy poems about the joys and horrors of a long marriage. Love for Slaughter by Sara Tantlinger (Strange House) has about one hundred horror poems lovingly laden with violence. Good show.

This Spectacular Darkness by Joel Lane (Tartarus) came out in late December 2016 and I missed it. It’s a collection of critical essays by the late British author, written for various dark fiction journals, and also includes appreciations of Lane’s poetry, essays, and fiction by other writers. Confrontation with Evil: An In-Depth Review of the 1949 Possession That Inspired The Exorcist by Steven A. LaChance (Llewellyn) is by a true believer who claims he was a victim of demonic possession himself, and thus is less skeptical than most previous accounts. Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell with Craig Sanborn (Thomas Dunne) is the actor’s “Act II”—his passage into middle age and all that entails for a human being and an entertainer. Spanish Gothic: National Identity, Collaboration and Cultural Adaptation by Xavier Aldana Reyes (Palgrave Gothic) is an introduction to the broad history of the Gothic in Spain. It focuses on key literary periods, from the Romanticism of the late-eighteenth century through the fin-de-siècle, spiritualist writings of the early-twentieth century, and the cinematic and literary booms of the 1970s and 2000s. Aldana Reyes elucidates how the Gothic mode has been a permanent yet ever-shifting fixture of the literary and cinematic landscape of Spain. Giant Creatures in Our World: Essays on Kaiju and American Popular Culture edited by D. G. Mustachio and Jason Barr (McFarland) is a collection of new essays about this subgenre of monster films. Consuming Gothic: Food and Horror in Film by Lorna Piatti-Farnell (Palgrave Macmillan) is an analysis of the relationship of food and horror in post-1980 film. (From the publisher’s description.) By looking at food consumption within Gothic cinema, the book uncovers eating as a metaphorical activity of the self, where the haunting psychology of the everyday, the porous boundaries of the body, and the uncanny limits of consumer identity collide. It discusses such movies as David Cronenberg’s The Fly, The Machinist, Se7en, and The Human Centipede, among others. Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix (Quirk) is an entertaining, profusely illustrated history of the very pulpy looking (for the most part) paperback cover art generated in the ’70s and ’80s. Many of the books and their authors are forgettable, but some are excellent and continue to be read and their authors continue to write. It didn’t matter whether the content was literary or not, the covers were unremittingly lurid. The book includes some story summaries and overviews of various horror subgenres including satanic rituals, creepy and demonic children, haunted houses, animals attacking—you get the idea. Why Horror Seduces by Matthew Clasen (Oxford University Press) is an attempt to answer the question so many horror aficionados, writers, and editors are regularly asked. The book claims that horror entertainment works by targeting humans’ adaptive tendency to find pleasure in make-believe, allowing a high-intensity experience within a safe context. The book is organized into three parts identifying fictional works by evolutionary mode—the evolution of horror, evolutionary interpretations of horror, and the future of horror. H. P. Lovecraft Letters to C. L. Moore and Others edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) is Volume 10 in the series. Much of the volume consists of Moore’s letters to Lovecraft, as only fragments of his letters to her survive. Lovecraft apparently introduced her to Henry Kuttner, Moore’s future husband and writing partner. There is also a fascinating correspondence between Lovecraft and Jonquil and Fritz Leiber. Demons, Devils, and Fallen Angels by Marie D. Jones and Larry Flaxman (Visible Ink) is a fun book to dip into, covering the beliefs of ancient cultures up to contemporary Satanism. Generously illustrated. Dawnward Spire: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) is massive, more than seven hundred pages plus bibliography and index. The volume covers fifteen years of correspondence and 330 letters. The Crow’s Dinner by Jonathan Carroll (Subterranean Press) is the admired and lauded fabulist’s first collection of essays. The generous, five hundred plus page volume includes fragments, musings, and reflections on life. It’s perfect for fans of Carroll or anyone who enjoys dipping into the mind of one of our most creative contemporary fantasists. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) is a fresh and remarkably entertaining look at the subject by a zoologist who surveys the latest scientific research on this long-held taboo. Illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne. The Annotated Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, edited with a foreword and notes by Leslie S. Klinger (Liveright Publishing), emphasizes the broad cultural significance that Frankenstein has achieved in the realms of science fiction, feminist theory, modern intellectual history, as well as film history and pop culture. The volume includes nearly one thousand notes with information and historical context on every aspect of Frankenstein and Shelley’s life. Profusely illustrated, with an introduction by Guillermo Del Toro and afterword by Anne K. Mellor.

The Weight of Words (art by McKean) edited by Dave McKean and William Schaefer (Subterranean Press) is an anthology of eleven new pieces of text inspired by McKean’s art, creating a highly collectible package to be savored. The stories are a mixed bag of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, the best dark piece by Maria Dahvana Headley.

The Rooms by Stu Horvath and Yves Tourigny is a fascinating little puzzle book made up of a horror novelette by Horvath and the amazing paper/ design work of Tourigny. It’s a kind of choose your own adventure. If you’re a game player and patient (I’m neither), you’ll love it.

The Grief Hole Illustrated: An Artist’s Sketchbook Companion by Keely Van Order (IFWG Publishing) is a beautiful complement to multi-award-winning Australian writer Kaaron Warren’s acclaimed 2016 novel, The Grief Hole. The original novel contained illustrations and cover art by Van Order. Consider these—as Nick Stathopoulos, who provides the introduction does—the extras on a Blu-ray disc

Some Notes on a Nonentity by Sam Gafford, illustrated by Jason C. Eckhardt (PSI Books), is a fascinating rendering of the life of H. P. Lovecraft as a graphic novel. The 120-page book covers his life from birth to death. The title is taken from an autobiographical essay that was published in 1963.