by Paula Guran
The mist was full of yells and calls whose locations I couldn’t pinpoint. Was one of those voices my father’s? I wasn’t sure. The mist muffled the sounds, as if I was hearing them from the other side of a thick wall. I was almost at the van. Its interior was dark. Was it empty? Half-expecting my hand to pass through it, I reached for the handle to the driver’s door. It was solid to the touch, and when I pulled, it clicked and the door opened. There was no one behind the wheel. Kneeling on the seat, I leaned into the van.
It was empty. There was no evidence of its passengers left behind; although, for a second, two, I caught the faintest odor of dried sweat and laundry detergent, the scent I’d breathed whenever I’d rested my head against my father’s chest at the end of the day, when I wished him goodnight. Then it was gone.
I exited the van, closing the door. Stewart was standing behind me. “Is . . . ” I started, and paused, unable to utter the remainder of the question.
“Aye,” Stewart said.
“Where is he?”
He tipped his head toward where the mist was thick. “Out there.”
“So if I go there, I’ll find him?”
“You might,” he said, “or you might not. You could spend an hour searching this lot, or you could wander off someplace else, and be lost.”
Without warning, I was crying, tears streaming down my cheeks. I felt every bit as bad as I had the night my father had died, when it seemed a spear had been driven straight through my chest, as if his death were a pin that had fixed me forever in place. To see him one more time, to speak to him, to tell him I loved him and was sorry I hadn’t been a better son, was a prospect almost too much to bear. To fail, though, to walk away and not return, was not something I could do to my mother and sister. I turned from the van and headed for the gate.
The shouts and calls persisted. “What’s happening?” I said to Stewart. “What are they doing?”
“The same thing we were.”
“Corpsemouth?”
“It’s not just our world he wants to break into. There are folk on the other side who do their best to keep him out of there, too.”
“Can he hurt them?”
“Oh aye, he eats the dead same as anything else.” Seeing the expression on my face, he added, “But your dad was always a capable fellow. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
XVII
After the night’s events, I did not anticipate sleeping. Almost the instant I settled onto my bed, though, my arms and legs grew heavy, my eyelids struggled to stay open, and I slid into unconsciousness. For an indeterminate time, I drifted in a blank, not unpleasant place. Slowly, a long, black cord came into view. It corkscrewed around and around, the way the cord on our old telephone had. It faded, and was replaced by the interior of the white van.
This time, it was full of the handful of men I’d seen in it a few days ago. My father was among them. All of the passengers looked worse for wear, their shirts and pants torn and dirty, their arms and cheeks cut and bruised. Dad was leaning forward, a black telephone receiver held to his ear. I couldn’t hear every word he was saying, but I understood enough to know that he was saying he was okay.
With a start, I realized he was speaking to me. For the dream’s brief duration, he continued to reassure me, while I said words he could not hear. The connection, it seemed, was one way. Then the call was finished, and I was awake—though not before a last glimpse of the white van, speeding along through high, brick walls black with age, carrying my father to the next stop on his long, strange death.
John Langan’s most recent book is a collection, Sefira and Other Betrayals (Hippocampus, 2016). He is the author of two previous collections, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies (Hippocampus, 2013) and Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (Prime, 2008), and a novel, House of Windows (Night Shade 2009). With Paul Tremblay, he co-edited Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters (Prime, 2011). He is one of the founders of the Shirley Jackson Awards, for which he served as a juror during its first three years. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife, younger son, and so, so many animals.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“The Door” © 2015 Kelley Armstrong. (Led Astray: The Best of Kelley Armstrong, Tachyon Pubications).
“Snow” © 2015 Dale Bailey (Nightmare, June 2015).
“1Up” © 2015 Holly Black (Press Start to Play, ed. John Joseph Adams, Vintage).
“Seven Minutes in Heaven” © 2015 Nadia Bulkin (Aickman’s Heirs, ed. Simon Strantzas, Undertow Publications).
“The Glad Hosts” © 2015 Rebecca Campbell (Lackington’s #7).
“Hairwork” © 2015 Gemma Files (She Walks in Shadows, eds. Moreno-Garcia & Stiles, Innsmouth Free Press).
“Black Dog” © 2015 Neil Gaiman (Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances, William Morrow).
“A Shot of Salt Water” © 2015 Lisa L. Hannett (The Dark #8).
“The Scavenger’s Nursery” © 2015 Maria Dahvana Headley (Shimmer #24).
“Daniel’s Theory About Dolls” © 2015 Stephen Graham Jones (The Doll Collection, ed. Ellen Datlow, Tor).
“The Cripple and Starfish” © 2015 Caítlin R. Kiernan (Sirenia Digest #108).
“The Absence of Words” © 2015 Swapna Kishore (Mythic Delirium #1.3).
“Corpsemouth” © 2015 John Langan (The Monstrous, ed. Ellen Datlow, Tachyon Publications).
“Cassandra” © 2015 Ken Liu (Clarkesworld # 102).
“Street of the Dead House” © 2015 Robert Lopresti (nEvermore, eds. Nancy Kilpatrick & Caro Soles, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing).
“Mary, Mary” © 2015 Kirstyn McDermott (Cranky Ladies of History, eds. Tansy Raynor Roberts & Tehani Wessely, Fablecroft).
“There is No Place for Sorrow in the Kingdom of the Cold” © 2015 Seanan McGuire, (The Doll Collection, ed. Ellen Datlow, Tor).
“Below the Falls” © 2015 Daniel Mills (Nightscript 1, ed. C.M. Muller, Chthonic Matter).
“The Deepwater Bride” © 2015 Tamsyn Muir (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jul-Aug 2015).
“The Greyness” © 2015 Kathryn Ptacek (Expiration Date, ed. Nancy Kilpatrick, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing).
“The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill” © 2015 Kelly Robson (Clarkesworld #101).
“Those” © 2015 Sofia Samatar (Uncanny #3).
“Fabulous Beasts” © 2015 Priya Sharma (Tor.com, 27 July 2015)
“Windows Underwater” © 2015 John Shirley (Innsmouth Nightmares, ed. Lois Gresh, PS Publishing).
“Ripper” © 2015 Angela Slatter (Horrorology, ed. Stephen Jones, Quercus)
“The Lily and the Horn”© 2015 Cathrynne M. Valente (Fantasy #59).
“Sing Me Your Scars” © 2015 Damien Angelica Walters (Sing Me Your Scars, Apex Book Company).
“The Body Finder” © 2015 Kaaron Warren (Blurring the Line, ed. Marty Young, Cohesion Press).
“The Devil Under the Maison Blue” © 2015 Michael Wehunt (The Dark #10).
“Kaiju maximus ®: “So Various, So Beautiful, So New” © 2015 Kai Ashante Wilson (Fantasy #59).
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES: 2015
Allan, Nina: “A Change of Scene” (Aickman’s Heirs, ed. Simon Strantzas)
Allen, Mike: “The Spider Tapestries” (Lackinton’s #8)
Anders, Charlie Jane: “Ghost Champagne” (Uncanny #5)
Anderton, Joanne: “2B” (Insert Title Here, ed. Tehani Wessely)
Armstrong, Kelley: “We Are All Monsters Here” (Led Astray: The Best of Kelley Armstrong)
August, Julia: “Unravelling” (Lackington’s #5)
Ballingrud, Nathan: The Visible Filth (novella)
Barron, Laird: “Fear Sun” (Innsmouth Nightmares, ed. Lois Gresh)
Barron, Laird: “In a Cavern, in a Canyon” (Seize the Night, ed. Christopher Golden)
Barron, Laird: “The Blood in My Mouth” (Madness of Cthulhu II, ed. S.T. Joshi)
Barron, Laird: “We Smoke the Northern Lights�
� (The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft, ed. Aaron J. French)
Barron, Laird: X’s For Eyes (novella)
Biancotti, Deborah: “Look How Cold My Hands Are” (Cranky Ladies of History, eds. Tansy Rayner Roberts & Tehani Wessely)
Bolander, Brooke: “And You Shall Know Her By Trail of Dead” (Lightspeed #57)
Bradley, Rebecca: “An Inspector Calls” (Expiration Date, ed. Nancy Kilpatrick)
Bulkin, Nadia: “Violet is the Color of Your Energy” (She Walks in Shadows, eds. Silvia Moreno-Garcia & Paula R. Stiles)
Burke, Chesya: “For Sale: Fantasy Coffins” (Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany, eds. Nisi Shawl & Bill Campbell)
Cameron, Dana: “Whiskey and Light” (Seize the Night, ed. Christopher Golden)
Campbell, Rebecca: “Unearthly Landscape by a Lady” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #161)
Claus, Jennifer: “The Room is Fire” (New Genre #7)
DeMeester, Kristi: “To Sleep in the Dust of the Earth” (Shimmer #28)
McDonald, Sandra: “Rules for Ordinary Heroes” (Nightmare #32)
Duffy, Steve: “Even Clean Hands Can Do Damage” (Supernatural Tales 30)
Etchison, Dennis: “Don’t Move” (F&SF, Sep/Oct 2015)
Files, Gemma: “The Salt Wedding” (Kaleidotrope, Winter 2015)
Ford, Jeffrey: “The Thyme Fiend” (Tor.com, 11 Mar 2016)
Ford, Jeffrey: “Winter Wraith” (F&SF, Nov/Dec 2015)
Gregory, Eric: “March Wind” by Eric Gregory (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #33)
Hao, Jingfang (trans. Ken Liu): “Folding Beijing” (Uncanny #2)
Helms, Alyc: “The Blood Carousel” (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #32)
Hodge, Brian: “This Stagnant Breath of Change” (Shadows Over Main Street, eds. Doug Murano & D. Alexander Ward)
Hodge, Brian: “One Possible Shape of Things to Come” (Eulogies III, eds. Jones, Kalanta & Tremblay)
Hopkinson, Nalo & Nisi Shawl: “Jamaica Ginger” (Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany, eds. Nisi Shawl & Bill Campbell)
Jager, Michelle: “Home Delivery” (SQ Mag #21)
Jones, Stephen Graham: “The Man Who Killed Texas” (Nightmares Unhinged, ed. Joshua Viola)
Kalin, Deborah: “The Cherry Crow Children of Haverny Wood” (Cherry Crow Children) (novella)
Kalin, Deborah: “The Briskwater Mare” (Cherry Crow Children)
Langan, John: “Underground Economy” (Aickman’s Heirs, ed. Simon Strantzas)
Lee, Karalynn, “Court Bindings” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #176)
Lee, Yoon Ha: “Variations on an Apple” (Tor.com, 15 Oct 2015)
Lee, Yoon Ha: “Two to Leave” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #173-174)
Leslie, V. H.: “Precious” (The Outsiders, ed. Joe Mynhardt)
Littlewood, Alison: “Wolves and Witches and Bears” (Nightmare #34)
Machado, Carmen Maria: “I Bury Myself” (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #33)
Malik, Usman T.: “The Last Manuscript” (Exigencies, ed. Richard Thomas)
Mannetti, Lisa: The Box Jumper (novella)
Markov, Haralambi: “The Language of Knives” (Tor.com, 4 Feb 2015)
Marshall, Helen: “The Vault of Heaven” (Aickman’s Heirs, ed. Simon Strantzas)
Maruyama, Kate: “Akiko” (Phantasma, eds. J.D. Horn & Roberta Trahan)
McDermott, Kirstyn: “A Song For First Hours” (SQ Mag #20)
McGuire, Seanan: “Something Lost, Something Gained” (Seize the Night, ed. Christopher Golden)
McGuire, Seanan: “The Myth of Rain” (Lightspeed #60)
McHugh, Maura: “Family” (Cassilda’s Song, ed. Joe S. Pulver)
Moraine, Sunny: “It is Healing, It is Never Whole” (Apex #75)
Muir, Tamsyn: “The Woman in the Hill” (Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror, ed. Lynne Jamneck)
O’Keefe, Megan E.: “Of Blood and Brine” (Shimmer #23)
Parks, Richard: “The Bride Doll” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #183)
Randall, Jessy: “Maybe a Witch Lives There” (Mythic Delirium #1.3)
Russell, Karen: “The Prospectors” (The New Yorker, 8 & 15 June 2015)
Schanoes, Veronica: “Ballroom Blitz” (Tor.com, 1 April 2016)
Sharma, Priya: “The Absent Shade” (Black Static #44)
Shearman, Robert: “Blood” (Seize the Night, ed. Christopher Golden)
Slatter, Angela: “Bluebeard’s Daughter” (SQ Mag #20)
Slatter, Angela: “Lavinia’s Wood (She Walks in Shadows, eds. Silvia Moreno-Garcia & Paula R. Stiles)
Slatter, Angela: Of Sorrow and Such (novella)
Snyder, Lucy A.: “The Yellow Death” (Seize the Night, ed. Christopher Golden)
Taylor, Keith: “Herald of Chaos” (That Is Not Dead, ed. Darrell Schweitzer)
Taylor, Lucy: “In the Cave of the Delicate Singers” (Tor.com, 15 July 2015)
Tem, Steve Rasnic: “Between the Pilings” (Innsmouth Nightmares, ed. Lois Gresh)
Tem, Steve Rasnic: “Deep Fracture” (Madness of Cthulhu II, ed. S.T. Joshi)
Tem, Steve Rasnic: “The Grave House” (Strange Tales V, ed. Rosalie Parker)
Tem, Steve Rasnic: In the Lovecraft Museum (novella)
Trent, Letitia: “Wilderness” (Exigencies, ed. Richard Thomas) (novella)
Valente, Catherynne M.: “The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild” (Clarkesworld #102)
Valentine, Genevieve: “Given the Advantage of the Blade” (Lightspeed #63)
Valentine, Genevieve: “Visit Lovely Cornwall on the Western Railway Line” (The Doll Collection, ed. Ellen Datlow)
Vaughn, Carrie: “Bannerless” (The End Has Come, John Joseph Adams)
Vaughn, Carrie: El Hidalgo de la Noche (El Hidalgo de la Noche )
Vernon, Ursula: “Pocosin” (Apex #68)
Vernon, Ursula: “Wooden Feathers” (Uncanny #7)
Walters, Angelica Damien: “Tooth, Tongue, and Claw” (Nightscript 1, ed. C.M. Muller)
Warren, Kaaron: “Mine Intercom” (Review of Australian Fiction Vol. 13, Issue 6)
Warrington, Freda: “Ruins and Bright Towers” (Night’s Nieces: The Legacy of Tanith Lee, ed. Storm Constantine)
Wong, Alyssa: “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” (Nightmare #37)
Yang, J. Y.: “A House of Anxious Spiders” (The Dark #9)
Yap, Isabel: “The Oiran’s Song” (Uncanny #6)
Yoachim, Caroline M. “Seasons Set in Skin” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #177)
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Paula Guran is senior editor for Prime Books. In addition to the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror series, she has edited and continues to edit a growing number of other anthologies as well as more than fifty novels and single-author collections. She is the recipient of two Bram Stoker Awards and an IHG Award, and has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award twice. Mother of four, mother-in-law of two, grandmother to three, she lives in Akron, Ohio.