The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, 2010
Page 83
Michael Marshall Smith is a novelist and screenwriter. Under this name he has published over seventy short stories and three novels—Only Forward, Spares, and One of Us—winning the Philip K. Dick, HWA, August Derleth and British Fantasy Awards, as well as the Prix Morane. Writing as Michael Marshall, he has published six internationally best-selling thrillers, including The Straw Men, The Intruders, and Bad Things, and 2009 saw the publication of The Servants, under the name M.M. Smith. His new Michael Marshall novel The Breakers will be published in 2011. He lives in North London with his wife, son, and two cats. His Web site is: www.michaelmarshallsmith.com
Story Notes
Unless you are sure you have a working nightlight—remember Michael Marshall Smith’s cautionary tale the next time you wake up in the dark. Consider heeding its young narrator’s advice. Obviously the author—probably thanks to being a father himself or possibly because he’s still in touch with his inner child, as so many imaginative folks are—has learned that grown-ups can be so very stupid with their rules and their deals and their inability to understand about the dark.
G’night!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• The scope and intent of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2010 is unique. As the publisher allowed me a considerable number of pages to fill, I was able to select some longer works that, in a thinner book, might not have been afforded the space. And, with such a broad theme, I was able to select stories that do not fit anthologies more tightly constrained by definitions. Thanks to Sean Wallace of Prime Books for the lack of boundaries.
• Getting this assignment on short notice meant I was especially in need of assistance. I got it. Special thanks to Ellen Datlow, Stefan Dziemianowicz, and Sean Wallace’s band of nameless (to me anyway) intrepid recommenders.
• Information about and the call for submissions for the next volume of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror can be found at www.darkecho.com/darkfantasy. Contact: darkecho@darkecho.com.
—PRLG
PUBLICATION HISTORY
Kelley Armstrong, “A Haunted House of Her Own” © 2009. Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary, ed. Carol Serling (Tor). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Peter Atkins, “The Mystery” © 2009. Spook City, ed. Angus Mackenzie (PS Publishing, U.K.). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Dale Bailey & Nathan Balingrud, “The Crevasse” © 2009. Lovecraft Unbound, ed. Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Elizabeth Bear, “The Horrid Glory of Its Wings” © 2009. Tor.com, 12/08/09. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Deborah Biancotti, “Diamond Shell” © 2009. A Book of Endings (Twelfth Planet Press). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Holly Black, “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown” © 2009. The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire, ed. Trisha Telep (Running Press Kids). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Nadia Bulkin, “Everything Dies, Baby” © 2009. Strange Horizons, 9/31/09. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Ramsey Campbell, “Respects” © 2009. British Invasion, eds. Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon, and James A. Moore (Cemetery Dance). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Suzy McKee Charnas, “Lowland Sea” © 2009. Poe, ed. Ellen Datlow (Solaris). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Robert Davies, “Bruise for Bruise” © 2009. Weird Tales #353. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Kurt Dinan, “Nub Hut” © 2009. ChiZine 1/09. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Steve Duffy, “Certain Death For a Known Person” © 2009. Apparitions, ed. Michael Kelly (Undertow). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Gemma Files, “The Jacaranda Smile” © 2009. Apparitions, ed. Michael Kelly (Undertow). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Seth Fried, “Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre” © 2009. One Story #124. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Gerard Houarner, “The Other Box” © 2009. Strange Tales III, ed. Rosalie Parker (Tartarus). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Stephen Graham Jones, “The Ones Who Got Away” © 2009. Phantom, eds. Paul Tremblay and Sean Wallace (Prime). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Caitlín R. Kiernan, “The Bone’s Prayer” © 2009. Sirenia Digest #39. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Marc Laidlaw, “Leng” © 2009. Lovecraft Unbound, ed. Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Margo Lanagan, “Sea-Hearts” © 2009. X6, ed. Keith Stevenson (Coeur de Lion, Australia). Reprinted by permission of the author.
John Langan, “The Wide, Carnivorous Sky” © 2009. By Blood We Live, ed. John Joseph Adams (Night Shade). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Joe R. Lansdale, “Torn Away” © 2009. Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary, ed. Carol Serling (Tor). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Kelly Link, “The Cinderella Game” © 2009. Troll’s Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales, eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Viking Juvenile). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Maura McHugh, “Vic” © 2009. Black Static #10. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Gary McMahon, “Strange Scenes From An Unfinished Film” © 2009. Cern Zoo (Nemonymous, #9), ed. D.F. Lewis. Reprinted by permission of the author.
John Mantooth, “The Water Tower”© 2009. Fantasy Magazine, 7/20/09. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Sarah Monette, “White Charles” © 2009. Clarkesworld #6. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Stewart O’Nan, “Monsters” © 2009. Cemetery Dance #61. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Holly Phillips, “The Long, Cold Goodbye” © 2009. Asimov’s, 3/09. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Sarah Pinborough, “The Nowhere Man” © 2009. British Invasion, eds. Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon, and James A. Moore (Cemetery Dance). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Norman Prentiss, “In the Porches of My Ears” © 2009. Postscripts #18. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Barbara Roden, “The Brink of Eternity” © 2009. Poe, ed. Ellen Datlow (Solaris). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Ekaterina Sedia, “Cherrystone and Shards of Ice” © 2009. H.P. Lovecraft Magazine #5. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Michael Shea, “Copping Squid” © 2009. Copping Squid and Other Perilous Tales (Perilous Press). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Lucius Shepard, “Halloween Town” © 2009. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Oct/Nov 09. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Michael Marshall Smith, “What Happens When You Wake Up In the Night” © 2009. What Happens When You Wake Up In the Night (Nightjar Press). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Peter Straub. “Variations of a Theme from Seinfeld” © 2009. Cemetery Dance #61. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Steve Rasnic Tem, “The Cabinet Child” © 2009. Phantom, eds. Paul Tremblay and Sean Wallace (Prime). Reprinted by permission of the author.
Paul Tremblay, “Headstone In My Pocket” © 2009. Weird Tales #353. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Catherynne M. Valente, “A Delicate Architecture” © 2009. Troll’s Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales, eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Viking Juvenile). Reprinted by permission of the author.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Paula Guran is the editor of Pocket Book’s Juno fantasy imprint and nonfiction editor for Weird Tales magazine. In an earlier life she produced weekly e-mail newsletter DarkEcho (winning two Bram Stoker Awards, an International Horror Guild Award award, and a World Fantasy Award nomination), edited Horror Garage magazine (earning another IHG and a second World Fantasy nomination), and has contributed reviews, interviews, and articles to numerous professional publications. She’s also done a great deal of other various and sundry work in sf/f/h publishing. Earlier anthologies Guran has edited include Embraces, Best New Paranorm
al Romance, and Best New Romantic Fantasy 2. In addition to this anthology, she recently edited Zombies: The Recent Dead for Prime Books. Forthcoming anthologies for Prime include Vampires: The Recent Undead and Halloween! By the end of 2010 she will also have edited four dozen published novels and three collections.