The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20

by Stephen Jones (ed. )

  From McFarland & Company, Bram Stoker’s Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition, edited, annotated and transcribed by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller, made an indispensable companion volume. Michael Barsanti supplied the Foreword.

  Anne Rice’s 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire enjoyed its ninetieth paperback printing from Ballantine in 2008.

  In October, UK imprint Gollancz reissued eight classic books in uniform trade paperback editions under “The Terror 8” banner. The promotion comprised Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson, Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite, Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin, Ghost Story by Peter Straub, The Green Mile by Stephen King, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, Song of Kali by Dan Simmons and The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce.

  Diana Wynne Jones and Philip Pullman were among those authors who objected to an attempt by publishers to label every book that might appeal to children with a recommended reading age sticker.

  Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book contained a series of linked stories about orphaned boy, Nobody Owens (“Bod”), who lived in a graveyard, was raised and educated by ghosts, and had a witch as a friend. It was published in two differently designed editions, one illustrated by the author’s regular collaborator Dave McKean, and the other by children’s illustrator Chris Riddell.

  Jack: Secret Histories was the first in a new young adult trilogy by F. Paul Wilson featuring a fourteen-year-old Repairman Jack.

  Death’s Shadow was the seventh book in the “Demonata” series by Darren Shan (Darren O’Shaughnessy). The author also reissued a heavily revised edition of his 1999 novel Procession of the Dead under the byline “D. B. Shan”.

  The Shade of Hettie Daynes was a young adult ghost novel by Robert Swindells, and a boy encountered ghostly children in The Hunt for the Seventh by Christine Morton-Shaw.

  J. P. Hightman’s Spirit was a Victorian ghost story about two teens who had to quiet the souls of the dead on a carnival-bound train.

  The titular schoolboy of Douglas Anthony Cooper’s amusing Milrose Munce could see ghosts, and a girl had the ability to see dead people in The Summoning, the first volume in Kelley Armstrong’s “Darkest Powers” series.

  After discovering some old letters, two children encountered a phantom postman in Stephen Alter’s mystery Ghost Letters, while a boy into video games was possessed by his grandfather’s spirit in Slipping by Cathleen Davitt Bell.

  A girl helped the ghost of a young slave on a Louisiana plantation in The Secret of Laurel Oaks by Lois Ruby, and another girl was haunted by the spirit of a slave in Pemba’s Song by Marilyn Nelson and Tonya C. Hegamin.

  Wicked Dead: Snared, Wicked Dead: Crush and Wicked Dead: Prey were the third, fourth and fifth books in a series narrated by the ghosts of dead girls by Stefan Petrucha and Thomas Pendleton (Lee Thomas).

  An abused boy discovered he possessed paranormal powers in Mason, also by Thomas Pendleton, a girl experienced other people’s nightmares in Lisa McMann’s Wake, and a teenager could see through the eyes of a serial killer in A. M. Vrettos’ Sight.

  Two years after the first book was published, orphan Rossamünd Bookchild discovered hidden secrets surrounding his chosen career in D. M. Cornish’s Gothic mystery, Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two: Lamplighter, illustrated by the author.

  A young girl found herself teaming up with various bizarre monsters that haunted the dreams of her cruel and angry Aunt in Leander Deeny’s delightful debut novel Hazel’s Phantasmagoria, illustrated by David Roberts.

  Lauren Myracle’s Bliss involved a psycho teenager and the Charles Manson trial.

  The Last Apprentice: Attack of the Fiend (aka The Spook’s Battle) and The Last Apprentice: Wrath of the Bloodeye (aka The Spook’s Mistake) were the fourth and fifth books, respectively, in Joseph (Joe) Delaney’s series about Thomas Ward, a boy apprenticed to a local Spook.

  In Joanne Dahme’s Creepers, a young girl discovered that her family’s new home was haunted by a witch, and a coven of teenage witches battled vampires, werewolves and ghosts in Revealers by Amanda Marrone.

  The skeleton detective and his teenage helper had to prevent the rise of the evil “Faceless Ones” in Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire, the second book in the series.

  A young girl battled creatures that fed on fear in Simon Holt’s The Devouring, while Demon Stalkers: Prey was the first in a new series by Douglas Hill, who was tragically killed in 2007 after being hit by a bus.

  Lost children roamed the world’s largest shopping mall after dark in Kit Reed’s The Night Children, and a girl’s friends at a new high school were dead popular in Brian James’ Zombie Blondes.

  A girl lacking the powers of her psychic family suspected that a cheerleader in the Californian town of Nightshade could be a vampire in Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez.

  Another young girl found herself at a new boarding school in Claudia Gray’s vampire novel Evernight, and Nancy A. Collins’ Vamps was set in the Bathory Academy for privileged undead teenagers.

  A vampire showed interest in a twelve-year-old girl’s powers of teleportation in Jennifer Anne Kogler’s The Otherworldlies, while Justin Richards’ The Parliament of Blood involved vampires in Victorian London.

  Vampires were called “hemovores” in A. M. Jenkins’ Night Road.

  A teenager’s other split personality was an ancient vampire in Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, while another teen was set to be revealed as a vampire in Brian Meehl’s Suck It Up.

  The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Ninth Grade Slays was the second book about the half-vampire boy by Heather Brewer.

  Chosen and Untamed were the third and fourth volumes, respectively, in P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast’s “House of Night” vampire series. They were also issued in audiobook format.

  Feast of Fools was the fourth book in “The Morganville Vampires” series by Rachel Caine (Roxanne Longstreet Conrad), and Melissa de la Cruz’s Revelations was the fourth volume in the “Blue Bloods” series.

  The Coffin Club was the fifth volume in Ellen Schreiber’s series that began with Vampire Kisses. The books were also adapted into graphic novel format.

  The Ghosts of Kerfol collected five stories by Deborah Noyes, inspired by Edith Wharton’s 1916 story “Kerfol”, while Kelly Link’s Pretty Monsters collected nine stories (one original).

  Edited by Peter Straub, the anthology Poe’s Children: The New Horror featured twenty-four reprint stories by Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, M. John Harrison, Thomas Tessier, Elizabeth Hand, Thomas Ligotti, Glen Hirshberg, John Crowley, David J. Schow, Steve Rasnic Tem & Melanie Tem, Joe Hill, Kelly Link, Graham Joyce, M. Rickert and others.

  Published by Down East Books, Otherworldly Maine was an excellent cross-genre anthology edited by Noreen Doyle and containing twenty-one stories (eight original) set in the state of Maine by Edgar Pangborn, Elizabeth Hand, Stephen King, Gregory Feeley, Melanie Tem, Gardner Dozois, Mark Twain, Scott Thomas, Jack L. Chalker, Steve Rasnic Tem and others, including the editor.

  Edited by Marvin Kaye, The Ghost Quartet featured four original novellas by Brian Lumley, Orson Scott Card, Tanith Lee and the editor himself.

  Disappointingly trivial for an anthology supposedly presented by the Horror Writers Association, Blood Lite edited by Kevin J. Anderson contained twenty-one humorous horror stories by Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong and Sherrilyn Kenyon, amongst others.

  The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance edited by Tricia Telep contained twenty-five stories (two reprints) by Nancy Holder, Lilith Saintcrow and others. From Black Lace, the uncredited Lust at First Bite: Sexy Vampire Short Stories contained fifteen erotic vampire stories.

  As the title suggested, Wolfsbane and Mistletoe edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner contained fifteen Christmas stories about werewolves.

  Edited by Peter Washington, Ghost Stories from Everyman’s Library contained nineteen reprints by M. R. James, Ray Bradbury, Edith Whart
on, L. P. Hartley, Elizabeth Bowen and P. G. Wodehouse, amongst others. The editor contributed his own list of the top ten ghost stories to the Hallowe’en edition of UK newspaper The Guardian.

  Christopher Golden edited Hellboy: Oddest Jobs, an anthology of fourteen original stories based on the comic book character, illustrated by creator Mike Mignola. Authors included Joe R. Lansdale, China Miéville and Garth Nix.

  Published by Chaosium and edited by William Jones, Frontier Cthulhu: Ancient Horrors in the New World collected fifteen Mythos stories (two reprints). From the same editor, Horrors Beyond 2: Stories of Strange Creations from Elder Signs Press contained twenty-one Lovecraftian stories (one reprint) from Richard A. Lupoff, A. A. Attanasio and others.

  Hotter Than Hell edited by Kim Harrison and Martin H. Greenberg featured twelve supernatural romance stories by Tanya Huff, Carrie Vaughn and others. Greenberg also teamed up with Daniel M. Hoyt to edit Better Off Undead, which contained eighteen afterlife stories by Jay Lake, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Esther M. Friesner and others.

  My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon was editor P. N. Elrod’s follow-up to the anthology My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding and contained stories by Jim Armstrong, Kelley Armstrong, Lilith Saintcrow, Ronda Thompson and the editor, amongst others.

  From Barnes & Noble’s new imprint Fall River Press, A Whisper of Blood was a 600-page omnibus of Ellen Datlow’s superior vampire anthologies Blood is Not Enough (1989) and A Whisper of Blood (1991).

  The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-First Annual Collection edited by Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant contained various yearly summations along with thirty-five stories and six poems.

  The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume Nineteen edited by Stephen Jones collected twenty-five stories and novellas, plus the annual Introduction and Necrology.

  For the first time in a long while there were no stories that appeared in both annual volumes, although British writers Gary McMahon and Reggie Oliver were represented in each book with different contributions.

  Edited by Angela Challis and available only from the publisher’s website and selected specialty stores, Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror: Volume Two from Brimstone Press featured eighteen stories published in 2006 by such Australian writers as Terry Dowling, Margo Lanagan, Robert Hood, Stephen Dedman and others. A third volume appeared in December.

  In potentially the biggest copyright theft in publishing history, electronic search engine Google came to a proposed settlement in lawsuits filed by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. This allowed the company to digitize the text of every book in the world and offer excerpts from copyright material or the full texts of public domain works under its controversial Book Search program.

  What was particularly troubling for authors is that Google was forcing them to formally opt out of the program, otherwise it would be assumed that the writer had accepted the settlement’s provisions, which involved a small and complicated royalty payment scheme for copyrighted material.

  Meanwhile, in September, Google was forced to modify its new multi-million dollar Internet browser, Google Chrome, when it was revealed that users of the program would lose the copyright to their own files. Google claimed that the all-encompassing clause in its licence agreement was an “accident” and deleted the offending terms and conditions, making the changes retrospective.

  Launched almost a year after Amazon’s Kindle electronic reader debuted in America, Sony’s digital Reader had 200 megabytes of memory and could hold up to 160 e-books. The size of an average paperback, a single charge could handle 6,800 page turns. Each unit was sold with a CD containing 100 books, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

  From Australia’s Brimstone Press, the e-anthology Black Box edited by Shane Jiraiya Cummings was a follow-up to Shadow Box and contained a mixture of fiction, artwork and music. Authors represented included Stephen Dedman, Jay Caselberg, Robert Hood, Lucy Sussex, Rick Kennett and Jason Sizemore, amongst others, with all profits donated to the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) to help support emerging dark fiction writers.

  Posted online daily at NBC.com and SCIFI.com, the fifty-part Gemini Division featured Rosario Dawson as an undercover cop who discovered that her boyfriend (Justin Hartley) was really a synthetic supersoldier on the run from his military creators.

  Created by Buffy’s Joss Whedon in July for the Internet, Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog featured Neil Patrick Harris as the crazed yet musical mad scientist of the title. Nathan Fillion played the doctor’s arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer.

  Richard Christian Matheson wrote and directed the pilot episode of Shockers, a series of twist-in-tail mini-films available on the Internet.

  For Halloween, FEARnet.com’s “66.6 Second Film Festival” presented movies such as Hostel, Evil Dead 2 and Candyman edited down to just over a minute each.

  Available as print-on-demand trade paperbacks, Welsh publisher Mortbury Press issued The Second Black Book of Horror and The Third Black Book of Horror, both selected by Charles Black. Containing thirteen (two reprints) and seventeen stories, respectively, authors represented included Gary McMahon, David A. Sutton, David A. Riley, Mike Chinn, D. F. Lewis, Eddy C. Bertin, L. H. Maynard and M. P. N. Sims, John Llewellyn Probert, Joel Lane, John Mains, Paul Finch and Gary Fry.

  Gary Fry’s Gray Friar’s Press produced Nicholas Royle’s The Appetite as the third in its “Gray Matter Novella” series with an Introduction by Michael Marshall Smith. The book was available as a 300-copy on-demand softcover and in a hardcover edition limited to just 100 copies. Tony Richards’ collection Passport to Purgatory was available as a trade paperback from the same imprint.

  Available from Canada’s Creative Guy Publishing, Peripheral Visions was a collection of twenty-one stories (three original) by up-and-coming British writer Paul Kane. Christopher Fowler supplied the Introduction, and the on-demand trade paperback came with numerous glowing testimonials by an impressive roster of Names.

  From Wordcraft of Oregon, Crazy Love Stories contained seventeen “gonzo” stories by the incomparable Leslie What, with an Introduction by Kate Wilhelm.

  Gerard Houarner explored three wildly different facets of The Wizard of Oz (one reprint) in the novella collection The Oz Suite from Eibonvale Press.

  From on-demand imprint Raw Dog Screaming Press, Worse Than Myself was a collection of eleven stories (five original) by Adam Golaski, set in New England, New York and Montana, while Sheep and Wolves: Collected Stories spotlighted the fiction of Jeremy C. Shipp with seventeen stories (eight original).

  Midnight Call and Other Stories was a collection of twenty-six new or revised stories by Jonathan Thomas, published by Hippocampus Press with a Foreword by S. T. Joshi.

  From the same on-demand imprint, Inconsequential Tales contained twenty-four previously uncollected stories by Ramsey Campbell (two original), along with an Introduction by the author.

  Clockwork Phoenix was the first in an impressive new series of annual anthologies of literary fantasy from Norilana Books, edited and introduced by Mike Allen. It contained eighteen original stories of beauty and strangeness by Tanith Lee, John Grant, Laird Barron, Cat Rambo, Cat Sparks and others.

  A group of criminals took refuge in a haunted mine in Lawrence C. Connolly’s first novel, Veins, illustrated by Star E. Olson.

  The Undead: Headshot Quartet contained four original zombie novellas by John Sunseri, Ryan C. Thomas, David Dunwoody and D. L. Snell. It was edited by Christina Biyins and Lane Adamson for Permuted Press.

  Available in both PoD hardcover and paperback format from AuthorHouse, the collection Why You Should Shudder: 27 Tales of Terror included five previously unpublished stories by author Kent Robinson.

  Edited by Aaron Poison and available under his own Strange Publications imprint, Tainted: Tales of Terror and the Supernatural was an anthology of thirteen stories (eight original) inspired by the work of Ambrose Bierce, E. F. Benson, Algernon Blackwood, H. G. Wells and Edgar Alla
n Poe, who were each represented with a reprint story.

  John Langan’s debut collection, Mr Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters from Wildside Press/Prime Books, contained five academic horror stories (including an original novella) along with an Introduction by Elizabeth Hand.

  Edited by the redoubtable Philip Harbottle, Fantasy Adventures 13 was the final volume in the pulp-inspired series from Cosmos Books/Wildside Press. The bumper paperback contained twenty-two original short stories by the late Sydney J. Bounds and Philip E. High (seven and four apiece, respectively), Eric Brown, John Glasby, E. C. Tubb, Brian Ball, Tony Glynn and Antonio Bellomi, along with the revised version of a complete novel by John Russell Fearn. The editor also contributed two personal remembrances of Bounds and High.

  Translated from the French by Brian Stableford for Black Coat Press, Vampires of Mars was an omnibus of Gustave Le Rouge’s Le prisonnier de la planete Mars (1908) and La guerre des vampires (1909).

  Charles Derennes’ lost race novel from 1907, The People of the Pole (Le peuple du Pole), about the discovery of a reptilian civilization, was also translated from the French by Stableford.

  Stableford’s own The Shadow of Frankenstein was a sequel to Paul Féval’s John Devil, set in an alternate world based on literary works, including those by Féval and Mary Shelley. From the same author and on-demand imprint, Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of Eternity was a fix-up pastiche that included revised material from The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires (1996).

  Black Coat Press also published the anthology Tales of the Shadowmen: Lords of Terror. The fourth volume in the pulp anthology series edited by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier, it contained sixteen stories featuring established and obscure fictional characters by Kim Newman, John Shirley, Brian Stableford and others, including the two editors. The book was followed by Tales of the Shadowmen: The Vampires of Paris, which contained eighteen stories by Stableford and others.

  Although available from Texas imprint Swimming Kangaroo Books, half the contributors to Killers edited by Colin Harvey were from the UK. These included Sarah Singleton, Philip Lees, Paul Meloy, Charlie Allery, Gary Fry and the editor.