The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19

by Stephen Jones

  Featuring an Introduction by Michael Marshall Smith, Ramsey Campbell’s latest novel, The Grin of the Dark, from PS Publishing was about a film critic whose life inexorably unravelled as he researched the life of a mysterious silent film comedian named Tubby Thackeray. It was available in a 500-copy signed edition and a slipcased edition of 200 signed by Campbell and Smith.

  Meanwhile, Campbell’s 2005 novel Secret Stories finally saw publication in America under the truncated title Secret Story, doubtless to prevent it from being confused with a short fiction collection by US readers.

  Also available from PS, Elizabeth Hand’s Illyria was a haunting novella about growing up and the power of theatre.

  Introduced by Graham Joyce, The Scalding Rooms by Conrad Williams was a novella set in a mutant-filled post-Apocalyptic world. It was available in a 500-copy signed edition in illustrated boards and a 300-copy dust-jacketed edition signed by both Williams and Joyce.

  Dead Earth: The Green Dawn by Mark Justice and David T. Wilbanks was an Apocalyptic zombie novella set in the New Mexico town of Serenity. With an Introduction by Gary A. Braunbeck, the book was published in three states, including a twenty-six copy lettered and slipcased hardcover signed by all the contributors along with cover artist Glenn Chadbourne.

  Gary Fry’s Sanity and Other Delusions was the first volume in the “PS Showcase” series. It collected six stories (four original) along with an Introduction by Stephen Volk.

  The Collected Ed Gorman featured two hardcover reprint collections, Out There in the Darkness and The Moving Coffin, introduced by Max Allan Collins and Lawrence Block, respectively. PS issued both books in a deluxe slipcased set.

  The eagerly awaited 50th Anniversary Edition of Ray Bradbury’s classic “fix-up” novel Dandelion Wine from PS Publishing did not disappoint. Issued in three handsome states, the book included all the original illustrations that accompanied the individual stories when they were originally published. The special deluxe slipcased set (£375.00 and limited to just 100 copies) was signed by both Bradbury and Stephen King, who supplied the new Introduction. It came with a bonus book, Summer Morning, Summer Night, that included all the other Greentown, Illinois, stories and vignettes, seventeen of which were previously unpublished.

  PS also issued Stephen King’s 2005 crime novel The Colorado Kid in three different hardcover editions, each individually illustrated by “Edward Miller” (Les Edwards), J. K. Potter and Glenn Chadbourne. The books were available in a bewildering array of variant editions, ranging in price from £25.00 for a 10,000-copy trade hardcover to £375.00 for a ninety-nine copy leather-bound traycased edition signed by the author and all three artists.

  From Hill House Publishers, Anansi Boys was one of the most impressive book productions of the year. A stunning limited edition of Neil Gaiman’s 2005 novel, it was beautifully designed and illustrated by Dagmara Matuszak. Available in signed editions of 750 numbered and fifty-two lettered copies, the double slipcase also included Anansi Boys: Additional Material Notebooks, which featured an interview with the author, the original outline for the novel, script pages, a deleted scene and notebook extracts.

  As a special gift limited to those subscribers to the delayed edition of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles: The Definitive Edition, Hill House sent out a framed “The Martian Chronicles Triptych” containing prints of three of the eight original pieces of art created by Edward Miller and signed by both author and artist.

  A follow-up to the previous World Fantasy Award-winning anthology, Strange Tales Volume II from Tartarus Press was a handsome-looking volume that contained seventeen original stories by such authors as Joel Knight, Quentin S. Crisp, Mark Valentine, Adam Golaski, Simon Strantzas, David Rix, Rhys Hughes, Barbara Roden, Roger Dunkley, Christopher Harman and others.

  From MonkeyBrain Books, Kim Newman’s The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club collected seven stories (one original) featuring members of the titular British intelligence service founded by Sherlock Holmes’ smarter brother. The author also included a couple of useful appendices for American readers.

  Copying the format of the Night Visions series, Five Strokes to Midnight from new imprint Haunted Pelican Press collected 20,000 words of original fiction each by Tom Piccirilli, Deborah LeBlanc, Christopher Golden and co-editors Gary A. Braunbeck and Hank Schwaeble, along with an Introduction by Tim Lebbon and impressive artwork by Hellraiser actress Ashley Laurence.

  From Gray Friar Press, Stains was a nice-looking hardcover collection of eight stories (including three new novellas) by Paul Finch limited to just 250 copies. Simon Clark supplied the Introduction.

  Lucius Shepard’s short novel Softspoken from Night Shade Books was a Southern Gothic about a haunted ancestral mansion. It was also published as a signed, limited edition with extra material.

  The Imago Sequence and Other Stories from the same imprint was the first collection of Laird Barron’s Lovecraftian-inspired stories and featured nine linked tales (one original) based around a monstrous entity named Belphegor. An extra story was included in the signed limited edition.

  Hart & Boot & Other Stories was a collection of thirteen excellent stories (three original) by Tim Pratt. The author discussed the origin of each tale in his story notes. Balefires collected twenty-four stories by David Drake with extensive notes by the author. A signed, limited edition also included an extra bibliography.

  Edited with story notes by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger, The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith Volume 1: The End of the Story and Volume 2: The Door to Saturn were the first two titles in a proposed five-volume series from Night Shade Books. Presenting the “definitive” manuscript texts in chronological order, the two books included Introductions by Ramsey Campbell and Tim Powers, respectively.

  Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box was available from Subterranean Press in a 500-copy signed and limited edition, a 200-copy deluxe edition with an added section, and a fifteen-copy leather-bound and lettered traycased edition, which all sold out before publication.

  Stephen Gallagher’s novel The Painted Bride and his collection of eleven stories (one original), Plots and Misadventures, were both available from Subterranean in signed editions of 750 copies.

  Joe R. Lansdale’s novel Lost Echoes, about a man who could see ghosts in sounds, was available in a 400-copy signed edition and fifteen traycased copies.

  God of the Razor collected the same author’s 1987 novel The Nightrunners and six connected stories (one original). Illustrated by Glenn Chadborne, it was also available in a 150-copy signed and slipcased edition that sold out before publication. The Shadows Kith and Kin contained eight stories (one original) by Lansdale. It was available in a signed, limited edition and a traycased lettered edition ($250.00) of just fifteen copies.

  Charles de Lint’s short novel, Promises to Keep, was set in an alternate world where the dead continued to live on.

  Currency of Souls by Kealan Patrick Burke was available in a limited edition of 750 copies and a fifteen-copy lettered traycased edition for $250.00.

  Published by Subterranean in a 1,500-copy signed hardcover edition illustrated by Mark Geyer, Cherie Priest’s Dreadful Skin contained three tales about a pistol-carrying former Irish nun and an English shape-shifter (who was actually Jack the Ripper) pursuing each other across the United States during the years following the American Civil War.

  Peter Crowther’s collection, The Spaces Between the Lines, contained twelve reprint stories, along with an introduction by Jack Dann and an afterword by the author. It was limited to 750 signed and numbered copies.

  Caitlín R. Kiernan’s Tales from the Woeful Platypus was a small-sized hardcover containing eight erotic stories, illustrated by Vince Locke. The limited edition, which sold out before publication, included an extra vignette and a chapbook of exclusive material.

  Subterranean Press also looked set to become Brian Lumley’s major publisher in the US with a reprint of the author’s 1998 collection A Coven of Vampires, limited
to a signed edition of 1,000 copies with an accompanying chapbook. A new collection, The Taint and Other Novellas: Best Mythos Tales Volume One, contained seven previously published Cthulhu Mythos novellas, plus a new Introduction and story notes by the author. It was available in a deluxe hardcover edition signed by Lumley and illustrator Bob Eggleton.

  Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear from Cemetery Dance Publications collected eighteen stories (two original) from Australian writer Terry Dowling, with an Introduction by Jonathan Strahan.

  Chet Williamson’s The Story of Noichi the Blind was supposedly a “lost” novella by Lafcadio Hearn, introduced by Williamson with an Afterword by Alan Drew. It was available in a signed edition limited to 1,500 copies.

  Thrillers 2 edited by Robert Morrish contained nine original stories by Caitlín R. Kiernan, Gemma Files, Tim Waggoner and R. Patrik Gates.

  Edited by Tom Piccirilli and limited to 1,500 signed and fifty-two lettered copies from Cemetery Dance, The Midnight Premiere was an anthology of eighteen original horror stories about Hollywood. Authors included Jack Ketchum, Gary A. Braunbeck, Thomas F. Monteleone, Brian Hodge, Ed Gorman, Al Sarrantonio, Mick Garris and others.

  CD also reissued Simon Clark’s 1996 novel Darker in 1,000 signed and twenty-six traycased and leather-bound editions.

  Michael Cisco’s novel The Traitor from Wildside Press/Prime Books featured a spirit-eater as its protagonist. From the same imprints, The Bone Key was a collection of ten related stories (one original) by Sarah Monette featuring museum archivist and paranormal investigator Kyle Murchison Booth.

  Edited by Paul Herman with an Introduction by Damon C. Sasser, Beyond the Black River was the seventh volume in Wildside’s “The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard” series. It included five stories (three featuring Conan).

  Also published by Wildside/Prime, Weird Tales: The 21st Century: Volume One was an anthology of twelve stories selected by editors Stephen H. Segal and Sean Wallace from the vastly inferior recent incarnation of the iconic magazine. Among those authors represented were Holly Phillips, Gerard Houarner and Carrie Vaughn.

  Available from Gauntlet Press, Somewhere a Band Is Playing by Ray Bradbury not only contained the new novella of the title, but all sorts of extra material, including related story fragments and an unfinished screenplay. Also from Gauntlet, Bloodline was the eleventh volume in F. Paul Wilson’s “Repairman Jack” series.

  The same author’s 1988 historical supernatural novel Black Wind was reissued by Borderlands Press in a signed and numbered edition limited to just 350 copies. From the same publisher, Peter Straub’s 5 Stories contained exactly what it said in the title.

  Nightshadows from Fairwood Press/Darkwood Press collected twenty-three recent stories by William F. Nolan, one original.

  Published by Manchester’s Comma Press, Phobic: Modern Horror Stories edited by Andy Murray was one of the better anthologies of the year. Published in trade paperback with assistance from the Arts Council England North West and Literature Northwest, the book contained fifteen stories (two reprints) by Jeremy Dyson, Nicholas Royle, Conrad Williams, Paul Cornell, Chaz Brenchley, Ramsey Campbell and others.

  Screaming Dreams was a classy new British small press imprint founded by artist Steve Upham. The Midnight Hour: 14 Tales of Dark Imagination collected the short stories (five original) of Neil Davies, while Phantoms of Venice was an attractive trade paperback reprint of the 2001 anthology edited by David A. Sutton, with stunning new cover artwork by Edward Miller.

  Thomas F. Monteleone, Scott Nicholson and Kealan Patrick Burke were among the authors who contributed thirteen stories to Legends of the Mountain State: Ghostly Tales from the State of West Virginia from Woodlands Press. Edited by Michael Knost, it included a Foreword by Rick Hautala.

  Guy Adams’ Deadbeat: Dogs of Waugh was the second volume in the comedy-thriller series from British imprint Humdrumming. It once again involved drunken ex-theatricals Tom Harris and Max Jackson and was set in a London populated by the walking dead.

  Humdrumming’s You Are the Fly: Tales of Redemption & Distress collected sixteen stories (at least four original) by British writer James Cooper, with an Introduction by Greg F. Gifune and an Afterword from the author’s frequent collaborator, Andrew Jury.

  From the same imprint came attractive “printed paper case editions” of Mark Morris’ first two novels, Toady and Stitch, which featured new Introductions by the author. Stitch also included exclusive bonus material, along with an interview with Morris and a reprint short story.

  Morris also supplied the Introduction to The First Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories, a tribute to the old Pan Book of Horror (complete with copied logo) selected by Ian Alexander Martin. The twelve original stories were all by Humdrumming authors, including James Cooper (twice), Gary McMahon, Garry Kilworth, Gary Fry, Rhys Hughes and Guy Adams.

  Alex Hamilton’s The Attic Express and Other Macabre Stories from Canada’s Ash-Tree Press contained twenty-eight tales, mostly taken from the author’s first three collections, along with an original story. It was published in an edition of 500 copies.

  Francis Brett Young’s supernatural novel Cold Harbour was reprinted with a new Introduction by John Howard. It was limited to 400 copies.

  At Ease with the Dead was an all-original anthology of thirty stories from Ash-Tree, the fourth to be edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden. It included work by John Llewellyn Probert, Melanie Tern, Gary McMahon, Mark Valentine, Kealan Patrick Burke, Steve Duffy, Joel Lane, John Whitbourn, Robert Morrish, Chet Williamson, Paul Finch, Don Tumasonis and others, including co-editor Barbara Roden. With a cover by Jason Van Hollander, the book was available in both trade paperback and 400-copy hardcover editions.

  A strange brown mist rising from the water in the Florida Keys created a world of zombies in Del Stone, Jr’s novella Black Tide, from Telos Publishing.

  Issued in a handsome hardcover edition of just 300 copies, as were the previous two volumes, Phantoms At the Phil: The Third Proceedings from Side Real Press in conjunction with Northern Gothic contained two new stories each by Sean O’Brien, Gail-Nina Anderson and Chaz Brenchley.

  Elizabeth Hand’s Generation Loss from Small Beer Press was a serial killer novel about a washed-up alcoholic photographer and the ritual murders of teenagers on a small island off the coast of Maine.

  Containing a bonus novella and a new Afterword by the author, Thomas Tessier’s 1979 novel The Nightwalker was reprinted by Millipede Press in cloth and leather-bound editions. The latter was limited to twenty-two numbered copies ($275.00) signed by Tessier and Jack Ketchum, who supplied the Introduction.

  From the same imprint, a new edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein featured an Introduction by Patrick McGrath, a frontispiece by Berni Wrightson, and a selection of critical essays by Judith Halberstam, Brian Aldiss and Radu Florescu, among others. A twenty-two copy leather traycased edition was signed by various contributors.

  Lawrence Santoro’s debut novel, Just North of Nowhere, appeared from Annihilation Press in trade paperback with a cover painting by Alan M. Clark. Set in and around the haunted town of Bluffton, it comprised a number of linked stories, four of which had previously been published by Twilight Tales Books.

  Published by Florida’s The Spectre Library in a hardcover edition of just 200 copies, The Tracer of Egos collected twelve stories by Victor Rousseau about Greek-born occult detective Dr Phileas Immanuel, with an Introduction by Morgan A. Wallace.

  From Mythos Books, Canadian writer Richard Gavins’ Omens collected twelve stories (seven original) with cover art by Harry O. Morris.

  New British imprint JnJ Publications, in conjunction with Rainfall Books, issued the trade paperback anthology Cthulhu’s Creatures edited by Steve Lines and John B. Ford. Available in a signed and numbered edition limited to 100 copies, it featured nineteen stories and six poems (one original of each) by Joseph S. Pulver Sr, Stanley C. Sargent, Jeffrey Thomas, C. Henderson, Robert M. Price, Tim Curran, Franklyn Searigh
t, Joel Lane, Richard L. Tierney and the two editors. Simon Clark supplied the Introduction.

  Edited by William Jones, High Seas Cthulhu was an anthology of twenty Mythos sea stories (one reprint) by Alan Dean Foster, Darrell Schweitzer, John Shirley and others, from Elder Signs Press. A ship was lost on the Dead Sea in Tim Curran’s novel from Elder Signs Press/Dimensions Books.

  John R. Little’s novelette, Placeholders, from Necessary Evil Press, was about a man who kept returning from death. Limited to 275 signed and numbered copies, Thomas F. Monteleone provided the Introduction.

  Available from Doorways Publications, Voyeurs of Death collected fifteen stories (four original) by Brit author Shaun Jeffrey.

  Zencore! Scriptus Innominatus was the latest anthology in the “Nemonymous” series from Megazanthus Press. It contained seventeen stories by Scott Edelman, Reggie Oliver, Patricia Russo, Mark Valentine and others. As usual, the authors were not credited with their contributions until the next volume.

  From California’s Dark Regions Press, Over the Darkening Fields collected twenty-six often quite short stories (fifteen original) by Scott Thomas, while Doomsdays featured twenty-two apocalyptic stories (four new) by Jeffrey Thomas, including a collaboration with his brother Scott.

  Darker Loves: Tales of Mystery and Regret from the same imprint collected fourteen stories (two original) and ten poems by James Dorr, with an Introduction by Brian A. Hopkins, and Michael A. Arnzen’s career-spanning Proverbs and Monsters contained twentynine tales (one original) and thirty-four poems (two new).

  Tango in the Ninth Circle: The Selected Poetry of Conine de Winter was a collection of twenty-seven macabre poems with an Introduction by Denise Dumars and illustrations by Matt Taggart. Also available from Dark Regions Press in trade paperback, Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet by Charlee Jacob and Marge Simon charted the end of the world through a series of linked verses.