The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19

by Stephen Jones

  Edited by Andy W. Robertson, William Hope Hodgson’s Night Lands Volume II: Nightmares of the Fall was an anthology of eleven stories (one reprint) from Three Legged Fox Books/Utter Tower.

  Going Back was a new collection of fourteen stories (one original) by Tony Richards, from Elastic Press. Published by Welsh imprint Pendragon Press, No-Man and Other Tales contained four novellas (two original) by the same author.

  Sharing an oddly italicised title, New Writings in the Fantastic was a substantial trade paperback anthology from the same imprint, edited and introduced by the redoubtable John Grant. Containing forty-one original stories, contributors included Andrew Hook, Paul Finch, Scott Emerson Bull, Cyril Simsa and Gary McMahon.

  Also from Pendragon, Paul Kane’s Dalton Quayle Rides Out contained two humorous tales of the eponymous psychic investigator and his good friend, Dr Humphrey Pemberton. Tom Holt supplied the brief Introduction. Published by Australia’s Tasmaniac Publications, Kane’s The Lazarus Condition collected the title zombie novella and a bonus story about the walking dead, introduced by Mick Garris. Published in a 185-copy edition illustrated by Dion Hamill, it was also available as a fifteen-copy hardcover signed by all the contributors.

  Read by Dawn Volume 2 edited by Adele Hartley and Classic Tales of Horror Volume 2 edited by Jonathan Wooding were both available from Bloody Books.

  The Animal Bridegroom from Canada’s Tightrope Books collected thirty-seven poems by Sandra Kasturi, along with a very brief Introduction by Neil Gaiman and cover blurbs from Peter Straub and Phyllis Gotlieb.

  Published by Space & Time, Being Full of Light, Insubstantial contained 100 mostly previously unpublished poems by Linda D. Addison with photography by Brian J. Addison.

  Published in a softcover edition given away in the delegate bags at World Horror Convention in Toronto, This is Now was a handsomely produced chapbook from Earthling Publications that contained three stories (one original) by Michael Marshall Smith, with cover art by Edward Miller. A twenty-six-copy lettered hardcover was also available.

  As usual, Earthling also published The Twilight Limited, an attractive chapbook of three stories (one reprint) and linking material tied in to The Rolling Darkness Revue 2007. Authors Peter Atkins, Glen Hirshberg and Dennis Etchison toured California bookstores in October performing their work to a musical accompaniment.

  Number eleven in the Gothic Chapbooks series from Gothic Press, The Fisherman was an original short story by David A. Sutton with illustrations by Marge Simon.

  Edited by Benjamin Szumskyj, Black Prometheus: A Critical Study of Karl Edward Wagner was a welcome collection from Gothic Press featuring eight essays by John F. Mayer, John Howard, Darrell Schweitzer, Garry Hoppenstand and others, including Wagner himself. Unfortunately, many of the articles simply recapitulated the plots of Wagner’s stories and it was very obvious that some of the contributors never actually knew the late author (he would never have drunk Jim Beam).

  Waiting for October from Dark Arts Books collected three stories each (two originals and a reprint) by Jeff Strand, Adam Pepper, Sarah Pinborough and Jeffrey Thomas, along with an Introduction by Bill Breedlove.

  From Bad Moon Books, Weston Ochse’s Vampire Outlaw of the Milky Way was signed by the author and Brian Keene, who supplied the Introduction. Meanwhile, Ochse contributed the Introduction to John Urbancik’s novella Wings of the Butterfly, which included an extra story, from the same imprint. Both trade paperbacks were limited to 300 perfect-bound copies and twenty-six lettered hardcovers.

  The Distance Travelled: A Little Slice of Heaven was a comedic horror novella by Brett Alexander Savory and Gord Zajac, published by Canada’s Burning Effigy Press. The chapbook came with praise from Christopher Moore, Michael Marshall Smith and Stewart O’Nan. From the same imprint, Brian Keene, David Wellington and Sarah Langan gave glowing quotes to General Slocum’s Gold by Nicholas Kaufman. It was about the search for a cursed treasure on a deserted island in New York’s East River.

  Published by Zen Films to commemorate the UK release of editor Robert Pratten’s companion film London Voodoo, Love and Sacrifice: Touching Stories About Troubled Relationships was a paperback anthology of twelve original stories by Gary McMahon, James S. Dorr and others. A reading by Hellraiser actor Doug Bradley of Mike Davis’ contribution “Stepping Off” was available on the publisher’s website.

  Rainfall Books’ series of laminated-cover chapbooks continued with a whole raft of titles. Robert M. Price’s Witch-Queen of Lemuria expanded the exploits of the late Lin Carter’s Thongor the Barbarian, and Sirens & Silver collected the poetry of Michael Fantina. E’ch Pi El #2 contained three Lovecraftian stories by Ran Cartwright, Joseph S. Pulver and Clinton S. Green, while Tim Curran’s The Slithering & Others collected three further tales inspired by Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Pearls & Pyramids and Temples & Torments contained Clark Ashton Smith-inspired fiction from Simon Whitechapel.

  Also from Rainfall, Thrilling Tales of Fantastic Adventure #1 featured pulp-inspired stories by Gary McMahon, Franklyn Searight and Michael Fantina, among others. Weird Worlds #2 included four heroic fantasy tales, while issues 2-A of Strange Sorcery contained “Weird Stories of Lost Worlds of Space & Time” by many of the above authors. All these publications were edited by John B. Ford and Steve Lines, with the latter also contributing most of the artwork.

  Ed McFadden resigned as the editor of Fantastic Stories of the Imagination after problems with Warren Lapine’s DNA Publications concerning the erratic publishing schedule of the company’s magazine titles. Meanwhile, DNA’s website was taken offline.

  As usual, PS Publishing’s hardcover PostScripts magazine produced four excellent issues in 2007, not least a bumper 350-plus page special edition for the World Horror Convention in Canada. Available in three states – trade, signed and slipcased – the tenth issue not only featured an extensive section devoted to the fiction of Author Guest of Honour Michael Marshall Smith, but also a stellar line-up of contributors that included Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Tuttle, Nancy Kilpatrick, Lucius Shepard, Joe Hill, Christopher Fowler, Steven Erikson, Stephen Gallagher, Tim Lebbon, Peter Atkins and Mark Morris, among many others. Artist Guest John Picacio supplied the cover artwork.

  The remaining three issues of the year also included superior work from Kealan Patrick Burke, Forrest Aguirre, Christopher Harman, Patrick O’Leary, Paul Jessup, Iain Rowan, Brian Aldiss, Scott Edelman, Christopher Fowler and others. Guest editorials were by Stephen Jones, Paul Di Filippo, Lisa Tuttle and Graham Joyce (who really needs to learn how to spell Stephen King’s name!). Each issue of PostScripts was also available in a 200-copy edition signed by all the contributors.

  Subscribers to PostScripts also received a special hardcover holiday chapbook for Christmas. The Saved by Joe Hill was a Depression-set fable, originally published in an obscure literary magazine in 2001. Slipcase subscribers received signed copies.

  Boasting a “skullful” cover by Edward Miller, the February-March issue of Weird Tales was a special Joe R. Lansdale edition, featuring two stories (one reprint) and an interview by Chet Williamson. Other contributors included Michael Shea and Holly Phillips.

  With the next bi-monthly issue, publisher Wildside Press made the mistake of dumping the magazine’s distinctive logo after eight decades. Despite non-fiction contributions from Caitlín R. Kiernan and Michael DeLuca, an excellent book review column by Scott Connors, interviews with George R. R. Martin, Lisa Tuttle, Mike Carey and Sèphera Girón, plus fiction from Kurt Newton, Gerard Houarner, Carrie Vaughn, Jay Lake, Tanith Lee, Darrell Schweitzer and others, Weird Tales lost its final link with the past and became just another small press title fighting for space on the magazine racks.

  Meanwhile, following the reorganization of its entire editorial staff at the end of 2006, Ann VanderMeer was named as the new fiction editor of Weird Tales, beginning with the September-October edition.

  The fourth issue of Wildside’s companion title, H. P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of
Horror, featured a conversation with very un-Lovecraftian author Laurell K. Hamilton and a couple of whimsical mystery stories by Esther Friesner and Ron Goulart. There was also fiction from Darrell Schweitzer, Ken Rand, Jay Lake, Morgan Llywelyn and others, columns by Craig Shaw Gardner, Peter Cannon and Ian McDowell, plus some Really Bad Poetry.

  A much better tribute to the pulp tradition was editor John O’Neill’s Black Gate: Adventures in Fantasy Literature, which managed to get two attractive issues out in 2007. These included heroic fantasy and horror stories by Iain Rowan, Mark Sumner, Martha Wells and others, along with some of the best black and white artwork to appear in any contemporary fiction magazine. Rich Horton contributed interesting articles looking at the smaller fiction magazines of the 1970s and some neglected SF stories.

  After three years and various production delays, Andy Cox’s The Third Alternative was finally reincarnated as Black Static. However, based on the two monochromatic issues published by TTA Press in 2007, it may not have been worth the wait. Among those supplying the fiction were Simon Avery, Joel Lane, Lisa Turtle and Steven Utley, F. Brett Cox, Scott Nicholson, Steve Rasnic Tern and Lynda E. Rucker. Along with reviews of books and films, there were also opinion columns by Stephen Volk, Mike O’Driscoll, Christopher Fowler, John Paul Catton and Peter Tennant.

  Black Static’s companion title, Interzone, celebrated its 25th Anniversary and managed six far more attractive issues featuring SF and fantasy fiction from Jay Lake, Paul Meloy, Hal Duncan, M. John Harrison, Gwyneth Jones, Alastair Reynolds, Chris Roberson and others. Along with interviews with Elizabeth Hand, Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Hal Duncan, Kim Stanley Robinson, Stephen Baxter and Charles Stross, there was also a nice article by Harlan Ellison about his friendship with Theodore Sturgeon. Issue #211 was a Michael Moorcock special.

  Copies of Cemetery Dance #57 were apparently marred by production problems. The issue included new fiction by David Prill, A. R. Morland and others, along with all the usual columns and an interview with Colorado novelist Michael McBride.

  Gordon Van Gelder celebrated his eleventh year as the editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction with contributions from Neil Gaiman (a reprint), Bruce Sterling, the late John Morressy, William Browning Spencer, Fred Chappell, Ron Goulart, M. Rickert, Michael Swanwick, Ian R. MacLeod, A. A. Ananasio, Don Webb, Charles Coleman Finlay, Lucius Shepard, Ray Vukcevich, Esther M. Friesner, Gwyneth Jones, Robert Silverberg and Frederic S. Durbin.

  There were the usual review columns by Charles de Lint, Elizabeth Hand, Paul Di Fillipo, John Kessel, James Sallis, Lucius Shepard, Michelle West, Kathi Maio and David J. Skal, while Graham Andrews, F. Gwynplaine Maclntyre, Douglas A. Anderson, David Langford, Bud Webster and Don D’Amassa all contributed to the “Curiosities” section.

  The April edition of F&SF was a “Special GenéWolfe Issue”.

  The fifth issue of Adam Golaski and Jeff Paris’ paperback magazine New Genre included five stories and an essay.

  As a result of personal changes between issues #34 and #35, the always entertaining Talebones: Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy lost co-editor Honna Swenson, and Patrick Swenson took full control of the attractive digest-sized magazine. William F. Nolan, Darrell Schweitzer, Carrie Vaughn, Jason Stoddard, G. O. Clark and Cardinal Cox were among those contributing fiction and poetry, while Richard Pellegrino provided a superb cover painting for the second issue of the year.

  The three issues of Jason B. Sizemore’s nicely-produced Apex: Science Fiction & Horror featured fiction from Kevin J. Anderson (a Frankenstein story), Lavie Tidhar, William F. Nolan, Bev Vincent, Ian Creasey, Gary A. Braunbeck and Daniel G. Keohane, along with interviews with Anderson, Nolan, Braunbeck, Liz Smith, Cherie Priest and Bryan Smith.

  The two issues of James R. Beach’s continually improving Dark Discoveries featured fiction by Tony Richards, Elizabeth Engstrom, John Maclay, Tim Waggoner, Jay Lake, John Everson and others. There were also interviews with Maclay, Waggoner, Lake, Everson, T. M. Wright and Brian Hodge, along with book reviews and columns on Harlan Ellison, the late Charles L. Grant, and Stephen King’s signing tour.

  The ninth issue of Trevor Denyer’s Midnight Street: Journeys Into Darkness included stories and verse by Peter Straub, Allen Ashley and Ken Goldman, along with interviews with Straub, Sarah Pinborough and Donna Taylor Burgess.

  Issue #11 of William Jones’ Dark Wisdom: The Magazine of Dark Fiction was full-colour throughout. Contributors included Alan Dean Foster, John Shirley, Robert Dunbar, C. J. Henderson and Douglas Smith. There was also a regular column from Richard A. Lupoff and an interview with Jack Ketchum.

  Christopher M. Cevasco published the eleventh issue of Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction, which included a number of contributions by Darrell Schweitzer.

  From Ireland, the two issues of Albedo One featured fiction from Brian Stableford, Uncle River, Andrew McKenna and others, along with interviews with Christopher Priest, Geoff Ryman and Sam Millar.

  Eric M. Heideman’s annual Tales of the Unanticipated #28 was a special “Heroes” issue with fiction and poetry from Terry Black, Uncle River, Martha A. Hood, Stephen Dedman, Mary Soon Lee, Laurel Winter and many more.

  Canada’s Rue Morgue magazine celebrated its tenth anniversary with eleven issues (including a bumper Halloween edition) in 2007. The full-colour glossy of “horror in culture and entertainment” included interviews with authors Jemiah Jefferson, Mick Garris, Michael Laimo, Sarah Langan, Clive Barker and F. Paul Wilson, artists Mike Mignola and Les Edwards, Earthling publisher Paul Miller, film-makers Don Coscarelli, Tom Savini, William Lustig, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Lamberto Bava, Eli Roth, Fred Dekker, Rob Zombie, Dan O’Bannon, Rob Bottin and Frank Darabont, and actors Angus Scrimm, Ron Perlman and Kurt Russell (twice), along with the usual articles and reviews.

  Overlooking an appallingly trivial interview with forgotten 1970s Brit actress Judi Bowker, the eight issues of Video Watchdog included Kim Newman’s thoughtful appraisals of the second Charlie Chan and German Edgar Wallace boxed sets, David J. Schow’s look at the first two seasons of The Wild Wild West on DVD, Ted Newsom’s tribute to director Freddie Francis, a fascinating guide to Greek Fantastic Cinema, and an interview with genuine cult actor Tony Russel, along with plenty of reviews and the usual columns. Unfortunately, during 2007, publishers Tim and Donna Lucus seemed more concerned with their long-awaited Mario Bava book than with the contents of the magazine.

  Steven Puchalski’s long-running magazine about cult movies, Shock Cinema, produced two well-researched issues, featuring interviews with actors Ronny Cox, Tim Thomerson, Michael Ironside, Austin Pendleton, Belinda Balaski and director Steve Carver, among the copious obscure film reviews.

  The November issue of Total Film contained a thirty-two page “History of Horror”, with decade-by-decade retrospectives and guest editorials by Eli Roth, Neil Marshall and other movie directors.

  YA author R. L. Stine had a new short-short story in the 22-28 October issue of TV Guide. “A Tasty Halloween Treat” was tied in to the TV movie R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It on the Cartoon Network.

  Stephen King cut back on his “The Pop of King” columns in Entertainment Weekly, but he still found time to talk about such eclectic subjects as the curse of celebrity, how publishers bury their books, what it was like in rehab, violence in movies and his recent trip to Australia. Besides regularly plugging Deathly Hallows in his column, King also contributed the article “J. K. Rowling’s Ministry of Magic” to the 17 August issue of the magazine, in which he defended the Harry Potter series and R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps books.

  Charles N. Brown’s newszine Locus entered its forty-first year of publication. Despite the magazine’s increasingly Bay Area bias, it included interviews with Ace/Roc editor Ginjer Buchanan, Tim Powers, Guy Gavriel Kay, Kelly Link, Elizabeth Hand and newcomer Holly Phillips. Cory Doctorow continued his bi-monthly column about alternative publishing technologies, and there was the usual mix of re
views, listings and convention reports.

  The May issue of Locus was another “Horror” special, with Edward Bryant’s report of the World Horror Convention in Toronto, an interview with Joe R. Lansdale, a round-table discussion between Peter Straub, John Clute and Gary K. Wolfe, and short opinion columns by Peter Crowther, William K. Schafer, Edward Bryant, Ellen Datlow, Ramsey Campbell, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Elizabeth Hand, Laird Barron, Paula Guran and Jeremy Lassen.

  With its eleventh and twelfth issues, David Longhorn’s Supernatural Tales returned to a twice-yearly schedule. Authors included Joel Lane, Gary McMahon, John L. Probert, Gary Fry, William 1.1. Read, Michael Chislett and others, while Adam Golaski contributed a short article on the late Charles L. Grant. The editor announced that the small press magazine would return to a stapled booklet format with the next issue.

  From F&M Publications, the three issues One Eye Grey: Stories From Another London were an attempt to revive the tradition of the old “Penny Dreadful” publication for a contemporary readership. Each issue contained a number of short stories, all written by Carl Gee and Chris Roberts, which were based on traditional folktales and ghost stories set in and around London.

  Edited by Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link, the two issues of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet contained slipstream stories, non-fiction and poetry by Karen Joy Fowler, Carol Emshwiller and others.

  The two issues of Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt’s Flytrap included contributions from Ray Vukcevich, Leslie What, Sonya Taaffe and Nick Mamatas, along with three poems by Jay Wentworth.

  John Benson’s Not One of Us also produced two more issues, which featured the usual mix of fiction and poetry. From the same publisher, the annual special was titled Mindrash and included poems and prose by Sonya Taaffe, Terry Black and others.

  Along with the usual concoction of stories and poetry, issue #15 of Whispers of Wickedness contained a report from World Horror Convention 2007 by Gary McMahon.