The Best new Horror 4
Page 1
STEPHEN JONES is the winner of two World Fantasy Awards and two Horror Writers of America Bram Stoker Awards, as well as being a nine-time recipient of the British Fantasy Award and a Hugo Award nominee. A full-time columnist, television producer/director and genre film publicist and consultant (all three Hellraiser movies, Night Life, Nightbreed, Split Second etc.), he is the co-editor of Horror: 100 Best Books, The Best Horror from Fantasy Tales, Gaslight & Ghosts, Now We Are Sick, The Giant Book of Best New Horror and the Best New Horror, Dark Voices and Fantasy Tales series. He has also compiled The Mammoth Book of Terror, The Mammoth Book of Vampires, The Mammoth Book of Zombies, Clive Barker’s Shadows in Eden, James Herbert: By Horror Haunted, Clive Barker’s The Nightbreed Chronicles, The Hellraiser Chronicles, The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide and The Illustrated Dinosaur Movie Guide.
RAMSEY CAMPBELL is the most respected living British horror writer. He has received the Bram Stoker Award, the World Fantasy Award three times and the British Fantasy Award seven times—more awards for horror fiction than any other writer. After working in the civil service and public libraries, he became a full-time writer in 1973. He has written hundreds of short stories (most recently collected in Alone With the Horrors and Strange Things and Stranger Places) and the novels The Doll Who Ate His Mother, The Face That Must Die, The Parasite, The Nameless, The Claw, Incarnate, Obesession, The Hungry Moon, The Influence, Ancient Images, Midnight Sun, The Count of Eleven and The Long Lost. He has also edited a number of anthologies, reviews films for BBC Radio Merseyside, and is President of the British Fantasy Society. He is much in demand as a reader of his stories to audiences.
BEST NEW
HORROR 4
BEST NEW
HORROR 4
Edited by
STEPHEN JONES
and
RAMSEY CAMPBELL
Robinson
London
For
ROBERT BLOCH
Who still has that heart
of a small boy . . .
Constable & Robinson Ltd.
55–56 Russell Square
London WC1B 4HP
www.constablerobinson.com
First published by Robinson Publishing Ltd 1993
Best New Horror copyright © Robinson Publishing
This selection copyright © by Stephen Jones
and Ramsey Campbell 1993
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication
Data for this title is available from the British Library
ISBN 1 85487 182 X
eISBN 978 1 4721 1366 5
Typeset by Hewer Text Composition Services, Edinburgh
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
HarperCollins Manufacturing, Glasgow
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover copyright © Robinson
CONTENTS
Introduction: Horror in 1992
THE EDITORS
The Suicide Artist
SCOTT EDELMAN
Dancing on a Blade of Dreams
ROBERTA LANNES
The Departed
CLIVE BARKER
How to Get Ahead in New York
POPPY Z. BRITE
They Take
JOHN BRUNNER
Replacements
LISA TUTTLE
Under the Pylon
GRAHAM JOYCE
The Glamour
THOMAS LIGOTTI
Under the Ice
JOHN GORDON
And Some Are Missing
JOEL LANE
The Little Green Ones
LES DANIELS
Mirror Man
STEVE RASNIC TEM
Mothmusic
SARAH ASH
Did They Get You to Trade?
KARL EDWARD WAGNER
Night Shift Sister
NICHOLAS ROYLE
The Dead
SIMON INGS & M. JOHN HARRISON
Norman Wisdom and the Angel of Death
CHRISTOPHER FOWLER
Red Reign
KIM NEWMAN
Aviatrix
PETER ATKINS
Snodgrass
IAN R. MacLEOD
The Day of the Sharks
KATE WILHELM
Anima
M. JOHN HARRISON
Bright Lights, Big Zombie
DOUGLAS E. WINTER
The Ghost Village
PETER STRAUB
Necrology: 1992
STEPHEN JONES & KIM NEWMAN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank Kim Newman, Jo Fletcher, Gordon Van Gelder, David Pringle, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Sue Irmo and Randy Broecker for their help and support. Thanks are also due to the magazines Locus (Editor & Publisher Charles N. Brown, Locus Publications, P.O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661, USA) and Science Fiction Chronicle (Editor & Publisher Andrew I. Porter, P.O. Box 2730, Brooklyn, NY 11202–0056, USA) which were used as reference sources in the Introduction and Necrology.
INTRODUCTION: HORROR IN 1992 Copyright © 1993 by Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell.
THE SUICIDE ARTIST Copyright © 1992 by Scott Edelman and Necronomicon Press. Originally published in Suicide Art. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DANCING ON A BLADE OF DREAMS Copyright © 1992 by Roberta Lannes. Originally published in Pulphouse: A Fiction Magazine, Volume 2, No. 1, November 1992. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE DEPARTED Copyright © 1992 by Clive Barker. Originally published as “Hermione and the Moon” in New York Times, October 30th, 1992. Reprinted by permission of the author.
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN NEW YORK Copyright © 1992 by Poppy Z. Brite. Originally published in Gauntlet 4. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THEY TAKE Copyright © 1992 by Brunner Fact & Fiction Ltd. Originally published in Dark Voices 4: The Pan Book of Horror. Reprinted by permission of the author.
REPLACEMENTS Copyright © 1992 by Lisa Tuttle. Originally published in MetaHorror. Reprinted by permission of the author.
UNDER THE PYLON Copyright © 1992 by Graham Joyce. Originally published in Darklands 2. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE GLAMOUR Copyright © 1991 by Thomas Ligotti. Originally published in Grimscribe: His Lives and Works. Reprinted by permission of the author.
UNDER THE ICE Copyright © 1992 by John Gordon. Originally published in The Burning Baby and Other Ghosts. Reprinted by permission of Walker Books Limited, London.
AND SOME ARE MISSING Copyright © 1992 by Chris Kenworthy. Originally published in The Sun Rises Red. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE LITTLE GREEN ONES Copyright © 1992 by Les Daniels. Originally published in Dark Voices 4: The Pan Book of Horror. Reprinted by permission of the author.
MIRROR MAN Copyright © 1992 by Steve Rasnic Tem and Necronomicon Press. Originally published in Decoded Mirrors: 3 Tales After Lovecraft. Reprinted by permission of the author.
MOTHMUSIC Copyright © 1992 by Sarah Ash. Originally published in Interzone No. 62, August 1992. Reprinted by permission of the author.
DID THEY GET YOU TO TRADE? Copyright © 1992 by Karl Edward Wagner. Originally published in MetaHorror. Reprinted by permission of the author.
NIGHT SHIFT SISTER Copyright © 1992 by Nicholas Royle. Originally published in In Dreams. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE DEAD Copyright © 1992 by Chris Kenworthy. Originally published in The Sun Rises Red. Reprinted by permission of the authors.
NORMAN WISDOM AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH Copyright © 1992 by Christopher Fowler. Origin
ally published in Sharper Knives. Reprinted by permission of the author.
RED REIGN by Kim Newman Copyright © 1992 by Kim Newman. Originally published in The Mammoth Book of Vampires. Reprinted by permission of the author.
AVIATRIX Copyright © 1992 by Peter Atkins. Originally published in Demons and Deviants. Reprinted by permission of the author.
SNODGRASS Copyright © 1992 by Ian R. MacLeod. Originally published in In Dreams. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE DAY OF THE SHARKS Copyright © 1992 by Kate Wilhelm. Originally published in And the Angels Sing. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agent.
ANIMA Copyright © 1992 by M. John Harrison. Originally published in Interzone No. 58, April 1992. Reprinted by permission of the author.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG ZOMBIE Copyright © 1992 by Douglas E. Winter. Originally published in Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2. Reprinted by permission of the author.
THE GHOST VILLAGE Copyright © 1992 by Peter Straub. Originally published in MetaHorror. Reprinted by permission of the author.
NECROLOGY: 1992 Copyright © 1993 by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman.
INTRODUCTION:
HORROR IN 1992
WITH AN OVERALL DECREASE in the amount of genre books appearing on both sides of the Atlantic last year, the number of horror titles published in 1992 once again significantly trailed the totals for the fantasy and science fiction markets.
Although the output of horror published in America remained fairly constant, the number of titles appearing in the UK dropped slightly for the first time in two years. However, despite this decrease, the long-touted collapse of the horror market still failed to materialise.
In fact, almost all the Big Names in the genre had new novels published in 1992:
As always, Stephen King led the field with two new non-supernatural thrillers, Gerald’s Game and Dolores Claiborne. Dean R. Koontz once again top-and-tailed the year with a pair of guaranteed bestsellers, Hideaway, involving near-death experiences, and Dragon Tears, about a cop marked for demonic vengeance.
James Herbert returned to his fictional roots with the ecological disasters of Portent, while Clive Barker successfully crossed over into the Young Adult market with The Thief of Always, a dark fantasy effectively illustrated by the author.
Anne Rice continued to chronicle the exploits of her popular vampire hero Lestat in The Tale of the Body Thief. Midnight Whispers was the fourth volume in the gothic horror thriller series about the Cutler Family, bylined V. C. Andrews™ in America and The New Virginia Andrews™ in Britain. Despite an apologia from the Andrews family, admitting the books weren’t written by her, real author Andrew Neiderman still remained uncredited.
Following The Wild last year, Whitley Strieber remained in the horror field with Unholy Fire, a novel about occult possession. John Saul’s Shadows contained his usual demonic children, Michael Stewart resurrected a 300-year-old murderess in Belladonna, and Nightworld was the sixth volume in F. Paul Wilson’s loose series which began with The Keep.
Basil Copper’s long-awaited occult novel The Black Death finally appeared from Minneapolis publisher Fedogan & Bremer, who look set to become a second Arkham House perhaps. Absolute Power by Ray Russell was produced as a limited edition by Maclay and Associates, Curt Siodmak’s medical chiller Gabriel’s Body marked the return of the veteran author/screenwriter, and Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes updated his terrors to an urban milieu in Kepple.
Richard Laymon’s killer played with nubile young girls in Blood Games, inexplicable accidents plagued the protagonist of Peter James’ Prophecy, Marvin Kaye added a note of musical menace to Fantastique, and Tanith Lee transformed a family of shapechangers in Heart-Beast. The ubiquitous Graham Masterton pushed out The Pariah, conjured up Native Indian curses for Burial and revived H. P. Lovecraft’s Brown Jenkin in the Cthulhu Mythos novel Prey.
There were also welcome new novels from K. W. Jeter (Wolf Flow), Stephen Gallagher (Nightmare, With Angel), Lisa Tuttle (the Arthur C. Clarke Award-nominated Lost Futures), Michael Cadnum (Ghostwright), Ray Garton (Dark Channel), Stephen Laws (Darkfall), Christopher Fowler (Red Bride) and Thomas Monteleone (Blood of the Lamb).
When he wasn’t being V. C. Andrews, Andrew Neiderman found time to write The Need and Sister, Sister under his own byline. T. M. Wright also published two new titles last year, Little Boy Lost and Goodlow’s Ghosts. Michael Slade (a pseudonym for several Canadian lawyers) tried for a slice of the psychokiller market with Cutthroat, and Shaun Hutson attempted to tone himself down in Heathen.
* * *
There is no doubt that 1992 will be remembered as the Year of the Vampire, in no small way influenced by Francis Ford Coppola’s much-hyped movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In fact, vampire fiction accounted for almost 20 per cent of all the horror titles published last year.
Not counting the large number of reprint volumes spruced up by avaricious publishers to look like new books, the aforementioned Anne Rice bestseller, and various reprintings of Bram Stoker’s out-of-copyright original, there were still plenty of new titles for fans of the undead to sink their teeth into.
Blood Brothers by Brian Lumley was the first volume in his new Vampire World trilogy and a follow-up to the hugely popular Necroscope series. In Children of the Night Dan Simmons placed his vampires in a post-Ceausescu Romania and combined them with AIDS. S. P. Somtow’s Valentine was the long-awaited sequel to his 1984 novel Vampire Junction, again featuring vampiric rock star Timmy Valentine; and Kim Newman continued to play literary mind-games by setting Anno Dracula in a Victorian Britain ruled by the Count himself.
Morningstar, the first novel by Hellraiser sequel-writer Peter Atkins, deftly combined the two icons of modern horror, the serial killer and the undead. Fred Warrington took a more traditional route with her vampires in A Taste of Blood Wine, Storm Constantine’s Burying the Shadow featured a race of angelic vampires, while Tanith Lee’s Dark Dance was about a family of not-quite-vampires.
Blood on the Water was the sixth in P. N. Elrod’s series about vampire reporter/private investigator Jack Fleming, set in Depression-era Chicago. Another PI, Christopher Blaze, searched Miami for a drug smuggling vampire kingpin in Vincent Courtney’s Harvest of Blood, the sequel to his earlier Vampire Beat.
Blood Trail and Blood Lines, the second and third books respectively in Tanya Huff’s Blood Prince series, featured vampiric romance writer Henry Fitzroy and private investigator Vicky Nelson hunting for a serial killer of werewolves and a murderous living mummy.
Scott Ciencin kicked off his series about a half-vampire, half-human girl with The Vampire Odyssey and quickly followed it up with The Wildlings and Parliament of Blood. Gary Raisor’s Less Than Human featured an unlikely pair of pool-playing vampires, Kathryn Meyer Griffith gave an apocalyptic twist to The Last Vampire, and we were also treated to The Vampire’s Apprentice by Richard Lee Byers, Kiss of the Vampire by Lee Weathersby, Thirst of the Vampire by T. Lucian Wright, Sweet Blood by Pat Graversen and Liquid Diet by William Telford.
At least Child of an Ancient City by Tad Williams and Nina Kiriki Hoffman attempted something different by combining Arabian Nights storytelling with the undead in a short novel illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt in America and Bruce Pennington in the UK. Charles L. Grant rightly decided to lampoon the entire subgenre under his “Lionel Fenn” byline in The Mark of the Moderately Vicious Vampire, and followed it with another spoof, 668: The Neighbor of the Beast, both featuring his comedic hero Kent Montana.
Because the revival of interest in vampires was mostly sparked by the influence of Hollywood, it was perhaps inevitable that we would get the novelisation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Richie Tankersley Cusick. Somewhat more surprising was Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Fred Saberhagen and screenwriter James V. Hart—presumably because they didn’t think the original was close enough to the film version.
The other dominant trend in 1992 was the explosion of the Young Adult market for horror fiction. It quickly
established itself as a major marketing force within the field, and horror titles comprised around one-third of the entire YA market.
This was mainly due to new teenage horror lines being created by several major publishers and the runaway success of such bestselling authors as Christopher Pike (Chain Letter 2: The Ancient Evil and Monster) and R. L. Stine (Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead, Goosebumps: Stay Out of the Basement, and a vampire entry in the rival series, Fear Street: Goodnight Kiss).
The undead proved to be just as popular amongst teen readers as their adult counterparts, with L. J. Smith continuing the exploits of two vampire brothers and the girl they both love in Vampire Diaries Volume IV: Dark Reunion, Caroline B. Cooney promising The Return of the Vampire, and Nancy Garden discovering My Sister, the Vampire.
Teenage hauntings manifested themselves in A Christmas Ghost by Robert Westall, Shapeshifter by Laurence Staig, three further volumes in Barbara and Scott Siegal’s Ghostworld: series (Dark Fire, Cold Dread, and Fatal Fear), Mirror, Mirror by D. E. Athkins, and two volumes in the Phantom Valley: series, Stranger in the Mirror and The Spell, both by Lynn Beach.
The Young Adult market proved so lucrative that even a couple of well-respected horror writers added their own contributions under nom de plumes: Ray Garton catalogued a series of supernatural murders as “Joseph Locke” in Kiss of Death, while as “Simon Lake” the ever-prolific Charles L. Grant introduced us to Midnight Place: (a YA variation on his Oxrun Station setting) in Daughter of Darkness and Something’s Watching.
As always, the emerging stars of horror fiction were busy establishing themselves, and Kathe Koja (Bad Brains), Melanie Tem (Blood Moon and The Wilding), Mark Morris (The Immaculate), Graham Joyce (Dark Sister), Joe Donnelly (The Shee) and Daniel Easterman (The Name of the Beast) all continued to build upon their growing reputations. There were also impressive novel-length debuts by Poppy Z. Brite (Lost Souls, about decadent Southern vampires), Elizabeth Massie (Sineater), Susan Palwick (Flying in Place), Jessica Amanda Salmonson (Anthony Shriek) and Wayne Allen Sallee (The Holy Terror).