The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20

by Stephen Jones (ed. )

  A housewife discovered that her suburban life was a demonic illusion in Bedlam, Bath and Beyond by J. R. Ward (Jessica Bird). Lover Enshrined was the sixth volume in the same author’s “Black Dagger Brotherhood” vampire romance series.

  Laurell K. Hamilton’s sixteenth novel in the ridiculously popular “Anita Blake” series, Blood Noir, had the vampire-hunter doing a favour for her werewolf lover and ending up involved in a plot to overthrow the vampire hierarchy. After four printings, 246,500 copies were in circulation.

  While spying on the court of the Czar in early eighteenth-century Russia, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s grand vampire Count Saint-Germain discovered that someone was impersonating him in A Dangerous Climate, the twenty-first volume in the series.

  From Elder Signs Press, Saint-Germain: Memoirs collected five stories (two original) along with an Introduction by Sharon Russell and an Afterword by the author.

  Lynsay Sands’ The Accidental Vampire, Vampires Are Forever and Vampire Interrupted continued the paranormal comedy/romance series about members of the Argeneau family of vampires, who were actually immortal Atlanteans. The novels were released over three successive months. The Rogue Hunter was the first in a new spin-off series from the same author.

  L. A. Banks’ The Darkness, a new novel in the author’s “Vampire Huntress Legends” series, included a guide for reading groups. From the same prolific writer (real name Leslie Esdaile Banks), Bad Blood and Bite the Bullet were the first two volumes in the “Crimson Moon” series, about Special Ops soldier in paranormal activity Sasha Trudeau and her team of werewolf attack survivors.

  Mike Resnick’s Stalking the Vampire, a belated follow-up to his 1987 novel Stalking the Unicorn, once again featured private investigator John Justin Mallory.

  Written by original “Scream Queen” Adrienne Barbeau (John Carpenter’s The Fog) and Michael Scott, Vampires of Hollywood was a murder mystery set in a studio run by undead producer/actress Ovsanna Moore.

  A link between a current series of killings and a murder in the 1860s lead an archaeologist to Dracula himself in Lee Hunt’s The Vampire of New York. Dracula also turned up in Midnight’s Daughter, the first in a new paranormal romance series by Karen Chance.

  Dark Wars: The Tale of Meiji Dracula was a translation of the 2004 book Meiji Dorakyura Den by Hideyuki Kikuchi, which placed Dracula in 1880 Japan.

  The Last Vampire and The Vampire Agent by Patricia Rosemoor and Marc Paoletti were the first two titles in a new series, “Annals of Alchemy and Blood”, involving an escaped vampire and super-soldiers created from the DNA of an ancient mummy.

  A woman became involved with a New Orleans vampire musician in I Want You to Want Me by Kathy Love, while another fell in love with a New Orleans vampire hunter in Heather Graham’s Blood Red. From the same author, Deadly Night was the first in a new series about a pair of brothers who inherited a haunted New Orleans plantation.

  1920s New York was the setting for Susan Krinard’s vampire romance Dark of the Moon, while Come the Night was a werewolf romance from the same author.

  Police investigator Laura Caxton confronted her undead mentor in David Wellington’s Vampire Zero.

  A woman became a vampire to battle the undead in The Chosen Sin by Anya Bast, a nineteeth-century English witch teamed up with a band of vampire warriors to fight evil in Jenna Maclaine’s Wages of Sin, and a hunter was after a vampire enforcer in Jocelynn Drake’s Nightwalker, the first in yet another series.

  Sam Stone’s first novel, Gabriele Caccini was reissued in a revised “author’s preferred edition” by The House of Murky Depths under the title Killing Kiss.

  The Ravening by Dawn Thompson was another volume in the “Blood Moon” historical vampire series, and a telepath fell in love with a vampire prince in the historical vampire romance Under the Blood Red Moon by Mina Hepsen (Hande Zapsu).

  Book publicist Chris Rountree’s Necking was about a book publicist whose paranormal authors were really vampires.

  A female con artist helped vampires save their radio station in Jeri Smith-Ready’s Wicked Game, while a woman discovered her date was a vampire in One Bite with a Stranger by Christine Warren.

  A psychic vampire who was a ghost tour guide was the main protagonist of Nancy Haddock’s paranormal mystery La Vida Vampire.

  Hungers of the Heart was the latest title in Jenna Black’s “Guardians of the Night” series, while The Devil You Know was the second volume in the author’s series featuring exorcist Morgan Kingsley. It was followed by The Devil’s Due.

  The Undead Next Door was part of Kerrelyn Sparks’ “Love at Stake” series. A Texas schoolteacher’s encounter with an undead Parisian fashion designer put her life in danger. It was followed by All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire, in which a woman needed to prove the undead existed.

  And still they churned them out. A harpy met the vampire of her dreams in One Bite Stand by Nina Bangs, and a witch and a dhampir teamed up to solve a series of murders in Necropolis in Veiled Truth by Vivi Anna (Tawny Stokes).

  Nina Harper’s Succubus Takes Manhattan was the second volume in a series featuring succubus Lily and private investigator Nathan Coleman.

  Richelle Mead’s Succubus on Top (aka Succubus Nights), the follow-up to Succubus Blues, once again featured bookseller succubus Georgina Kincaid and her complicated relationship with her bestselling author boyfriend. It was followed by Succubus Dreams, in which something was draining Georgina’s energy. Mead was also the author of the young adult vampire novels Frostbite and Shadow Kiss, the latest volumes in the series that began with Vampire Academy.

  The Mark of the Vampire Queen was the second in Joey W. Hill’s erotic “Vampire Queen” series.

  Lynda Hilburn’s Dark Harvest was a sequel to The Vampire Shrink, Sara Reinke’s Dark Hunger was a sequel to Dark Thirst, and Susan Hubbard’s The Year of Disappearances was a sequel to the author’s The Society of S.

  Hex Appeal was the sequel to 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom, while Midnight Reign was the second volume in Chris Marie Green’s “Vampire Babylon” series.

  Bond of Fire and Bond of Darkness were the second and third volumes in Diane Whiteside’s “Texas Vampires” series, and Lover’s Bite and Angel’s Pain were the second and third volumes in Maggie Shayne’s series about a group of vampires that hunted their own kind.

  Mario Acevedo’s vampire private eye Felix Gomez investigated apparent alien abductions in The Undead Kama Sutra, the third in the mystery series.

  The Bride of Casa Dracula was the third in Marta Acosta’s humorous vampire romance series, while One with the Darkness was the third book in the historical vampire series by Susan Squires.

  A female assassin and a vampire were both on the trail of a magical object in Lady & the Vamp, the third in the series by Michelle Rowen (Michelle Rouillard).

  An amnesiac discovered he was a vampire in Michele Hauf’s His Forgotten Forever, third in the “Bewitching the Dark” series. Break of Dawn was the third book in the “Vampire Babylon” series by Marie Chris Green, and Romancing the Dead by Tate Hallaway (Lyda Morehouse) was the third in the “Garnet Lacey” series.

  Darkling by Yasmine Galenorn was the final book in the “Sisters of the Moon” trilogy.

  Real Vampires Get Lucky, Real Vampires Live Large and Real Vampires Have Curves were the first three books in Gerry Bartlett’s series about vampire entrepreneur Glory St. Claire.

  Because Your Vampire Said So and Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home were the third and fourth books in the humorous series by Michela Bardsley.

  Colleen Gleason’s The Bleeding Dusk and When Twilight Burns were the third and fourth titles in the historical romance “Gardella Vampire Chronicles” series.

  Biting the Bullet and Bitten to Death were the third and fourth titles in Jennifer Rardin’s series about Jaz Parks, who aided CIA vampire assassin Vayl.

  Kimberly Raye’s Just One Bite was the fourth book about the Dead End Dating agency run by vampire Lil Marchette, w
hile A Body to Die For completed the same author’s “Love at First Bite” trilogy.

  In Legacy, the fourth in Jeanne C. Stein’s series, vampire Anna Strong was about to inherit a fortune until a werewolf widow showed up.

  Raven Hart’s The Vampire’s Betrayal was the fourth book in the “Savannah Vampire Chronicles”, and Jennifer Armintrout’s All Souls’ Night was the fourth volume in the author’s “Blood Ties” series.

  Every Last Drop was the fourth in Charlie Huston’s hardboiled series about vampire private investigator Joe Pitt.

  Midnight Rising and Veil of Midnight were the fourth and fifth volumes in Lara Adrian’s “Midnight Breed” series, and Dark Deeds at Night’s Edge and Dark Desires After Dusk were the fourth and fifth volumes in Kresley Cole’s “Immortals After Dark” series.

  Under Darkness was the fifth book in the “Darkwing Chronicles” by Savannah Russe (Charlee Trantino), while Dark Night Dark Dreams was the first in the “Sisterhood of Sight” series from the same author.

  The sixth volume in Katie MacAlister’s humorous “Dark Ones” series, Zen and the Art of Vampires, featured a tourist in Iceland involved with ghosts and vampires.

  Undead and Unworthy was the seventh volume in the prolific MaryJanice Davidson’s humorous series about “Betsy the Vampire Queen”. Dead Over Heels contained three novellas based around different series from the same author, including a “Betsy” story and another involving “The Wyndham Werewolves”.

  From Dead to Worse was the eighth volume in Charlaine Harris’ popular series of “Sookie Stackhouse” Southern Vampire mysteries. This time the telepathic waitress had undead boyfriend trouble while trying to deal with warring werewolves and the bombing of the Louisiana vampires in the previous book.

  Dream Chaser, Acheron and One Silent Night were the latest volumes in the long-running “Dark-Hunter” series by Sherrilyn Kenyon (aka Kinley MacGregor).

  First Blood contained four vampire romance stories by Susan Sizemore, Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie Green and Meljean Brook.

  Scions: Insurrection and Scions: Revelation were the second and third books in Patrice Michelle’s vampire/werewolf romance trilogy, while a vampire and a werewolf fighting terrorists(!) shared a forbidden passion in Susan Sizemore’s Primal Needs.

  The Wolfman pitted small town werewolf Marlowe Higgins against a fiendish serial killer. It was the first published novel by twenty-eight-year-old Nicholas Pekearo, who was killed in the line of duty in 2007 while serving as a NYPD Auxiliary Police Officer.

  Published by Snowbooks, Maneater was the first English-language novel by pseudonymous Welsh author “Thomas Emson”. It was about a female werewolf.

  Having emasculated the vampire genre over the past several years, romcom authors and publishers moved on to werewolves in 2008.

  A cosmetics saleswoman was bitten in The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy, while in the sequel, Accidentally Dead, a dental nurse was bitten by a vampire.

  A shy schoolteacher turned into a werewolf in Sharie Kohler’s Marked by Moonlight, and a werewolf was unlucky in love in Enemy Lover by Bonnie Vanak.

  A psychic and her werewolf boyfriend were stalked by their former partners in Touch of Darkness by C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp.

  Devlyn Greystoke protected a shape-changer on the trail of a murderous werewolf in Heart of the Wolf by Terry Spear, while Alpha Wolf by Linda O. Johnston involved a pack of military werewolves.

  A cursed Viking were-creature was the protagonist of Lisa Hendrix’s Immortal Warrior, and a phantom werewolf turned up in Ghost Moon by Rebecca York (Ruth Glick).

  Flood was an erotic werewolf novel by Anna Clare, published by Black Lace. Mathilde Madden’s The Silver Crown and The Silver Cage, the second and third volumes in an erotic series about a werewolf and hunter, were available from the same imprint.

  Caitlín Kittredge’s Night Life and Pure Blood were the first and second books, respectively, in the “Nocturne City” series featuring werewolf homicide detective Luna Wilder, who came from a family of witches.

  Howling at the Moon and On the Prowl by Karen Macinerney were the first two volumes in the “Tales of an Urban Werewolf” romance series about Sophie Garou.

  Patricia Briggs’ Iron Kissed was the third in her paranormal romance series about shape-shifting mechanic Mercy Thompson. It went to #1 on the New York Times mass-market bestseller list in January. From the same author, Cry Wolf introduced werewolf enforcers Charles and Anna in the first of a spin-off series.

  Dance of the Wolf was the third book in Karen Whiddon’s “The Pack” series.

  Last Wolf Standing, Last Wolf Hunting and Last Wolf Watching by Rhyannon Byrd (Tabitha Bird) comprised the “Bloodrunners” trilogy, about a pack of werewolf “Runners”.

  Werewolf Kitty finally returned home to Denver to visit her ailing mother and became involved in a vampire turf war in Kitty and the Silver Bullet, the fourth in the series by Carrie Vaughn.

  Wolf Tales V and VI were the latest volumes in Kate Douglas’ erotic series about a race of shape-shifters known as the “Chanku”.

  Three romance stories about werewolves were collected in Running Wild by Sarah McCarty.

  Having been bought for a reported $1.25 million by Doubleday in the US, Canadian author Andrew Davidson’s debut, The Gargoyle, opened with its ex-porn star narrator being treated in a burns unit after a drug-fuelled car crash. When a former nun and psychiatric patient informed him that she was his long-lost lover from 700 years ago, the book just got weirder. Perhaps not surprisingly, the much-hyped novel was one of the biggest flops of the year.

  Anton Strout’s first novel, Dead to Me, was about New York’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs, and an amnesiac found himself involved in a war between angels and demons in Alex Bell’s first novel, The Ninth Circle.

  A woman returned to her hometown and encountered the supernatural creatures that existed there in Lauren Groff’s debut, The Monsters of Templeton.

  A late night radio show host got caught up in the stories of his call-in listeners in Leopoldo Gout’s first book Ghost Radio, two northern California cops were convinced that the dead were not at rest in Doug Dorst’s Alive in the Necropolis, and Zombie teenagers faced prejudice in Daniel Walters’ debut novel, Generation Dead, aimed at the young adult market.

  Kimberly Pauley’s Sucks to Be Me was intended for the same readership, as teen Mina Hamilton had to choose between her human life and her vampire parents, while J. F. Lewis’ debut novel Staked involved a vampire suffering from short-term memory loss.

  In The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, Peter Ackroyd reset Mary Shelley’s classic in nineteenth-century London and added such historical supporting characters as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and even Mary herself, along with a surprising twist ending.

  The Man in the Picture was a new supernatural novel by Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black.

  A female ghost sent to escort a man to Heaven who didn’t die at his appointed time found himself stranded on Earth in Jonathan Carroll’s The Ghost in Love.

  Joyce Carol Oates’ Wild Nights! collected five original stories about the final days of major literary figures, including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry James.

  From Barnes & Noble, H. P. Lovecraft: The Fiction collected all Lovecraft’s fiction in a single hardcover volume, along with his influential essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature”. Edited with an Introduction by S. T. Joshi, the texts were the so-called “corrected” versions.

  Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H. P. Lovecraft was a leatherbound “Commemorative Edition” published in both hardcover and export softcover editions by Gollancz. Containing thirty-four stories and two poems, it was illustrated by Les Edwards and included an extensive historical Afterword by editor Stephen Jones. The book went through six printings in a year.

  Lovecraft was also involved in the writing of at least four of the tales – including the controversial title story – to be found in The Lo
ved Dead and Other Tales by C. M. Eddy, Jr. The author’s grandson, Jim Dyer, edited the new collection of thirteen stories from Fenham Publishing, as well as supplying the historical Introduction.

  The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard collected thirty-six tales, twenty-one poems and four fragments with an Introduction by editor Rusty Burke discussing Howard’s relationship with Lovecraft. Illustrator Greg Staples also contributed a Foreword.

  As part of general editor David Stuart Davies’ bargain-priced “Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural” paperback series, Wordsworth Editions issued a number of novels and collections by classic authors (not all of whom were in public domain). The attractively designed series also included the anthologies The Werewolf Pack (seventeen stories) and The Black Veil & Other Tales of Supernatural Sleuths (sixteen stories) both selected and introduced by Mark Valentine. Although these volumes contained original material by Ron Weighell, Steve Duffy, Gail-Nina Anderson, A. F. Kidd (a new “Carnacki” story), R. B. Russell, Rosalie Parker and others, including the editor, they failed to incorporate any copyright information or credit their contributors on the contents pages.

  Published in trade paperback by Dover Publications, Gaslit Horror: Stories by Robert W. Chambers, Lafcadio Hearn, Bernard Capes and Others was an omnibus anthology of thirteen stories selected by veteran editor Hugh Lamb.

  An Itinerant House and Other Ghost Stories collected the surviving thirteen stories by obscure nineteeth-century American author Emma Frances Dawson. First published in 1897 with illustrations by Ernest C. Peixotto, the new edition from Thomas Loring & Co contained three additional stories not found in the original volume along with a lengthy Introduction by co-compiler Robert Eldridge.

  Edited with a Foreword and notes by Victorian scholar Leslie S. Klinger and with an Introduction by Neil Gaiman, The New Annotated Dracula was a stunning, oversized illustrated edition of Bram Stoker’s classic novel (plus “Dracula’s Guest”) published by W. W. Norton & Company.