The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18

by Stephen Jones (ed. )

  From Chicago’s Twilight Tales, My Lolita Complex and Other Tales of Sex and Violence reprinted nine collaborations (including “Buffy” and “Hellboy” stories) between Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens, while Ex Cathedra collected eleven stories (four original) by Rebecca Maines (aka “Pamela D. Hodgson”) in an edition of 200 copies.

  Edited by Myna Wallin and Halli Villegas, In the Dark: Stories from the Supernatural was an anthology of twenty-five stories (three reprints) and five poems (one reprint) from Canada’s Tightrope Books. Authors included Gemma Files and Brett Alexander Savory.

  Produced by Spectre Library in a 200-copy limited edition, The Surgeon of Souls collected twelve stories about Dr Ivan Brodsky by Victor Rousseau. All but one was previously published in Weird Tales, but Mike Ashley’s well-researched Introduction revealed prior publication details about several of them.

  From Ash-Tree Press, Jessie Douglas Kerruish’s classic 1922 werewolf mystery The Undying Monster was available in a new edition with an Introduction by Jack Adrian, limited to 500 copies.

  Gothic Press founder Gary William Crawford was the author of Mysteries of Von Domarus and Other Stories, a collection of five tales.

  Small Beer Press reissued Howard Waldrop’s 1986 collection Howard Who? as a square paperback with the original Introduction by George R. R. Martin. From the same imprint, Alan DeNiro’s debut collection Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead contained sixteen offbeat stories (three original).

  Edited by James Ambuehl for Elder Signs Press/Dimensions Books, Hardboiled Cthulhu was an anthology of twenty-one Lovecraftian mystery stories (five reprints) and a poem from Richard A. Lupoff, Robert M. Price, J. F. Gonzalez and others. Arkham Tales: Legends of the Haunted City edited by William Jones featured seventeen stories based on the Lovecraftian Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

  Government bio-engineered ticks got loose in the Ozark Mountains and started killing people in the humorous novel Tick Hill by Billy (William R.) Eakin, published by Yard Dog Press.

  Available from Dark Arts Books, Candy in the Dumpster: New and Used Stories featured twelve stories (six reprints) by Martin Mundt, John Everson, Bill Breedlove and Jay Bonansinga, with an Introduction by Mort Castle.

  Edited by Ron Shiflet, Hell’s Hangman: Horror in the Old West was an original anthology from Tenoka Press featuring twenty-two “weird Western” stories, including one by the editor.

  Then Comes the Child by husband and wife team Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes was a voodoo novella from Florida’s Carnifax Press.

  Steve Deighan’s A Dead Calmness was a self-published collection of fourteen stories (six reprints) with an Introduction by the author. From the same writer, Things from the Past collected five stories and was available from Hadesgate Publications.

  Also from Hadesgate, Tiny Terrors Volume 1 was a small volume of five stories, some of which were introduced by Guy N. Smith. Garry Charles’ Heaven’s Falling: Redemption was the second volume in the author’s Biblical fantasy series, from the same imprint.

  Afterlife Battlefield was the third novel from “Johnny Ostentatious”, about what really happened to people who committed suicide. It was published in trade paperback by Active Bladder.

  New Wyrd: A Wyrdsmith’s Anthology collected nine stories (one reprint) from the Minneapolis/St Paul writers’ group with an Introduction by Naomi Kritzer. It was limited to 250 numbered copies.

  Selected from the Horror World website by editor Nanci Kalanta, Eulogies: A Horror World Yearbook 2005 featured thirteen stories by Tom Piccirilli, Elizabeth Massie, Michael Laimo, Christopher Golden, Gary Braunbeck, Rick Hautala, Jack Ketchum and others. It also included six essays by Matthew Warner, interviews with Piccirilli, Golden, F. Paul Wilson, Douglas Clegg, John Skipp and David Morrell, plus brief Q&As with the contributors.

  Horror Library Volume 1 from Texas’ Cutting Block Press was edited with a Foreword by R. J. Cavender and contained thirty stories, including one by the editor. From the same imprint and edited by Frank J. Hutton, Butcher Shop Quartet: Four Bold Stories to Disturb the Adventurous Mind featured original tales by Boyd E. Harris, Clinton Green, Michael Stone and A. T. Andreas.

  Bruce Boston’s writings were collected in Flashing in the Dark: Forty Short Fictions, a thin volume from Sam’s Dot Publishing, while Shades Fantastic was a volume of poetry from the same author, issued by Gromagon Press.

  Twilight’s Last Gleaming was the first volume in Mike Philbin’s self-published and uncensored “Writing as Hertzan Chimera” series, from Chimericana Books. For Christmas, Philbin also edited Chimeraworld #4: Twenty Three Tales of Traffic Mayhem.

  A paperback original from Hellhound Books Publishing, Damned Nation edited by Robert N. Lee and David T. Wilbanks contained twenty-two stories about “Hell on Earth” by Weston Ochse, Tom Piccirilli, Poppy Z. Brite, William F. Nolan, Gerard Houarner, James S. Dorr, Bev Vincent and others.

  As a Christmas “present” for subscribers, Hill House Publishers produced a special signed and numbered edition of Ray Bradbury’s 1973 story “The Wish”, limited to 250 copies with a new Afterword by the author. A lettered edition of the small hardcover book was also available in a fifty-two-copy edition. As an added “thank you” to subscribers of the forthcoming The Martian Chronicles: The Definitive Edition, a signed fifty-copy edition of Bradbury’s 1950 memoir “How I Wrote My Book” was produced by Hill House in matching format. The book included both a clean text version of the work as well as reproductions of the actual manuscript pages.

  The Rolling Darkness Revue once again toured a number of bookstores in southern California during the run-up to Halloween, entertaining audiences with its unique blend of music and fiction. Joining founding members Peter Atkins and Glen Hirshberg in guest spots were Clay McLeod Chapman, Dennis Etchison, Aimee Bender, Lisa Morton and Norman Partridge. All but Bender had stories in the chapbook At the Sign of the Snowman’s Skull (Etchison’s contribution was the only reprint), issued by Earthling Publications to tie in with the 2006 performances. Other merchandising available at the various venues included a signed, limited edition CD of readings and music from the 2005 tour, a new T-shirt design, and a special “Snowman’s Skull” shot glass.

  From Gauntlet Press’ Edge Books imprint, Love Hurts and Other Short Stories collected seven original tales and an Introduction by Barry Hoffman, with a cover illustration by Harry O. Morris.

  Attractively produced by DreamHaven Books, Strange Birds included two original stories by Gene Wolfe, inspired by the paintings and sculptures of Lisa Snellings-Clark. It was limited to 1,000 copies, and was the first in a projected series by various authors based on Snellings-Clark’s artwork.

  Down in the Fog-Shrouded City by Alex Irvine was the tenth volume in the Wormhole Contemporary Chapbooks series. With an Introduction by James Patrick Kelly and cover and interior art by Steve Rasnic Tern, it was limited to 750 numbered booklets, 250 numbered hardcovers and fifty-two lettered editions signed by the author.

  Absinthe was a stylish-looking chapbook from Bloodletting Press that contained an original story each by Jack Ketchum and Tim Lebbon. It was limited to 500 signed and numbered copies along with a fifty-two copy deluxe lettered edition.

  From California’s Tropism Press, Show and Tell and Other Stories was a collection of six offbeat stories (one original) by Greg van Eekhout. Jenn Reese’ Tales of the Chinese Zodiac appeared from the same imprint.

  Foreigners and Other Familiar Faces was a chapbook collection of nine unusual stories (three original) by Mark Rich, published by Small Beer Press.

  Edited with an Introduction by Jonathan Reitan and James R. Beach, Northwest Horrors: Stories Presented by the Northwest Horror Professionals was a slim anthology of ten stories (three original) by Elizabeth Engstrom, Bruce Holland Rogers, John Pelan, W. H. Pugmire and others.

  Tales from the Black Dog was published by the Minneapolis/St Paul writers’ critique group The Wyrdsmiths. It contained eight stories (one reprint) from various m
embers and an Introduction by founder Lyda Morehouse. Also hailing from St Paul, Velocity Press’ Rabid Transit: Long Voyages Great Lies edited by Christopher Barzak, Alan DeNiro and Kristin Livdahl featured six original travel stories from F. Brett Cox, Geoffrey H. Goodwin, Alice Kim, Meghan McCarron, David J. Schwartz and Heather Shaw.

  Poems That Go Splat from Naked Snake Press showcased the work of Brian Rosenberger.

  With its sixth issue, PS Publishing’s PostScripts: The A to Z of Fantastic Fiction changed to illustrated boards for its 150-copy signed hardcover edition. As usual, the title published four quarterly issues in 2006 with stories by Rhys Hughes, Stephen Baxter, Garry Kilworth, Conrad Williams, Stephen Volk, Jack Dann, T. M. Wright, Jay Lake, Michael Swanwick, Gene Wolfe, Darrell Schweitzer, Tony Richards, K. W. Jeter, Darren Speegle, Lavie Tidhar and John Grant, amongst others, interviews with Elizabeth Hand and Howard Waldrop, and guest editorials from Steven Erikson, Lucius Shepard, Terry Bisson and Jeff VanderMeer. Issue #6 also featured a fascinating article by Mike Ashley about stage magician Harry Houdini (Ehrich Weiss).

  The three issues of Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish’s Cemetery Dance Magazine included contributions from Eric Brown, Tony Richards, Tim Waggoner, Lisa Morton, Simon R. Green, Ed Gorman, Darren Speegle, Gene O’Neill, Peter Atkins, Stephen Mark Rainey, Scott Nicholson, and Michael A. Arnzen and Mark McLaughlin. Neil Gaiman and Tim Lebbon were among those interviewed, and there were the usual columns by Bev Vincent, Thomas F. Monteleone, Paula Guran, Michael Marano and John Pelan. Issue #56 of Cemetery Dance was billed as a “Glen Hirshberg Special” and included a new short story, a novel excerpt and a fun article by Hirshberg, along with an interview with the author and an extended review of his latest collection, American Morons.

  Possibly the best-looking of the “publisher’s magazines”, William Schafer’s Subterranean featured fiction by Norman Partridge, Poppy Z. Brite, David Prill, David J. Schow, Jay Lake, Lewis Shiner, Orson Scott Card, Stephen Gallagher and Tad Williams, amongst others.

  Another publisher to launch its own magazine title was Prime Books, an imprint of Wildside Press. Edited by Nick Mamatas and limited to 1,500 copies given away at World Fantasy convention 2006, the dull-looking “issue zero” of Phantom featured fiction from F. Brett Cox, Darren Speegle, Sarah Langan and Laird Barron, along with an interview with Stewart O’Nan.

  Also now published by Wildside Press in association with Terminus Publishing Co, Weird Tales benefited from some excellent cover art by Rowena Morrell and Les Edwards. Fiction and verse was supplied by Parke Godwin, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, William F. Nolan, Gregory Frost, Tony Richards, Fitz-James O’Brien, Tanith Lee, Holly Phillips, Jay Lake, Brian Stableford, Richard Lupoff, Tina and Tony Rath, Robert Weinberg, George Barr, Jill Bauman, Darrell Schweitzer and Bruce Boston. Issue #341 featured an article celebrating Robert E. Howard’s centenary, while a John Shirley “special author feature” in #342 included an interview with the writer.

  In December, Wildside publisher John Betancourt fired the entire editorial team of Weird Tales. Stephen H. Segal was brought in to handle day-to-day operations while the magazine looked for a new fiction editor. Betancourt also announced that the magazine would be getting a new logo and interior design in 2007.

  Also from Wildside, the third issue of H. P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror finally made a much-belated appearance. It featured a “Spotlight on Brian Lumley” that included two stories (one original), an interview by Darrell Schweitzer and an overview of the author’s career by Stephen Jones. More decidedly non-Lovecraftian fiction was supplied by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Andrew J. Wilson, Lynne Jamneck and the late Earl Godwin, amongst others, along with review and opinion columns by editor Marvin Kaye, Craig Shaw Gardner, Peter Cannon and Ian McDowell.

  Meanwhile, the second issue of the magazine was released as a “collector’s edition” trade paperback with extra fiction not included in the newsprint version.

  Although Gordon Van Gelder’s The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction tended to rely on too many of the same names, there were still some very fine stories by Terry Bisson, Claudia O’Keefe, Gene Wolfe, Charles Coleman Finlay, Steven Utley, Laird Barron, Gardner Dozois, Christopher Rowe, Peter S. Beagle, Geoff Ryman, Carol Emshwiller, Scott Bradfield and Susanna Clarke, amongst others. Harlan Ellison set a challenge in the September issue with a story outline about Lady Luck that was picked up by Tananarive Due, Michael Kandel and Michael Libling. The same issue also reprinted a selection of letters between the late James Tiptree Jr (Alice B. Sheldon) and Ursula K. Le Guin.

  As usual, regular FSF columnists included Charles de Lint, Elizabeth Hand, Kathi Maio, Michelle West, Paul Di Filippo, Robert K. J. Killheffer, James Sallis and Lucius Shepard, while the “Curiosities” page, recommending obscure books, featured contributions from Bud Webster, F. Gwynplaine Maclntyre, Gregory J. Coster, Michael Swanwick, Dennis Lien, Bud Webster, Thomas Marcinko, Paul Di Filippo and David Langford.

  Fourteen months after going “on hiatus”, Amazing Stories was finally cancelled by Paizo Publishing after it was unable to increase circulation and attract media advertising. As a result, rights in the title reverted to Wizards of the Coast.

  The third issue of Allen K’s Inhuman Magazine expanded the rota of artists working on the title and included new and reprint fiction from Michael Shea, Gerard Houarner, Melanie Tern, Tina L. Jens, Edward Bryant Jr., Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Resnick and others.

  James R. Beach’s Dark Discoveries featured interviews with Elizabeth Massie, Douglas Winter, J. F. Gonzalez, Stephen Mark Rainey and Brian Knight, along with fiction from Gerard Houarner, Kealan Patrick Burke and Ken Goldman, plus a tribute to J. N. Williamson.

  The four issues of Jason B. Sizemore’s impressive-looking magazine Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest included fiction from Ben Bova, Robert Dunbar, Amy Grech, William F. Nolan, Michael Laimo, Tom Piccirilli and Lavie Tidhar, interviews with Neil Gaiman, Robert Rankin, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Poppy Z. Brite, Kage Baker, Michael Laimo, Tim Powers, Tom Piccirilli and Kelly Link, plus various articles and reviews.

  Patrick and Honna Swenson’s Talebones: Fiction on the Dark Edge got a reprieve after the editors decided to close it down after almost eleven years due to financial difficulties and a dwindling subscriber base. Following an online plea, the magazine added 120 new subscribers, with more promised, and several extra pages of paid advertising. As a result, the title would survive for at least another year. The two issues published in 2006 contained stories and poetry by Charles Coleman Finlay, James Van Pelt, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Don D’Ammassa and Mark Rich. The editors decided to drop the interview section following Ken Rand’s talk with Louise Marley in issue #32.

  Christopher M. Cevasco’s twice-yearly Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction featured fiction and poetry by Lisa Jensen, Adam Stemple, Jane Yolen, Darrell Schweitzer and Sarah Monette, amongst others.

  Published bi-monthly by TTA Press, Interzone: Science Fiction & Fantasy included fiction by F. Gwynplaine Maclntyre, Richard Calder, Paul Di Filippo and Jay Lake, plus interviews with Terry Pratchett (twice!), Gerry Anderson, K. J. Bishop, Steven Erickson and Christopher Priest, along with all the regular news and review columns. Also from TTA, Crimewave Nine: Transgressions contained twelve new stories by Scott Nicholson, John Shirley and others.

  Despite still advertising subscriptions, TTA Press’ previously announced horror magazine Black Static (formerly The 3rd Alternative) failed once again to appear in 2006.

  Edited by Trevor Denyer, Midnight Street: Journeys Into Darkness included fiction by Paul Finch, Gary Couzens, Rhys Hughes and Peter Tennant, along with interviews with authors Deborah LeBlanc, Ralph Robert Moore and “B” movie actress Lilith Stabs. Tony Richards was the featured author in issue #6, Gary Fry in #7, and L. H. Maynard and M. P. N. Sims were showcased in #8.

  The fourth annual issue of Adam Golaski and Jeff Paris’ perfect-bound New Genre contained four stories by Jan Wildt, Paul A. Gilster, Christopher Harman an
d Don Tumasonis.

  The December issue of Realms of Fantasy featured an exclusive interview with Laurell K. Hamilton, while the Winter issue of Joseph W. Dickerson’s Aberrant Dreams included fiction by, and an interview with, Gerald W. Page.

  Dave Lindschmidt’s glossy City Slab included stories by Jack Ketchum and Sonya Taffe, interviews with Ketchum, Bill Moseley and Ray Garton, and articles about film directors Dario Argento and Takashi Miike.

  Edited by Doyle Eldon Wilmoth Jr. and published by SpecFic-World, Rogue Worlds was another magazine featuring horror fiction and poetry, while the twentieth anniversary issue of Eric M. Hei-deman’s perfect-bound Tales of the Unanticipated #27 was a special “Monsters Issue”.

  From Elder Sign Press, William Jones’ Dark Wisdom: The Magazine of Dark Fiction took on a more professional appearance with full colour covers and fiction and poetry from John Shirley, Paul Finch, Gerard Houarner, Bruce Boston, Jay Caselberg, Scott Nicholson, James S. Dorr, William C. Dietz, Stephen Mark Rainey, Gene O’Neill and others. Each issue also featured a graphic tale and a serial.

  Issue #23 of Cthulhu Sex Magazine, described as “the magazine for connoisseurs of sensual horror”, included a portfolio of illustrators featured on the www.spookyART.com website, including co-founders Chad Savage and Alan M. Clark, Jill Bauman, Alex McVey, Jason Beam, Dan Ouellette, Robert Morris and John Schwegel.

  With still no sign of their long-promised tome on Italian director Mario Bava, Tim and Donna Lucas managed to get just five issues of Video Watchdog out in 2006. Despite too much obvious “filler” material, there were still interesting articles on the making of Amityville 3-D, Edgar Wallace’s involvement in the original King Kong, and a look at the films of low budget director Del Tenney. While Joe Dante bowed out with his long-running review column, Ramsey Campbell joined the magazine with “Ramsey’s Rambles”.