The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 17

by Stephen Jones

  D.F. Lewis’ fifth “nemonymous” anthology, Nemo Book 5, contained twelve stories whose uncredited authors would be identified in the next volume. Among those revealed to have had stories in the 2004 edition were Jay Lake, Keith Brooke, Allen Ashley, Gary McMahon and Andrew Hook.

  Edited by Vincent Sneed, Dark Furies: Weird Tales of Beauties & Beasts was an anthology from Baltimore’s Die Monster Die imprint of fifteen mostly original stories about women and monsters, with an Introduction by Adam P. Knave. From the same imprint, The Midnight Hour: Saint Lawn Hill and Other Tales collected eight stories by James Chambers about radio personality Madeline Night, with illustrations by Jason Whitley.

  Gauntlet Press published Duel & The Distributor: Stories and Screenplays, which collected two stories and scripts by Richard Matheson, with a Foreword and Afterword by editor Matthew R. Bradley and an interview with actor Dennis Weaver.

  Edited with a Preface by Stanley Wiater, Collected Stories Volume 2 contained twenty-nine of Matheson’s short stories written between 1953–58, while Woman was a new psychological horror novel by the author, also from Gauntlet. At the launch party in Los Angeles in June, Matheson described it as his “first true horror novel since Hell House”.

  From Overlook Connection Press, Jack Ketchum’s Offspring, a sequel to his 1981 novel Off Season (also reissued in an unexpurgated edition with a special Introduction by Douglas E. Winter), included a new Author’s Note and Afterword. It was available in a signed limited edition, a 100-copy Sterling Edition, and a fifty-two copy lettered edition in a handcrafted black wooden box set with pewter bones for $500.00.

  F. Paul Wilson’s story The Last Rakosh, a “Repairman Jack” tale set in a travelling carnival, was expanded to novella length for its first trade hardcover publication, while The Tery from the same author was a SF novel about mutation run amok.

  The Silence Between the Screams collected five horror stories (four original) by Lucy Taylor. A 1,000-copy signed edition was issued under the author’s preferred title, A Hairy Chest, a Big Dick, and a Harley, with interior illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne and variant cover art.

  Mort Castle’s 1980s novels The Strangers and Cursed Be the Child were reissued in signed 300-copy hardcover and trade paperback editions.

  A tenth anniversary edition of Phil Nutman’s Wet Work included the original short story, a new Afterword by the author and an Introduction by Douglas E. Winter. Also from Overlook, Smothered Dolls by A. R. Morlan and Matinee at the Flame by Christopher Fahy were new collections of short fiction. All three titles were available in trade paperback, as 500-copy signed hardcovers or twenty-six copy lettered editions for $300.00 apiece.

  In Guy Adams’ novel More Than This, published in paperback by Humdrumming, children were vanishing in the crumbling seaside resort of Gravestown, and thirteen-year-old Gregory Ashe was befriended by the The Magician, a mysterious stranger who could see beyond the limits of reality.

  The Tales of Inspector Legrasse from Mythos Books contained H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” and a further six stories about Inspector Legrasse’s battle against the Cthulhu Mythos by C. J. Henderson.

  From Subterranean Press, Caitlín R. Kiernan’s third collection of short fiction, To Charles Fort, with Love, contained thirteen excellent stories, including the original “Le Peau Verte”, along with a Preface by the author and an Afterword by Ramsey Campbell. The signed edition was limited to 250 numbered copies and came with a fascinating chapbook entitled A Little Damned Book of Days, in which Kiernan reprinted accounts of weird and unexplainable personal encounters.

  After being delayed for a couple of years, Subterranean finally published David J. Schow’s collection Zombie Jam in a signed, limited edition of 750 numbered and twenty-six lettered copies. Featuring eight walking dead stories along with a new Introduction and Afterword by the author, the book was nicely illustrated by Bernie Wrightson.

  The Drive-In: The Bus Tour was a new horror novel from Joe R. Lansdale, available as a 1,000-copy signed edition, a 350-copy deluxe edition with added artwork, and a twenty-six copy lettered traycased edition.

  Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories collected eight tales (one original) by Lansdale. A 250-copy deluxe slipcased edition was also available containing extra material. Lansdale’s The King and Other Stories contained the titular story and seventeen short-shorts (some having previously appeared on the author’s website), illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne. It was published in a signed edition of 750 numbered hardcover copies and a fifty-two copy lettered edition.

  Charles de Lint’s Quicksilver & Shadow collected seventeen early stories, while The Hour Before Dawn and Two Other Stories from Newford was a slim hardcover volume containing one new tale about a haunted private detective with photo-illustrations by the author.

  Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales was an expanded version of Norman Partridge’s 1992 collection, containing eleven additional stories, an excerpt from an unpublished zombie novel, a Foreword by Edward Bryant, and a new Introduction by the author. It was released in a signed and numbered edition of 750 copies, and as twenty-six signed traycased copies containing an extra three stories (two original).

  Originally published as a BBC online serial, Ghosts of Albion: Astray by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden was issued in an edition of 750 numbered and fifty-two lettered editions with illustrations by José R. Nieto.

  Bradley Denton’s Laughin’ Boy was a satirical novel about some very different types of superheroes, while Ray Garton’s Night Life was a belated sequel to his vampire novel Live Girls. It was published in a 400-copy signed leather-bound edition and a thirteen-copy lettered edition that sold out before publication.

  Edited with an Introduction by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, The Fear Planet and Other Unusual Destinations contained twenty previously uncollected stories by Robert Bloch and was the first volume in “The Reader’s Bloch” series. It was available from Subterranean Press in a signed edition of 750 copies and a twenty-six copy lettered edition with cover art by Gahan Wilson.

  From Robert Morgan’s Sarob Press of Wales, Tony Richards’ Ghost Dance was a collection of nine stories and novellas (two original), with an Introduction by Graham Joyce. John Glasby’s horror novel The Dark Destroyer, about something old and terribly evil being awakened, was also available from Sarob in limited and signed slipcased editions.

  Basil Copper’s Solar Pons: The Final Cases from Sarob contained five novellas finally appearing in the author’s definitive texts after more than thirty years, along with a reprint Sherlock Holmes story. It was limited to 220 hardcover copies and a deluxe edition of fifty-five copies.

  Also by Copper and issued under the Cauchemar imprint in a numbered and signed edition of only 150 copies, Knife in the Back: Tales of Twilight and Torment was a slim volume collecting eight horror and suspense stories (six original).

  From Telos Publishing, the new edition of Stephen Gallagher’s 1987 body-hopping serial killer novel Valley of Lights also included a host of bonus material: a new Afterword by the author, a film location diary, an interview with Gallagher by Stephen Laws, and the connected short story “Nightmare, With Angel”. It was published in both trade paperback and limited hardcover editions.

  In the “Telos Original Novellas” series, Lee Thomas’ impressive vampire tale Parish Damned was set in a small American seaside town invaded by the undead, while Simon Morden’s science fiction/horror story Another War involved the discovery of two men who vanished a century before and a machine that could travel between the dimensions.

  Published in hardcover by Robert and Nancy Garcia’s American Fantasy imprint, Invisible Pleasures collected eighteen stories (four original) by Mary Frances Zambreno, with a short Introduction by Jane Yolen and a superb cover painting by Douglas Klauba.

  Expanded from a short story, Charlee Jacob’s novel Dread in the Beast was published by Necro Publications in a 400-copy signed trade paperback and 100-copy hardcover edition. Edward Lee supplied the Introduction.
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  Thicker Than Water from Tigress Press contained nine original vampire stories by Cullen Bunn, J. P. Edwards, Curtis Hoffmeister and Mark Worthen, while from Shocklines Press, Dead Souls collected ten stories (six original) by David G. Barnett with an Introduction by Gerard Houarner.

  All Eve’s Hallows was the first novel in Dean Wesley Smith’s exploits of “The City Knights”, a thousand-year-old secret organization charged with protecting humanity from the creatures of darkness. Published in trade paperback by Phobos Books, a young female ex-marine confronted the evil sprites that were spreading destruction throughout New York City.

  Death Sentences: Tales of Punishment and Revenge collected five stories by Matthew Warner (two original), with an Introduction by Gary A. Braunbeck. It was limited to 250 signed copies from Undaunted Press.

  Edited by Harrison Howe, Dark Notes from NJ from the Garden State Horror Writers Press was a softcover anthology inspired by the songs of New Jersey musicians. The book featured fourteen original stories, by John Passarella, Mary SanGiovanni and others, including the editor, along with a Foreword by Brian Keene. The inclusion of musician biographies was a nice touch.

  Published by Crescent Books, with support from the Scottish Arts Council, Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction was an anthology of twenty-one new stories and a poem edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J. Wilson, with an Introduction by David Pringle. Contributors included Ken MacLeod, Hal Duncan, Jane Yolen, Charles Stross, John Grant, Jack Deighton and both editors.

  Limited to 100 copies, Assembly of Rogues from PurpleRage Productions/Rainfall Books comprised a paperback anthology (thirteen stories), music CD, and DVD interviews with Ramsey Campbell, Mark Morris, Graham Joyce, Tim Lebbon, Paul Finch, Peter Crowther, Mark Chadbourn, Simon Clark, John B. Ford, Paul Kane and others.

  Paul van Heuklom and Craig Hargis’ Little Girl Blue from PublishAmerica was an irreverent and humorous novel about New Orleans evil which one commentator apparently described as “Clive Barker on crack”.

  From TripleTree Publishing, Ghosts at the Coast: The Best of Ghost Story Weekend Vol.2 edited by Dianna Rodgers was an anthology of twenty-five original stories, and A. S. Mott collected five new ghostly tales in Haunting Fireside Stories, published in softcover by Canada’s Ghost House Books.

  The Grinding House, from Australia’s Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSfG) Publishing, collected a mixed bag of nineteen stories (four original, including the title novella) by Aurealis Award-winning author Kaaron Warren, with a brief Introduction by Donna Maree Hanson.

  Founders Peter Atkins and Glen Hirshberg took their Rolling Darkness Revue on the road for a second year in October to five California bookstores. Once again combining music with fiction readings, guest stars on the “Darkness Rising” tour included Michael Blumlein, Nancy Holder, Robert Masello, Robert Morrish and Tamara Thorne. Earthling Publications produced a 250-copy chapbook of mostly original stories, and there was also a T-shirt and button badge available.

  Issued by Earthling as a slim no-frills chapbook produced exclusively for the World Horror Convention in New York City, Blood Tide was a prequel to James A. Moore’s novel Blood Red from the same imprint. The publisher also released two other chapbooks at the convention, Little Lost Angel by Erik Tomblin and After the Elephant Ballet by Gary A. Braunbeck, and all three titles were limited to just 250 copies.

  Gary Braunbeck also had a chapbook out from Chicago’s Endeavor Press. We Now Pause for Station Identification was limited to 500 signed copies.

  From Borderlands Press, the initial volume in the Dark Voices series was Horn of Plenty by Thomas F. Monteleone. It came with an audio CD recording of the author reading the story.

  Published by Shocklines Press in a numbered and signed edition of 225 copies, Steve Rasnic Tem’s A Small Room was about a woman’s secret life. The World Recalled was another bizarre story by Tem, issued both in chapbook and hardcover format by Wormhole Books with illustrations (many in full colour) by the author.

  Two Twisted Nuts, from Novello Publishers, featured two testicular terror tales by Jeff Strand and Nick Cato and was limited to 500 copies. From the same publisher and limited to 250 copies, Right House on the Left included three hysterically haunted tales by Steve Vernon, Mark McLaughlin and L. L. Soares, along with an Introduction by James A. Moore.

  Christopher M. Cevasco’s Lovecraftian short story Dark Heresy was published as an individual chapbook by Paradox Publications, limited to just fifteen copies signed by the author, while Through a Glass Darkly was a chapbook by Angeline Hawkes-Craig from Naked Snake Press.

  The second and third volumes in Iguana Publications’ series of chapbooks were Requiem for the Radioactive Monkeys and Bone Ballet, both edited by John Weagly and featuring stories by J. A. Konrath, Tina L. Jens, Wayne Allen Sallee, James S. Dorr, Martin Mundt and others. Both booklets were limited to 100 copies a piece.

  Revenant: A Horror Anthology edited by Armand Rosamilia was a thin volume containing five stories, while Beastie and Other Horrific Tales collected six original stories by Rosamilia, both from Carnifex Press.

  To celebrate his fiftieth birthday, The King of the Hill reprinted Paul McAuley’s eponymous fantasy story along with an Introduction by Kim Newman and numerous congratulatory messages. It was limited to just fifty numbered copies.

  From Iowa imprint Sam’s Dot Publishing, Eeku was a slim collection of “dark scifaiku” by Karen L. Newman, illustrated by 7ARS (Theresa Santitoro) and Sandy DeLuca.

  From PS Publishing, editor Peter Crowther’s perfect-bound PostScripts magazine had three editions and featured more excellent short fiction from Chaz Brenchley, Gene Wolfe, Stephen Volk, David Herter, Garry Kilworth, Stephen Baxter, Lawrence Person and the remarkable Joe Hill along with interviews with Lois McMaster Bujold, Richard S. Prather and China Miéville. Ramsey Campbell contributed a guest editorial to the fifth issue, which also added a new subtitle to the masthead: The A to Z of Fantastic Fiction. Issues of PostScripts were also available in signed, hardcover editions limited to just 150 numbered copies. Subscribers to the magazine also received a special Christmas chapbook by Gene Wolfe.

  Weird Tales managed just a single issue in 2005. At least it featured new stories by William F. Nolan (the first of two parts), Jack Williamson, co-editor Darrell Schweitzer, Clark Ashton Smith, Jack Ketchum and Fred Chappell.

  In May, John Gregory Betancourt’s Wildside Press bought Weird Tales outright from Warren Lapine’s DNA Publications and took full control from issue #337 onwards. Betancourt re-joined George Scithers and Schweitzer as co-editor of the title, after the trio had originally re-launched the magazine in 1987.

  From Wildside imprint Prime Books, the premier issue of Fantasy Magazine, edited by Sean Wallace, featured fiction from Tim Pratt, Jeffrey Ford, Jeff VanderMeer, Nick Mamatas and the excellent Holly Phillips.

  Another new magazine launched in 2005 was William Schafer’s Subterranean, published by Subterranean Press. The first two issues included stories by Norman Partridge, Mark Morris, Kealan Patrick Burke, Peter Crowther, Harlan Ellison, Charles Coleman Finlay, Michael Bishop, Robert Silverberg, Joe Hill, Charles de Lint and Jack McDevitt, along with a novel excerpt from Joe R. Lansdale, a teleplay by George R. R. Martin, an interview with Thomas Ligotti, and some excellent illustrations. The second issue was a Caitlín R. Kiernan special, with two stories and an interview with the author.

  DNA Publications’ long-delayed second issue of H. P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror, edited by Marvin Kaye, was a Richard Matheson special. It featured a previously unpublished short story by Matheson, plus an article about his movie adaptations and an interview with the author, along with stories and poetry by Tanith Lee, Ray Russell, Jean Paiva, John Glasby, Chris Bunch and H. P. Lovecraft.

  Gordon Van Gelder’s The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published stories by Alex Irvine, Esther M. Friesner, Ron Goulart, Claudia O’Keefe, M. Rickert, David Gerrold, Marc Laidlaw, Scott Bradfield, Steven Utley, Arthur Porges, Br
uce Sterling, Joe Haldeman, Terry Bisson, Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Hand, Jeffrey Ford, Delia Sherman, Geoff Ryman, Sydney J. Van Scyoc, Gardner Dozois, Alan Dean Foster and many others, along with the usual review columns by Charles de Lint, Elizabeth Hand, Michelle West, James Sallis, Kathi Maio, Lucius Shepard, Paul Di Filippo, Robert K. J. Killheffer and David J. Skal. There were also “Curiosities” columns from Roberto de Sousa Causo, Connie Braton Meek, Bud Webster, Steven Utley, David Langford, Paul Di Filippo, F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre, Darrell Schweitzer, Douglas A. Anderson and Dennis Lien.

  The April issue of Shawna McCarthy’s Realms of Fantasy looked at the fantastic art of Gary Gianni and included a new vampire story by Gene Wolfe.

  Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish published three issues of Cemetery Dance, featuring fiction by Stephen Laws, Scott Nicholson, Sèphera Girón, Kealan Patrick Burke, Joel Lane, Eddy C. Bertin, Tim Waggoner, Kim Antieau, Tom Piccirilli, Michael Cadnum, Adam-Troy Castro and a very brief novel excerpt from Stephen King. There were also interviews with Laws, Girón, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, the late Richard Laymon, Tamara Thorne, Carol Serling, Robert McCammon and Melanie Tem, plus the usual departments and articles by Bev Vncent, Thomas F. Monteleone, Paula Guran, Michael Marano and John Pelan.

  Andy Cox’s TTA Press managed to turn out two more editions of The 3rd Alternative before announcing that the title of the magazine would be changing to Black Static with issue #43. Along with a guest editorial by Joel Lane, these issues featured fiction by Scott Nicholson, Chaz Brenchley and Conrad Williams, an interview with Phil Rickman, and columns by Stephen Volk, Allen Ashley and Peter Tennant.

  Also from TTA, Crimewave 8: Cold Harbours contained seventeen often dark stories by Scott Nicholson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Steve Rasnic Tem, Stephen Volk, Joel Lane, Joe Hill, Jay Caselberg, Darren Speegle and others.