Search Worlds Without End

A group of mountain climbers, caught in the dark, fight to survive their descent; in the British countryside, hundreds of magpies ascend into the sky, higher and higher, until they seem to vanish into the heavens; a professor and his student track a zombie horde in order to research zombie behavior; an all-girl riding school has sinister secrets; a town rails in vain against a curse inflicted upon it by its founders.

For more than three decades, editor and anthologist Ellen Datlow, winner of multiple Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards, has had her finger on the pulse of the horror genre, introducing readers to writers whose tales can unnerve, frighten, and terrify. This anniversary volume, which collects the best stories from the first ten years of her annual The Best Horror of the Year anthology series, includes fiction from award-winning and critically acclaimed authors Neil Gaiman, Livia Llewellyn, Laird Barron, Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, and many more.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - Ellen Datlow
• Lowland Sea - Suzy McKee Charnas
• Wingless Beasts - Lucy Taylor
• The Nimble Men - Glen Hirshberg
• Little America - Dan Chaon
• Black and White Sky - ?Tanith Lee
• The Monster Makers - Steve Rasnic Tem
• Chapter Six - Stephen Graham Jones
• In a Cavern, in a Canyon - Laird Barron
• Allochthon - Livia Llewellyn
• Shepherds' Business - Stephen Gallagher
• Down to a Sunless Sea - Neil Gaiman
• The Man from the Peak - Adam Golaski
• In Paris, In the Mouth of Kronos - John Langan
• The Moraine - Simon Bestwick
• At the Riding School - Cody Goodfellow
• Cargo - E.Michael Lewis
• Tender as Teeth - Stephanie Crawford & Duane Swierczynski
• Wild Acre - Nathan Ballingrud
• The Callers - Ramsey Campbell
• This Stagnant Breath of Change - Brian Hodge
• Grave Goods - Gemma Files
• The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine - Peter Straub
• Majorlena - Jane Jakeman
• The Days of Our Lives - Adam L. G. Nevill
• You Can Stay All Day - Mira Grant
• No Matter Which Way We Turned - Brian Evenson
• Nesters - Siobhan Carroll
• Better You Believe - Carole Johnstone
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgment of Copyright
• About the Editor

An Air Force Loadmaster is menaced by strange sounds within his cargo; a man is asked to track down a childhood friend... who died years earlier; doomed pioneers forge a path westward as a young mother discovers her true nature; an alcoholic strikes a dangerous bargain with a gregarious stranger; urban explorers delve into a ruined book depository, finding more than they anticipated; residents of a rural Wisconsin town defend against a legendary monster; a woman wracked by survivor's guilt is haunted by the ghosts of a tragic crash; a detective strives to solve the mystery of a dismembered girl; an orphan returns to a wicked witch's candy house; a group of smugglers find themselves buried to the necks in sand; an unanticipated guest brings doom to a high-class party; a teacher attempts to lead his students to safety as the world comes to an end around them...

What frightens us, what unnerves us? What causes that delicious shiver of fear to travel the lengths of our spines? It seems the answer changes every year. Every year the bar is raised; the screw is tightened. Ellen Datlow knows what scares us; the twenty-one stories and poems included in this anthology were chosen from magazines, webzines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections to represent the best horror of the year.

Legendary editor Ellen Datlow (Poe: New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe), winner of multiple Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards, joins Night Shade Books in presenting The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2008 - essay by Ellen Datlow
• Cargo - (2008) - short story by E. Michael Lewis
• If Angels Fight - (2008) - novelette by Richard Bowes
• The Clay Party - (2008) - short story by Steve Duffy
• Penguins of the Apocalypse - (2008) - novelette by William Browning Spencer
• Esmeralda: The First Book Depository Story - (2008) - short story by Glen Hirshberg
• The Hodag - (2008) - short story by Trent Hergenrader
• Very Low-Flying Aircraft - (2008) - short story by Nicholas Royle
• When the Gentlemen Go By - (2008) - short story by Margaret Ronald
• The Lagerstätte - (2008) - novelette by Laird Barron
• Harry and the Monkey - (2008) - short story by Euan Harvey
• Dress Circle - (2008) - short story by Miranda Siemienowicz
• The Rising River - (2008) - short story by Daniel Kaysen
• Sweeney Among the Straight Razors - (2008) - poem by JoSelle Vanderhooft
• Loup-garou - (2008) - short story by R. B. Russell
• Girl in Pieces - (2008) - short story by Graham Edwards
• It Washed Up - (2008) - short story by Joe R. Lansdale
• The Thirteenth Hell - (2008) - poem by Mike Allen
• The Goosle - (2008) - short story by Margo Lanagan
• Beach Head - (2008) - short story by Daniel LeMoal
• The Man from the Peak - (2008) - short story by Adam Golaski
• The Narrows - (2008) - novella by Simon Bestwick
• Honorable Mentions - essay by uncredited
• About the Authors - essay by uncredited

Celebrities take refuge in a white-walled mansion as plague and fever sweep into Cannes; a killer finds that the living dead have no appetite for him; a television presenter stumbles upon the chilling connection between a forgotten animal act and the Whitechapel Murders; a nude man unexpectedly appears in the backgrounds of film after film; mysterious lights menace the crew of a small plane; a little girl awakens to discover her nightlight--and more--missing; two sisters hunt vampire dogs in the wild hills of Fiji; lovers get more than they bargained for in a decadent discotheque; a college professor holds a classroom mesmerized as he vivisects Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death"...

What frightens us, what unnerves us? What causes that delicious shiver of fear to travel the lengths of our spines? It seems the answer changes every year. Every year the bar is raised; the screw is tightened. Ellen Datlow knows what scares us; the seventeen stories included in this anthology were chosen from magazines, webzines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections to represent the best horror of the year.

Legendary editor Ellen Datlow (Poe: New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe), winner of multiple Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards, joins Night Shade Books in presenting The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Two.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2009 - (2010) - essay by Ellen Datlow
• Lowland Sea - (2009) - novelette by Suzy McKee Charnas
• The End of Everything - (2009) - short story by Steve Eller
• Mrs Midnight - (2009) - novelette by Reggie Oliver
• each thing i show you is a piece of my death - (2009) - novelette by Gemma Files and Stephen J. Barringer
• The Nimble Men - (2009) - short story by Glen Hirshberg
• What Happens When You Wake Up in the Night - (2009) - short story by Michael Marshall Smith
• Wendigo - (2008) - novelette by Micaela Morrissette
• In the Porches of My Ears - (2009) - short story by Norman Prentiss
• Lonegan's Luck - (2009) - novelette by Stephen Graham Jones
• The Crevasse - (2009) - short story by Nathan Ballingrud and Dale Bailey
• The Lion's Den - (2009) - novelette by Steve Duffy
• Lotophagi - (2009) - short story by Edward R. Morris
• The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall - (2009) - short story by Kaaron Warren
• Dead Loss - (2009) - short story by Carole Johnstone
• Strappado - (2009) - short story by Laird Barron
• The Lammas Worm - (2009) - novelette by Nina Allan
• Technicolor - (2009) - novelette by John Langan
• Honorable Mentions - (2010) - essay by Ellen Datlow

What frightens us? What unnerves us? What causes that delicious shiver of fear to travel the lengths of our spines? It seems the answer changes every year. Every year the bar is raised; the screw, tightened. Ellen Datlow knows what scares us; the nineteen stories included in this anthology were chosen from magazines, webzines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections to represent the best horror of the year.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2010 - essay by Ellen Datlow
• At the Riding School - (2009) - short story by Cody Goodfellow
• Mr. Pigsny - (2010) - short story by Reggie Oliver
• City of the Dog - (2010) - novelette by John Langan
• Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Walls - (2010) - short story by Brian Hodge
• Lesser Demons - (2010) - novelette by Norman Partridge
• When the Zombies Win - (2010) - short story by Karina Sumner-Smith
• ----30---- - (2010) - novella by Laird Barron
• Fallen Boys - (2010) - short story by Mark Morris
• Was She Wicked? Was She Good? - (2010) - short story by M. Rickert
• The Fear - (2010) - novelette by Richard Harland
• Till the Morning Comes - (2010) - short story by Stephen Graham Jones
• Shomer - (2010) - short story by Glen Hirshberg
• Oh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside - (2010) - short story by Christopher Fowler
• The Obscure Bird - (2010) - short story by Nicholas Royle
• Transfiguration - (2010) - short story by Richard Christian Matheson
• The Days of Flaming Motorcycles - (2010) - short story by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Folding Man - (2010) - short story by Joe R. Lansdale
• Just Another Desert Night with Blood - (2010) - short fiction by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
• Black and White Sky - (2010) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• At Night, When the Demons Come - (2010) - short story by Ray Cluley
• The Revel - (2010) - novelette by John Langan

The first three volumes of The Best Horror of the Year have been widely praised for their quality, variety, and comprehensiveness.

With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow's comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect-and enjoy.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2012) - essay by Ellen Datlow
• The Little Green God of Agony - (2011) - novelette by Stephen King
• Stay - (2011) - short fiction by Leah Bobet
• The Moraine - (2011) - short story by Simon Bestwick
• Blackwood's Baby - (2011) - novelette by Laird Barron
• Looker - (2011) - short story by David Nickle
• The Show - (2011) - short story by Priya Sharma
• Mulberry Boys - (2011) - short story by Margo Lanagan
• Roots and All - (2011) - novelette by Brian Hodge
• Final Girl Theory - (2011) - short story by A. C. Wise
• Omphalos - (2011) - short story by Livia Llewellyn
• Dermot - (2011) - short story by Simon Bestwick
• Black Feathers - (2011) - short story by Alison Littlewood
• The Final Verse - (2011) - short story by Chet Williamson
• In the Absence of Murdock - (2011) - short story by Terry Lamsley
• You Become the Neighborhood - (2012) - novelette by Glen Hirshberg
• In Paris, in the Mouth of Kronos - (2011) - short fiction by John Langan
• Little Pig - (2011) - short story by Anna Taborska
• The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine - (2011) - novella by Peter Straub

Darkness, both literal and psychological, holds its own unique fascination. Despite our fears, or perhaps because of them, readers have always been drawn to tales of death, terror, madness, and the supernatural, and no more so than today when a wildly imaginative new generation of dark dreamers is carrying on in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft and King, crafting exquisitely disturbing literary nightmares that gaze without flinching into the abyss--and linger in the mind long after.

Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow knows the darkest corners of fiction and poetry better than most. Once again, she has braved the haunted landscape of modern horror to seek out the most chilling new works by both legendary masters of the genre and fresh young talents. Here are twisted hungers and obsessions, human and otherwise, along with an unsettling variety of spine-tingling fears and fantasies. The cutting edge of horror has never cut deeper than in this comprehensive showcase of the very best the field has to offer. Enter at your own risk.

Table of Contents:

• Nikishi - (2012) - shortfiction by Lucy Taylor
• Little America - (2012) - shortstory by Dan Chaon
• A Natural History of Autumn - (2012) - shortstory by Jeffrey Ford
• Mantis Wives - (2012) - shortstory by Kij Johnson
• Tender as Teeth - (2012) - shortfiction by Stephanie Crawford and Duane Swierczynski
• The Callers - (2012) - shortfiction by Ramsey Campbell
• Two Poems for Hill House - (2013) - poem by Kevin McCann
• Mariners' Round - (2012) - shortfiction by Terry Dowling
• Nanny Grey - (2012) - shortfiction by Gemma Files
• The Magician's Apprentice - (2012) - shortstory by Tamsyn Muir
• Kill All Monsters - (2012) - shortfiction by Gary McMahon
• The House on Ashley Avenue - (2012) - shortfiction by Ian Rogers
• Dead Song - (2012) - shortfiction by Jay Wilburn
• Sleeping, I Was Beauty - (2012) - poem by Sandi Leibowitz
• Bajazzle - (2012) - shortstory by Margo Lanagan
• The Pike - (2012) - shortfiction by Conrad Williams
• The Crying Child - (2013) - shortfiction by Bruce McAllister
• This Circus the World - (2012) - shortfiction by Amber Sparks
• Some Pictures in an Album - (2012) - shortfiction by Gary McMahon
• Wild Acre - (2012) - novelette by Nathan Ballingrud
• Final Exam - (2012) - shortstory by Megan Arkenberg
• None So Blind - (2012) - shortfiction by Stephen Bacon
• The Ballad of Boomtown - (2012) - shortfiction by Priya Sharma
• Pig Thing - (2012) - shortfiction by Adam Nevill
• The Word-Made Flesh - (2012) - shortfiction by Richard Gavin
• Into the Penny Arcade - (2012) - shortfiction by Claire Massey
• Magdala Amygdala - (2012) - shortfiction by Lucy A. Snyder
• Frontier Death Song - (2012) - novelette by Laird Barron

This statement was true when H. P. Lovecraft first wrote it at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it remains true at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The only thing that has changed is what is unknown.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this "light" creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year, edited by Ellen Datlow, chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness, as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

The best horror writers of today do the same thing that horror writers of a hundred years ago did. They tell good stories--stories that scare us. And when these writers tell really good stories that really scare us, Ellen Datlow notices. She's been noticing for more than a quarter century. For twenty-one years, she coedited The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and for the last six years, she's edited this series. In addition to this monumental cataloging of the best, she has edited hundreds of other horror anthologies and won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards.

More than any other editor or critic, Ellen Datlow has charted the shadowy abyss of horror fiction. Join her on this journey into the dark parts of the human heart... either for the first time... or once again.

Table of Contents:

• "Apports" by Stephen Bacon (Black Static #36)
• "Mr. Splitfoot" by Dale Bailey (Queen Victoria's Book of Spells)
• "The Good Husband" by Nathan Ballingrud (North American Lake Monsters)
• "The Tiger" by Nina Allan (Terror Tales of London)
• "The House on Cobb Street" by Linda E. Rucker (Nightmare #9 June)
• "The Soul in the Bell Jar" by KJ Kabza (F&SF November/Dec)
• "Call Out" by Stephen Toase (Innsmouth Magazine #12)
• "That Tiny Flutter of the Heart I Used to Call Love" by Robert Shearman (Psycho-Mania)
• "Bones of Crow" by Ray Cluley (Black Static #37)
• "Introduction to the Body in Fairy Tales" by Jeannine Hall Gailey (Phantom Drift #3)
• "The Fox" by Conrad Williams (This is Horror chapbook)
• "The Tin House" by Simon Clark (Shadow Masters)
• "Stemming the Tide" by Simon Strantzas (Dead North)
• "The Anatomist's Mnemonic" by Priya Sharma (Black Static #32.)
• "The Monster Makers" by Steve Rasnic Tem (Black Static #35)
• "The Only Ending We Have" by Kim Newman (Psycho-Mania)
• "The Dog's Paw" by Derek Künsken (Chilling Tales: In Words, Alas, Drown I)
• "Fine in the Fire" by Lee Thomas (Like Light For Flies)
• "Majorlena" by Jane Jakeman (Supernatural Tales 24)
• "The Withering" by Tim Casson (Black Static 32)
• "Down to a Sunless Sea" by Neil Gaiman (The Guardian.com)
• "Jaws of Saturn" by Laird Barron (The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All)
• "Halfway Home" by Linda Nagata (Nightmare #12)
• "The Same Deep Waters as You" by Brian Hodge (Weirder Shadows Over Innsmouth

For over three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the seventh volume of this series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.

Table of Contents:

• The Atlas of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud
• Winter Children by Angela Slatter
• A Dweller in Amenty by Genevieve Valentine
• Outside Heavenly by Rio Youers
• Shay Corsham Worsted by Garth Nix
• Allocthon by Livia Llewellyn
• Chapter Six by Stephen Graham Jones
• This is Not for You by Gemma Files
• Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No. 8) by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• The Culvert by Dale Bailey
• Past Reno by Brian Evenson
• The Coat Off His Back by Keris McDonald
• the worms crawl in, by Laird Barron
• The Dog's Home by Alison Littlewood
• Tread Upon the Brittle Shell by Rhoads Brazos
• Persistence of Vision by Orrin Grey
• It Flows From the Mouth by Robert Shearman
• Wingless Beasts by Lucy Taylor
• Departures by Carole Johnstone
• Ymir by John Langan
• Plink by Kurt Dinan
• Nigredo by Cody Goodfellow

For over three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the eighth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.

Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as:

• Neil Gaiman
• Kim Stanley Robinson
• Stephen King
• Linda Nagata
• Laird Barron
• Margo Lanagan
• And many others

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

Table of Contents:

• "We Are All Monsters Here: by Kelley Armstrong
• "Universal Horror" by Stephen Graham Jones
• "Slaughtered Lamb" by Tom Johnstone
• "In a Cavern, In a Canyon" by Laird Barron
• "Between the Pilings" by Steve Rasnic Tem
• "Snow" by Dale Bailey
• "Indian Giver" by Ray Cluley
• "My Boy Builds Coffins" by Gary McMahon
• "The Woman in the Hill" by Tamsyn Muir
• "Underground Economy" by John Langan
• "The Rooms Are High" by Reggie Oliver
• "All the Day You'll Have Good Luck" by Kate Jonez
• "Lord of the Sand" by Stephen Bacon
• "Wilderness" by Letitia Trent
• "Fabulous Beasts" by Priya Sharma
• "Descent" by Carmen Maria Machado
• "Hippocampus" by Adam Nevill
• "Black Dog" by Neil Gaiman
• "The 21st Century Shadow" by Stephanie M. Wytovich
• "This Stagnant Breath of Change" by Brian Hodge

For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the eighth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

Table of Contents:

• Nesters - Siobhan Carroll
• The Oestridae - Robert Levy
• The Process is a Process All its Own - Peter Straub
• The Bad Hour - Christopher Golden
• Red Rabbit - Steve Rasnic Tem
• It's All the Same Road in the End - Brian Hodge
• Fury - DB Waters
• Grave Goods - Gemma Files
• Between Dry Ribs - Gregory Norman Bossert
• The Days of Our Lives - Adam LG Nevill
• House of Wonders - C.E Ward
• The Numbers - Christopher Burns
• Bright Crown of Joy - Livia Llewellyn
• The Beautiful Thing We Will Become - Kristi DeMeester
• Wish You Were Here - Nadia Bulkin
• Ragman - Rebecca Lloyd
• What's Out There? - Gary McMahon
• No Matter Which Way We Turned - Brian Evenson
• The Castellmarch Man - Ray Cluley
• The Ice Beneath Us - Steve Duffy
• On These Blackened Shores of Time - Brian Hodge

A group of mountain climbers, caught in the dark, fights to survive their descent; An American band finds more than they bargained for in Mexico while scouting remote locations for a photo shoot; A young student's exploration into the origins of a mysterious song leads him on a winding, dangerous path through the US's deep south; A group of kids scaring each other with ghost stories discovers alarming consequences.

The Best Horror of the Year showcases the previous year's best offerings in horror short fiction. This edition includes award-winning and critically acclaimed authors Mark Morris, Kaaron Warren, John Langan, Carole Johnstone, Brian Hodge, and others. For more than three decades, award-winning editor and anthologist Ellen Datlow has had her finger on the pulse of the latest and most terrifying in horror writing. Night Shade Books is proud to present the tenth volume in this annual series, a new collection of stories to keep you up at night.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Introduction: Summation 2017 - Ellen Datlow
• Better You Believe - Carole Johnstone
• Liquid Air - Inna Effress
• Holiday Romance - Mark Morris
• Furtherest - Kaaron Warren
• Where's the Harm? - Rebecca Lloyd
• Whatever Comes After Calcutta - David Erik Nelson
• A Human Stain - Kelly Robson
• The Stories We Tell about Ghosts - A. C. Wise
• Endosketal - Sarah Read
• West of Matamoros, North of Hell - Brian Hodge
• Alligator Point - S. P. Miskowski
• Dark Warm Heart - Rich Larson
• There and Back Again - Carmen Maria Machado
• Shepherd's Business - Stephen Gallagher
• You Can Stay All Day - Mira Grant
• Harvest Song, Gathering Song - A. C. Wise
• The Granfalloon - Orrin Grey
• Fail-Safe - Philip Fracassi
• The Starry Crown - Marc E. Fitch
• Eqalussuaq - Tim Major
• Lost in the Dark - John Langan
• Honorable Mentions
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgment of Copyright
• About the Editor

For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the eleventh volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2018 - Ellen Datlow
• I Remember Nothing - Anne Billson
• Monkeys on the Beach - Ralph Robert Moore
• Painted Wolves - Ray Cluley
• Shit Happens - Michael Marshall Smith
• You Know How the Story Goes - Thomas Olde Heuvelt
• Back Along the Old Track - Sam Hicks
• Masks - Peter Sutton
• The Donner Party - Dale Bailey
• Milkteeth - Kristi DeMeester
• Haak - John Langan
• Thin Cold Hands - Gemma Files
• A Tiny Mirror by Eloise - C. C. Shepherd
• I Love You Mary-Grace - Amelia Mangan
• The Jaws of Ouroboros - Steve Toase
• A Brief Moment of Rage - Bill Davidson
• Golden Sun - Kristi DeMeester, Richard Thomas, Damien Angelica Walters, and Michael Wehunt
• White Mare - Thana Niveau
• Girls Without Their Faces On - Laird Barron
• Thumbsucker - Robert Shearman
• You Are Released - Joe Hill
• Red Rain - Adam-Troy Castro
• Split Chain Stitch - Steve Toase
• No Exit - Orrin Grey
• Haunt - Siobhan Carroll
• Sleep - Carly Holmes
• Honorable Mentions
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgment of Copyright
• About the Editor

For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the twelftth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, Stephen King, Linda Nagata, Laird Barron, Margo Lanagan, and many others.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

Table of Contents:

• A Song for Wounded Mouths - short story by Kristi DeMeester
• They Are Us (1964) : An Oral History - short fiction by Jack Lothian
• Birds of Passage - short story by Gordon B. White
• Playscape - short story by Diana Peterfreund
• The Butcher's Table - novella by Nathan Ballingrud
• Ice Cold Lemonade 25? Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person? - short fiction by Paul Tremblay
• The Puppet Motel - short fiction by Gemma Files
• The Pain-Eater's Daughter - short story by Laura Mauro
• The Night Nurse - short fiction by Sarah Langan
• This Was Always Going to Happen - short fiction by Stephen Graham Jones
• I Say (I Say, I Say) - short story by Robert Shearman
• As Dark As Hunger - short fiction by S. Qiouyi Lu
• How to Stay Afloat When Drowning - short fiction by Daniel Braum
• The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team - short fiction by Joe R. Lansdale
• Adrenaline Junkies - short fiction by Ray Cluley
• Mr. and Mrs. Kett - short fiction by Sam Hicks
• Below - short fiction by Simon Bestwick
• My Name is Ellie - short fiction by Sam Rebelein

For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the thirteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

Table of Contents:

• A Deed Without a Name - (2020) - short fiction by Jack Lothian
• Two Truths and a Lie - (2020) - novelette by Sarah Pinsker
• The Eight-Thousanders - (2020) - short story by Jason Sanford
• Exhalation #10 - (2020) - short fiction by A. C. Wise
• Scream Queen - (2020) - short fiction by Nathan Ballingrud
• Lords of the Matinee - (2020) - short fiction by Stephen Graham Jones
• The Whisper of Stars - (2020) - short fiction by Thana Niveau
• Come Closer - (2020) - short story by Gemma Files
• Cleaver, Meat, and Block - (2020) - short story by Maria Haskins
• Sicko - (2020) - short fiction by Stephen Volk
• Bloody Rhapsody - (2020) - poem by Alessandro Manzetti
• We Do Like to be Beside - (2020) - short fiction by Pete Sutton
• Tethered Dogs - (2020) - short fiction by Gary McMahon
• Mouselode Maze - (2020) - short fiction by Christopher Harman
• In the English Rain - (2021) - short story by Steve Duffy
• Mine Seven - (2020) - short story by Elana Gomel
• It Doesn't Feel Right - (2020) - short story by Michael Marshall Smith
• A Hotel in Germany - (2020) - short story by Catriona Ward

For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the fourteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

Contents:

Shards • (2021) • short story by Ian Rogers

Dancing Sober in the Dust • (2021) • short fiction by Steve Toase

Tiptoe • (2021) • novelette by Laird Barron

Poor Butcher-Bird • (2021) • short story by Gemma Files

The Hunt at Rotherdam • (2021) • short story by A. C. Wise

The Quizmasters • (2021) • short fiction by Gerard McKeown

Fox Girl • (2021) • poem by Lee Murray

Shuck • (2021) • short story by G. V. Anderson

Black Leg • (2021) • short fiction by Glen Hirshberg

Jack-in-the-Box • (2021) • novelette by Robin Furth

The Strathentine Imps • (2021) • short fiction by Steve Duffy

The God Bag • (2021) • short fiction by Christopher Golden

Caker's Man • (2021) • short fiction by Matthew Holness

The Offering • (2021) • short fiction by Michael Marshall Smith

The King of Stones • (2021) • short fiction by Simon Strantzas

From Ellen Datlow - "the venerable queen of horror anthologies" per the New York Times - comes a new entry in the series that has brought you thrilling stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, the best horror stories available.

For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the fifteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.