OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS FROM 2020

In previous volumes, I usually didn’t offer a recommended reads/honorable mentions list. Last year, with a new start with a new publisher I did include such a list. Because writers and readers expressed an appreciation of this, I’ve included one again this year.

These two hundred novellas and stories (and the thirty stories making up the contents) are a fraction of the hundreds of stories I read each year. I’m sure I invariably forget to include some good stories. Some stories slip through the cracks. Maybe my notes are inadequate. And, of course, I can’t read everything published. (Or even know it exists.) Please recognize these probable faults as you consider this list. One other warning: these are dark enough for me, but others may quibble they are not “dark enough.” Feh. It is my list.

Those with an asterisk (*) are highly recommended.

Novellas

Eugen Bacon, Ivory’s Story*

Yaroslav Barsukov, Tower of Mud and Straw

Aliette de Bodard, Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders

Georgina Bruce, Honeybones

Nino Cipri, Finna

P. Djèlí Clark, Ring Shout*

Jeffrey Ford, Out of Body

Lisa L. Hannett, “By Touch and by Glance” (Songs for Dark Seasons)

Stephen Graham Jones, Night of the Mannequins

Kathe Koja, “The Marble Lily” (Velocities: Stories)*

—, “Pas de Deux,” (Velocities: Stories)*

Sarah Langan, “You Have the Perfect Mask”(Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42)*

Seanan McGuire, Come Tumbling Down

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, “Ife-Iyoku, Tale of Imadeyunuagbon” (Dominion, eds. Ekpeki & knight)

Tochi Onyebuchi, Riot Baby*

K. J. Parker, Prosper’s Demon

Caitlin Starling, Yellow Jessamine

Nghi Vo, The Empress of Salt and Fortune*

—, When the Tiger Came Down from the Mountain*

Stories

Marc Abbott, “The Foreclosure” (Nightlight 309)

Nadia Afifi, “The Bahrain Underground Bazaar” (F&SF 11-12/20)

G. V. Anderson, “Hearts in the Hard Ground” (Tor.com 09/09/20)

Laura Diaz de Arce, “Frijoles” (Latinx Screams, eds. Castro & Pelayo)

Simon Avery, “The Black Paintings” (Black Static #75)

Laird Barron, “Ode to Joad the Toad” (Miscreations, eds. Murano & Bailey)

M. Bennardo, “The Ordeal” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #297)

Zabe Bent, “Sela, Thief” (Breathe Fiyah)

Sue Bentley, “Old God” (The Third Corona Book of Horror Stories, ed. Williams)

Simon Bestwick, “We All Come Home” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

Lindy Biller, “The Banquet” (Apparition Literary Magazine 09/24/20)

Aliette de Bodard, “The Inaccessibility of Heaven” (Uncanny #35)

—, “In the Lands of the Spill” (Avatars Inc, ed. VanderMeer)

Brooke Bolander, “Where the River Turns to Concrete” (The Book of Dragons, ed. Strahan)

Gregory Norman Bossert, “The Night Soil Salvagers” (Tor.com 06/24/20)

K.C. Mead Brewer, “The Angel Finger” (Craft 10/16/20)

Samantha Bryant, “His Destroyer” (Slay: Tales of the Vampire Noire, ed. Kurtz)

C. Buchanan, “The Wasp-Keeper’s Mother” (Kaleidotrope Summer 2020)

Nadia Bulkin, “Operations Other Than War” (Miscreations, eds. Murano & Bailey)

Christopher Caldwell, “If Salt Lose Its Savor” (Uncanny #33)

Isabel Cañas, “Silver As the Devil’s Necklace” (PseudoPod 723)

Rebecca Campbell, “Child of Shower and Gleam” (Shadows & Tall Trees 8, ed. Kelly)

—, “Thank You For Your Patience” (Reckoning #4)*

Rae Carson, “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse” (Uncanny #32)*

L Chan, “Carving You Out of Memory” (Black Telephone Magazine #1)

Vajra Chandrasekera, “The Translator, at Low Tide” (Clarkesworld #164)

Kay Chronister, “Too Lonely, Too Wild” (Shadows & Tall Trees 8, ed. Kelly)

—, “White Throat Holler” (Thin Places)

Nino Cipri, “Velvet” (Baffling #1)

L. Clark, “Forgive Me, My Love, for the Ice and the Sea” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #296)

ZZ Claybourne, “The Air in My House Tastes Like Sugar” (GigaNotoSaurus 03/01/20)

Ray Cluley, “In the Wake of My Father” (Black Static #74)

Albert E. Cowdrey, “Falling Angel” (F&SF 01-02/20)

—, “The Tale of Two Witches” (F&SF 11-12/20)

Leah Cypess, “Stepsister” (F&SF 05-06/20)

Gillian Daniels, “Bobbie and Her Father” (The Dark #63)

Kristi DeMeester, “Sleeping in Metal and Bone” (The Dark #60)

Anya Johanna DeNiro, “A Voyage to Queensthroat” (Strange Horizons 08/10/20)

W. C. Dunlap, “The Front Line” (Breathe Fiyah)

Malon Edwards, “All the Horrors, and the Hope You’ll Make Them Right” (Eyedolon 10/01/20)

Erin Eisenhour, “The Black-Eyed Goddess of Apple Trees and Farmer’s Wives” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 07/16/20)*

Meg Elison, “Familiar Face” (Nightmare #88)

—, “The Pill” (Big Girl)

Corey Farrenkopf, “What Friends Don’t Tell Friends About Basements” (Bourbon Penn #22)

Casilda Ferrante, “My Brother’s Keeper”(Unsung Stories 07/10/20)

Paul Finch, “Branch Line” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

Gemma Files, “Cut Frame” (Final Cuts, ed. Datlow)

—, “Come Closer” (In That Endlessness, Our End)

Geneve Flynn, “Little Worm” (Black Cranes, eds. Murray & Flynn)

Vanessa Fogg, “The Breaking” (Mithila Review 15)*

Ephiny Gale, “The Candle Queen” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #295)

Ozzie M. Gartrell, “The Transition of Osoosi” (Fiyah #13)

John Gaskin, “The Gathering” (Strange Tales: Tartarus Press at 30, ed. Parker)

Richard Gavin, “Scold’s Bridle: A Cruelty” (Grotesquerie)

Craig Laurance Gidney, “Myth and Moor” (Evil in Technicolor, ed. McDermott)

Elana Gomel, “Mine Seven” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

Sergio Gomez, “Come, Play” (Latinx Screams, eds. Castro & Pelayo)

J.T. Greathouse, “The Gwyddien and the Raven Fiend” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #316)

Dicey Grenor, “Diary of a Mad Black Vampire” (SLAY: Tales of the Vampire Noire, ed. Kurtz)

Orrin Grey, “The All-Night Horror Show” (The Dark #58)

Thomas Ha, “Balloon Season” (Fusion Fragment #3)

John Haas, “The Debt” (The Third Corona Book of Horror Stories, ed. Williams)

Lisa L. Hannett, “Deep in the Drift, Spinning” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #312)

—, “A Grand Old Life” (Songs for Dark Seasons)

Lucie McKnight Hardy, “Resting Bitch Face” (Black Static #76)

Nin Harris “When Hope Is Lost, Touch Remains” (Podcastle 620)*

V. G. Harrison, “Message in a Vessel” (SLAY: Tales of the Vampire Noire, ed. Kurtz)

Alix E. Harrow, “The Ransom of Miss Coraline Connelly” (Fireside 7/20)

Maria Haskins, “Cleaver, Meat, and Block” (Black Static #73)*

Grady Hendrix, “Murder Board” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

Katherine L. Hester, “Bunting” (Bracken #7)

Karen Heuler, “The Constant Lover” (Conjunctions:74)

Crystal Lynn Hilbert, “To Inherit Hunger”(Bourbon Penn 21)

Millie Ho, “The Fenghuang” (Lightspeed #120)

—, “A Moonlit Savagery” (Nightmare #9)

Brian Hodge, “Insanity Among Penguins” (Final Cuts, ed. Datlow)

Liam Hogan, “Amy’s Game” (34 Orchard #2)

Amanda Hollander, “A Feast of Butterflies” (F&SF 03-04/20)

Kat Howard, “The Lachrymist” (Lightspeed #126)

Claire Humphrey, “We Are the Flower”(Podcastle #627)

Andrew Michael Hurley, “Hunger” (Strange Tales: Tartarus Press at 30, ed. Parker)

Alledria Hurt, “Ujim” (Slay: Tales of the Vampire Noire, ed. Kurtz)

Kathleen Jennings. “The Present Only Toucheth Thee” (Strange Horizons 06/08/20)

Stephen Graham Jones, “Lords of the Matinee (Final Cuts, ed. Datlow)

Eygló Karlsdóttir, “Footprints in the Snow” (The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors, Vol. 2, eds. Coleborn & Edwards)

James Patrick Kelly, “The Man I Love”(F&SF 03-04/20)*

Michael Kelly, “The Other Side” (Unsung Stories 07/24/20)

Christopher Kenworthy, “Shattering” (Black Static #74)

Justin C. key, “One Hand in the Coffin” (Strange Horizons 01/20/20)

Cassandra Khaw, “Hungry Girls” (Final Cuts, ed. Datlow)

Caitlín Kiernan, “Seven Dreams,” (Sirenia Digest #167)

—, “L’hommes et la femme terribles” (Sirenia Digest #176)

T. Kingfisher, “Metal Like Blood in the Dark” (Uncanny #36)

Nicole Kornher-Stace, “Getaway” (Uncanny #33)

John Langan, “Alice’s Rebellion” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

Gabriela Lee, “Rites of Passage” (Black Cranes, eds. Murray & Flynn)

Stina Leicht, “Forgiveness Is Warm Like A Tear On The Cheek” (Evil in Technicolor, ed. McDermott)

Jennifer Lewis, “Holy Communion” (Entropy Magazine 03/05/20)

Darcie Little Badger, “Unlike Most Tides” (Drabblecast #425)

Allison Littlewood, “Hungry Ghosts” (Shadows & Tall Trees 8, ed. Kelly)

K. R. S. McEntire, Encounters (SLAY: Tales of the Vampire Noire, ed. Kurtz)

Dafydd Mckimm, “Gingerbread” (Flash Fiction Online 03/20)

Clara Madrigano, “Driving With Ghosts” (The Dark #60)

—, “Mother Love” (The Dark #56)

—, “Lost in Darkness and Distance” (Clarkesworld #170)*

Emma Maguire, “Under the Corn” (Verity La 06/01/20)

Lyndsie Manusos “How to Burn Down the Hinterlands” (F&SF 11-12/20)

Melissa Marr, “Of Roses and kings” (Tor.com 04/27/20)

Arkady Martine, “A Being Together Amongst Strangers” (Uncanny #34)

Rosemary Melchior, “Salt” (Luna Station Quarterly 041)

Rati Mehrotra, “The Witch Speaks” (Lightspeed Magazine #119)

Samantha Mills, “The Limits of Magic” (Apparition Literary Magazine #11)

Michael Milne, “The Bone Gifts” (Glitter and Ashes, ed. Ring)

Lee Murray, “Phoenix Claws” (Black Cranes, eds. Murray & Flynn)

Ray Nayler, Eyes of the Forest (F&SF 05-06/20)*

—, “Outside of Omaha” (Nightmare #96)

David Erik Nelson, “All Hail the Pizza King and Bless His Reign Eternal” (F&SF 07-08/20)

Mari Ness, “The Ruby of the Summer King” (Uncanny #35)*

Dimitra Nikolaidou, “The Honey of the World and the Queen of Crows” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #304)

Thana Niveau, “Bokeh” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

—, “The Hate Whisperer” (The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors, Vol. 2, eds. Coleborn & Edwards)

Christi Nogle, “Resilience” (Pseudopod 704)*

Errick Nunnally, “Uniform” (Fiyah #14)

Aimee Ogden, “Buttercream and Broken Wings” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #307)

—, “More Than Simple Steel” (Escape Pod 751)

L’Erin Ogle, “Memories Written in Scars” (Consumed: Tales Inspired by the Wendigo, eds. Snider & Snider)

Reggie Oliver, “Collectable” (Strange Tales: Tartarus Press at 30, ed. Parker)

Nancy O’Toole, “Gretel” (Luna Station Quarterly 018)

Suzan Palumbo, “Tara’s Mother’s Skin” (PseudoPod 718)

Sarah Pinsker, “Two Truths and a Lie” (Tor.com 06/17/20)

Rhonda Pressley, “Fatal Memory” (Black Static #76)

Laura Purcell, “Creeping Ivy” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

Chen Qiufan, “Debtless,” trans. Blake Stone-Banks (Clarkesworld #163)

Jenny Rae Rappaport, “Girls with Needles and Frost” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #315)

Nicasio Andres Reed, “Body, Remember” (Fireside 10/20)

Endria Isa Richardson, “The Black Menagerie” (Fiyah #15)

Ranylt Richildis, “The Stitch Beneath the Ice” (Strange Horizons 07/20/20)

M. Rickert, “The Little Witch” (Tor.com 10/28/20)*

Karlo Yeager Rodriguez, “As the Shore to the Tides, So Blood Calls to Blood” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #301)

Josh Rountree, “February Moon” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #303)

Carlie St. George, “Monsters Never Leave You” (Strange Horizons 06/29/20)

—,“Spider Season, Fire Season” (Nightmare #94)

Shannon Sanders, “Company” (Strange Horizons 02/10/20)

Jason Sanford, “Where the World Ends Without Us” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #299)

Yah Yah Scholfield, “All That the Storm Took” (Fiyah #13)

Nibedita Sen, “Mandragora” (Fireside 03/20)*

Angela Slatter, “The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners” (The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners & Other Stories)

“New Wine” (Cursed, eds. Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane)

“The Three Burdens of Nest Wynne” (Strange Tales: Tartarus Press at 30, ed. Rosalie Parker)

Michael Marshall Smith, “It Doesn’t Feel Right” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)*

David Tallerman, “Not Us” (Nightmare #97)

Steve Rasnic Tem, “Sleepwalking with Angels” (Shadows & Tall Trees)

“The Walls Are Trembling” (Apostles of the Weird, ed. Joshi)

Natalia Theodoridou, “Georgie in the Sun” (Uncanny #33)

Sheree Renée Thomas, “Head Static” (Nine Bar Blues)*

—, “Madame and the Map: A Journey in Five Movements” (Nine Bar Blues)*

—, “The Parts That Make Us Monsters” (Strange Horizons: Fund Drive Issue)

Vincent Tirado, “Your Name Is Oblivia” (Fiyah #15)

E. Catherine Tobler, “Blue Hole, Red Sea” (Evil in Technicolor, ed. McDermott)*

—, “True In His Fashion” (Three-Lobed Burning Eye #31)

Eugenia Triantafyllou, “My Country Is a Ghost” (Uncanny #32)

Tlotlo Tsamaase, “The River of Night” (The Dark #66)

L. Tu, “If You Want to Erase Us, You Must Be Thorough” (Uncanny #33)

J. Tudor, “Final Course” (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3)

Christine Tyler, “My Sister’s Wings Are Red” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #298)

Stephen volk, “Agog” (The Dark #62)

—, “The Naughty Step” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)

Tim Waggoner, “The White Road” (The Horror Zine’s Book of Ghost Stories, eds. Rector & Wild)

Wendy N. Wagner, “The Smell of Night In the Basement” (PseudoPod 730)

Damien Angelica Walters, “A Perfect Hunger, a Certain Rage” (Eyedolon 01/31/20)

Catriona Ward, “A Hotel in Germany” (After Sundown, ed. Morris)*

Karron Warren, “Three Rooms, with Heliotrope” (Tales of the Lost II, eds. Johnson & Dillon)

Michael Wehunt, “A Heart Arrhythmia Creeping Into a Dark Room” (Miscreations, eds. Murano & Bailey)

Martha Wells, “The Salt Witch” (Uncanny #37)*

Neil Williamson, “Down to the Roots” (Shadows & Tall Trees 8, ed. Kelly)

A. C. Wise, “Exhalation #10 (Final Cuts, ed. Datlow)*

“Teeth Long and Sharp as Blades” (PseudoPod #728)

“A Thousand Faces Minus One” (Evil in Technicolor, ed. McDermott)

Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, “Bring the Bones That Sing” (Diabolical Plots #65B)

Claire Wrenwood, “Dead Girls Have No Names” (Nightmare #95)