SUMMATION 2021

Here are 2021’s numbers: There are twenty-three stories and novelettes, and one poem in this volume. The story lengths range from 550 words (actually shorter, as two pieces are combined) to 10,200 words. There are seven stories and one poem by women and sixteen stories by men. One contributor has two stories in the book. Nine stories are by contributors living in the United States, three in Canada, one in New Zealand, six in the United Kingdom, one in Estonia, one in Germany, one in Australia, and one in Northern Ireland. Nine of the contributors have never before been published in any volume of my Best of the Year series.

AWARDS

The Horror Writers Association announced the 2020 Bram Stoker Awards® winners on a YouTube Live presentation May 22, 2021—after Stokercon’s in-person convention, scheduled to take place in Denver, Colorado, May 20–23, was changed to virtual as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Superior Achievement in a Novel: Stephen Graham Jones: The Only Good Indians (Gallery/Saga Press); Superior Achievement in a First Novel: EV Knight: The Fourth Whore (Raw Dog Screaming Press); Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel: Nancy Holder (author), Chiara Di Francia (artist), Amelia Woo (artist), Laurie Foster (inker), Sandra Molina (colorist), and Saida Temofonte (letterer): Mary Shelley Presents (Kymera Press); Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare (HarperTeen); Superior Achievement in Long Fiction: Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones (A Tor.com Book); Superior Achievement in Short Fiction: “One Last Transformation” by Josh Malerman (Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors) (Written Backwards); Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection: Grotesque: Monster Stories by Lee Murray (Things in the Well): Superior Achievement in a Screenplay: The Invisible Man by Leigh Whannell (Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Goalpost Pictures, Nervous Tick Productions); Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection: A Collection of Dreamscapes by Christina Sng (Raw Dog Screaming Press); Superior Achievement in an Anthology: Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women by Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn (Omnium Gatherum); Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction: Writing in the Dark by Tim Waggoner (Guide Dog Books/Raw Dog Screaming Press); Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction: “Speaking of Horror” by Tim Waggoner (The Writer).

The Life Achievement Award: Carol J. Clover, Jewelle Gomez, Marge Simon

The Silver Hammer Award: Carina Bissett, Brian W. Matthews

The Mentor of the Year Award: Angela Yuriko Smith

The Richard Laymon President’s Award: Becky Spratford

The Specialty Press Award: Crystal Lake Publishing

The 2020 Shirley Jackson Awards, usually presented in person at Readercon in Quincy, Massachusetts were instead given on Sunday, August 15, 2021, in a pre-recorded ceremony as part of Readercon 31. The jurors were Aaron Dries, Chikodili Emelumadu, Joshua Gaylord, Tonia Ransom, Mary SanGiovanni.

The winners were: Novel: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (Gallery/Saga Press); Novella: Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones (A Tor.com Book); Novelette: The Attic Tragedy by J. Ashley- Smith (Meerkat Press); Short Fiction: “Not the Man I Married” by R. A. Busby (Black Petals Issue #93 Autumn, 2020); Single Author Collection: Velocities: Stories by Kathe Koja (Meerkat Press); Edited Anthology: Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, edited by Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn (Omnium Gatherum).

The World Fantasy Awards were presented in Montreal, Canada, on Sunday, November 7, 2021. The judges were Tobias Buckell, Siobhan Carroll, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Brian Evenson, Patrick Swenson.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards: Megan Lindholm and Howard Waldrop

Novel: Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Tor); Novella: Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (A Tor.com Book); Short Fiction: “Glass Bottle Dancer by Celeste Rita Baker (Lightspeed, April 2020); Anthology: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (Vintage Books); Collection: Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoka Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton (Soft Skull Press US/Tilted Axis UK); Artist: Rovina Cai; Special Award—Professional: C.C. Finlay for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, editing; Special Award: Non-Professional: Brian Attebery for Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.

NOTABLE NOVELS OF 2021

Later by Stephen King (Hard Case Crime) is the first novel I’ve read by King in some time, and I love it. It’s engaging, brisk, chilling, and moving. A boy is blessed (or cursed) with the power to see the recently dead and communicate with them, causing trouble and trauma as he learns to deal with the power it gives him.

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press) is a magnificent novel about Jade, an unhappy young woman about to turn eighteen, living in a working-class community along a lake that’s threatened by the rich families who have developed their own community across that lake. Jade is obsessed with slasher movies. She relates everything in her life to slashers and she believes that a slasher has been revivified in classic slasher fashion to wreak vengeance on those who wronged them. And she knows exactly who will be the final girl in this real life drama. Jade’s voice is one of the best things about the book.

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon (Scout Press) is an engrossing novel about a social worker who returns home to a small town in Vermont after her beloved but estranged sister drowns in the family pool. The pool is fed by a spring rumored to have both healing powers and a curse. Switching back and forth between 1929 and 2019 the reader discovers the problematic history of the spring.

The Burning Girls by C. J. Tudor (Ballantine Books) is a suspenseful supernatural/crime novel about a troubled, single-parent Vicar who is reassigned from Nottingham, England to a small town, after the previous Vicar hanged himself. The new Vicar is accompanied by her fourteen-year-old daughter. The village is known for its tradition of commemorating the burning of Protestant martyrs five hundred years before, and the disappearance of two young girls thirty years previous to the novel’s beginning. The teenager begins to see ghosts of girls burning, and her mother receives threatening notes and effigies of twigs representing the burning girls. Secrets abound, and several really good twists.

Near the Bone by Christina Henry (Berkley) is a powerful mix of supernatural and psychological horror. A young woman lives on a mountain with a brutal, possessive man who totally dominates her every action. Things rapidly change when the woman discovers a mutilated fox near their cabin, heralding the existence of something they’d never encountered before—a monster. In addition, three strangers show up, challenging everything the young woman had believed to be true.

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten translated by Alexandra Fleming (Minotaur) is an unsettling first novel translated from the Swedish. A young documentary filmmaker is haunted by the mystery of a mining town in which the entire population disappeared overnight, sixty years previously, except for one woman stoned to death, and a baby. Even though some of the details seem a bit far-fetched once the spell of the book has worn off, it’s a very good read.

King Bullet by Richard Kadrey (HarperVoyager) is the final volume of the terrifically entertaining and popular Sandman Slim series of dark urban fantasy about James Stark, a Nephilim (part angel, part human) who is forced to fight monsters in Hell and then escapes to Los Angeles. A dangerous virus is running rampant and King Bullet, a new villain, has come to town to wreak havoc on the city, the world, and all of Stark’s friends and loved ones. And it seems as if it might be personal.

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (Serpent’s Tale) is a fascinating, complex tale about a recluse who is obviously mentally ill, a girl, and a cat. A wild card is added when the sister of an abducted child believes she has found her sister’s abductor eleven years later.

Madam by Phoebe Wynne (St. Martin’s Press) initially seems like your traditional plot of a heroine going to teach in a private school and becoming caught up in intrigue. While that certainly does happen, the more one learns of this venerable institution for young women hidden away in the Scottish Highlands, the more ghastly and terrifying and threatening to the protagonist the events become.

Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar (Gallery Press) is a fascinating look at a serial killer terrorizing a small town. Told in first person by journalist and horror writer Chizmar, the reader is kept off-guard as to whether the novel is based on real events or not. A suspenseful, emotionally resonant look at small town life and the impact of horrible events on the inhabitants.

Tidepool by Nicole Willson (Parliament) is an entertaining gothic with tentacles. Young woman goes to the small town where her beloved brother vanished while attempting to persuade the town to allow development by their business-minded family. What secrets are the townspeople hiding and why?

Whitesands by Jóhann Thorsson (Headshot Books) is a powerful debut thriller about a detective—broken by the disappearance of his daughter— who returns to duty after two years, facing a gruesome domestic murder that erupts into utter strangeness.

Rovers by Richard Lange (Mulholland Books) is a well-executed, supernatural western revenge drama about two vampire brothers making their way across the American west in the ’70s, a brutal vampire biker gang calling themselves the Fiends, and a bereaved human father searching for his son’s killers.

Come With Me by Ronald Malfi (Titan Books) is a terrific crime novel with hints of the supernatural about a man whose wife is killed in a random shooting. Once she’s gone, he finds a motel receipt among her belongings that hints at secrets that she kept from him. A very well-written page-turner.

Revelator by Daryl Gregory (Knopf) is a terrific novel taking place in the mountains of Appalachia, where a family’s females commune with their personal god and and what happens when one daughter turns her back on her responsibilities. It’s also about moonshine, government buyouts, paternalistic men, and strong women.

ALSO NOTED

The Girls Are So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (Simon & Schuster) is about two former friends returning to a college reunion and being sent increasingly threatening messages calling them to task for something they did their freshman year, ten years earlier. The Second Bell by Gabriela Houston (Angry Robot) is about a girl in an isolated community born with two hearts, thus branded a striga (witch) and ostracized. Her mother works to protect her, but upon becoming an adult, the girl rebels. Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé (Akashic) is about a Washington, DC taxi driver with a ghost in her trunk, and who is herself haunted by the murder of her twin brother. The Birds by Frank Baker (Valancourt Books) is a novel written in 1936, and was relatively unknown before Alfred Hitchcock’s film. The author threatened to sue. This is the first edition with hundreds of changes and corrections by the author. With an introduction by Hitchcock scholar Ken Mogg. All the Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter (Titan Books) is a fine dark fantasy about a young woman, one of the last members of a prosperous family whose deal with the mer entailed sacrificing one child per generation to the sea in exchange for keeping their ships safe. Familial secrets and lush writing make this dark fairy tale a total success. The Cottingley Cuckoo by AJ Elwood (Titan Books) is a dark tale about a care worker beguiled by a manipulative resident at the facility in which she works. It’s clever and sinister and speaks to a longing for magic. Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper (Strangehouse Books) is an sf/horror novel about a woman who develops a vagina dentata, possibly as a result of experimentation by a powerful pharmaceutical company when she was still in the womb. The Queen of the Cicadas by V. Castro (Flame Tree Publishing) is about the aftermath of the brutal murder of a Mexican farmworker in 1950s Texas. A wedding is set to take place on the farm where the atrocity took place, setting in motion a series of events that awakens an Aztec queen who seeks more than revenge. Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi (Earthling Publications) is about what happens at a remote Pennsylvania orphanage at the turn of the twentieth century when a group of men arrive and their presence corrupts the young inhabitants. Darling by K. Ancrum (Macmillan) is a young adult, dark retelling of Peter Pan, with Wendy being spirited away by Peter to Chicago. Wendy, Darling by A. C. Wise (Titan Books) is another dark retelling of Peter Pan, this one for adults, in which Peter takes Jane, Wendy’s daughter, to Neverland. Somebody’s Voice by Ramsey Campbell (Flame Tree Publishing) is a psychological horror novel about a true crime writer, who after ghostwriting the memoir of an abuse survivor, begins to realize that his subject’s memories may not be accurate. Children of Demeter by E. V. Knight (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is about a sociologist who investigates the mysterious disappearance in 1973 of almost twenty-five women and children from a hippie commune. Lincolnstein by Paul Witcover (PS Publishing) is about the assassinated Abraham Lincoln, brought back to life by a forgotten technology in order to finish his presidential agenda. But the resurrected Lincoln has his own agenda. Dream Girl by Laura Lippman (William Morrow) is about a novelist, who after an accident, is confined to a hospital bed and receives a call from a woman who claims to be the protagonist of his most successful novel. Is she real, is he under the influence of the drugs he’s been given—or is he developing dementia? A Still and Awful Red by Michael Howarth (Trepidatio Publishing) is about a young girl living in Hungary, who in 1609 goes to work in the castle of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory. In The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell (Penguin Random House), a Victorian silhouette artist living in Bath, England is shocked to realize that several of her former clients have been murdered, and is determined to discover why. Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone (Scribner) is a thriller about twins with dark secrets. Cat refuses to believe her estranged twin sister El has drowned while sailing, and returns to the home in Scotland where they grew up and where El and her husband Ross moved back to. The Unwelcome by Jacob Steven Mohr (Cosmic Egg Books) is about a women haunted by her abusive ex-boyfriend and estranged from most of her friends. When she joins some of them at a secluded cabin in an attempt to reconcile, the ex follows. In Darkness, Shadows Breathe by Catherine Cavendish (Flame Tree Publishing) is a gothic about two women haunted by the same entity, and who are drawn back and forth from the past to the present. When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen (HarperPerennial) is about a black woman’s return—after ten years—to the small Southern town in which she grew up and left because of a traumatic experience at a haunted plantation where horrific acts were committed. Ghost Finders by Adam McOmber (JournalStone Publishing) is about an Edwardian agency of ghost finders who investigate ghosts and other types of supernatural phenomena, often putting themselves in danger. Blue Hell by Greg F. Gifune and Sandy DeLuca (JournalStone Publishing) is a short novel about two people who end up in a mysterious apartment building that serves as a halfway house for the lost and desperate. The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate and translated by David Bowles (Innsmouth Free Press) is a retelling of Dracula by a Mexican writer. Originally published in 1998 in Spanish, this is its first English publication. With an essay by Poppy Z. Brite. Revival Road by Chris DiLeo (Bloodshot Books) takes place in a suburban town where a dead child wakes up in the morgue and a religion-obsessed neighbor is convinced it’s God’s work, while others are equally convinced it’s evil. Midnight in the Chapel of Love by Matthew R. Davis (JournalStone Publishing) is about a man who thought he escaped from the dark secrets of the town he grew up in, but is forced to reckon with them upon his return for his father’s funeral. Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo (Polis Agora) is a modern retelling of the pied piper, that opens with the discover of three brutally murdered teenagers in a Chicago park. One of the detectives brought in recognizes similarities to her sister’s murder years before. Bela Lugosi’s Dead by Robert Guffey (Macabre Ink) is about a horror movie aficionado’s obsessive search for a legendary test reel of Bela Lugosi auditioning for Frankenstein, which became one of Boris Karloff’s most iconic roles. Mr. Cannyharme by Michael Shea (Hippocampus Press) is a never before published adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Hound,” written by Shea in 1981. Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman (Quirk Books) is about a man who has re-invented himself after he was accused of awful deeds during the “satanic panic” thirty years before. Shutter by Melissa Larsen (Penguin Random House) is a debut about a young woman, who, thrown for a loop by the death of her father, moves to New York and is given a unique opportunity to be in an indie film that will shoot in a cabin on a private island off the coast of Maine. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (Berkley) is a humorous horror novel about six survivors of a massacre who meet with a therapist for more than a decade. Then, one of them misses a meeting. Infinity Dreams by Glen Hirshberg (Cemetery Dance Publications) is a novel in stories about a couple who gather mysterious things for clients with esoteric tastes. Now retired and living in isolation, they are approached by a young journalist for an interview. My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa (Berkley) is a dark thriller about a Sri-Lankan-American woman who searches for the killer of her roommate while preserving her own secrets. The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig (Del Rey) is an sf/ horror novel about a couple who grew up in Pennsylvania coal country and left. However, when they return with their son, dark magic begins to infuse his soul, endangering him and everyone else. Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan (Atria) is about harrowing events taking place in suburbia in the near future, as seemingly normal families turn on each other at the drop of a hat. The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling (St. Martin’s Press) is a gothic horror story taking place in post-WWII England. A woman enters into a marriage of convenience with a respected doctor, calculating that it’s the only way she can continue to remain independent and work, as she wants. But she soon realizes that there are secrets being kept from her. Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan (Flat Iron) is a dark thriller debut that begins with the discovery of sixteen horse heads on a farm. A veterinary forensic expert and a local detective race to find out what’s going on as strange and deadly incidents continue to pile up. Billy Summers by Stephen King (Scribner) is a thriller about a topnotch hitman who only kills bad guys, but now wants out. However, he has one more job he needs to finish. Red X by David Demchuk (Strange Light) is a dark novel about the disappearances of vulnerable men from Toronto’s gay village, and an investigation into a pattern that seems to be impossible in its longevity. Closing Costs by Bracken MacLeod (HMH) is a suspense novel about a couple, who soon after moving into their dream home are faced with a home invasion that threatens to unravel their secrets, as well as their lives. Reprieve by James Han Mattson (William Morrow) is about four contestants who seek to win a cash prize if they can endure the “horrors” of a full-contact escape room. A man breaks in and kills one of them. Cracker Jack by Asher Ellis (Bloodshot Books) is about a master safe cracker, who is forced to come out of retirement in order to pay medical bills for his stepson. The safe he’s committed to cracking has something locked in it other than money—something dangerous. Getaway by Zoje Stage (Mulholland Books) is dark thriller about two sisters and a friend with whom they’ve lost touch, who go backpacking in the Grand Canyon for a week to rekindle their friendship. Then their supplies start to disappear.

MAGAZINES, JOURNALS, AND WEBZINES

It’s important to recognize the work of the talented artists working in the field of fantastic fiction, both dark and light. The following created dark art that I thought especially noteworthy in 2021: George Cotronis, Jessica Fong, David Ho, Adrian Borda, Paul Lowe, Vincent Chong, Tomislav Tikulin, Olga Beliaeva, Stefan Koidl, Serge N. Kozintsev, Giuseppe Balestra, Danielle Harker, Randy Broecker, Afarin Sajedi, Nikolina Petolas, Tod Ryan, Harry O. Morris, Dan Quintana, Jana Heidersdorf, Armando Veve, Ksenia Korniewska, Richard Wagner, Paul (Mutartis) Boswell, Kim Jakobsson, Jason Van Hollander, Rohama Malik, Omar Gilani, Kealan Patrick Burke, Lynne Hansen, Colin Verdi, Ryan Lee, Dave Wachter, Dan Sauer, Kathleen Jennings, and Ben Baldwin.

Rue Morgue edited by Andrea Subissati is a reliable, entertaining Canadian non-fiction magazine for horror movie aficionados, with up-to-date information on most of the horror films being released. The magazine also includes interviews, articles, and gory movie stills, along with regular columns on books, horror music, video games, and graphic novels.

Dead Reckonings: A Review of Horror and the Weird in the Arts edited by Alex Houstoun and Michael J. Abolafia published two excellent issues in 2021, both filled with reviews, commentaries, and essays about prose works, music, and movies.

The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural, and Fantastic Literature edited by Brian J. Showers is an excellent resource for discovering underappreciated Irish writers. Two issues were published in 2021. Issue 17 is made up entirely of fiction and poetry by Oscar Wilde, Katharine Tynan, and others. Issue 18 contains a selection of profiles from The Guide to Irish Writers of Gothic, Supernatural and Fantastic Literature. It also included a profile of the great illustrator Harry Clarke, whose most famous work might be the illustrations for Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe.

Lovecraft Annual edited by S. T. Joshi is a must for those interested in Lovecraftian studies. The 2021 volume includes wide-ranging essays about the author’s work, life, and philosophies plus book reviews.

The Dark edited by Sean Wallace is a monthly webzine that publishes dark fantasy and horror. In 2021 there were notable dark stories by Dey Rupsa, Clara Madrigano, Carlie St. George, Gabriela Santiago, Dare Segun Falowo, Frances Ogamba, Hannah Yang, Eliot Fintushel, Aimee Ogden, Octavia Cade, Ifeanyichukwu Peter Eze, Carrie Laben, Kay Chronister, Suzan Palumbo, David Tallerman, H. Pueyo, Y. M. Pang, Ernest O. Ògúnyęmí, Matthew Cheney, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Jelena Dunato.

Not One of Us edited by John Benson is one of the longest-running small press magazines publishing horror. It just changed from publishing fifty-two pages twice a year to a quarterly schedule with thirty-two pages in each issue, and contains weird and dark fiction and poetry. There were notable stories and poetry in 2021 by Michael Kelly, Andrin Albrecht, Colin Sinclair, Mary Crosbie, Patrick Barb, Sydney Sackett, Francesca Forrest, Jennifer Crow, William H. Wandless, and Steve Toase.

Black Static edited by Andy Cox published two double issues in 2021, as the publisher winds down the magazine. There were no reviews or columns in the first double issue but notable stories by Stephen Bacon, C. R. Foster, Neil Williamson, Jo Kaplan, Tyler Keevil, Zandra Renwick, Ashley Stokes, Rhonda Pressley Veit, C. R. Foster, Mike O’Driscoll, Alexander Glass, and Sarah Lamparelli. The Lamparelli is reprinted herein.

Corridor edited by Christian Sager is a welcome entry into the print realm of horror magazines. The first issue has five stories, six graphic stories, and a couple of essays. It looks good, but I’m not convinced the oversized format works—it’s a bit cumbersome. I was especially impressed by the stories by Nadia Bulkin, Kristi DeMeester, Corinna Bechko, and Christian Sager.

Southwest Review Volume 106 Number 3, Autumn celebrated Halloween with an issue guest edited by Andy Davidson, full of dark fiction and poetry. There was notable fiction and poetry by Sara Tantlinger, Joe R. Lansdale, Clay McLeod Chapman, Keith Rosson, Kristin Cleaveland, John Horner Jacobs, Ingrid L. Taylor, Matthew Lyons, Nadia Bulkin, Peter Adam Salomon, and Gus Moreno.

Supernatural Tales edited by David Longhorn has long been a reliable venue for interesting short stories. This year was no different, with notable work in its three issues by Jane Jakeman, Carole Tyrell, Clint Smith, Katherine Haynes, Stephen Cashmore, Sam Dawson, Kathy Hubbard, Victoria Day, Michael Chislett, Peter Kenny, Jon Barron, Tim Jeffreys, and Mark Nicholls.

Nightmare edited by Wendy N. Wagner is a monthly webzine of horror and dark fantasy. It publishes stories, articles, interviews, book reviews, and an artists’ showcase. There was notable short fiction in 2021 by Stephen Graham Jones, Adam-Troy Castro, Maria Dahvana Headley, Orrin Grey, Desirina Boskovich, Flo and John Stanton, Sam J. Miller, Steph Kwiatowski, Marc Laidlaw, Eileen Gunnell Lee, Gordon B. White, Ben Peek, Stephanie M. Wytovich, A.T Greenblatt, Gillian Daniels, Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas, Michael Kelly, Ally Wilkes, B. Narr, Laur A. Freymiller, Juliana Baggott, Joanna Parypinski, E. A. Petricone, and Donyae Coles.

Weird Horror edited by Michael Kelly published two issues, with regular columns by Simon Strantzas and Orrin Grey, book and movie reviews, and fiction. During 2021, there were notable stories by Joan Mark, Kristina Ten, Gordon B. White, Saswati Chatterjee, Donyae Coles, Josh Rountree, Theresa DeLucci, and Jack Lothian.

The Horror Zine edited by Jeani Rector is a monthly EZine that has been publishing online for twelve years. It features fiction, poetry, art, news, and reviews. Each issue include reprints by well-known writers with new stories by newcomers. There was a notable story by Garrett Rowlan.

Dread Imaginings edited by Bill Hughes was a website featuring fiction. It closed April 2022, but during 2021 there was notable fiction by Barbara Brockway, Catherine Luker, Lena Ng, and Kristina Ten.

Two podcasts regularly publish horror: Pseudopod edited by Shawn Garrett and Alex Hofelich, and hosted by Alasdair Stewart is a weekly show that’s been broadcasting readings of original and reprinted stories since 2006. Tales to Terrify is another weekly. It’s been broadcasting readings of originals and reprints since 2012 and is hosted and produced by Drew Sebesteny.

MIXED-GENRE MAGAZINES AND WEBZINES

Uncanny edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas is a monthly webzine publishing fantasy, speculative, weird fiction, and occasionally horror. It also includes poetry, podcasts, interviews, essays, and art in the mix. In 2021 there were notable dark stories by Eugenia Triantafyllou, Tananarive Due, Sam J. Miller, John Wiswell, and Fran Wilde. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction edited by Sheree Renée Thomas is one of the longest running sf/f/h magazines in existence. Although it mostly publishes science fiction and fantasy (with non-fiction columns and book reviews), it also publishes very good horror. During 2021, the strongest horror stories and poetry were by Alan Dean Foster, Rob Costello, Lora Gray, Robin Furth, Natalia Theodoridou, K.A. Teryna, T. R. Napper, and Jenn Reese. The Furth is reprinted herein. Bourbon Penn edited by Erik Secker is one of the best, regularly published small press magazines, mixing horror, sf, and weird fiction. It’s supported by a Patreon and is well worth the investment. The best horror stories in the three 2021 issues are by Simon Strantzas, Louis Evans, Hamdy Elgammal, William Jablonsky, A. C. Wise, Charles Wilkinson, Chelsea Sutton, and Anthony Panegyres. The Wise is reprinted herein. Underland Arcana edited by Mark Teppo is an interesting new quarterly webzine/magazine of weird fiction, much of it dark. In its first year it published notable dark fiction by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Rebecca Ruvinsky, Louis Evans, Jonathan Raab, Jon McGoran, Nathan Batchelor, Lexi Peréz, Tori Fredrick, H. L. Fullerton, Jon Lasser, Christopher Hawkins, Josh Rountree, W. T. Paterson, Vera Hadzic, J. A. W. McCarthy, and Forrest Aguirre. The Deadlands: A Journal of Endings and Beginnings edited by Sean Markey is a new monthly magazine of speculative fiction, poems, and some horror essays. In 2021, there was notable dark work by Patrick Lofgren, G. V. Anderson, Natalia Theodoridou, and Jordan Taylor. The Anderson is reprinted herein. Weirdbook edited by Doug Draa published one issue in 2021. It served up a generous helping of prose and poetry, although there’s usually more dark fantasy than horror. There was notable horror by Jan Edwards, Stefano Frigieri, Tim Curran, Chad Hensley, and Kyla Ward. Vastarien: A Literary Journal edited by Jon Padgett is a weird and dark fiction and non-fiction enterprise taking inspiration from the writings of Thomas Ligotti. There were two issues published in 2021 with hefty helpings of fiction, and a bit of poetry, including notable work by Rhiannon Rasmussen, Simon Strantzas, Michael Canfield, Shenoa Carroll-Bradd, Deanna Knippling, S. R. Mandel, John Claude Smith, Erica Ruppert, Samuel M. Moss, Liam O’Brian, Emer O’Hanlon, Carson Winter, Sara Tantlinger, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Georgia Cook, Christi Nogle, Kurt Fawver, Michelle Muenzler, and Frank Oreto. Penumbra: A Journal of Weird Fiction and Criticism edited by S. T. Joshi published its second issue, with eleven new stories, two classic reprints, eight poems, and ten non-fiction pieces. There was notable fiction by Shawn Phelps, Darrell Schweitzer, Ramsey Campbell, Ngo Binh Anh Khoa, Geoffrey Reiter, and Mark Samuels. Tor.com edited by multiple in-house editors and consultants publishes science fiction, fantasy, and horror. In 2021 there was notable horror by Tegan Moore, Ian Rogers, Richard Kadrey, Catherynne M. Valente, and Glen Hirshberg. The Rogers and Hirshberg are reprinted herein.

ANTHOLOGIES

Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 3 edited by Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequeira, Bryce Stevens (IFWG) is an anthology of ten new Lovecraftian stories by Australian writers. There are notable stories by Alf Simpson, David Conyers, Alan Baxter, and Julie Ditrich. With an Introduction by Cat Rambo and an afterword by Jack Dann.

The Half That You See edited by Rebecca Rowland (Dark Ink Books) is an anthology of twenty-six new stories on a theme so loose that it’s difficult to discern. Despite that, there are notable stories by Elin Olausson, T.M. Starnes, Nicole Wolverton, Alex Giannini, Matt Masucci, and Douglas Ford.

Uncertainties Volume V edited by Brian Showers (The Swan River Press) is a strong entry in this annual series of weird, often dark tales. This volume features twelve new stories, the strongest of which are by John Langan, Eóin Murphy, Ramsey Campbell, Aislinn Clarke, Inna Effress, Deirdre Sullivan, Carly Holmes, and Nina Antonia. The Murphy and the Holmes are reprinted herein.

Beautiful/Grotesque edited by Sam Richard (Weird Punk Books) is a mini-anthology of five stories created from a story prompt of the title. The best are by Roland Blackburn and Katy Michelle Quinn.

Fright Train edited by the Switch House Gang (Haverhill House) is an anthology of fifteen horror stories on the theme of trains. All but three are new and the best of the originals are by Bracken MacLeod, Lee Murray, and Stephen Mark Rainey.

Railroad Tales edited by Trevor Denyer (Midnight Street Press) is a second anthology of stories on the theme of trains. This one has twenty-three, all new but three. There is notable work by Simon Bestwick, Catherine Pugh, Gayle Fidler, Gary Couzens, Michael Gore, Saoirse Ni Chiaragáin, and George Jacobs.

The Bad Book edited by John F.D. Taff (Bleeding Edge Books) contains thirteen original twisted bible parables, each with a story note by the author. The most interesting tales are by John Langan, Philip Fracassi, Hailey Piper, and Sarah Read.

What One Wouldn’t Do edited by Scott J. Moses (self-published) is an all original anthology of twenty-nine stories on the vague theme of what lengths a person would go to . . . whatever . . . survive? Seek revenge? In any case there are notable stories by Nick Younker, J. A. W. McCarthy, Tom Reed, Cheri Kamei, Shane Douglas Keene, Eric LaRocca, Christi Nogle, and Jena Brown.

Terrifying Ghost Stories edited by Gillian Whittaker (Flame Tree Publishing) is a generous helping of almost fifty stories, including those in the public domain, reprints from contemporary writers, and some stories published for the first time. The strongest of the eleven new stories are by Lyndsay E. Gilbert and Michelle Tang.

Great British Horror 6: Ars Gratia Sanguis edited by Steve J. Shaw (Black Shuck Books) features eleven previously unpublished stories, ten by Britons and one international guest contributor. There are notable stories by Brian Evenson (the guest), Muriel Gray, Stephen Volk, Steve Duffy, Helen Grant, and Lucie McKnight Hardy.

The Alchemy Press Book Of Horrors 3: A Miscellany Of Monsters edited by Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards (Alchemy Press) is an all-original anthology of sixteen monster stories. The best are by Ralph Robert Moore, Tim Jeffreys, Steve Rasnic Tem, Garry Kilworth, and Simon Bestwick. The Bestwick is reprinted herein.

Walk Among Us, Vampire: The Masquerade (HarperVoyager) consists of three novellas based on the roleplaying game World of Darkness. The novellas are by Genevieve Gornichec, Cassandra Khaw, and Caitlin Starling.

Sisterhood: Dark Tales and Secret Histories edited by Nate Pederson (Chaosium, Inc) has sixteen stories—all but one new—by women about female cults of different types. The best of the new stories are by Gemma Files, Alison Littlewood, and Kali Wallace.

Humans are the Problem: A Monsters Anthology edited by Willow Becker (Weird Little Worlds) features twenty-two original stories about monsters taking their power back from humans. There are notable horror tales by Christi Nogle, Gemma Files, Cory Farrenkopf, Patrick Barb, Sarah Read, Georgia Cook, and Philip Fracassi and a very good non-horror tale by John Langan. The Files is reprinted herein.

Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology edited by S. D. Vassallo and Stephen M. Long (Brigid’s Gate) features twenty-seven stories and poems (one reprint) and one non-fiction piece on the theme of shapeshifting. There are notable pieces by Theresa Derwin and Stephanie Wytovich.

Attack from the 80s edited by Eugene Johnson (Raw Dog Dreaming Press) is an all original anthology of twenty-two stories embracing ’80s pop culture steeped in blood and cheesiness. There are notable stories by Mort Castle, Stephanie Wytovich, Weston Ochse, Lee Murray, Stephen Graham Jones, and Grady Hendrix.

In Darkness, Delight: Fear the Future edited by Andrew Lennon and Evans Light (Corpus Press) is an all original anthology of twenty-two sf/horror stories. There are some notable stories by Ben Lawrence, Tim Curran, Max Booth III, Dominick Cancilla, and Phil Sloman.

The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror: Evil Lives on the Land edited by Stephen Jones (Skyhorse Publishing) is a mix of classic work by writers such as Arthur Machen, M. R. James, H. P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, contemporary reprints by Karl Edward Wagner, Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell, and others plus nine originals. The strongest of the new stories are by Maura McHugh, Simon Strantzas, Michael Marshall Smith, Steve Rasnic Tem, David A. Sutton, and Jan Edwards. The Smith and Strantzas are reprinted herein.

Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands edited by Paul Finch (Telos Publishing) continues to explore different parts of the United Kingdom, with fourteen dark stories (all but two, new) and the always worthwhile interstitial material by Paul Finch. The strongest stories are by Steve Duffy, M. W. Craven, Reggie Oliver, S. J. I. Holliday, William Meikle, and S. A. Rennie. The Duffy is reprinted herein.

Nightscript VII edited by C. M. Muller (Chthonic Matter) is a reliably readable annual anthology of weird, usually dark tales. This year it includes nineteen stories, all of them quite good. But the best were by Gordon Brown, Douglas Ford, Timothy Granville, Alexander James, Tim Major, Elin Olausson, Joshua Rex, Clint Smith, Ashley Stokes, David Surface, Steve Toase, and Charles Wilkinson.

Blood and Bone: An Anthology of Body Horror by Women and Non-Binary Writers edited by A. R. Ward (Ghost Orchid Press) has twenty-one new stories. The best are by Victoria Nations, Evelyn Freeling, Varian Ross, and Kristin Cleveland.

Tales of Yog-Sothoth edited by C. J. Phipps (Crossroads Press/Macabre Ink) contains six new Lovecraftian novellas. (Not seen.)

Beyond the Veil edited by Mark Morris (Flame Tree Publishing) is the second volume of an annual series of unthemed horror stories. This volume presents twenty new stories, with notable work by Gemma Files, Matthew Holness, Christopher Golden, Aliya Whiteley, Toby Litt, Lisa L. Hannett, Stephen Gallagher, Nathan Ballingrud, Lynda E. Rucker, and John Everson. The Golden and Holness are reprinted herein.

Wildwood: Tales of Terror and Transformation From the Forest edited by William O. Simmons (Shadow House Publishing) is a reprint anthology of fifteen classic stories—with an introduction by the editor.

They’re Out To Get You Volume One: Animals and Insects edited by Johnny Mains (TK Pulp) is an all original anthology of thirteen stories about non-human creatures getting revenge on humans. A few of the stories come across as farce rather than horror but there are notable dark stories by Aliya Whitely, Ray Cluley, Steve Toase, Paul Finch, Charlotte Bond, Amanda DeBord, and Victoria Day.

Giving The Devil His Due edited by Rebecca Brewer (Running Wild Press) is a charity anthology dedicated to the Pixel Project’s Anti-violence against women programs and contains sixteen stories about revenge against abusers of women. Four are reprints. The best of the new ones are by Nicholas Kaufmann, Kaaron Warren, Jason Sanford, and Lee Murray. The Warren is reprinted herein.

Violent Vixens: An Homage to Grindhouse Horror edited by Aric Sundquist (Dark Peninsula Press) has fifteen tales about violence and the women who suffer from it and sometime inflict it as revenge. There are notable stories by Gwendolyn Kiste, Mark Wheaton, Buck Weiss, Sarah Read, and Matt Neil Hill.

Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds edited by Justin A. Burnett (Silent Motorist Media) celebrates the work of Matthew M. Bartlett, whose weird, dark fiction seems to have hit a chord in other purveyors of weird and dark fiction. The book contains twenty-one stories and fourteen pieces of interstitial material, all related to the fictional Massachusetts village of Leeds. The most interesting are by Brian Evenson, Peter Rawlik, John Langan, Jon Padgett, John Linwood Grant, Farah Rose Smith, Gemma Files, S.P. Miskowski, Scott R. Jones, Christine Morgan, and Jonathan Raab. Two micro-fictions by Jonathan Raab are included herein.

The Jewish Book of Horror edited by Josh Schlossberg (Denver Horror Collective) is an all original anthology of twenty-two horror stories encompassing Jewish themes and history. There are notable stories by Daniel Braum, KD Casey, Richard Dansky, Elana Gomel, Simon Rosenberg, Brenda Tolian, Emily Ruth Verona, and Lindsey King-Miller.

When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson edited by Ellen Datlow (Titan Books) is an all original anthology of eighteen varied stories of dark fantasy and horror inspired by and in tribute to Jackson, author of the classic story “The Lottery” plus the novels We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House. Some of the contributors are Kelly Link, Elizabeth Hand, Carmen Maria Machado, Josh Malerman, Richard Kadrey, and Joyce Carol Oates. The story by Laird Barron is reprinted herein.

Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror edited by Ellen Datlow (Tachyon Publications) is an all reprint anthology of twenty-nine stories exploring the range and meaning of body horror—from Michael Blumlein’s hate letter to Ronald Reagan, the horrors of extreme fashion by Christopher Fowler and Genevieve Valentine, and twenty-six other stories.

The Little Book of Horrors: New Translations of Classic French Tales by J. D. Horn (Curious Blue Press) collects eight tales of horror by Prosper Mérimée, Guy de Maupassant, and others.

The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror Volume 2 edited by Paula Guran (Pyr) contains twenty-three stories, two of which overlap with my own picks.

MIXED-GENRE ANTHOLOGIES

Worlds of Light and Darkness: The Best of DreamForge and Space & Time Volume 1 edited by Angela Yuriko Smith and Scot Noel (Uproar Books) features twenty stories reprinted from the two magazines of the subtitle and includes science fiction, fantasy, and horror. The British Library’s publishing arm has been bringing out a series of anthologies and collections containing classic and hard-to-find gothic, horror, and weird stories. In 2021, they published: Crawling Horror: Creeping Tales of the Insect Weird edited by Daisy Leaf and Janette Leaf with stories by Lafcadio Hearn, H.G. Wells, and others; Minor Hauntings: Chilling Tales of Spectral Youth edited by Jen Baker with stories by Ellen Glasgow, M. R. James, F. Marion Crawford, and others; Dangerous Dimensions: Mind-Bending Tales of the Mathematical Weird edited by Henry Bartholomew with stories by H. G. Wells, Robert Heinlein, Frank Belknap Long, and others; Weird Woods edited by John Miller with stories by Marjorie Bowen, Arthur Machen, Edith Nesbit, and others; and Heavy Weather: Tempestuous Tales of Stranger Climes edited by Kevan Manwaring including stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville, and others. Prisms edited by Darren Speegle and Michael Bailey (PS Publishing) presents nineteen science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. There are notable dark stories by Michael Marshall Smith, E. Catherine Tobler, Kristi DeMeester, Lynda E. Rucker, A. C. Wise, Richard Thomas, Paul Meloy, Tlotlo Tsamaase, J. Lincoln Fenn, Brian Evenson, and Nadia Bulkin. Voices in the Darkness edited by David Niall Wilson (Macabre Ink) is an unthemed anthology of five new stories and a novella. Notable horror by Nadia Bulkin, Elizabeth Massie, and Kathe Koja. New Maps of Dream edited by Cody Goodfellow and Joseph Pulver Sr (PS Publishing) has nineteen original stories influenced by the weird and dark dream mythos of Lovecraft. I admit to not being much of a fan of stories with their focus on dreams but for readers with an interest more in the visionary than the horror of the “dreamlands,” this might be your cup of tea. There are a couple of notable, darker stories by Kaaron Warren and Scott R. Jones. There Is No Death, There Are No Dead edited Aaron French and Jess Landry (Crystal Lake Publishing) is an anthology of fourteen stories—all new but two—centered on spiritualism. Some of them are horror, some are simply quirky. The best of the dark ones are by Laird Barron, Gemma Files, David Demchuk, Lee Murray, and Helen Marshall. December Tales edited by J. D. Horn (Curious Blue Press) is a half reprint/half new anthology of twenty-two ghost stories. The best are by Lisa Morton, Reggie Oliver, Kate Maruyama, and Glen Hirshberg. Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign edited by James Chambers (Hippocampus Press) is an all original anthology of twenty-two weird and/or dark stories and poems inspired by the Robert W. Chambers classic The King in Yellow. The most interesting pieces push against the theme. There’s notable work by Linda D. Addison, Kathleen Scheiner, Tim Waggoner, Steven Van Patten, Carol Gyzander, Patrick Freivald, Kaaron Warren, and a novella by the late Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. Tales From Omnipark: 18 Strange Stories Of a Theme Park That Might Have Been edited by Ben Thomas (House Blackwood) is an intriguing idea and includes all new fantasy, horror, and a wee bit of science fiction. Although a few of the stories are too similar in feel, among the horror there are notable contributions by Brian Evenson, Gemma Files, Maxwell I. Gold, and Orrin Grey. The Evenson is reprinted herein. Songs of the Northern Seas: An Anthology edited by Mark Beech (Egaeus Press) is a mixture of thirteen new dark, weird, and melancholy tales, all taking place on the northern seas. There are notable stories by Alison Littlewood, Colin Fisher, Leena Likitalo, Stephen Clark, Helen Grant, Lisa L. Hannett, and Sean and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley. The Black Dreams: Strange Stories From Northern Ireland edited by Reggie Chamberlain-King (The Blackstaff Press) is an excellent anthology with fourteen new stories that take place in Northern Ireland. Most are weird, some exceedingly dark, and a few could be characterized as contes cruels. There are notable stories by Ian McDonald, Jo Baker, Sam Thompson, Michelle Gallen, Reggie Chamberlain-King, John Patrick Higgins, and Gerard McKeown. The McKeown is reprinted herein. Dreamland: Other Stories edited by Sophie Essex (Black Shuck Books) is an intriguing anthology of mostly surreal, dream-like stories, all by female identifying writers. The best dark ones are by Priya Sharma, Nicole M. Wolverton, Giselle Leeb, and Sam Hicks. Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional), Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World edited by Charlatan Bardot and Eric J. Guignard (Dark Moon Books) is a clever (perhaps a bit too clever) anthology of twenty-seven mostly dark fantasy tales of haunted spaces around the world. Treated as a travelogue, the volume includes maps, illustrations, short stories, and some flash. There are notable horror stories by Kaaron Warren, Clara Madrigano, Terry Dowling, Weston Ochse, Jeffrey Ford, Ramsey Campbell, and Octavia Cade. Chilling Crime Short Stories edited by Josie Karani (Flame Tree Press) contains thirty-seven stories and excerpts. Ten are appearing for the first time and one was a 2021 audio podcast. There are only a few horror stories—the best of them are by Steve Toase, Robert Ford, Tyler Jones, Alexes Lester, Michael Penncavage, and Michel J. Moore. The Toase is reprinted herein. Unburied: A Collection of Queer Dark Fiction edited by Rebecca Rowland (Dark Ink) has sixteen new stories of sf, dark fantasy and horror. There are notable stories by Felice Picano and Sarah Lyn Eaton. Shadow Atlas edited by Carina Bissett, Hillary Dodge, and Joshua Viola (Hex Publishers) is a fascinating anthology of original stories, poems, “letters,” other kinds of entries that all take place in the Americas. Discovering and analyzing historical secrets and mythologies and folk tales. Not all are dark, but they are usually pretty mysterious. The notable darker pieces are by Christina Sng, Josh Malerman, Annie Neugebauer, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Owl Goingback, Warren Hammond, Mario Acevedo, Colleen Anderson, Kay Chronister, Sarah Read, and Tim Waggoner. Stokercon 2021 Souvenir Anthology The Phantom Denver edition edited by Joshua Viola (Horror Writers Association/Hex Publishers) is the hefty souvenir book created for what became an all virtual convention as a result of Covid. Full of fiction and poetry, essays, and author interviews, the fiction is all centered around Blucifer, the famous thirty-two foot tall blue horse with red eyes that welcomes visitors to the Denver Airport. Shoot edited by Rachel Knightly was sponsored by Green Ink Write 2021, which raises money for Macmillan Cancer Support in the UK—It’s an all original anthology of eighteen stories and poems, each inspired by the story prompt “shoot.” There are notable dark stories and poetry by Charlotte Bond, Lisa Morton, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Laws, and Roz Kaveney. Black Sci-Fi Short Stories edited by Tia Ross (Flame Tree Press) is part of the publishers Gothic Fantasy series and includes twenty classic and new stories of sf, fantasy, and horror. With a foreword by Temi Oh and an introduction by Dr. Sandra M. Grayson. (Not seen.)

COLLECTIONS

More single-author collections than ever include multiple genres, which I love, but makes them difficult to categorize. So using my best judgment, I’ve separating “collections” from “mixed-genre collections.” The collections I consider “mixed-genre” are below this grouping.

To Drown in Dark Water by Steve Toase (Undertow Publications) is a strong debut collection of twenty-six stories, by a writer whose stories I’ve reprinted several times in previous volumes of The Best Horror of the Year.Six of the stories appear for the first time. One is reprinted herein.

Fit For Consumption: Stories Both Queer and Horrifying by Steve Berman Lethe Press contains thirteen weird and/or horrific stories, one new.

The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRocca (Off Limits Press) is a powerful debut collection of eight startling stories that occasionally touch on taboos, by a relatively new writer. All but one of the stories are new. Highly recommended. One is reprinted herein.

The Harbor-Master: Best Weird Stories of Robert W. Chambers edited by S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) is part of the Classics of Gothic Horror series. The volume presents twelve stories, including some of the stories from Chambers’ most famous collection The King in Yellow. Joshi provides an introduction to the book and background material about each story.

Finding Yourself in the Dark by Steve Duffy (Sarob Press) is the author’s fifth collection. It showcases twelve weird tales that are often horror, four of them new. One story won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette, another was reprinted by me in The Best Horror of the Year Volume One.

Sacred and Profane: Seven Strange Tales by Peter Bell (Sarob Press) is the author’s fifth collection. All of the seven excellent stories are published for the first time.

Scream to the Shadows: Twenty Darkest Tales by Tunku Halim (Penguin-Random House-SEA) is a retrospective of this Malaysian writer’s horror. The collection is divided into several thematic sections: supernatural, psychological, techno-horror, stories about graveyards, and stories influenced by dark Malay myths and legends.

In that Endlessness, Our End by Gemma Files (Grimscribe Press) is the author’s fifth collection of weird and horror. It includes fifteen stories, one new. Files is one of the finest practitioners in the field and if you’re not familiar with her work, it’s time you are.

Hollow Skulls and Other Stories by Samuel Marzioli (JournalStone Publishing) is the author’s debut, and includes thirteen stories, three of them new.

Dancing with Tombstones by Michael Aronovitz (Cemetery Dance Publications) is the author’s third collection, and features sixteen stories and one novella, all published between 2009 and 2020.

Eyes in the Dust and Other Stories by David Peak (Trepidatio) is an impressively strong debut horror collection by an author whose work has appeared in a variety of journals and small press anthologies. One story is new. Christopher Slatsky provides an Introduction.

A Maze for the Minotaur and Other Strange Stories by Reggie Oliver (Tartarus Press) is the author’s eighth collection of darkly weird stories published by Tartarus, and as always it’s a very fine collection. Most of the twelve stories were published in the last few years. Also included are two new ones.

Dead Hours of the Night by Lisa Tuttle (Valancourt Books) features twelve dark stories originally published between 1980 and 2017 including two reprinted in earlier annual volumes of my bests of the year. With stories notes by the author and an Introduction by Lisa Kröger, co-author of Monster, She Wrote.

Sometimes We’re Cruel and Other Stories by JAW McCarthy (Cemetery Gates Media) is a powerful debut with twelve stories, half of them published for the first time. One of the reprints was in my Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen.

Thanatrauma by Steve Rasnic Tem (Valancourt Books) has twenty-one varied stories, four new, published by a master of quiet horror whose best work explores grief and how personal tragedy can unmake us all.

I Spit Myself Out by Tracy Fahey (Sinister Horror Company) is the author’s third collection and it’s a strong one. There are eighteen stories, all but six new. Fahey provides an introduction explaining her inspiration for this female-centered work.

The Ghosts of Who You Were by Christopher Golden (Haverhill House Publishing) features ten stories and a novella published between 2013 and 2020, with an introduction and story notes by the author. Two of the stories were originally published in anthologies edited by me and one was reprinted in an earlier volume of my Best of the Year series.

There Comes a Midnight Hour by Gary A. Braunbeck (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is a retrospective of fifteen of the author’s short stories written over twenty-five years, including one new one.

Dread Softly: A Collection by Caryn Larrinaga (Twisted Tree Press) collects eleven stories, most of them new.

Pariah & Other Stories by Sam Dawson (Supernatural Tales) is a debut collection by an author whose work is often published in Supernatural Tales.It features sixteen new stories.

Empty Graves by Jonathan Maberry (WordFire Press) presents sixteen (one new) stories about zombies, by the bestselling author.

Look Where You Are Going Not Where You Have Been by Steven J. Dines (Luna Press) is the author’s first collection, although he’s been publishing strong dark fiction since 2004, mostly in Black Static. Included are eleven stories, two of them new novellas. The volume also includes Introductions by Ralph Robert Moore and Johnny Mains, in addition to story notes.

The Feverish Stars: New and Selected Stories by John Shirley (Independent Regions) has twenty-one dark stories, published between 2001 and 2021 (two published for the first time in this collection). With an Introduction by Richard Christian Matheson.

The Gulp by Alan Baxter (13th Dragon Books) features five dark novellas that take place in and around an isolated Australian town known colloquially as The Gulp.

The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub: Volume 1: Stories and The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub: Volume 2: Novellas is a limited edition two volume set from Borderlands Press. The two books contain a total of eight novellas and twenty-six stories.

Borderlands Press introduced the first volume of the 4th Series of Little Books— Past Masters of Horror and Dark Fantasy. Series IV will feature seminal works of many of the progenitors of the horror and dark fantasy genres. Each volume is edited and signed by a contemporary writer or editor. The first title A Little Blue Book of Civil War Horrors, honors the work of Ambrose Bierce, who wrote some of the most memorable stories of the American Civil War. The book, edited by Lawrence Connolly, contains twelve tales and vignettes. A Little Yellow Book of Carcosa and Kings by Robert W. Chambers edited by Lisa Morton contains the four stories of the King in Yellow Cycle.

We Feed the Dark: Tales of Terror, Loss & the Supernatural by William P. Simmons (A Shadow House Book), with fourteen stories, includes most of the contents in the author’s first collection published in 2004 plus one new story.

Dead Relatives and Other Stories by Lucie McKnight Hardy (Dead Ink) is the terrific debut collection by a Welsh writer whose work has been published in Black Static, Uncertainties, and in other venues. Several of the thirteen stories are new, including the powerful title novella.

Beneath a Pale Sky by Philip Fracassi (Lethe Press) is a very strong second collection with seven stories, two of them new. One story—“The Wheel”—is especially suspenseful.

Bedding the Lamia: Tropical Horrors by David Kuraria (IFWG Publishing) is a debut collection of four stories taking place in the tropical areas of Australia, two new, one of those a novella.

The Trains Don’t Stop Here by M. R. Cosby (Dark Lane Books) is the author’s second, impressively creepy collection, with ten stories, half of them new. Rebecca Lloyd provides an Introduction.

Dreams for the Dying by Adam Light (Corpus Press) is a debut collection featuring eleven reprints, all revised from their original version and each with an author’s note.

The Mother Wound: Stories by Jess Landry (Independent Legions) is a debut collection of seventeen stories ranging from flash fiction to a novella, three of them (including the novella), new.

Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert (Flatiron Books) is an excellent collection of twelve new, sinister and horrifying fairy tales, with illustrations by Jim Tierney. Some of the tales take their inspiration from already existing stories, but they all feel fresh.

Weird Doom David J. Schow Sampler (Cimarron Street Books) collects eight stories by Schow, one that was reprinted in my Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series and one of them new. The volume also includes an interview with the author by John Scolari. The book is meant to be a showcase for the series of Schow reprints coming from the publishing house.

The Gypsy Spiders and Other Tales of Italian Horror by Nicola Lombardi translated by J. Weintraub (Tartarus Press) presents nine stories. The short novel of the title looks to be published in English for the first time.

During 2021, The Swan River Press, the Irish-centric press run by Brian J. Showers, published three collections of stories: Eyes of Terror and Other Dark Adventures by L. T. Meade, a bestselling author of the 1890s, now mostly known for her girls’ school stories. But in her prime she was writing weird and dark fiction, mostly for The Strand. The volume includes nine stories and an interview; A Vanished Hand and Other Stories by Clotilde Graves, dramatist and prose writer who used the pseudonym “Richard Dehan” and was a prolific author of short stories and novels, only some within the fantastic and grotesque genres. Included are thirteen stories, an interview, and a contemporary profile; The Fatal Move by Conall Cearnach, pseudonym of F. W. O’Connell, collects all the stories from the author’s original 1924 collection plus eight brief essays, originally published earlier. The volume has an introduction by Reggie Chamberlain-King.

Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons by Keith Rosson (Meerkat Press) oddly has not been marketed nor reviewed as a horror collection but from the several stories in the book that I read (one is new), there’s an awful lot of darkness here.

Exploring Dark Short Fiction #6: A Primer to Ramsey Campbell edited by Eric J. Guignard (Dark Moon) includes six stories, an author interview, biography, bibliography, and commentary.

The Village Killings and Other Novellas by Ramsey Campbell (PS Publishing) contains five novellas, one of them new, the title detective story—a take on the Agatha Christie tradition. With an Introduction by the author about writing them.

MIXED-GENRE COLLECTIONS

Rabbit Island by Elvira Navarro (Two Lines Press) has eleven surreally dark stories by a Spanish writer named one of Granta’s “Best Young Spanish- Language Novelists.” The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell by Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press) is as always with Evenson a mixture of the weird, fantastical, and sometimes dark captured brilliantly in twenty-two stories, two of them first published in 2021. A Sorcerer of Atlantis by John Shirley (Hippocampus) includes a weird, fantastic short novel and novella both mixing Lovecraftian horror and sword and sorcery tropes. Rainbringer: Zora Neale Hurston Against the Lovecraft Mythos by Edward M. Erdelac (self-published) is a collection of eight stories, three of them reprints, featuring Hurston as a Mythos detective. Things I Didn’t Know My Father Knew: The Best Short Stories of Peter Crowther (Cemetery Dance Publications) collects twenty-seven stories in several genres, including the powerful, harrowing horror story “Bedfordshire,” that appeared in one of my YBFH anthologies. The hefty volume looks great, and includes welcome story notes by the author, but I’m surprised that there’s no copyright/first publication credit page nor credit for the interior illustrations. The Open Door and Other Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Margaret Oliphant edited by Mike Ashley (British Library Publications) has an introduction and six stories. Black Shuck’s Shadow series published four collections in 2021: Hinterlands by George Sandison presents a mix of ten sf, dark fantasy, and horror stories, half of them new. Nine Ghosts by Simon Bestwick presents eight weird/dark mixed- genre tales and a poem, two new-with story notes on each piece. Beyond Glass by Rachel Knightley has five strange, dark stories. A Box of Darkness by Simon Avery has five stories, four of them new—not horror. The Ghost Sequences by A. C. Wise (Undertow Publications) is an excellent collection of sixteen stories (all but one reprints) of ghostly dark fantasy and horror. I originally published several of the stories, and reprinted a couple in my Bests of the Year. Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho (Small Beer Press) is an expanded edition of the author’s debut collection of the same title, with nine extra reprints, and one new story. A combination of sf, fantasy, supernatural dark fantasy, and horror. Out of the Mortal Night Selected Works of Samuel Loveman edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press) is a revised and augmented edition of a 2004 title, adding more than one hundred pages of previously uncollected poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews. Undiscovered Territories by Robert Freeman Wexler (PS Publishing) featuring fourteen stories of dreamlike fantasy, surrealism, and occasional darkness, is the author’s first full-length story collection. Three stories appear for the first time. Hippocampus Press published the Collected Fiction of Ambrose Bierce edited by S. T. Joshi: Volume 1 Tales of Psychological and Supernatural Horror. Volume 2 Tales of the Civil War and Tales of the Grotesque. Volume 3 Tall Tales and Satirical Sketches; Political Fantasies and Future Histories. The Little Devil and Other Stories by Alexei Remizov translated by Antonina W. Bouis (Columbia University Press) contains an overview of the late Russian writer’s short fiction, with thirteen stories influenced by folk and fairy tales of his country. Burning Girls and Other Stories by Veronica Schanoes (A Tor.com Book) is a rich debut collection of thirteen mixed-genre stories, novelettes, and novellas, some retold fairy tales. Two of the stories are new. (Caveat, I am the editor of the collection). Avenging Angela and Other Uncanny Encounters by Jonathan Thomas (Hippocampus Press) has fourteen weird stories, some of them horror. More than half of the stories are new. This is the author’s sixth collection. Madam Cruller’s Couch and Other Dark, Bizarre Tales by Elizabeth Massie (Macabre Ink) collects fifteen stories and poems (and one novella), almost half of them published for the first time. We Are Happy, We Are Doomed by Kurt Fawver (Grimscribe Press) is a collection of sixteen weird and sometimes horrific stories, one new. With several interior illustrations by Harry O. Morris, whose art is also on the cover. The Best of Lucius Shepard 2 edited by Bill Sheehan (Subterranean Press) contain fourteen stories and novellas and is more than 300,000 words. A must have for all aficionados of short fiction, but especially for readers of the fantastic and horror. On the Hierophant Road by James Chambers (Raw Dog Dreaming Press) presents fourteen stories of science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror, two new, one of them an original novella. Cabinet of Wrath: A Doll Collection by Tara Campbell (Aqueduct Press) is the eightieth entry in the Conversation Pieces series of mini-collections. This one features nine stories, three new, all having to do with dolls, some of them vengeful. Someone to Share My Nightmares by Sonora Taylor (self-published) contains nine stories, all but two new. Most of the stories are dark fantasy rather than horror, with some erotic bits thrown into the mix. Big Dark Hole by Jeffrey Ford (Small Beer Press) presents fifteen vivid, weird, sometime dark stories—three of them new. Ford has one of the most fertile minds in sf/f/h and if you’ve not been reading his short fiction, you need to begin to do so now. Widow of the Amputation & Other Weird Crimes by Robert Guffey (Eraserhead Press) features four new, weird novellas by this imaginative writer. The Grey Chamber: Stories and Essays by Marjorie Bowen selected and edited by John C. Tibbetts (Hippocampus Press) is a collection of horror, weird, and mainstream fiction by the writer whose real name was Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long (1885-1952). It also includes her essays about Elizabethan magician John Dee, artist William Hogarth, and an unpublished essay about her own work. Two Figures in a Car and Other Stories by Wan Phing Lim (Penguin-Random House-SEA) features fourteen crime stories by this Malaysian writer, some of which skirt the weird. The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories by Charles Payseur (Lethe Press) has twenty-two stories of sf, fantasy, and dark fantasy, all but one reprints. Unexpected Places to Fall From, Unexpected Places to Land by Malcolm Devlin (Unsung Stories) is the second collection by this talented writer. It has nine weird and mainstream stories (one of them, new) and a new novella. The Ghost Variations by Kevin Brockmeier (Pantheon) features one hundred flash stories and vignettes by this always inventive writer. Archetypes by Florence Sunnen (Zagawa) collects twenty-one character studies of creatures such as vampires, mermaids, and mummies by this writer from Luxembourg. Reality and Other Stories by John Lancaster (W. W. Norton & Company) has eight stories by this mostly literary writer, half of them new. Some are dark, most are weird. Worth a look. Mills of Silence by Charles Wilkinson (Egaeus Press) is the author’s second collection, and contains eleven stories previously published in various venues of the weird, plus one new novella. Danged Black Thing by Eugen Bacon (Transit Lounge) brings together seventeen stories (three collaborations) published between 2012 and 2021 of various genres by this African- Australian writer. I Would Haunt You If I Could by Seán Padraic Birnie (Undertow Publications) is an impressive debut of fourteen weird and dark stories. Eight of the stories are new, and all but one of the others were published in since 2018. Alias Space and Other Stories by Kelly Robson (Subterranean Press) is the impressive debut collection by one of the freshest voices around. Equally at home writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror. These fourteen stories, novelettes, and one novella demonstrate her range and are proof positive as to why you should be reading her. Midnight Doorways: Fables From Pakistan by Usman T. Malik (Kitab) is a beautifully produced debut collection of seven fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror stories by this award-winning writer— all published between 2014 and 2020. There are black and white interior illustrations for each story. The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales by Angela Slatter (Tartarus Press) is a very good volume of dark fantasy, with all twelve stories taking place in the imaginary city of Lodellan. Most of the stories are new and can be read as separate entities. With spot illustrations throughout by Kathleen Jennings and an Introduction by Helen Marshall. Within Me Without Me: Dark Poetry and Prose by Sumiko Saulson (DookyZines) collects about forty pieces of poetry and prose, some of which are new. The Ettinfell of Beacon Hill: Gothic Tales of Boston by Adam Bolivar (Jackanapes Press) collects twelve intertwined tales about an occult investigator in 1920s Boston. The Sad Eyes of the Lewis Chessman by George Berguño (Egaeus Press) is part of the “Keynote Edition” collection series, and comes as a small, attractive hardcover. It has nine stories, three of them new. From the Neck Up and Other Stories by Aliya Whitley (Titan) is the author’s debut collection, with fifteen stories and a novella, including science fiction, weird fiction, and horror, all published between 2014 and 2020. Antisocieties by Michael Cisco (Grimscribe Press) is, as always, a must-have collection of weird, sometimes very dark fiction. The ten, all-new stories are loosely themed around isolation. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez (Hogarth) is the acclaimed Argentinian author’s second collection, with most of the twelve stories appearing in English for the first time. Many stories are only marginally horror, but their darkness should be attractive to readers of the weird. Under a Dark Angel’s Eye: Selected Stories by Patricia Highsmith (Virago) collects more than forty stories, two never before published. Dark dark dark. Her characters are amoral, immoral, mean, cruel. Her stories are gems of the dark. Carmen Maria Machado provides an introduction. Among the Lilies by Daniel Mills (Undertow Publications) is the author’s second collection and features twelve weird stories, two of them new. Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy by Hailey Piper (The Seventh Terrace) features eighteen stories (three new) of science fiction, fantasy, and horror focusing on LBGTQ characters. Don’t Push the Button by John Skipp (Clash Books) includes fifteen stories, two screenplays, and two essays. Four of the stories are new. Josh Malerman wrote the Introduction.

CHAPBOOKS AND NOVELLAS

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente (A Tor.com Book) is about a young woman who adores and is, in turn, adored by her perfect husband, who leaves her alone while he’s on business trips—in her perfect house in the perfect neighborhood, in the perfect world. But things get dicey when she begins to notice odd things. A beautifully told, fast-moving, dark fairy tale.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca (Weird Punk Books) is a terrific, disturbing tale of two young women who begin a virtual relationship that devolves into obsession and horror.

The Goddess of Filth by V. Castro (Creature Publishing) is about five Chicana teenagers recently out of high school, who decide to hold a séance and call on a higher power to take them away from their dead-end lives. They get more than they bargained for as an ancient goddess takes possession of one of them.

Of Men and Monsters by Tom Deady (Crystal Lake Publishing) is about a woman who, in 1975, flees her abusive husband with their two teenage sons, moving to a small town in Massachusetts. Once settled in, the younger son acquires a critter ordered from the back of a comic book, that grows into a monster, but it’s not as scary as the human stalking them.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw is a gorgeously written novella about several friends meeting for a wedding in an old mansion in an isolated corner of Japan. Here, old tensions bubble to the surface as the house awakens and supernatural creatures stir. But it’s human flaws that ultimately lead to the horrific events that ensue (acquired and edited by me).

The Monster, The Mermaid, and Doctor Mengele by Ian Watson (Newcon Press) presents a new theory as to how the Nazi murder doctor survived undetected in Brazil for three decades before his confirmed death in 1979.

Roads Less Traveled Volume 1: Extraordinary Fiction and Interviews edited by Trevor Denyer (Midnight Street Press) contains new novellas by Gary

Couzens and Ralph Robert Moore plus interviews with and a bibliography of each writer. Volume 2 contains new novellas by Rhys Hughes and Susan York.

Family Solstice by Kate Maruyama (Omnium Gatherum) is a novella about an annual family tradition centered on a battle in the basement.

With Teeth by Brian Keene (Death’s Head Press) is about a group of middle-aged men who plan to start a criminal enterprise in the West Virginian woods, until they encounter the devolved vampires existing there. Also included are two reprinted stories.

Rookfield by Gordon B. White (Trepidatio) is about a mother who flees with her child to her hometown during the pandemic—when the father follows, he finds her family and the other inhabitants of the town pretty inhospitable.

Master of Rods and Strings by Jason Marc Harris (Vernacular Press) is a weird story about an obsessed protagonist, puppets, and puppetry.

POETRY

Star*Line is the official quarterly journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. During 2021 it was edited by F. J. Bergmann and then Jean- Paul Garnier, who took over with issue 44.3. It regularly publishes members’ science fiction and fantasy poetry—and occasional horror. It also publishes reviews of other poetry magazines, collections, and anthologies plus a market report. There was notable dark poetry in 2021 by Avra Margariti, Deanie Vallone, Davian Aw, Hayley Stone, Sydney Bernthold, Karie Jacobson, Cecilia Caballero, Christina Sng, Bruce McAllister, Tara Campbell, and Kelly Blair.

Eye to the Telescope is the quarterly online journal of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association. Issue 41, with the theme of Indigenous Futurisms, was guest edited by Tiffany Morris and had notable horror by Bill Ratner and Trevor Livingston. Issue 42, with the theme The Sea, was guest edited by Akua Lezli Hope and had notable horror by Gerri Leen, Malina Douglas, and John Muro.

The 2021 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Poetry of 2020 selected by the Science Fiction Poetry Association edited by Alessandro Manzetti (Science Fiction Poetry Association) is used by members to vote for the best short and long poems of the year, and can be considered an annual report on the state of speculative poetry. This year’s volume is more than 250 pages, and is divided into two sections of Short Poems and Long Poems. It’s a good resource for checking out the poetic side of speculative and horror fiction. Included is a history of past winners.

Dwarf Stars 2021 edited by Charles Christian (Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association) collects the best very short speculative poems published in 2020. The poems are ten lines or fewer and the prose poems one hundred words or fewer.

Spectral Realms edited by S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) is a showcase for weird and dark poetry. Two issues came out in 2021. In addition to original poems there’s a section with classic reprints and a review column. There was notable poetry by F. J. Bergmann, Maxwell I. Gold, P.B. Grant, Wade German, Justin Permenter, Scott J. Couturier, Alicia Hilton, David Barker, Chelsea Arrington, Christina Sng, David Schembri, Adam Bolivar, Jordan Zuniga, and Lori E. Lopez.

Horror Writers Association Presents Poetry Showcase Vol III edited by Stephanie M. Wytovich (Horror Writers Association) is an excellent entry in this ongoing series, with notable poems by Benicio Isandro, Vince A. Liaguno, Lindy Ryan, Graham Masterton, Lisa Morton, Amy Langevin, Michael Arnzen, Stephanie Ellis, Ian Hunter, Deborah L. Davitt, KC Grifant, Jacqueline West, Kailey Tedesco, R. J. Joseph, Donyae Coles, and Saba Syed Razvi.

Eclipse of the Moon by Frank Coffman (Minds Eye Publications) is the poet’s third major volume of speculative verse. Coffman is always experimenting with form, giving his poetry a freshness to his prolific work. His most interesting poems (for me) are the long ones that tell full stories.

The Exorcised Lyric by Steven Withrow and Frank Coffman (Minds Eye Publications) is an interesting collaborative book of poetry.

The Last Oblivion: Best Fantastic Poems of Clark Ashton Smith edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press) includes approximately 140 poems, many of which are gorgeous and bewitching, and also has a brief introduction by the co-editors, plus a glossary.

Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien (Interstellar Flight Press) is a strong collection of thirty, mostly new poems combining cosmic horror with the black experience.

Victims by Marge Simon and Mary Turzillo (Weasel Press) contains reprinted and new individual poems by each poet and several collaborations in this dark collection focused on victims and their victimizers.

Oblivion in Flux: A Collection of Cyber Prose by Maxwell I. Gold (Crystal Lake Publishing ) features more than fifty prose poems combining visions of the future and dark, fantastic imagery. Some of the work is new and included is a new collaboration with Linda D. Addison.

Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota by Amelia Gorman (Interstellar Flight Press) is a beautiful work of twenty-one poetic, surreal bits of ecological awareness.

Dancing with Maria’s Ghost: Dark Encounters with the Ghost of Maria Callas by Alessandro Manzetti (Independent Legions) contains poems influenced by the opera singer and her major roles, and plus some uncollected poetry by Manzetti on other themes.

The Smallest of Bones by Holly Lyn Walrath (Clash Books) contains tiny but haunting poems about our relationship to our bodies.

Strange Nests: Blackout Poetry Inspired by The Secret Garden by Jessica McHugh (Apokrupha) contains text on the left page, with drawings and words chosen for the poem on the right page. Remarkably it works, creating some powerful, dark poetry.

Tortured Willows: Bent, Bowed, Unbroken by Christina Sng, Angela Yuriko Smith, Lee Murray, & Geneve Flynn (Yuriko Publishing) is a terrific collection of new, mostly horror poetry by four Southeast Asian women, writing of pain, otherness, and also of the damage done by the myth/propaganda of female submissiveness by their own cultures. One poem, by Lee Murray, is reprinted herein.

K. A. Opperman had two collections of poetry out in 2021: October Ghosts and Autumn Dreams: More Poems for Halloween (Jackanapes Press), with a foreword by Adam Bolivar and the darker The Laughter of Ghouls (Hippocampus Press). Both are Illustrated by Dan V. Sauer.

Lost Letters to a Lover’s Carcass by Ronald J. Murray (Bizarro Pulp) is a powerful collection of angst-ridden dark poetry.

Monstrum Poetica by Jezzy Wolfe (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is a strong collection of poetry separated into sections by a brief explanation of each type of monster covered.

Exposed Nerves by Lucy A. Snyder (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is a multi-award-winning poet. In this strong new collection of reprints and new poems, she includes horror and sf and social criticism.

The Voice of the Burning House by John Shirley (Jackanapes Press) brings together thirty weird poems almost half of them new. With illustrations by Dan Sauer.

NON-FICTION

Women and Other Monsters by Jess Zimmerman (Beacon Press) is a cultural analysis of eleven female monsters from Greek mythology, and how their depiction as monsters has influenced generations of young women. H. P. Lovecraft: Letters to E. Hoffman Price and Richard F. Searight edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) presents and annotates the five-year correspondence between Lovecraft and Price initiated by their mutual acquaintance Robert E. Howard. Fear and Nature: Ecohorror Studies in the Anthropocene edited by Christy Tidwell and Carter Soles (Penn State University Press) features essays and analyses of using eco-horror in various media such as literature, manga, poetry, television, and film. It covers the period from Edgar Allan Poe to Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro. Random Notes, Random Lines by Donald Sidney-Fryer (Hippocampus Press) collects recent essays, reviews, interviews with the author and a raft of poetry, some written during his adolescence. American Twilight: The Cinema of Tobe Hooper edited by Kristopher Woofter and Will Dodson (University of Texas Press) asserts that the director was an auteur whose works featured complex monsters and disrupted America’s sacrosanct perceptions of prosperity and domestic security. Confessions of a Puppet Master: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking by Charles Band with Adam Felber (William Morrow) is a tell-all memoir about the four decades spent by the producer/director of films in the exploitation field of Hollywood. Born Under Saturn: The Letters of Samuel Loveman and Clark Ashton Smith edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press) includes correspondence between 1910 and 1941 about the aesthetics of their own poetry and other poets of the period, discussions about rare books each of them collected, and sometimes, their personal lives. 9/11 Gothic: Decrypting Ghosts and Trauma in New York City’s Terrorism Novels by Danel Olson (Rowman & Littlefield) explores ghostly presences from the world’s largest crime scene in novels by Don DeLillo, Jonathan Safran Foer, Lynne Sharon Schwartz, Griffin Hansbury, and Patrick McGrath—all of whom have been called writers of Gotham. Adapting Stephen King: Volume 1: Carrie, Salem’s Lot and The Shining From Novel to Screenplay by Joseph Maddrey (McFarland) charts the development of each adaptation of the three novels from first option to final cut, through interviews with the writers, producers, and directors. Writers Workshop of Horror 2 edited by Michael Knost (Hydra Publications) contains essays and interviews focusing on the art and craft of writing horror and dark fantasy by famous and up-and-coming writers. Terence Fisher: Master of Gothic Cinema by Tony Dalton (F&B Press) was an important director of Hammer films and this authorized biography is a survey of his work. Capturing Ghosts On the Page: Writing Horror and Dark Fiction by Kaaron Warren (Brain Jar Press) is a chapbook on the craft, philosophy, and business of writing horror, taking information from the multi-award winning author’s essays, workshops, and articles. The Conjuring by Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. is part of the Devil’s Advocate series from the Auteur imprint of University of Liverpool Press and covers everything you’d want to know about the movie. The Recognition of H. P. Lovecraft: His Rise From Obscurity to World Renown by S. T. Joshi (Hippocampus Press) traces the original, limited dissemination of Lovecraft’s fiction during his lifetime, through the ’70s when his non-fiction and fiction was “discovered” by readers and scholars to the current day. A Monster for Many: Talking With H. P. Lovecraft by Robert H. Waugh (Hippocampus Press) is the third volume of essays, this one ranging from the influence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Lovecraft to his opinions of Nobel Prize winners contemporary to his time. Days of the Dead: A Year of True Ghost Stories by Sylvia Shults (Haunted Road Media) collects 366 “true” ghost stories, one for every day of the year—it’s a fun book to dip into whenever you’re in need of a bit of creepiness. 150 Exquisite Horror Books edited by Alessandro Manzetti (Crystal Lake Publishing) is a guide to contemporary horror, dark fantasy, and weird books published between 1986 and 2020. The choices are in alphabetical order and have been given scores by the editor. Various horror professionals also provide ten best lists (I’m included). The value of such a book is that it can point out books and writers readers have missed or want to revisit. The Alchemy Book of the Dead 2020 by Stephen Jones (Alchemy Press) is an alphabetically organized necrology of almost 450 individuals who made significant contributions to the science fiction, fantasy, and horror fields compiled by Jones. With copious photographs and images. It’s a fabulous opportunity to learn about recently passed creators who made a difference to our field. The Letters of Shirley Jackson edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman (Random House) is only tangentially related to horror by dint of Jackson’s output of weird and often dark fiction. I only dipped into it, but it’s a birds-eye view of her relationship with family and friends and writing colleagues. Speculative Modernism: How Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Conceived the Twentieth Century by William Gillard, James Reitter, and Robert Stauffer (McFarland) is part of a long-running series: Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The volume documents the Gothic and Utopian roots of speculative fiction and mentions not only the obvious writers such as Blackwood, Poe, and Lovecraft, but brings Tennessee Williams and his creation Blanche DuBois into the conversation. Eaters of the Dead: Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters by Kevin J. Wetmore (Reaktion Books) explores monsters that eat the dead: ghouls, cannibals, wendigos, and other beings that feast on human flesh and by doing so teaches the reader about human nature. The Vampire Almanac: the Complete History by J. Gordon Melton, Ph.D. (Visible Ink Press) is a guide to all things vampire. The Dark Side of G. K. Chesterton: Gargoyles and Grotesques by John C. Tibbetts (McFarland) is a critical study of the author’s darker novels, stories, and essays.

ODDS AND ENDS

The Otherwise: The Screenplay for a Horror Film That Never Was by Mark E. Smith & Graham Duff is a kind of tribute to the late Smith, who was a member of the band The Fall. In 2015 he and Duff wrote the script for a horror movie that was deemed “too weird” to film. This is a collection of handwritten notes, reminiscences, photos, the pitches made to sell the idea, and the actual screenplay.

Tool Tales: Micro fiction inspired by antique tools: Photographs by Ellen Datlow and Stories by Kaaron Warren (IFWG) is a chapbook of a project started on Facebook in which Warren wrote ten tales inspired by Datlow’s antique tool collection, usually without knowing what the tool was until after the fact. Most of the tales are dark.

Spectrum: Fantastic Art Quarterly Volume One edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner (Underwood Books) marks the return of the co-founders and co-editors of this important series demonstrating the state of the art of fantasy and horror. Instead of the usual showcase, this first issue is focused on interviews with a few artists and art directors and their work. Plus a tribute to six fantasy artists who died in 2020 and 2021, coupled with beautiful examples of their art. The Spectrum competition is also back with a call for submissions to Spectrum 28.

Laird Barron Bibliography Stories: 2000-2020 compiled by Yves Tourigny (Tallhat Press) includes a line or two about the plot of each story.

The Book of the Kranzedan written and illustrated by Michael Hutter, translated by Julia Eischer and Gowan Ditchburn (Centipede), is a charming little book of thirty-three surreal vignettes by a German author/artist about the Kranzedan, a creature never explained, never described. A lovely little collectible.