Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror

Unlucky thieves invade a house where Home Alone seems like a playground romp. An antique bookseller and a mob enforcer join forces to retrieve the Atlas of Hell. Postapocalyptic survivors cannot decide which is worse: demon women haunting the skies or maddened extremists patrolling the earth.In this chilling twenty-first-century companion to the cult classic Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror, Ellen Datlow again proves herself the most masterful editor of the genre. She has mined the breadth and depth of ten years of terror, collecting superlative works of established masters and scene-stealing newcomers alike.

Library Journal [STARRED REVIEW]

“what goes bump in the night” ranges from ghosts to madmen to what lurks inside the human psyche. One actor’s last hope for reconstructive surgery resides within television itself. A horror writer creates a story come to life, only to get caught in the middle of it. Renowned authors such as Caitlin R. Kiernan, Robert Shearman, Garth Nix, and Kaaron Warren vividly capture the darkness, evil, and fear found in great horror fiction. ­VERDICT: Noted anthologist Datlow (The Best Horror of the Year) once again draws upon her curating skills to highlight the best the genre has to offer. The variety of stories shines a light on the depth and breadth of this sometimes marginalized literary form."

Booklist

“Building off her indispensable Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (2010), which covered the years 1985–2005, Datlow has here collected the 24 stories that she has most enjoyed from 2005–15. Her task is aided greatly by the fact that the last decade has been a fertile one for the genre, with the emergence of incredible new voices and the decision by nongenre writers to give horror a try. Arranged in chronological order by year of publication, these tales represent the breadth of horror from psychologically chilling to all out terrorizing and feature just about every type of monster or ghost imaginable. As a result of this range, however, not every reader will like every story, but that is not this book’s goal. Rather, it should be taken as an exemplary and accurate representation of what readers can expect from horror today, in general, in one concise volume. Of particular note are the stories by rising stars Laird Barron and Stephen Graham Jones and Australian Kaaron Warren, and a refreshingly original entry into the crowded field of zombie stories by literary-fiction author Dan Chaon. This volume is not only the perfect discovery tool for readers looking for the very best of modern horror, it should also be used as a collection-development tool by library staff.”

Risingshadow

“Nightmares is a dream come true anthology for those who love the darker and twisted side of speculative fiction and want to be entertained by beautifully written, dark and imaginative stories that give readers something to think about”

Diabolique

“golden age” is ongoing.”

The Book Lover’s Boudoir

“Datlow offers another impressive, diverse and hugely enjoyable collection of short fiction. . . This is a great collection of horror fiction. I’d highly recommend it.”

This is Horror

“An excellent collection over all, featuring some of the best voices in horror. It has something to suit a wide variety of tastes, blending stories about real life trauma and bloodshed, to stories that pass into the realms of cosmic terror, horror in the old west and even those with a grim fairytale-like feel. In these pages you will find a nightmare for every horror fan.”

Shining Star Reviews

“There is something for everyone here from serial killers, to zombies, to demons to shape shifters.”

Brad K. Horner

“[This] whole book of horror tales was rather fantastic.”

Unnerving Magazine

“Nightmares, horror reprinted for works originally published from 2005-2015 is of the highest quality of anthology available.”

Nudge

“Another excellent anthology by a skilled, widely acclaimed editor.”

LitReactor

“Edited by the God of horror anthologies, Ellen Datlow . . . For horror fans, Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror, is a must own anthology. Simply put, you need this on your shelf.”

Battered, Tattered, Yellowed, & Creased

“The overall quality of fiction here is so high, it’s hard to figure out where to begin . . . Datlow has a nigh-immaculate eye for stories,”

New York Journal of Books

“Nightmares is more than just a memorable and collective anthology; it is an excellent showcase of some of the finest names in contemporary horror and weird fiction, as well as one of the knowledgeable influence of the genre’s leading editors.”

Unnerving Magazine

“If you want the pants scared right off you, this is one of the greatest collections of horror stories ever printed. And that is not an exaggeration.”

Girl Who Reads

“Ellen Datlow has curated countless collections of horror and fantasy; anything with her name attached pretty much guarantees that the stories I'm about to read are high quality and will linger in my mind long after I finish reading the book. This volume of twenty-four stories is not an exception to that rule.”

Strange Alliances

“Most short story anthologies feel like entrées, little more than a glimpse into an author’s work. Nightmares feels like an all-you-can-eat buffet where the palate is refreshed every time you go up for another helping.”

Fat Robot

“[A] fantastic collection.”

Horror-Writers.net

“This is the best anthology I’ve read all year and a must-have for any horror fan’s bookshelf."

World of My Imagination

“A fantastic collection of short stories that I think is worthy of your reading.”

Locus, Year in Review

“...the horror anthology that got talked about the most seemed to be Nightmares: A New Decade of Horror...”

Elitist Book Reviews

“Lovers of horror will love this anthology. A great one to bury you teeth in.”

Looking For a Good Book

“Nightmares offers up some of the best horror short fiction I’ve read in a while.”

About the Author

Ten-time World Fantasy Award-winner Ellen Datlow is one of horror's most acclaimed editors. Datlow was the fiction editor of.OMNI for nearly twenty years and also edited the magazines Event Horizon and Sci Fiction. Her many bestselling anthologies include the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series; Snow White, Blood Red; Lovecraft's Monsters; Naked City, -and Darkness. Datlow has won multiple Hugo, Locus, and Shirley Jackson awards. She has received several lifetime achievement awards, including the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards. Datlow lives in New York City.

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