Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 1

An Air Force Loadmaster is menaced by strange sounds within his cargo; a man is asked to track down a childhood friend... who died years earlier; doomed pioneers forge a path westward as a young mother discovers her true nature; an alcoholic strikes a dangerous bargain with a gregarious stranger; urban explorers delve into a ruined book depository, finding more than they anticipated; residents of a rural Wisconsin town defend against a legendary monster; a woman wracked by survivor's guilt is haunted by the ghosts of a tragic crash; a detective strives to solve the mystery of a dismembered girl; an orphan returns to a wicked witch's candy house; a group of smugglers find themselves buried to the necks in sand; an unanticipated guest brings doom to a high-class party; a teacher attempts to lead his students to safety as the world comes to an end around them...What frightens us, what unnerves us? What causes that delicious shiver of fear to travel the lengths of our spines? It seems the answer changes every year. Every year the bar is raised; the screw is tightened. Ellen Datlow knows what scares us; the twenty-one stories and poems included in this anthology were chosen from magazines, webzines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections to represent the best horror of the year.Legendary editor Ellen Datlow (Poe: New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe), winner of multiple Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards, joins Night Shade Books in presenting The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. After 22 years of pulling the horror content for the now-discontinued Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series, Datlow (Lovecraft Unbound) goes solo with this stellar start to a new best of annual. As in the past, her picks confirm that horror is a storytelling approach with endlessly inventive possibilities. In E. Michael Lewis's Cargo, a haunting Twilight Zone–type tale, an airplane picks up something otherworldly as part of its latest transport. Euan Harvey's creepy Harry and the Monkey turns an urban legend into reality. R.B. Russell's Loup-garou is a highly original shape-shifter story with a subtle psychological twist, and Daniel LeMoal's Beach Head a bracing conte cruel with a Lord of the Flies cast. In addition to the richly varied stories, Datlow provides her usual comprehensive coverage of the year in horror in an introduction that's indispensable reading for horror aficionados. (Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

During a prolific editorial career, Datlow has published many colorful thematic collections of horror. Until now, though, she has never put her stamp on a best-of-the-year horror anthology. True to her expansive vision, this inaugural volume of a projected annual series casts a wide net over the genre’s many outlets, from magazines and single-author collections to webzines and literary journals. It opens with Datlow’s own comprehensive overview of genre highlights and trends, then offers a smorgasbord of creative voices in 21 tales and poems. E. Michael Lewis’ unsettling “Cargo” eavesdrops on the duties of a military cargo plane’s loadmaster as he chaperones the restless coffins being shipped from Jonestown after the infamous mass suicide. Steve Duffy’s “The Clay Party” provides outstanding period detail in a pioneer woman’s account of a werewolf-plagued wagon train in 1846. There are stories about strange finds in a book depository, a Wisconsin town besieged by a legendary monster, and a grown-up Hansel returning to the witch’s house. Datlow delivers the gold again with a first rate compilation. --Carl Hays

Kirkus Reviews

“Award-winning editor Ellen Datlow has assembled a tasty collection of twenty one terrifying and unsettling treats. In addition to providing excellent fiction to read, this is the perfect book for discovering new authors and enriching your life through short fiction.”

Signal Horizon

“For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror fans crave. . . . and the anthologies just keep getting better and better. She's an icon in the industry.”

Adventures Fantastic

“Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year series is one of the best investments you can make in short fiction. The current volume is no exception."

Washington Post

“As usual, Datlow delivers what she promises, ‘the best horror of the year,’ whether it’s written by the famous (Neil Gaiman) or the should-be famous (Laird Barron and many others).”

Tor.com

“You just can’t have a list of recommended speculative anthologies without including an Ellen Datlow anthology. It’s. Not. Possible. The line-up in The Best Horror of the Year Volume Eight is absolutely stupendous, featuring the most frighteningly talented authors in horror fiction.”

Mario Guslandi, British Fantasy Society

"Once again, [Ellen Datlow supplies] an invaluable book, featuring excellent short fiction and, in addition, providing as always precious information about what happened in the horror field last year.”

About the Author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for more than thirty years. She was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Sci Fiction and has edited more than fifty anthologies. Datlow has also won lifetime achievement awards from three prominent genre organizations, and currently acquires short fiction for Tor.com.

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