Stephen Jones - The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. Volume 23

The Caped Crusader battled his greatest foes, including the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and Catwoman in the musical extravaganza Batman Live , which kicked off a world arena tour at the O 2in London in August.

The following month, Somtow Sucharitkul’s ghost opera Opera Siam: Mae Naak premiered at the Bloomsbury Theatre.

In December, London’s Southwark Playhouse mounted a production of the late Diana Wynne Jones’ novel Howl’s Moving Castle , narrated by Stephen Fry.

Throughout the year, the organisers of 2.8 Hours Later transformed areas of British cities into giant urban chase games in which participants assumed the role of zombie attack survivors trying to reach a final sanctuary before they were “infected” by the walking dead.

John Carpenter and Steve Niles were brought in by Warner Bros. to work on the first-person shooter game F.E.A.R. 3 , which featured the return of devil child Alma.

An idyllic getaway was overrun by an invasion of zombies in the survival game Dead Island , while Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D , released for the new Nintendo 3DS handset, was basically a reworking of episodes from previous games in the franchise.

Players of the challenging Dark Souls , an unofficial follow-up to the equally difficult Demon’s Souls , were among the dead trying to regain their mortal lives in a world where evil had triumphed.

In the near-future, a global conspiracy to create cyborgs was at the heart of Deus Ex: Human Revolution , while the eagerly awaited Dead Space 2 quickly became one of the most popular electronic games of the year.

Despite the success of the movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was as disappointing as all the other games in the movie tie-in series. At least Captain America: Super Soldier was somewhat better.

The Caped Crusader attempted to bring order to the urban chaos that was Batman: Arkham City , an even better sequel to the excellent Arkham Asylum .

The successful Dead Space game franchise was reconfigured for mobile use on iPhone and iTouch, so that the touch-screen player could use their finger to slice off limbs, and Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies was available as an app for download onto iPads and iPhones.

Featuring the voice of actor Benedict Cumberbatch, The Nightjar was a creepy SF game sponsored by Wrigley’s chewing gum for free download onto iPhone.

For fans of H. P. Lovecraft, the Cthulhu Waterglobe was inscribed with the author’s famous couplet from the Necronomicon , or you could create your own eldritch lore with the Lovecraftian Letters magnetic words, which came in a metal tin containing more than 500 pieces.

The first issue of 2011 by Britain’s Royal Mail, “FAB: The Genius of Gerry Anderson”, featured six stamps honouring the TV creator’s five decades of work with Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 . The set also included the UK’s first-ever lenticular set that depicted the “4-3-2-1” opening sequence of Thunderbirds when the stamps were tilted back and forth.

In March, the Royal Mail issued a set of eight stamps celebrating “Magical Realms” with two images each from the Harry Potter movies, Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” books, C. S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” series and Arthurian Legend. The special presentation pack included an essay by Kim Newman about British magical fantasy.

In July, an insert poster for the 1936 Universal movie Werewolf of London sold for $47,800 (including 19.5 per cent Buyer’s Premium) at auction, and five months later, Orson Welles’ 1942 Oscar for Best Screenplay for Citizen Kane sold for $861,542 to an anonymous bidder.

Universal Studios added a “King Kong 360/3-D Ride” to its Hollywood amusement park. Created by Peter Jackson, the ride was promoted as the “world’s largest 3-D experience”.

Meanwhile, over at Disney World and Disneyland, a new 3-D Star Wars motion-simulator ride offered a different combination of more than fifty story elements, making every trip a unique experience.

An historic 1925 carousel in the George F. Johnson Recreation Park in Binghamton, New York, was refurbished in August with various scenes from The Twilight Zone painted by Cortlandt Hull. Rod Serling, the creator of the show, rode the same carousel as a boy and used it as the basis of a 1959 episode entitled “Walking Distance”.

The 2011 World Horror Convention was held in Austin, Texas, over 28 April–1 May. Guests of Honour were authors Jack Ketchum (Dallas Mayr), Joe Hill and Sarah Langan, ChiZine editors Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi, British artist Vincent Chong, and media writer Steve Niles.

Brian Keene and bookseller Del Howison were Special Guests, and Joe R. Lansdale was Toastmaster. Jack Ketchum was given the convention’s Grand Master Award in a ceremony on the Friday night.

The winners of the Horror Writers of America 2010 Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement were announced at the Stoker Awards Weekend in Uniondale, New York, on 19 June.

In a whole raft of announcements, the Silver Hammer Award for outstanding service to the HWA was presented to Angel Leigh McCoy, The President’s Richard Laymon Service Award went to Michael Colangelo, and Joe Morey of Dark Regions Press received the award for Specialty Press.

The Poetry Collection award went to Bruce Boston for Dark Matters , Gary A. Braunbeck’s To Each Their Darkness received Non-Fiction, and Stephen King’s Full Dark No Stars picked up Collection. The Anthology award was given to Haunted Legends edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas, while Joe R. Lansdale’s story “The Folding Man” from the same book received the Short Fiction award. Long Fiction was given to Norman Prentiss for Invisible Fences , the First Novel award was a tie between Black and Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge and Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton, and Peter Straub was presented with the Superior Achievement in a Novel award for A Dark Matter .

It had been previously announced that Ellen Datlow and veteran EC artist Al Feldstein each received Life Achievement Awards.

Celebrating the thirty-fifth British Fantasy Convention, FantasyCon 2011 was held in Brighton, England, over 30 September–2 October. Guests of Honour were Gwyneth Jones, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Peter Atkins and Joe Abercrombie. Brian Aldiss and Christopher Paolini were Special Guests and Sarah Pinborough was Mistress of Ceremonies.

The British Fantasy Awards were presented at a banquet on the Sunday afternoon. The awards for Best Film and Best Television went to Christopher Nolan’s Inception and the BBC’s Sherlock , respectively. Best Graphic Novel was At the Mountains of Madness: A Graphic Novel by I. N. J. Culbard, Best Magazine was Andy Cox’s Black Static , and the Best Small Press award went to Telos Publishing for the second year running.

Vincent Chong won Best Artist, and his book Altered Visions: The Art of Vincent Chong also picked up the Best Non-Fiction award. Back from the Dead: The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories edited by Johnny Mains was awarded Best Anthology, and Stephen King’s Full Dark, No Stars was announced Best Collection. Best Novella was presented to Humpty’s Bones by Simon Clark, while Sam Stone collected Best Short Story for “Fool’s Gold” (from The Bitten Word ) and The August Derleth Award for Best Novel for Demon Dance , the third volume in the “Vampire Gene” series.