Christopher Fowler: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. Volume 10

From Boneyard Press, Noise & Other Night Terrors contained seven short stories (one original) and a novel extract by Newton E. Streeter, along with an introduction by Cindie Geddes. New Welsh imprint Oneiros Books published David Conway’s debut collection Metal Sushi, with an introduction by Grant Morrison.

The first in a new series of books published by Mythos Books and collectively titled “The Fan Mythos”, Correlated Contents included six Cthulhu Mythos tales (two original) by James Ambuehl, introduced by Robert M. Price and illustrated by Jeffrey Thomas. Price also edited The Innsmouth Cycle for Chaosium, which contained thirteen stories and three poems.

Published by Armitage House, Delta Green: Alien Intelligence edited by Bob Kruger and John Tynes was an anthology of eight Lovecraftian stories based on the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

Leviathan 2: The Legacy of Boccaccio, published by The Ministry of Whimsy Press and edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Rose Secrest, contained four novellas by Richard Calder, Rhys Hughes, L. Timmel Duchamp and Stepan Chapman, interviews with the authors, and an essay about novella writing by David Pringle.

A follow-up to the 1997 anthology, More Monsters from Memphis was published in trade paperback by California’s Zapizdat Publications, once again edited by Beecher Smith. It contained thirty-one stories set in the American south by Brent Monahan, Steve Rasnic Tem, Janet Berliner, Tim Waggoner, Tom Piccirilli, Tina Jens and others, including two by the editor.

Published by Space & Time, Going Postal edited by Gerard Daniel Houarner was an original paperback anthology of eighteen stories and one poem about people going crazy by such authors as Bentley Little, Gordon Linzner, Carlee Jacob, Tom Piccarilli, Melanie Tem, Don Webb and James Dorr. Harvest Tales & Midnight Revels edited by Michael Mayhew contained nineteen horror stories to be read aloud on Halloween night and was published by California’s Bald Mountain Books.

Subterranean Press continued its series of signed and numbered chapbooks with Red Right Hand by Norman Partridge, about a bank heist during the 1930s, and Fugue on a G-String by Peter Crowther (introduction by Ed Gorman), continuing the exploits of hardboiled private eye Kokorian Tate. Two more titles in the series released in time for Halloween were The Night in Fog by David B. Silva and The Keys to D’Espérance by Chaz Brenchley (introduced by Peter Crowther). These were each available in an edition of 250 copies and also twenty-six lettered hardcovers.

Also from Subterranean came Testament: The Unpublished Prologues by David Morrell, in which the author examined the writing of his 1975 thriller. It was available in numbered and lettered editions, both signed. Monsters and Other Stories by small press publisher/editor Richard Chizmar collected six recent tales, introduced by Edward Bryant. Subterranean’s lettered edition also added an essay by Hugh B. Cave.

Candles for Elizabeth was an attractive chapbook from Meisha Merlin Publishing that collected three stories (one original) by Caitlin R. Kiernan, with an introduction by Poppy Z. Brite.

Steve Harris’ Challenging the Wolf from The Squane’s Press was limited to 500 copies and contained the original novelette of the title plus the first chapter from the unpublished novel The Switch.

Dark Raptor Press released chapbooks of Expiry Date by Scottish author Carol Anne Davis, the werewolf tale The Case of the Police Officer’s Cock Ring and the Piano Player Who Had No Fingers by Ed Lee and John Pelan, The Adventures of Threadwell the Tailor or Alterations Made While You Wait by P. D. Cacek, and Yours Truly, Jackie the Stripper by Edo van Belkom. Each was limited to 333 signed copies.

Writhing in Darkness: Part I and Part II were a brace of chapbooks from California’s Dark Regions Press which collected, respectively, nineteen and seventeen pieces of “horrific verse” by Michael Arnzen, with introductions by Wayne Edwards and John Grey. Dark Tales & Light by Bruce Boston was a collection of ten stories from Dark Regions, while Poking the Gun: The Selected Poetry of John Grey contained twenty-eight poems (seven original) along with an introduction by Michael Arnzen and illustrations by Dale L. Sproule. Each was limited to 125 signed copies.

Nice Guys Finish Last was the title of a story by Gary Jonas, which Barnes & Noble Books cut from the anthology 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories. It was rescued by Oklahoma’s Ozark Triangle Press, who published it in chapbook format. From the same imprint also came Jonas’ Curse of the Magazine Killers, a collection of four stories which were sold to markets which subsequently folded before they could publish them.

Britain’s Enigma Press kicked off its series of Enigmatic Novellas chapbooks with Moths by L. H. Maynard and M. P. N. Sims, followed by The Dark Satanic, a collection of two novellas by Paul Finch, and Candlelight Ghost Stories, two traditional ghost stories by Anthony Morris.

11th Hour Productions launched a series of Twilight Tales chapbooks featuring Chicago-area authors with Tales of Forbidden Passion, Dangerous Dames, Strange Creatures and Winter Tales, all edited by Tina L. Jens.

There was not much horror or dark fantasy in the eleven issues of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published in 1998 under editor Gordon Van Gelder. Novelettes by Joyce Carol Oates and Tanith Lee were the standouts, and there was also fine fiction from Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Ian MacLeod, Ian Watson, Elizabeth Hand, Howard Waldrop and Phyllis Eisenstein. At least Douglas E. Winter’s occasional book review column kept the flag flying for horror.

Edited by David Pringle, Britain’s monthly Interzone continued to showcase some of the best imaginative fiction available, along with articles and reviews. Among the authors featured were Tanith Lee, Paul J. McAuley, Don Webb, Thomas M. Disch, Ian Watson, Gary Couzens, Michael Bishop, Cherry Wilder, John Whitbourn, Gwyneth Jones, Darrell Schweitzer, Ramsey Campbell and Kim Newman, plus interviews with Whitbourn, Jones, Stephen Gallagher, Sarah Ash, Dennis Etchison, John Shirley and Jack Williamson.

Under new publisher DNA Publications, Worlds of Fantasy & Horror changed its name back again to Weird Tales, but it remained a pale imitation of the legendary pulp magazine under the editorship of Darrell Schweitzer. Tanith Lee, Melanie Tem, Ian Watson, David J. Schow, Brian Stableford and S. P. Somtow were among the authors who contributed to the two over-sized issues published in 1998.

Cemetery Dance edited by Richard T. Chizmar included fiction by Thomas Tessier, Nancy A. Collins, Ed Gorman, Gary Raisor, Chaz Brenchley, Hugh B. Cave, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Poppy Z. Brite, Dennis Etchison, Douglas Clegg, Joe R. Lansdale and Norman Partridge, plus interviews with Tessier, Cave, Brian Hodge, Michael Marshall Smith, Edward Bryant, David Morrell, David B. Silva and Ramsey Campbell. With the tenth anniversary number, the magazine moved from a quarterly to a bi-monthly schedule and expanded its content per issue.

Andy Cox’s glossy quarterly The Third Alternative included new fiction from Conrad Williams, Jason Gould, Rhys Hughes, Christopher Priest, James Lovegrove, Paul Finch, Joel Lane, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jeff VanderMeer and Tom Piccirilli, plus interviews with Priest, Graham Joyce, Jonathan Coe and Joyce Carol Oates. Odyssey edited by Liz Holliday published three issues with fiction by Darrell Schweitzer, Charles Stross, Richard Parks, Roz Kaveney and Ian Watson, interviews with Stephen Baxter and Tim Powers, and an appreciation of the late George Hay by David Langford.