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

Subtitled “A Magazine of Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy”, Patrick and Honna Swenson’s very professional-looking quarterly Talebones reached its thirteenth issue and included fiction and poetry by Stefano Donati, Trey R. Barker, Uncle River, Bruce Boston, Hugh Cook, Mary Soon Lee, Mark McLaughlin, Tom Piccirilli and Don D’Ammassa, interviews with Spider Robinson, Bill Ransom, Jack Cady and K. W. Jeter, plus book reviews by Ed Bryant and Janna Silverstein.

Also sporting a full-colour cover, Indigenous Fiction edited by Sherry Decker made its debut in August with fiction and poetry by Steve Lockley, James S. Dorr and others, plus an interview with Jeff VanderMeer.

Graeme Hurry’s neatly designed Kimota published two special issues, dedicated to SF and horror, featuring fiction by Joel Lane, Paul Finch, Peter Crowther, David Sutton, D. F. Lewis, Stephen Bowkett and Derek M. Fox, along with an interview with Peter Hamilton and an article by Ramsey Campbell. The tenth issue of Mark McLaughlin’s The Urbanite was published at Halloween and included fiction and poetry by W. H. Pugmire, John Pelan, Paul Pinn, Marni Scofidio Griffin and Caitlin R. Kiernan, based around the theme “On Whom the Pale Moon Gleams”, while Gordon Linzner’s twice-yearly Space and Time featured fiction by A. R. Morlan and Charlee Jacob.

Pendragon Publications’ Penny Dreadful: Tales and Poems of Fantastic Terrors included work from John B. Ford, James S. Dorr and editor Michael Pendragon.

Writer and editor John B. Ford continued to build his small press publishing empire with Ghouls & Gore & Twisted Tales, a collection of fourteen stories illustrated by Steve Lines, and The Derelict of Death, a William Hope Hodgson pastiche co-written with Simon Clark. He also edited the final two issues of Terror Tales, featuring stories by Michael Pendragon, Paul Finch, Derek M. Fox and L. H. Maynard and M. P. N. Sims.

Mick Sims and Len Maynard also launched their own supernatural ghost and horror story magazine, Enigmatic Tales. The three perfect-bound issues featured fiction and poetry by John B. Ford, Bernard Capes, Paul Finch, Rhys Hughes, Steve Sneyd, A. F. Kidd, Peter Tennant and the editors, along with articles by Hugh Lamb and Richard Dalby.

The first volume of Steve Algieri’s Pulp Eternity was a time-travel issue, with fiction by Cynthia Ward, Christopher Rowe and others. Published back-to-back, Dark Regions/The Year’s Best Fantastic Fiction edited by Joe Morey and Morey and Mike Olson, respectively, featured fiction and poetry by Brian Lumley, Brian Hodge and Bruce Boston. The ninth issue of Rod Heather’s Lore included fiction from Stefan Grabinski, W. H. Pugmire and Elizabeth Massie, while the fourth issue of Epitaph; Tales of Dark Fantasy & Horror edited by Tom Piccirilli included an interview with Melanie Tern.

D. E. Davidson’s Night Terrors celebrated its second anniversary with two issues that contained fiction by Hugh B. Cave and Don D’Ammassa. Canadian book dealer Raymond Alexander also included a new story by Cave in his first My Back Pages “magalog”.

There were two issues of Dreams of Decadence: Vampire Poetry and Fiction edited by Angela Kessler, and Vampire Dan’s Story Emporium edited by Daniel Paul Medici featured interviews with Janet Fox and Jim Baen.

The premiere issue of Masque Noir from editor Rod Marsden billed itself as “The New Wave of Australian Avant-Garde”. Meanwhile, Eidolon 25–26 appeared a bit late, with stories by Terry Dowling and Rick Kennett, and Aurealis managed just one issue in 1998. Altair was the title of a new Australian speculative magazine edited and published by Rob Stevenson.

Issue 45 of Joe R. Christopher’s Niekas was a special “Dark Fantasy” number with essays about Stephen King, H. P. Lovecraft and others by such contributors as Mike Ashley, S. T. Joshi, Sam Moskowitz and Darrell Schweitzer (who was also interviewed). Issue 72 of Foundation: The Review of Science Fiction edited by Edward James included an article about Suzy McKee Charnas plus an interview with the author.

The 9th issue of Horror Magazine from Dark Regions Press featured interviews with Joe R. Lansdale, Yvonne Navarro, Darrell Schweitzer and Suzy McKee Charnas, plus a report on the 1997 World Horror Convention.

Still the leading news and reviews magazine of the F&SF field, Locus celebrated its 30th year of publication with interviews with Tim Powers, Tanith Lee, Joan Aiken, S. P. Somtow, Stephen Baxter, Paul J. McAuley, Nelson Bond, Lucy Taylor, P. D. Cacek, Peter Straub and many others. Andrew I. Porter’s news and reviews magazine Science Fiction Chronicle managed only five issues in 1998 (one up on the previous year), and included interviews with Charles L. Grant and Tanya Huff.

The Ghost Story Society’s excellent journal All Hallows published three perfect-bound editions edited by Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden that contained stories by Rhys Hughes, Paul Finch, Tina Rath and Simon MacCulloch. They also included reviews, news columns and non-fiction by Roger Dobson, Richard Dalby, David G. Rowlands and others about The Twilight Zone, Charles L. Grant, Robert Aickman, Arthur Conan Doyle, and The Innocents.

Given a welcome re-design by editor Debbie Bennett, The British Fantasy Society’s bi-monthly newsletter, Prism UK, featured articles by Mark Chadbourn, Mike Chinn, Meg Turville-Heitz, Simon Clark and Stephen Gallagher, interviews with Whitley Streiber, Peter Atkins, Graham Joyce and Stephen King, and regular columns from Nicholas Royle, Tom Holt and Chaz Brenchley, along with all the usual news and book and media reviews. Dark Horizons No. 37 was edited and produced for the Society by Peter Coleborn, Mike Chinn and Phil Williams and included fiction from Simon MacCulloch, Rick Cadger, Paul Finch, Mark McLaughlin and D. F. Lewis, plus an article by Storm Constantine. The BFS also published its first major paperback and hardback release, Manitou Man: The Worlds of Graham Masterton by Graham Masterton, Ray Clark and Matt Williams. Containing ten tales of sex, death and terror (three original), a critical analysis of the author and a complete Masterton bibliography, the book was limited to a 300-copy paperback edition and a 100-copy deluxe cased edition signed by the three authors plus cover artist Les Edwards, illustrator Bob Covington, editor David J. Howe, and Peter James, who supplied the introduction.

The Horror Writers Association Newsletter finally found its direction under editor Meg Turville-Heitz, appearing on schedule and with each issue packed with news, controversy and a lively letters column.

Issue 16 was the final edition of Aaron Sterns’ Severed Head: The Journal of the Australian Horror Writers, as AHW president Bryce Stevens decided to close down the organisation in February because of lack of finances.

The Governing Body of Britain’s The Vampyre Society agreed unanimously to wind down the Society in 1998. The action was taken following the resignation of six committee members in April. Meanwhile, The Vampire Guild continued to publish Crimson, which included an interview with Stephen Laws and an article on Mexico’s mythical Chupacabra.

Issue 8 of That’s Clive! the magazine of the official German Clive Barker fanclub, included interviews with Barker (who also contributed several pieces of artwork) and Peter Atkins, articles about Stephen Jones and the H. R. Giger museum, plus related news and reviews. An irregularly-published news magazine about Stephen King and his work, editor George Beahm’s Phantasmagoria changed its format with the eighth issue to a larger, more-easily readable layout, with extra photos and content.