Ellen Datlow - The Best Horror of the Year – Volume One

Walking on. So tired. Sounds of things moving in the darkness beyond. Big things. Heavy things. A hissing sound, close by. Lisa gasps, clutches my arm. A grunt from behind us. We walk faster.

Water, trickling.

At last, too tired to keep on. We need a place to stop, but the endless narrows-there's nowhere.

But at last, the narrow opens out. Only briefly, two new ones beyond, but it's a small chamber.

We lie down. I curl up; Lisa huddles against my back.

I sleep. No dreams. I wake once; I hear Lisa, crying. "Mum?" she calls. Her voice cracks with terror and relief. "Mum? Mum, is that you? Where are you?"

I should wake up and stop her. But I'm so, so tired. I go back to sleep.

I wake up alone.

I've been walking a long time now.

The beam of the torch is faint and flickery. I don't have the Geiger counter anymore. I don't know when or where I left it behind.

Voices. All around me. Calling my name. Pleading. Praying. Damning me.

Jean.

Lisa

Jane

Danny

Laura

Toby, poor Toby,

The little ones

Jean.

The torch goes out.

I shake and rattle and bang it, but it's good and dead this time. At last, I let it fall.

The darkness is total.

I walk into it, hands in front of me.

Dreading what they might touch.

Can barely walk now. So tired. So hungry. So thirsty. Oh. God.

Plod. Plod. Stumble. Shuffle.

Hit a wall. Ow. Feel at it. Push myself clear. Arms out to either side, then in front. To the sides again. And out front. And so on. And on.

Something stings my eyes. What…?

Light. It's light. It's been so long since I saw it.

Where is it?

Up ahead. I can see it now. There's a bend in the narrow. I stumble towards it. An exit, at last?

I round the corner. And stop.

Anya steps out; she is in silhouette and her outline looks thinner than I remember, but it's her. "Hi, Paul."

A noise comes out of my throat. I want to believe this, but-

"Paul?" She takes a step forward; a slow, dragging step. I stumble backwards. "Darling?"

I backpedal faster. Then, with a horrible crack, my ankle goes as a lump of rock gives underfoot. I fall down, crying out.

"Sh. Baby. Sh." She's holding out her arms. "It's alright."

I cover my face as her dragging footsteps approach. "It's alright."

I pray for death to reach me before her.

But it doesn't.

Allan, Nina

– "Ryman's Suitcase,"

A Thread of Truth.

Allen, Mike

– "deathmask,"

Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, winter.

Avery, Simon

– "101 Ways to Leave Paris,"

Crimewave, Now You See Me 10.

Barron, Laird

– "The Occultation,"

Clockwork Phoenix.

Bear, Elizabeth and Monette, Sarah

– "Boojum,"

Fast Ships, Black Sails.

Bestwick, Simon

– "The School House," (novella)

Houses on the Borderland.

Bird, Allyson

– "The Bone Grinder,"

Bull Running for Girls.

Block, Lawrence

– "Keller the Dogkiller,"

EQMM, May.

Bobet, Leah

– "Bell, Book, and Candle,"

Clockwork Phoenix.

Bulkin, Nadia

– "Intertropical Convergence Zone,"

ChiZine 37.

Campbell, Ramsey

– "Double Room,"

The New Uncanny.

Campbell, Ramsey

– "The Long Way," PS Publishing chapbook.

Cowdrey, Albert E.

– "The Overseer," (novella)

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March.

Dowling, Terry

– "The Fooly,"

Dreaming Again.

Duffy, Steve

– "The Oram County Whoosit,"

Shades of Darkness.

Emshwiller, Carol

– "Wilmer or Wesley,"

Asimov's Science Fiction, August.

Ferris, Joshua

– "The Dinner Party,"

The New Yorker, August 11 &18.

Finch, Paul

– "The Pumping Station,"

We Fade to Grey.

Grant, Helen

– "Grauer Hans,"

Shades of Darkness.

Grant, John

– "Will the Real Veronica LeBarr Stand Down,"

Postscripts 16.

Haines, Paul

– "Taniwha, Swim with Me,"

Midnight Echo 1.

Harland, Richard

– "A Guided Tour in the Kingdom of the Dead,"

Dreaming Again.

Hirshberg, Glen

– "Like Lick em Sticks, Like Tina Fey,"

KRDR.

Kiernan, Caitlín R.

– "The Steam Dancer (1896),"

Subterranean.

King, Stephen

– "N."

Just After Sunset.

– "The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates,"

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Oct/Nov.

Kirk, John

– "The Talion Moth,"

Weird Tales 349, March/April.

Kosmatka, Ted

– "The Art of Alchemy,"

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June.

Laidlaw, Marc

– "Childrun,"

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August.

Lake, Jay

– " America, Such as She Is," (novella)

Alembical.

Lane, Joel

– "A Mouth to Feed,"

Shades of Darkness.

Lane, Joel

– "Even the Pawn,"

Crimewave 10.

Langan, Sarah

– "The Agathas,"

Unspeakable Horror.

Llewellyn, Livia

– "The Engine of Desire,"

Unspeakable Horror.

Ludwigsen, Will

– "In Search Of,"

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June.

Lynch, Mark Patrick

– "The Apartment of Bryony Hartwood,"

Shades of Darkness.

MacLeod, Ian R.

– "The Hob Carpet," (novella)

Asimov's Science Fiction, June.

McDermott, Kirstyn

– "Painlessness,"

GUD 2.

McHugh, Ian

– "Bitter Dreams,"

Writers of the Future volume XXIV.

Meloy, Paul

– "All Mouth,"

Black Static 6.

Monette, Sarah

– "The World Without Sleep,"

Postscripts 14.

Pile, Rog

– "The Pit,"

The Second Black Book of Horror.

Pinborough, Sarah

– "Our Man in the Sudan,"

The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror.

Probert, John Llewellyn

– "Don't Look Back,"

Coffin Nails.

Rickert, M.

– "Traitor,"

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May.

Roden, Barbara

– "Endless Night,"

Exotic Gothic.

Samphire, Patrick

– "At the Gates,"

Black Static 8.

Schweitzer, Darrell

– "Living with the Dead," (novella) PS Publishing chapbook.

Strantzas, Simon

– "Under the Overpass,"

Shades of Darkness.

Thomas, Jonathan

– "Into Your Tenement I'll Creep,"

Studies in the Fantastic 1.

Travis, Tia V.

– "No Need of Wings,"

Subterranean online winter 08.

Valentine, Genevieve

– "The Red Shoes (Continued),"

Journal of Mythic Arts final issue.

VanderMeer, Jeff

– "The Situation," (novella) PS Publishing chapbook.

Weiss, Ernst

– "The Rat Ship," (novella)

A Public Space 5.

Williams, Conrad

– "68Ú 07' 15"N, 31Ú 36' 44"W,"

Fast Ships, Black Sails.

Mike Allen lives in Roanoke, Va. with his wife Anita, a demonic cat, and a comical dog. By day he covers arts and theater for the city's daily newspaper; in his spare time the hats he wears include editor of the poetry journal Mythic Delirium and the anthology series Clockwork Phoenix. He's a semi-regular performer in the local improv venue and a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for poetry. The Philadelphia Inquirer called his work "poetry for goths of all ages." His latest fiction includes horror tales in Tales of the Talisman and Cabinet des Fées, as well as Follow the Wounded One, a dark fantasy chapbook from the publishers of Not One of Us magazine. His short horror story "The Button Bin" was a finalist for the 2008 Nebula Awards.