James Jenkins: The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories. Volume 1

Lars Ahnis a Danish author and journalist. He has published one novel and two short story collections in Danish and has won two Niels Klim Awards for best Danish science fiction short stories. He was born in South Korea but was adopted as an infant and grew up in Denmark. His translated stories can be found in the anthologies Sky City and Unconventional Fantasy: Forty Years of the World Fantasy Convention.

Flavius Ardeleanis a writer of fantasy and horror for adults and children. He is the author of six novels and three short story collections, for which he has received multiple awards and nominations in his home country. He has an MA in Publishing from Oxford with a dissertation on the field of international horror publishing and is an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Christien Boomsmahas been writing since she learned her first letters, but her professional career didn’t begin in earnest until she won the Paul Harland Prize for Dutch-language fantastic literature in 2004 and 2006. She focuses on works for young readers, with titles like Schaduwloper [ Shadow Walker ] (2014) and Vuurdoop [ Baptism of Fire ] (2015). Her love for horror started in 2006 when she wrote a ghost story for her own children. She became intrigued by the interplay of darkness and evil, slowly and inexorably creeping closer. That finally resulted in the collection of twelve modern ghost stories Spookbeeld [ Spectre ] (2012) and a number of horror stories for adults. ‘The Bones in Her Eyes’ came about after she ran over a cat one night. She was struck by the strange, clear look in the cat’s eyes – even though it was already dead. A look that even now is still fresh in her mind and has caused her its share of nightmares.

Bernardo Esquinca’s fiction is characterized by a fusion of the genres of the supernatural and the crime novel. Born in Guadalajara in 1972, he is the author of several novels and story collections, including one translated into English, The Owls Are Not What They Seem (2014). He has been a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte and in 2017 won the Premio Nacional de Novela Negra. He has also written screenplays and audio series. He lives in Mexico City with his daughter Pía and his Xoloitzcuintle dog, Ramona.

Anders Fagerwas born in 1964 in Stockholm. After a career as an army officer and game designer he turned to writing full time in 2009, when he released his first volume of Lovecraftian short stories, Svenska kulter [ Swedish Cults ]. The book was a critical success and a hit with readers and led to an expanded version, Samlade Svenska kulter [ Collected Swedish Cults ] in 2011. His works have been published in Finland, Italy, and France, where he became the only Swedish writer ever to have been nominated twice for the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire. He lives in Stockholm with a tank full of fish and is very happily married.

Cristina Fernández Cubaswas born in Arenys de Mar, Barcelona, in 1945. Since the publication of her first volume of short stories in 1980, she has become an undeniable point of reference for the generations of short story writers to have followed. She has been translated into eight languages. Her most recent collection of stories, La habitación de Nona , once again proved her mastery in this genre, winning both the prestigious National Book Prize in Spain and the equally prestigious Premio de la Crítica, among other noteworthy prizes.

Ariane Gélinasis the literary director of the journal Le Sabord as well as the artistic director of Brins d’éternité . She also edits reviews and columns on speculative fiction in Lettres québécoises and Les libraires . She is the author of Les villages assoupis (Prix Jacques-­Brossard, Arts Excellence and Aurora/Boréal) and the collection Le sabbat des éphémères. Her novels Les cendres de Sedna (Prix Arts Excellence and Aurora/Boréal) and Quelques battements d’ailes avant la nuit appeared in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

Marko Hautalais a Finnish writer of literary horror whose work has been translated into eight different languages, including the novel The Black Tongue , published in English in 2015. One of his novels was recently optioned for a film. In his native Finland, Hautala has received the Tiiliskivi Prize, Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize and has been nominated for the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize.

Flore Hazouméwas born in Brazzaville, Congo, the daughter of a Beninese father and a Congolese mother. She grew up in France and is now a citizen of Ivory Coast, where she has lived for more than thirty years. She is the author of ten books, including novels, story collections, and works for young adults. Her writing deals with themes connected to African societies, contemporary history, and family. She is at present head of the nongovernmental organization Audace-­C, which works in the fields of art, culture and education, and she is the founder of Scrib Magazine .

José María Latorrewas born in Zaragoza in 1945. He was a cele­brated film critic in his native Spain as well as a prolific author of some thirty books and an award-­winning screenwriter. His best macabre stories have been collected in La noche de Cagliostro y otros relatos de terror [ Cagliostro’s Night and Other Tales of Terror ] (2006) and Música muerta y otros relatos [ Dead Music and Other Tales ] (2014). He died in 2014.

Luigi Musolinowas born in 1982 in Torino, Italy, where he still lives and works. A specialist in Italian folklore, he is the author of several collections of short stories in the areas of weird fiction, horror, and rural Gothic: Bialere (2012) , Oscure Regioni [ Dark Regions ] (2 vols., 2014-­15) , and Uironda (2018) . In 2019 his first novel, Eredità di carne [ Legacy of Flesh ] appeared. He has translated into Italian works by Brian Keene, Lisa Mannetti, Michael Laimo, and the autobiographical writings of H. P. Lovecraft. His stories have been published in Italy, the United States, Ireland, and South Africa.

Pilar Pedrazahas combined a career as a professor at the University of Valencia with a prolific writing career, producing an extensive body of work that includes stories, novels, columns, articles, and essays. As a fiction writer, she is the author of many novels and story collections, including La fase del rubí , La pequeña pasión , Arcano trece , La perra de Alejandría , and El amante germano . As a researcher, she has devoted various essays to cinema ( Metropolis , Cat People , Federico Fellini, Agustí Villaronga and Jean Cocteau) and to the construction of the feminine in literature and cinema of the fantastic, with works such as Máquinas de amar and Espectra . She has received many awards throughout her career, including the Ignotus, Nocte, Sheridan Le Fanu, Gabriel, and Celsius Awards.

Michael Rochis a science fiction writer and scriptwriter born in 1987 in France. His first fantastic and horrific short stories were published in various underground fanzines before joining Walrus Editions with two science fiction novels: Twelve and Mortal Derby X. His novel Moi, Peter Pan (MU Editions, 2017), was longlisted for the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire in 2018. Since he returned to his native West Indies in 2015, he has conducted several creative writing workshops on the theme of Afrofuturism – a literary movement developing afrocentered counter-­dystopias – in prison and university environments. His latest novel, Le livre jaune [ The Yellow Book ], at the crossroads of Lovecraftian influences and the Astroblackness movement, is published by MU Editions (2019).