Stephen Jones: Best New Horror #26

Qualia Nous from the PoD imprint Written Backwards was a hefty anthology edited by Michael Bailey that included thirty-one stories (five reprints) exploring the limits of perception by Stephen King, Gene O’Neill, John R. Little, Jason V. Brock, William F. Nolan, John Everson, Lucy A. Snyder, Rena Mason, Thomas F. Monteleone, Elizabeth Massie and Gary A. Braunbeck, amongst others.

Chaz Brenchley’s novella Being Small from Per Aspera Press was a ghost story involving a dead twin and an insane mother.

From Shadow Publishing, Tales of the Grotesque: A Collection of Uneasy Tales was a welcome paperback reprinting of the classic 1934 “Creeps” collection of eleven stories by L. (Leslie) A. (Allin) Lewis. Richard Dalby’s updated Introduction to the 1994 Ghost Story Press edition shed further light on the obscure British author, who died in the early 1960s.

Rick Hautala’s novella The Big Tree from Nightscape Press came with a Foreword by Christopher Golden and an Afterword by Thomas F. Monteleone. From the same publisher, Sterling City was another novella by Stephen Graham Jones, while the The Patchwork House was a novel by Richard Salter.

Soft Apocalypses from Raw Dog Screaming collected fifteen stories (one original) by Lucy A. Snyder.

A massive monster destroyed Tucson, Arizona, in Matt Dinniman’s The Grinding , from Necro Publications. K. Trap Jones’ The Drunken Exorcist from the same imprint was about an unconventional exorcist.

When the Dead Walk was a pulp-style zombie novel by Gary Lovisi, from PoD imprint Ramble House.

Once again “Produced, Directed and Edited by Eric Miller” for California’s Big Time Books imprint, the PoD anthology Hell Comes to Hollywood II: Twenty-Two More Tales of Tinseltown Terror featured stories (two reprints) by authors mostly connected to Hollywood, including Richard Christian Matheson, Del Howison, Anthony C. Ferrante ( Sharknado ), Lisa Morton, Lin Shaye ( Insidious ), John Palisano and Eric J. Guignard, amongst others.

Haunted Holidays: 3 Short Tales of Terror was an attractive on-demand anthology from Gallowstree Press, containing three Christmas-themed horror stories by Laura Benedict, Carolyn Haines and Lisa Morton, along with a bonus novel excerpt from each author.

From Canada’s PoD imprint Innsmouth Free Press, The Nickronomicon collected thirteen humorous Mythos stories (one original) by Nick Mamatas, along with an Introduction by Orrin Grey.

Sword & Mythos edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles was an impressive anthology that contained fifteen stories that combined swords, sorcery and the Cthulhu Mythos. Contributors included Maurice Broaddus, Paul Jessup, William Meikle, Thana Niveau and Diana L. Paxson, amongst others. A bonus section of five essays revealed that there was an unofficial 1950s Mexican comic based on Robert E. Howard’s Conan!

The fifteenth issue of the paperback Innsmouth Magazine , also edited by Moreno-Garcia and Stiles, contained seven stories by William Meikle and others, while Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s own collection of short fiction, Love & Other Poisons , contained eighteen stories (three original) and was also available through Innsmouth Free Press.

The Bright Day is Done , Carole Johnstone’s PoD paperback collection of seventeen stories (five original), was the third volume in the “New Blood” series from Gray Friar Press, while the anthology Horror Uncut: Tales of Social Insecurity and Economic Unease was edited by the late Joel Lane and Tom Johnstone and contained seventeen stories (two reprints) by Simon Bestwick, John Llewellyn Probert, Gary McMahon, Anna Taborska, Stephen Bacon, Alison Littlewood, Andrew Hook, Thana Niveau and others, including co-editor Lane.

Paul Finch once again edited two impressive anthologies in his ongoing Terror Tales series for Gray Friar Press: Terror Tales of Wales and Terror Tales of Yorkshire both featured fourteen stories (with two reprints in each book) by, amongst other contributors, Stephen Bacon, Mark Chadbourne, Simon Clark, Gary Fry, Christopher Harman, Stephen Laws, Tim Lebbon, Alison Littlewood, Gary McMahon, Mark Morris, Thana Niveau, Reggie Oliver, John Llewellyn Probert and Stephen Volk. Both volumes also included retold folk tales interspersed between the fiction.

Published in paperback by Bibliofear, Other People’s Darkness and Other Stories was the second collection from sometimes-actor Nicholas Vince, containing five original stories.

Edited with a Foreword by the conjoined team of Maynard Sims for Hersham Horror Books, Dead Water was an on-demand anthology of five stories of watery terror by Simon Bestwick, Alan Spencer, David Moody, Daniel S. Boucher and the two editors.

Worms from KnightWatch Press was an anthology of eight original stories, edited with an Introduction by Alex Davis.

From British PoD imprint Crowded Quarantine Publications, Aberrations of Reality was a hardcover collection of twenty-two stories by Aaron J. French, with an Introduction by Mark Valentine.

The fifth volume in JournalStone’s “DoubleDown” series contained the short novels Secrets by John R. Little back-to-back with Outcast by Mark Allan Gunnells. It was available as an e-book, trade paperback and limited edition hardcover.

From Wildside Press, The Weird Shadow Over Morecambe was a British-set Cthulhu Mythos novel by Edmund Glasby, and five of the author’s original tales were collected in Dark Shadows: Occult Mystery Stories .

From the same PoD imprint, The Passion of Frankenstein was a sequel to Mary Shelley’s novel by Marvin Kaye, while Hideous Faces, Beautiful Skull collected thirty stories by Mark McLaughlin.

Cecil & Bubba Meet the Thang was a humorous Southern horror story by Terry M. West, published in PoD format by Pleasant Storm Entertainment, Inc. with an Introduction by Rena Mason.

David Botham discovered his past catching up with him as he became involved in a series of brutal murders in Liverpool in Ramsey Campbell’s latest novel from PS Publishing, Think Yourself Lucky , which was also available in a signed edition of 100 copies.

Mark Morris’ seaside serial killer novel The Black was also available in an edition of 100 signed copies, as was Richard Parks’ Japanese fantasy To Break the Demon Gate and Nick Mamatas’ gonzo zombie apocalypse The Last Weekend .

Kate Farrell’s My Name is Mary Sutherland from PS was a grim psychological novel, while an American travel writer found himself trapped in an obscure Eastern European country in Gene Wolfe’s The Land Across .

Alison Littlewood’s second novel, Path of Needles , combined fairy tales with a serial killer, while her third, The Unquiet House , was a classical haunted house story. Originally published in trade paperback by Jo Fletcher Books, both were issued by PS in special signed hardcover editions of 200 copies apiece.

A handsome Deluxe 40th Anniversary Edition of Carrie , illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne and with a Foreword by James Lovegrove and an Afterword by Kim Newman kicked off PS Publishing’s series of classic Stephen King reprints. It was followed by the Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition of Thinner by King writing as Richard Bachman, illustrated by Les Edwards/ Edward Miller and with an Introduction by Johnny Mains. Both books were limited to 974 slipcased copies signed by all the contributors (except King, alas).

Taking its title from a C.L. Moore story, Lavie Tidhar’s Black Gods Kiss contained five stories (including an original novella) featuring gunslinger and addict Gorel of Goliris and his battles against ghosts, necromancers and ancient deities.