Stephen (ed.) - The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18

Edited by James Ambuehl for Elder Signs Press/Dimensions Books, Hardboiled Cthulhu was an anthology of twenty-one Lovecraftian mystery stories (five reprints) and a poem from Richard A. Lupoff, Robert M. Price, J. F. Gonzalez and others. Arkham Tales: Legends of the Haunted City edited by William Jones featured seventeen stories based on the Lovecraftian Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

Government bio-engineered ticks got loose in the Ozark Mountains and started killing people in the humorous novel Tick Hill by Billy (William R.) Eakin, published by Yard Dog Press.

Available from Dark Arts Books, Candy in the Dumpster: New and Used Stories featured twelve stories (six reprints) by Martin Mundt, John Everson, Bill Breedlove and Jay Bonansinga, with an Introduction by Mort Castle.

Edited by Ron Shiflet, Hell’s Hangman: Horror in the Old West was an original anthology from Tenoka Press featuring twenty-two “weird Western” stories, including one by the editor.

Then Comes the Child by husband and wife team Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes was a voodoo novella from Florida’s Carnifax Press.

Steve Deighan’s A Dead Calmness was a self-published collection of fourteen stories (six reprints) with an Introduction by the author. From the same writer, Things from the Past collected five stories and was available from Hadesgate Publications.

Also from Hadesgate, Tiny Terrors Volume 1 was a small volume of five stories, some of which were introduced by Guy N. Smith. Garry Charles’ Heaven’s Falling: Redemption was the second volume in the author’s Biblical fantasy series, from the same imprint.

Afterlife Battlefield was the third novel from “Johnny Ostentatious”, about what really happened to people who committed suicide. It was published in trade paperback by Active Bladder.

New Wyrd: A Wyrdsmith’s Anthology collected nine stories (one reprint) from the Minneapolis/St Paul writers’ group with an Introduction by Naomi Kritzer. It was limited to 250 numbered copies.

Selected from the Horror World website by editor Nanci Kalanta, Eulogies: A Horror World Yearbook 2005 featured thirteen stories by Tom Piccirilli, Elizabeth Massie, Michael Laimo, Christopher Golden, Gary Braunbeck, Rick Hautala, Jack Ketchum and others. It also included six essays by Matthew Warner, interviews with Piccirilli, Golden, F. Paul Wilson, Douglas Clegg, John Skipp and David Morrell, plus brief Q&As with the contributors.

Horror Library Volume 1 from Texas’ Cutting Block Press was edited with a Foreword by R. J. Cavender and contained thirty stories, including one by the editor. From the same imprint and edited by Frank J. Hutton, Butcher Shop Quartet: Four Bold Stories to Disturb the Adventurous Mind featured original tales by Boyd E. Harris, Clinton Green, Michael Stone and A. T. Andreas.

Bruce Boston’s writings were collected in Flashing in the Dark: Forty Short Fictions , a thin volume from Sam’s Dot Publishing, while Shades Fantastic was a volume of poetry from the same author, issued by Gromagon Press.

Twilight’s Last Gleaming was the first volume in Mike Philbin’s self-published and uncensored “Writing as Hertzan Chimera” series, from Chimericana Books. For Christmas, Philbin also edited Chimeraworld #4: Twenty Three Tales of Traffic Mayhem .

A paperback original from Hellhound Books Publishing, Damned Nation edited by Robert N. Lee and David T. Wilbanks contained twenty-two stories about “Hell on Earth” by Weston Ochse, Tom Piccirilli, Poppy Z. Brite, William F. Nolan, Gerard Houarner, James S. Dorr, Bev Vincent and others.

As a Christmas “present” for subscribers, Hill House Publishers produced a special signed and numbered edition of Ray Bradbury’s 1973 story “The Wish”, limited to 250 copies with a new Afterword by the author. A lettered edition of the small hardcover book was also available in a fifty-two-copy edition. As an added “thank you” to subscribers of the forthcoming The Martian Chronicles: The Definitive Edition , a signed fifty-copy edition of Bradbury’s 1950 memoir “How I Wrote My Book” was produced by Hill House in matching format. The book included both a clean text version of the work as well as reproductions of the actual manuscript pages.

The Rolling Darkness Revue once again toured a number of bookstores in southern California during the run-up to Halloween, entertaining audiences with its unique blend of music and fiction. Joining founding members Peter Atkins and Glen Hirshberg in guest spots were Clay McLeod Chapman, Dennis Etchison, Aimee Bender, Lisa Morton and Norman Partridge. All but Bender had stories in the chapbook At the Sign of the Snowman’s Skull (Etchison’s contribution was the only reprint), issued by Earthling Publications to tie in with the 2006 performances. Other merchandising available at the various venues included a signed, limited edition CD of readings and music from the 2005 tour, a new T-shirt design, and a special “Snowman’s Skull” shot glass.

From Gauntlet Press’ Edge Books imprint, Love Hurts and Other Short Stories collected seven original tales and an Introduction by Barry Hoffman, with a cover illustration by Harry O. Morris.

Attractively produced by DreamHaven Books, Strange Birds included two original stories by Gene Wolfe, inspired by the paintings and sculptures of Lisa Snellings-Clark. It was limited to 1,000 copies, and was the first in a projected series by various authors based on Snellings-Clark’s artwork.

Down in the Fog-Shrouded City by Alex Irvine was the tenth volume in the Wormhole Contemporary Chapbooks series. With an Introduction by James Patrick Kelly and cover and interior art by Steve Rasnic Tern, it was limited to 750 numbered booklets, 250 numbered hardcovers and fifty-two lettered editions signed by the author.

Absinthe was a stylish-looking chapbook from Bloodletting Press that contained an original story each by Jack Ketchum and Tim Lebbon. It was limited to 500 signed and numbered copies along with a fifty-two copy deluxe lettered edition.

From California’s Tropism Press, Show and Tell and Other Stories was a collection of six offbeat stories (one original) by Greg van Eekhout. Jenn Reese’ Tales of the Chinese Zodiac appeared from the same imprint.

Foreigners and Other Familiar Faces was a chapbook collection of nine unusual stories (three original) by Mark Rich, published by Small Beer Press.

Edited with an Introduction by Jonathan Reitan and James R. Beach, Northwest Horrors: Stories Presented by the Northwest Horror Professionals was a slim anthology of ten stories (three original) by Elizabeth Engstrom, Bruce Holland Rogers, John Pelan, W. H. Pugmire and others.

Tales from the Black Dog was published by the Minneapolis/St Paul writers’ critique group The Wyrdsmiths. It contained eight stories (one reprint) from various members and an Introduction by founder Lyda Morehouse. Also hailing from St Paul, Velocity Press’ Rabid Transit: Long Voyages Great Lies edited by Christopher Barzak, Alan DeNiro and Kristin Livdahl featured six original travel stories from F. Brett Cox, Geoffrey H. Goodwin, Alice Kim, Meghan McCarron, David J. Schwartz and Heather Shaw.

Poems That Go Splat from Naked Snake Press showcased the work of Brian Rosenberger.

With its sixth issue, PS Publishing’s PostScripts: The A to Z of Fantastic Fiction changed to illustrated boards for its 150-copy signed hardcover edition. As usual, the title published four quarterly issues in 2006 with stories by Rhys Hughes, Stephen Baxter, Garry Kilworth, Conrad Williams, Stephen Volk, Jack Dann, T. M. Wright, Jay Lake, Michael Swanwick, Gene Wolfe, Darrell Schweitzer, Tony Richards, K. W. Jeter, Darren Speegle, Lavie Tidhar and John Grant, amongst others, interviews with Elizabeth Hand and Howard Waldrop, and guest editorials from Steven Erikson, Lucius Shepard, Terry Bisson and Jeff VanderMeer. Issue #6 also featured a fascinating article by Mike Ashley about stage magician Harry Houdini (Ehrich Weiss).