Stephen Jones Anthologies: The ToCs
In the Case Notes section of Black Static #19 I review two anthologies edited by Stephen Jones. Unfortunately space did not permit me to discuss every single story, but by way of a consolation prize, and for the benefit of those who may want to know if a particular author was included, I'm going to reproduce the Table of Contents for each volume.
The Mammoth Book of The Best of Best New Horror: Two Decades of Dark Fiction (Robinson paperback, 746pp, £9.99)
Edited by Stephen Jones
Twenty stories, one from each year of the Best New Horror series' existence, plus Editor's Foreword, Introduction by Ramsey Campbell, notes by Stephen Jones on each year, cover reproductions and indexes to the series.
No Sharks in the Med - Brian Lumley
The Man Who Drew Cats - Michael Marshall Smith
The Same in Any Language - Ramsey Campbell
Norman Wisdom and the Angel of Death - Christopher Fowler
Mefisto in Onyx - Harlan Ellison
The Temptation of Dr Stein - Paul J. McAuley
Queen of Knives - Neil Gaiman
The Break - Terry Lamsley
Emptiness Spoke Eloquent - Caitlín R Kiernan
Mr Clubb and Mr Cuff - Peter Straub
White - Tim Lebbon
The Other Side of Midnight: Anno Dracula, 1981 - Kim Newman
Cleopatra Brimstone - Elizabeth Hand
20th Century Ghost - Joe Hill
The White Hands - Mark Samuels
My Death - Lisa Tuttle
Haeckel's Tale - Clive Barker
Devil's Smile - Glen Hirshberg
The Church on the Island - Simon Kurt Unsworth
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates - Stephen King
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #21 (Robinson paperback, 512pp, £7.99)
Edited by Stephen Jones
Nineteen stories, plus 'Introduction: Horror in 2009', Jones' round-up of the year, 'Necrology: 2009', compiled by Jones and Kim Newman, and an appendix of useful addresses.
The Woods - Michael Kelly
Throttle - Joe Hill and Stephen King
Out and Back - Barbara Roden
Respects - Ramsey Campbell
Cold to the Touch - Simon Strantzas
The Game of Bear - M R James and Reggie Oliver
Shem-el-Nessim: An Inspiration in Perfume - Chris Bell
What Happens When You Wake Up in the Night - Michael Marshall Smith
The Reunion - Nicholas Royle
Mami Wata - Simon Kurt Unsworth
Venturi - Richard Christian Matheson
Party Talk - John Gaskin
Two Steps Along the Road - Terry Dowling
The Axholme Toll - Mark Valentine
Granny's Grinning - Robert Shearman
In the Garden - Rosalie Parker
After the Ape - Stephen Volk
The Nonesuch - Brian Lumley
Princess of the Night - Michael Kelly
I also review Jones' Zombie Apocalypse (Robinson paperback, 480pp, £7.99) which, depending on your mileage, is either a themed anthology or a 'mosaic novel', but in the ARC I read the contributors' names aren't revealed to the very end, so the reader can have fun guessing who wrote what, and on that basis I won't give them out here.
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