Black Static

Today's editor in the hot seat, giving us the low down on their favourite horror anthology (other than one of their own), is Nancy Kilpatrick, who edited Evolve, which I reviewed in Black Static #19, and the contents of which are listed in my previous blog post.

This is Nancy's contribution to our 'Anthology Month':-

A Little Bit About Me

I'm Nancy Kilpatrick, a writer and also an editor. I've edited these anthologies:-

Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead - trade paperback, vampire anthology released by Edge SF&F Publishing in April 2010

Tesseracts Thirteen - trade paperback, dark fantasy/horror anthology edited with David Morrell and released by Edge SF&F Publishing in October 2009

Outsiders: Stories on the Edge of the Fantastical - trade paperback, dark fantasy anthology edited with Nancy Holder and released by Roc/NAL in October 2005

Graven Images - trade paperback, dark fantasy anthology edited with Thomas Roche and released by Penguin Putnam, Ace Books in October 2000

In the Shadow of the Gargoyle - trade paperback, dark fantasy anthology edited with Thomas Roche and released by Berkeley Publishing (ACE Books) in October 1998, with a paperback edition in October 1999

Demon Sex - paperback, erotic demon anthology edited under the pseudonym Amarantha Knight and released by Masquerade Books in March 1998

Seductive Spectres - paperback, erotic ghost anthology edited under the pseudonym Amarantha Knight and released by Masquerade Books in October 1996

Sex Macabre - paperback, erotic supernatural anthology edited under the pseudonym Amarantha Knight and released by Masquerade Books in July 1996

Flesh Fantastic - paperback, erotic Frankenstein anthology edited under the pseudonym Amarantha Knight and released by Masquerade Books in August 1995.

Love Bites - trade paperback, erotic vampire anthology edited under the pseudonym Amarantha Knight and released by Masquerade Books in December 1994

Favourite Anthology

Although I'm known as a writer and editor of vampire fiction, I also love zombies and one of my favorite anthos is a reprint anthology, edited by John Joseph Adams, called The Living Dead. Yes, I'll fess up, I have a story in this antho, 'The Age of Sorrow' (originally published in PostScripts #10). But, that's beside the point. Even if I wasn't included in this book, I would still love it. The reason is that I now have a chance to find in one collection so many of the zombie stories I've loved over the years, including but surely not limited to: Dan Simmons' 'This Year's Class Picture', 'Less than Zombie' by Doug Winter, and Poppy Brite's 'Calcutta, Lord of Nerves'. And many, many others. These are some of the best zombie stories ever written, in my opinion, some of the most heart-felt and heart-breaking stories (Simmons) and the most literary (Brite). I think John used a sharp and skillful eye in selecting the contents.

Future Projects

My next anthology is another vampire antho, scheduled for late 2011. At the moment, I'm calling it Evolve² but likely that title will change. I want to move vampire fiction even more into the future: 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years and still keep it horrific. As of October 2010, so far I've accepted two amazing stories, from Tanith Lee and Kelley Armstrong.