The Best Horror of the Year Volume Eleven Read online

  PRAISE FOR THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME ELEVEN:

  “Even with the overall high quality of the latest of Datlow’s anthology series, there are some remarkable highlights. . . . this excellent anthology demonstrates that Datlow’s reputation as one of the best editors in the field is more than well-deserved.”

  —Booklist (starred review)

  “Datlow has drawn her selections from a wide variety of sources that even the most dedicated fans may have overlooked, and her comprehensive introductory overview of the year in horror will uncover still more venues for great scares. This is an indispensable volume for horror readers.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  PRAISE FOR ELLEN DATLOW AND THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR SERIES:

  “Edited by the venerable queen of horror anthologies, Ellen Datlow . . . The stories in this collection feel both classic and innovative, while never losing the primary ingredient of great horror writing: fear.”

  —The New York Times

  “A decade of celebrating the darkest gems of the genre as selected by Hugo-winning editor Ellen Datlow, whose name, by this point, is almost synonymous with quality frights . . . [and] contributed by a murderer’s row of horror authors. . . . Essential.”

  —B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, “Our Favorite Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2018”

  “With the quality ranging from very good, to fantastic, to sublime, there just isn’t the space to discuss them all. . . . If I need to make a pronouncement—based on Datlow’s fantastic distillation of the genre—it’s that horror is alive, well, and still getting under people’s skin. If you have even a vague interest in dark fiction, then pick up this book.”

  —Ian Mond, Locus

  “A survey of some of the best horror writing of the last decade. . . . highly recommended for anyone interested in contemporary horror and dark fantasy, as well as anyone looking for a collection of some of the best and most horrifying short fiction currently available.”

  —Booklist (starred review), for The Best of the Best Horror of the Year

  “A stunning and flawless collection that showcases the most terrifyingly beautiful writing of the genre. Datlow’s palate for the fearful and the chilling knows no genre constraint, encompassing the undead, the supernatural, and the cruelty perpetrated by ordinary humans. Exciting, literary, and utterly scary, this anthology is nothing short of exceptional.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review), for The Best of the Best Horror of the Year

  “Datlow’s survey of the first decade of her Best Horror of the Year series is also an argument about the field’s major talents and trends. Its contents make a compelling case for the robustness of the field, a condition Datlow herself has done much to nourish.”

  —Locus, “Horror in 2018” by John Langan

  “Award-winning editor Ellen Datlow has assembled a tasty collection of twenty-one terrifying and unsettling treats. In addition to providing excellent fiction to read, this is the perfect book for discovering new authors and enriching your life through short fiction.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror fans crave. . . . and the anthologies just keep getting better and better. She’s an icon in the industry.”

  —Signal Horizon

  “Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year series is one of the best investments you can make in short fiction. The current volume is no exception.”

  —Adventures Fantastic

  “As usual, Datlow delivers what she promises, ‘the best horror of the year,’ whether it’s written by the famous (Neil Gaiman) or the should-be famous (Laird Barron and many others).”

  —Washington Post

  “You just can’t have a list of recommended speculative anthologies without including an Ellen Datlow anthology. It’s. Not. Possible. The line-up in The Best Horror of the Year Volume Eight is absolutely stupendous, featuring the most frighteningly talented authors in horror fiction.”

  —Tor.com

  “Once again, [Ellen Datlow supplies] an invaluable book, featuring excellent short fiction and, in addition, providing as always precious information about what happened in the horror field last year.”

  —Mario Guslandi, British Fantasy Society

  Also Edited by Ellen Datlow

  A Whisper of Blood

  A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales (with Terri Windling)

  After (with Terri Windling)

  Alien Sex

  Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales

  Black Heart, Ivory Bones (with Terri Windling)

  Black Swan, White Raven (with Terri Windling)

  Black Thorn, White Rose (with Terri Windling)

  Blood Is Not Enough: 17 Stories of Vampirism

  Blood and Other Cravings

  Children of Lovecraft

  Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror

  Digital Domains: A Decade of

  Science Fiction & Fantasy

  Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories

  Fearful Symmetries

  Haunted Legends (with Nick Mamatas)

  Haunted Nights (with Lisa Morton)

  Hauntings

  Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural

  Lethal Kisses

  Little Deaths

  Lovecraft Unbound

  Lovecrafts Monsters

  Mad Hatters and March Hares

  Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy

  Nebula Awards Showcase 2009

  Nightmare Carnival

  Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex

  Omni Best Science Fiction: Volumes One through Three

  The Omni Books of Science Fiction: Volumes One through Seven

  Omni Visions One and Two

  Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe

  Queen Victorias Book of Spells (with Terri Windling)

  Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears (with Terri Windling)

  Salon Fantastique: Fifteen Original Tales of Fantasy (with Terri Windling)

  Silver Birch, Blood Moon (with Terri Windling)

  Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (with Terri Windling)

  Snow White, Blood Red (with Terri Windling)

  Supernatural Noir

  Swan Sister (with Terri Windling)

  Tails of Wonder and Imagination: Cat Stories

  Teeth: Vampire Tales (with Terri Windling)

  Telling Tales: The Clarion West 30th Anniversary Anthology

  The Beastly Bride: And Other Tales of the Animal People (with Terri Windling)

  The Best Horror of the Year: Volumes One through Eleven

  The Best of the Best Horror of the Year

  The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (with Terri Windling)

  The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen

  The Dark: New Ghost Stories

  The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy

  The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea

  The Doll Collection

  The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm

  The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest (with Terri Windling)

  The Monstrous

  Troll’s-Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales (with Terri Windling)

  Twists of the Tale

  Vanishing Acts

  The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (with Terri Windling, and with Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link)

  NIGHT SHADE BOOKS

  NEW YORK | NEW JERSEY

  The Best Horror of the Year Volume Elev
en © 2019 by Ellen Datlow

  The Best Horror of the Year Volume Eleven © 2019 by Night Shade Books, an imprint of Start Publishing LLC.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Start Publishing LLC, 101 Hudson Street, 37th Floor, Jersey City, NJ 07302.

  Night Shade Books™ is an imprint of Start Publishing LLC.

  Visit our website at www.nightshadebooks.com.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover art by by Audrey Benjaminsen

  Cover design by Claudia Noble

  Print ISBN: 978-1-59780-972-6

  eBook ISBN:978-1-59780-645-9

  Printed in the United States of America

  This volume is dedicated to my late friend and colleague,Gardner Dozois (1947–2018).

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Summation 2018—Ellen Datlow

  I Remember Nothing—Anne Billson

  Monkeys on the Beach—Ralph Robert Moore

  Painted Wolves—Ray Cluley

  Shit Happens—Michael Marshall Smith

  You Know How the Story Goes—Thomas Olde Heuvelt

  Back Along the Old Track—Sam Hicks

  Masks—Peter Sutton

  The Donner Party—Dale Bailey

  Milkteeth—Kristi DeMeester

  Haak—John Langan

  Thin Cold Hands—Gemma Files

  A Tiny Mirror—Eloise C. C. Shepherd

  I Love You Mary-Grace—Amelia Mangan

  The Jaws of Ouroboros—Steve Toase

  A Brief Moment of Rage—Bill Davidson

  Golden Sun—Kristi DeMeester, Richard Thomas, Damien Angelica Walters, and Michael Wehunt

  White Mare—Thana Niveau

  Girls Without Their Faces On—Laird Barron

  Thumbsucker—Robert Shearman

  You Are Released—Joe Hill

  Red Rain—Adam-Troy Castro

  Split Chain Stitch—Steve Toase

  No Exit—Orrin Grey

  Haunt—Siobhan Carroll

  Sleep—Carly Holmes

  Honorable Mentions

  About the Authors

  Acknowledgment of Copyright

  About the Editor

  SUMMATION: 2018

  Here are 2018’s numbers: There are twenty-six stories and novelettes in this year’s volume, ranging from 1,700 words to 10,300 words. There is one four-way collaboration. Ten stories are by women (one twice) and sixteen by men (one twice). The authors hail from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. Thirteen of the contributors have never before appeared in any of my Best of the Year series.

  AWARDS

  The Horror Writers Association announced the winners of the 2017 Bram Stoker Awards® March 3, 2018, at the Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. The presentations were made during a banquet held during the organization’s third StokerCon. The winners were as follows:

  Superior Achievement in a Novel: Ararat by Christopher Golden (St. Martin’s Press); Superior Achievement in a First Novel: Cold Cuts by Robert Payne Cabeen (Omnium Gatherum Media); Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel: The Last Harvest by Ken Liggett (Tor Teen); Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel: Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damien Duffy and Octavia E. Butler (Abrams ComicArts); Superior Achievement in Long Fiction: Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones (Tor.com Books); Superior Achievement in Short Fiction: “Apocalypse Then” by Lisa Manetti (Never Fear: The Apocalypse); Superior Achievement in a Screenplay: Get Out (Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, QC Entertainment); Superior Achievement in an Anthology: Behold! Oddities, Curiosities and Indefinable Wonders edited by Doug Murano (Crystal Lake Publishing); Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection: Strange Weather by Joe Hill (William Morrow); Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction: Paperbacks From Hell: The Twisted History of’ 70s and ’80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix (Quirk Books); Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection: A Collections of Nightmares by Christina Sng (Raw Dog Sceaming Press).

  The Specialty Press Award: Eraserhead Press and Independent Legions Publishing

  The Richard Layman President’s Award: Greg Chapman.

  The Silver Hammer Award: Kenneth Cain.

  Mentor of the Year went to Angel Leigh McCoy.

  Life Achievement Award: Linda Addison.

  The 2017 Shirley Jackson Awards were given out at Readercon 29 on Sunday, July 15, 2018, in Quincy, Massachusetts. The jurors were Michael Thomas Ford, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Robert Shearman, and Chandler Klang Smith.

  The winners were: Novel: The Hole, Hye-young Pyun (Arcade Publishing); Novella: Fever Dream, Samantha Schweblin (Riverhead Books) and The Lost Daughter Collective, Lindsey Drager (Dzanc Books); Novelette: “Take the Way Home That Leads Back to Sullivan Street,” Chavisa Woods (Things to Do When You’re Goth in the Country); Short Fiction: “The Convexity of Our Youth,” Kurt Fawver (Looming Low); Single-Author Collection: Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado (Graywolf Press); and Edited Anthology: Shadows and Tall Trees Volume 7, edited by Michael Kelly (Undertow Publications).

  The World Fantasy Awards were presented at a banquet held during the World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. The Lifetime Achievement recipients Charles de Lint and Elizabeth Wollheim were previously announced. The judges were David Anthony Durham, Christopher Golden, Juliet E. McKenna, Charles Vess, and Kaaron Warren.

  Winners of the Best Work 2017: Best Novel (tie) The Changeling, Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau) and Jade City, Fonda Lee (Orbit US; Orbit UK); Best Long Fiction: Passing Strange, Ellen Klages (Tor.com); Best Short Fiction: “The Birding: A Fairy Tale,” Natalia Theodoridou (Strange Horizons, 12/18/17); Best Anthology: The New Voices of Fantasy, Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman, eds. (Tachyon); Best Collection: The Emerald Circus, Jane Yolen (Tachyon); Best Artist: Gregory Manchess; Special Award, Professional: Harry Brockway, Patrick McGrath, and Danel Olson for Writing Madness (Centipede Press); Special Award, Non-Professional: Justina Ireland & Troy L. Wiggins, for FIYAH.

  NOTABLE NOVELS OF 2018

  Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman (Del Rey) is a weird, deeply dark western about the eponymous woman who has suffered from a condition since childhood—she periodically falls into a deep coma-like state during which she appears dead. Only a few people know, and one—her husband—wants her dead and buried so he can inherit her wealth. So when she falls into one of her comas, it’s a race against time as her husband, her ex-lover, and a terrifying hired killer all converge on the town of Harrows. It’s gratifying to see Malerman move in a completely different direction with each new novel. A page-turner.

  Blood Standard by Laird Barron (Penguin) is Barron’s first crime novel, and while it’s not horror, it is dark, violent, suspenseful, sharply etched, and very enjoyable. A former mob enforcer leaves Alaska (“or else”) for Upstate New York, hoping to avoid criminal entanglements. No such luck, when his employers’ teenage granddaughter disappears after being seen with some unsavory characters.

  The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay (William Morrow) is about a home invasion committed for an unusual reason—by fanatics who believe their actions will literally save the world. A male couple and their adopted daughter vacationing in a remote area in New Hampshire are the victims, and the perpetrators are a ragtag group with little in common but their so-called mission. Tense, claustrophobic, and suspenseful.

  The Anomaly by Michael Rutger (Grand Central Publishing) is a tour-deforce of suspense-horror about the crew of an X-file-type reality web series given funding to search for a mysterious cavern in the Grand Canyon, supposedly discovered in 1909 by an explorer. Against all expectations they actually find the cavern and in it a cave system. Things take a nasty turn. The suspense was such that at times
I had to stop reading because I was afraid of what would happen next—especially because the author is so good at getting the reader to feel for his characters. The twists and turns of the journey are matched by the twists and turns of the plot, creating an utterly satisfying read. Highly recommended.

  The Hunger by Alma Katsu (Putnam) is about an historical event I could have sworn I never wanted to hear or read about again—the doomed wagon train to California known as the Donner Party. Yet, Katsu makes it fresh with her vivid characterizations and her injection of supernatural terror.

  The Chalk Man by C. J. Tudor (Crown) is an absorbing, complex, dark crime debut that switches back and forth between 1986 and 2016, revolving around a group of five kids growing up in a tourist town in southern England. The book begins with a horrific accident at the fair, and quickly moves on to murder. Although there are some pretty unbelievable developments during the course of the novel, it’s still an enjoyable ride.

  I Am the River by T. E. Grau (Lethe Press) is a terrific novel that captures the horrors of the Vietnam War and how they follow one soldier back in visible form. Reminiscent of Lucius Shepard’s work.

  Ahab’s Return or The Last Voyage by Jeffrey Ford (William Morrow) is a wonderful, dark confabulation which speculates that Ahab, having survived his final battle with the white whale, returns several years later to New York City to find his wife and son. A few other unexpected characters from Moby Dick show up, as does one unfortunate from a Dickens novel. There’s magic and dark sorcery involved, as well as opium. Dark fantasy with some perfectly gruesome touches.

  The Mere Wife by Mariah Dahvana Headley (MCD-Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is a gorgeous contemporary retelling of Beowulf from the point of view of Grendel’s mother. An American soldier is seen to be beheaded on television yet apparently survives, returning from the desert pregnant and about to bear an unusual child. Is it horror? Probably not. But it’s dark and deep and a great read.