Hermaness - V. H. Leslie
Meat For The Field - Rich Hawkins
Strange as Angels - Laura Mauro
The Castellmarch Man - Ray Cluley
Ostrich - David Moody
Blue-Eyes - Barbie Wilde
A Glimpse Of Red - James Everington
Dr. Dennings Sings - Simon Kurt Unsworth
He Waits On the Upland - Adam Millard
Misericord - A. K. Benedict
Quiet Places - Jasper Bark
The blurb "Great British Horror 1 is the first in an annual series showcasing the best in British horror. Every year, the series will feature ten British authors, plus one international guest contributor, telling tales of this sceptered isle. The 2016 edition, Green and Pleasant Land, features eleven previously unpublished stories of small town, rural and folk horror from eleven authors at the very top of their game." 294 pgs.
"Hermaness" V. H. Leslie
was very evocative and menacing, but had no horror other than the final dissolving of a long-term relationship.
"Meat from the Fields" - Rich Hawkins
Gregor lives in a village that worships the Old Gods and offers an annual human sacrifice to the crops. He has a nightmare in the fields, of all those sacrificed in the past.
Strange As Angels - Laura Mauro
Frankie and wanna-be boyfriend Jimmy hit an "angel" with her car while driving through Sussex. They bring it home and start feeding it.
The Castellmarch Man - Ray Cluley
Based on a Welsh legend, a couple who enjoy geo-cacheing encounter a strange man just after they've enjoyed a roll in the hay. He seems odd although friendly enough; later on they have a much more sinister encounter...
Ostrich - David Moody
Over many years Sue has slowly lost control over her life to OCD husband Norman. Naturally one day, the worm turns...
Blue-Eyes - Barbie Wilde
Gazza Hunt has become homeless after losing his job, wife, and home. Deciding that he'd rather be homeless in "the green belt" he leaves "the cold, lonely and miserable streets of London" travels to Baggleswade, where he steals a child's tent, a cheap barbeque, and sets up camp. Early one morning, he sees an odd blue light and finds the grave of a beautiful, doll-like dead woman, whom he nicknames Blue-Eyes". Not having had any sex for years and not being likely to, he loses control, only to find that Blue-Eyes isn't exactly dead. Graphic, horrific yet compelling.
A Glimpse of Red - James Everington
Bezya and son Altan have changed their names to protect their identities after the husband who brought her to England tries to kill her. When the story opens, she's waiting in line for the school bus to bring her son home. This is a story about paranoia and alienation; I suppose readers are supposed to fill in the gaps for themselves, but I'm not terribly good at that.
Mr. Dennings Sings - Simon Kurt Unsworth
Mr. Denning is a lover of routine and established ways. Thus, he's quite irate when an unknown cougher disrupts the hymn singing, "spoiling his Sunday, the thing that gives his week structure". Divided into chapters with hymns for titles, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
He Waits On The Upland - Adam Millard
Sheep farmer Graham decides he'd be too lonely if he killed his irritating wife of thirty (miserable) years, Jenny. He soon has bigger worries in any case, as he finds dead lambs he's sure were killed by his neighbour Mrs. Wexler's huskies. He goes over to her place to have it out with her. She denies the allegation and he leaves in furious mood, out for revenge on the dogs.
Misericord - A. K. Benedict
Isabelle and her fiancee Kate visit a church on the Romney Marshes so Isabelle can study the carvings, rather than enjoying time with Kate as promised. The detailed descriptions of the carvings was great, especially when they go some way to explaining what happened, which I won't spoil by describing.
Quiet Places - Jasper Bark
This novella starts off with Sally finding and caring for some of the villagers of Dunbaddon in the Scottish Highlands, where her partner David's ancestors had been Lairds. It seems one of them got into the Black Arts and various secret societies, thereby conjuring up The Beast. The legend goes that as long as one of the Mccavendish's live in residence at the ancestral home, great misfortune will not descend upon the villagers. However The Beast renders the man a walking automaton for several weeks at a time. Sally grows to hate the villagers for putting her partner through this "hell" for their own "selfish" reasons. When David is in one of these fugue states, she breaks into his locked study and reads his ancestor's diaries. There's also a subplot about "Hettie-In-The-Hedgerow, an otherworldly voice that tries to help Sally avoid misfortune.