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Post by dem bones on Aug 25, 2009 10:47:56 GMT
Mammoth news. There's a Mammoth Book Of The Best Of The Best New Horror in the pipeline for March 2010 to tie in with the World Horror Convention, but before then... The official launch date is October (Halloween, i think!) but the lovely people at Robinson's have forwarded a review copy, so will type out contents later when i get a mo. Congrats to Mark Samuels and his much missed colleague Edmund 'The Misanthrope' Bertrand on making the final cut with Destination Nihil! As I scan the Introduction, a number of familiar names/ books/ magazines are leaping out at me, and the 'useful addresses' contains a surprise or two and no mistake. Stephen Jones (ed.) - Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror #20 (October, 2009) Cover design: JoeRoberts.co.uk Cover artwork: Vincent Chong Blurb: The Twentieth Anniversary Edition of the World's Premier Annual Showcase of Horror and Dark Fantasy fiction.
The year's best – and darkest – tales of terror, showcasing the most outstanding new short stories and novellas by both contemporary masters of the macabre and exciting newcomers, including lain R. MacLeod, Sarah Pinborough, Mark Samuels, Albert E. Cowdrey, Peter Crowther, Paul Finch, Gary McMahon, Reggie Oliver, Simon Strantzas, Tim Lebbon and Steve Rasnic Tem.
As ever, this acclaimed anthology also offers the most comprehensive annual overview of horror around the world in all -its incarnations, a comprehensive necrology of famous names, and a list of indispensable contact addresses for the dedicated horror fan and writer alike. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world's leading annual anthology dedicated solely to presenting the best in contemporary horror fiction.
`The Best New Horror series continues to break from the herd, consistently raising the bar of quality and ingenuity.' Rue Morgue Magazine `If you want to see who's up and coming in the genre, then this is your book.' Publishing News
www.constablerobinson.com Thanks to Sam and Georgie for their continued kindness and support!
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Post by franklinmarsh on Aug 25, 2009 11:58:30 GMT
As I scan the Introduction, a number of familiar names/ books/ magazines are leaping out at me, and the 'useful addresses' contains a surprise or two and no mistake. You can't leave it like that, Mr Demonik!
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Post by dem bones on Aug 25, 2009 12:19:08 GMT
Paperback Fanatic and One-Eyed Grey make the magazine listings, deservedly so and no surprise there, but when it comes to online .... well, "lively"? "useful"? surely they're two of the few crimes we can't be accused of? All Things Horror makes that surprisingly scant listing too, and, turning to the introduction, even on the briefest scrutiny, i've spotted endorsements for Black Books Of Horror 2 and 3, the Right Hon. J. L. Probert's Coffin Nails, Grey Friar publications ... Oh, and i note that another familiar title, this one rather robustly promoted by it's author, is mentioned in passing ...
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Post by Dr Terror on Aug 25, 2009 12:50:38 GMT
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Post by franklinmarsh on Aug 25, 2009 13:13:27 GMT
but when it comes to online .... well, "lively"? "useful"? surely they're two of the few crimes we can't be accused of? Where did it all go wrong? Does that mean this place is almost respectable now?
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Post by dem bones on Aug 25, 2009 17:07:20 GMT
Relax, gents. We're the very last entry in entire book and the readers' stamina should be flagging by then, so it's not all doom and gloom, unfortunately. Might have to be vigilant around Halloween, mind. Another sudden influx of I-am-the-future-of-Dark-Fantasy!'s generously using every thread as their personal advertising hoarding, and , to say nothing of: Must say, i'm looking forward to a number of these: Reggie Oliver, Chris Fowler, Edmund Bertrand (Richard Stains: it can only be a matter of time), Stephen King (is he back on track?), RC, Paul Finch, Gary McMahon ... Mr. Jones bigs up Simon Strantzas' collection Beneath The Surface as "the most important début since Mark Samuels' White Hands" so his contribution should be worth a go. Right, the line up in full and that's yer lot, i'm keeping you "all" in suspenders. Stephen Jones - Introduction:Horror in 2008
Peter Crowther - Front Page McGuffin And The Greater Story Never Told Simon Strantzas - It Runs Beneath The Surface Lynda E. Rucker - These Things We Have Always Known Neil Gaiman - Feminine Endings Gary McMahon - Through The Cracks Tim Lebbon - Falling Off The World Paul Finch - The Old Traditions Are Best Ramsey Campbell - The Long Way Michael Bishop - The Pile Tanith Lee - Under Fog Christopher Fowler - Arkangel Ian R. MacLeod - The Camping Wainwrights Reggie Oliver - A Donkey At The Mysteries Steve Duffy - The Oram County Whoosit Stephen King - The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates Sarah Pinborough - Our Man In The Sudan Mark Samuels - Destination Nihil by Edmund Bertrand Albert E. Cowdrey - The Overseer Pinckney Benedict - The Beginnings Of Sorrow Brian Lumley - The Place Of Waiting Steve Rasnic Tem - 2:PM The Real Estate Agent Arrives
Stephen Jones & Kim Newman - Necrology: 2008 Useful Addresses
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Post by Steve on Aug 25, 2009 17:59:05 GMT
"lively"? "useful"? surely they're two of the few crimes we can't be accused of? Maybe they're euphemisms? "That Vault lot's a bit 'lively'." "Yeah, I've heard one or two of them are quite 'useful'. Y'know, a bit 'handy'." It's almost like they were describing a roomful of belligerent drunks or something...
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Post by carolinec on Aug 25, 2009 19:44:22 GMT
It's almost like they were describing a roomful of belligerent drunks or something... That sounds about right then!
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Post by dem bones on Aug 25, 2009 20:02:43 GMT
Nah, that can't be the case, steve. After all, Mr. Jones briefly rubbed shoulders with a vault delegation during operation charm offensive at the Basil Copper: A Life in Books launch last ye ....
yeah, i see what you're getting at now.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Aug 26, 2009 10:08:25 GMT
Operation Charm Offensive?!?!? Well, you've out-euphemismed Mr Jones there, Dem. I think most people viewed us as what Terry-Thomas would have called 'an absolute shower.'
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Post by dem bones on Aug 26, 2009 11:12:52 GMT
to be perfectly honest, i thought we were very well behaved that night - compared to some of the other get-togethers, anyhow .... Besides, i had mitigating circumstances. It's not like i mentioned it at the time because i didn't want any fuss, but i thought one of my "friends" might have noticed that i had my poor arm in a sling. It's still not better, you know. You can see the scar and it's all knobbly. The doctor says i might have to get the pin taken out, but i think i've suffered enough for one lifetime, what with my bent finger and that time i fell over jumping the barrier after the Nick Cave gig at Brixton and bust my head open and when i had flu. Mr. S. has already got the dirt on next years Mammoth Book Of The Best Of Best New Horror. Visit Mark Samuels if you fancy a sneak preview. Oh, and Mammoth BNH 20 will be available in a few weeks time - official launch is at Fantasycon - and not whatever stupid month i said yesterday.
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Post by allthingshorror on Sept 9, 2009 18:58:34 GMT
Received both BNH #20 and the Werewolf book in the post today - and I got to say that the embossed covers are absolutely corking and Robinson's pulled everything out of the hat to produce a lovely pair of books.
Been tearing into Horror in 2008 - a complete overhaul of the year with Jone's on acerbic form taking no prisoners when coming to talk about stuff like the Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics, a sideways dig at the tv series Crooked House and the anthology Tabard Inn: Tales of Unquestionable Taste.
Mark Samuels gets a nice mention, as does Charles Black's Second and Third Black Book of Horror with the authors Gary McMahon, David A Sutton, David A Riley, Mike Chinn, D F Lewis, Eddy C Bertin, L H Maynard and M P N Sims, John Llewellyn Probert, Joel Lane, John Mains, Paul Finch and Gary Fry getting a mention.
The right honourable JLP gets another mention with his superb collection Coffin Nails.
Justin gets a well deserved mention with The Paperback Fanatic, my looks like a badgers arsehole of a site gets a mention - prompting a hasty tidy up over the weekend - as does the Pan Website.
Best of all goes to the Vault website and forum - still makes me giggle to see it being described as 'lively'. Understatement of the bloody year Mr Jones -this place is like a load of maggots squiggling in your dead grannies undergarments!
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Post by andydecker on Nov 2, 2009 12:04:41 GMT
Got it today and still am not through with last years. Sigh. Just scanned the overview, and it is interesting as always. As I am not big on short stories I buy this mostly for the overview and the necrology, which is depressingly large again.
Still, I had to smile when reading Rasnic Tem´s "story", where the introduction is longer than the actual text. It is the little things that counts, and it is kind of nice that there is still enough room for jokes like that.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 2, 2009 13:40:55 GMT
If you read the Mark Samuels' cosmic train journey nightmare next, we're at exactly the same point in the book. i'd have got further by now were it not for Mammoth Book Of Wolf Men arriving the same day. i tend to enjoy Mr. Jones' theme antho's over the Best New Horrors (they're usually easier on the brain) and Wolf Men is up there with his finest, or at least, it's working for me. i read Karl E. Wagner's contribution last night and it's like the Siege of Paris imagined as a French (or even Whitehall) farce with a special guest appearance from popular necrophile Sergeant Bertrand! Can't say i noticed Stephen Jones "taking no prisoners", johnny. I thought he was needlessly hostile in the last one, re-igniting a stupid squabble with Shocklines (which, to my mind, is what a REAL lively forum looks like), but i didn't find anything particularly spiky about his intro this year and it is all the better for it IMO. In the case of Tabard Inn: Tales Of Questionable Taste he just says it "certainly lived up to the magazine's subtitle" which presumably means it does what it says on the tin. This is inexcusably picky of me as i've not seen the "derivative" Crooked Spire so can hardly comment, but he slates it for "owing too much to the fiction of R. Chetwynd-Hayes and old Amicus films" yet earlier praises Coffin Nails for these very same "faults", even though JLP's book shows far less of their influence than his The Academy Of Terror. That said, the Mammoth Best New Horrors would be invaluable for the intro's alone. They become even more interesting when looked back upon ten years later and you catch that first brief namecheck of an author who has gone on to do well, or which 'next big thing' didn't happen and was consigned to the dustbin.
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Post by allthingshorror on Nov 2, 2009 14:06:33 GMT
Can't say i noticed Stephen Jones taking no prisoners, johnny. Sorry - I just coloured my thoughts on reading the intro with a few phonecalls we had about those very same topics... But compared to last years intro - you're right - this is like very milky tea..
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