Stephen Jones - Best New Horror 27

[andydecker]

Best New Horror 27 by Stephen Jones was released in February (according to Amazon. I don't know if it was avaibale earlier last year. I stumbled quite accidently about this yesterday. I bought the Kindle. There seems to be a paperback edition too, but I can't verify this.)

Acknowledgements
Stephen Jones Introduction: Horror In 2015

Robert Aickman – The Coffin House
Daniel Mills – The Lake
Richard Gavin – The Barnacle Daughter
Helen Marshall – Exposure
Nicholas Royle – The Larder
Lynda E. Rucker – The Seventh Wave
John Lagan – Undergrouind Economy
Lauren Rhoads – The Drowning City
Ron Weighell – The Chapel of Infernal Devotion
Kate Farrell – Alma Mater
L.P.Lee – Hibaskusha
Conrad Williams – The Offing
Kurt Fawver – Marrowvale
Gemma Files – Hairwork
Neil Gaiman – Black Dog
Storm Constantine – In the Earth
Steve Rasnic Tem – In the Lovecraft Museum

Stephen Jones and Kim Newman : Necrology 2015
Stephen Jones: Useful Addresses

I only read the write-up of 2015. Few novels, lots of anthologies by small publishers, lots of novellas with limited print-runs (I will never get why people apparently by these mostly expensive things by unknown writers). I thought I had monitored the genre quite well with the help of the vault. I was mistaken.

[David A. Riley]

Mar 5, 2017 13:31:22 GMT andydecker said:

I only read the write-up of 2015. Few novels, lots of anthologies by small publishers, lots of novellas with limited print-runs (I will never get why people apparently by these mostly expensive things by unknown writers). I thought I had monitored the genre quite well with the help of the vault. I was mistaken.

Me neither, though they do seem to sell. Not something I would be interested in doing.

[dem bones]

Thanks for posting the details, Andy. I lost touch with the series when it moved to PS after Constable-Robinson was bought out by Little Brown. Glad to see Kate Farrell deservedly made the cut, likewise Linda E. Rucker's Terror Tale Of The Ocean.

[ropardoe]

Mar 5, 2017 14:25:23 GMT dem bones said:

Thanks for posting the details, Andy. I lost touch with the series when it moved to PS after Constable-Robinson was bought out by Little Brown. Glad to see Kate Farrell deservedly made the cut, likewise Linda E. Rucker's Terror Tale Of The Ocean.

The two I've read - the Weighell and the Gaiman - are both excellent choices.

[ropardoe]

Mar 5, 2017 17:49:04 GMT ropardoe said:

Mar 5, 2017 14:25:23 GMT dem bones said:

Thanks for posting the details, Andy. I lost touch with the series when it moved to PS after Constable-Robinson was bought out by Little Brown. Glad to see Kate Farrell deservedly made the cut, likewise Linda E. Rucker's Terror Tale Of The Ocean.

The two I've read - the Weighell and the Gaiman - are both excellent choices.

Here's what I said about Gaiman's "Black Dog" in Lady Wardrop's Journal (my zine for the Everlasting Club): 'I recently got a newish collection of Neil Gaiman short stories, Trigger Warning, from the library. The contents are a bit variable, but the best ones are excellent, including a nice maze tale to add to my list of Best Spooky Stories about Mazes. The best story of all is "Black Dog". Neil Gaiman is in the process of writing three novellas as follow-ups to American Gods, all set in Great Britain. The first, "The Monarch of the Glen" (which I'm about to read), is set in Scotland; the second is "Black Dog" and that's set in the Peak District; the third will take place in London. After that he'll be returning his American Gods central character, Shadow, to the USA for another novel. "Black Dog" is a hugely atmospheric chunk of folk horror, which proves that someone with an imagination like Gaiman's can still come up with something new about this popular creature of folklore.'  (I then go on to enthuse about American Gods, which is a book I adore and have read multiple times.)

I had a quick read of Steve Jones's write-up of 2015 (available in "look inside" on Amazon).  Oh, how I would love the Harry Morris portfolio.  His collages have been a big influence on me.  But at eighty quid or more...  well, it's not going to happen!

[elricc]

If you get Kindle unlimited this book is free

[dem bones]

Just realised that Terror Tales of the Ocean is represented twice, so a belated well done to Conrad Williams.

For this reader, the annual round remains the selling point. If I haven't always agreed with (or even understood) some of Mr. Jones' selections,that's neither here or there: any anthology that claims to be the "Best" this, "Ultimate" that is on a hiding to nothing.

[mattofthespurs]

You can buy them both, in affordable paper back, at the publishers here.
www.pspublishing.co.uk/best-new-horror-27-trade-paperback-edited-by-stephen-jones-4215-p.asp

www.pspublishing.co.uk/best-new-horror-26-trade-paperback-edited-by-stephen-jones-3963-p.asp