You can’t keep a good anthology down. That’s certainly true of any short story collection put together by award-winning editor Ellen Datlow, including The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One, just out on Kindle. The book’s been out in print for a while (the Year in question is 2008) but this is the first time it’s been available in this particular electronic form. So if you’re a fan of ebooks and missed it first time around – or if you’re a completist who simply must own every available edition – now’s your chance to catch up. The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One contains 19 horror stories, one of which is my creepy-weird detective yarn Girl in Pieces, which was described by Locus as “a magnificent urban fantasy giddy with hardcore horror imagery”. Reporting on the anthology as a whole, Locus said: “Most [of the stories] are by writers whose names will be instantly recognized by the majority of horror readers, but some of the contributors are relative unknowns whose presence suggests new and emerging talents that are crucial for keeping any type of fiction fresh.” Here’s the complete table of contents: Cargo — E. Michael Lewis If Angels Fight — Richard Bowes The Clay Party — Steve Duffy Penguins of the Apocalypse — William Browning Spencer Esmeralda — Glen Hirshberg The Hodag — Trent Hergenrader Very Low-Flying Aircraft — Nicholas Royle When the Gentlemen Go — Margaret Ronald The Lagerstatte — Laird Barron Harry and the Monkey — Euan Harvey Dress Circle — Miranda Siemienowicz The Rising River — Daniel Kaysen Sweeney Among the Straight Razors — JoSelle Vanderhooft Loup-garou — R.B. Russell Girl in Pieces — Graham Edwards It Washed Up — Joe R. Lansdale The Thirteenth Hell — Mike Allen The Goosle — Margo Lanagan Beach Head — Daniel LeMoal The Man From the Peak — Adam Golaski The Narrows — Simon Bestwick
Graham Edwards 