Finally! HORROR to get its own BEST OF anthology in ‘06
Ever since I started reading like a madman again, I start each year looking at all the annual “best of” collections for sci-fi and fantasy on the bookshelves and wonder, “Why in the hell don’t they do one of these for horror?” I mean, hell, if “gay love stories” merits its own year-end compilation, why not one of literature’s oldest genres?
My prayers have been answered! iBooks will help make 2006 a kick-ass year by unleashing THE BEST OF HORROR: 2005, edited by HORRORSCAPE anthologist John Gregory Betancourt. From the cover – which gives me a major bookgasm, by the way – it looks like the contributors include the obligatory Neil Gaiman, WIZARD KNIGHT’s Gene Wolfe and Michael Swanwick (don’t know him, but I’ll give him a try).
You can pre-order it already here.
I don’t know anything about Swanwick, either, but looking him up he appears, like Gaiman and Wolfe, to be very accomplished in the fantasy field. This might be another (albeit mislabeled) “Best of” fantasy collection, or it might be one helluva great horror collection by authors who are best known for their fantasy work. Fingers crossed.
I don’t think it’s a fantasy collection since iBooks already publishes a stand-alone BEST OF FANTASY edition each year, following that very same cover format. I’d love to find out the contents of this one right now (certainly there are more recognizable names than Swanwick?), but I’m just glad someone had the incredible foresight to take on this no-brainer project.
I’ve always hated how horror usually gets lumped in with fantasy in the annuals, because I generally dislike fantasy. If your story has an elf running around in it, I’m going to proceed with caution, if it all. However, if your story has a zombie shuffling around in it, I’m going to be your best friend.
[...] So what does this mean for those as-yet-unreleased iBooks titles like the inaugural HORROR: THE BEST OF 2005 or the usual year-enders for sci-fi and fantasy? Though no official announcement has been made, I suspect we won’t see them. Damn. [...]
[...] Though ibooks’ bankruptcy has likely dashed all hopes for it to appear, John Gregory Betancourt’s HORROR: THE BEST OF 2005 would have contained the following stories, according to VanderWorld: [...]
[...] In the wake of ibooks’ bankruptcy, leaving several year-end “best of” anthologies hanging, word is Prime Books will help fill the void. Editor Brian M. Thomsen shared the below tidbit from “a reliable source,” and it sounds like the horror book will be the same as ibooks’ announced one, but the sci-fi and fantasy ones are not those left behind by Jonathan Strahan. Either way, this is encouraging news. [...]