The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Vol. 19

As reliable as day following night, or spring following winter, is editor Stephen Jones’ annual roundup of the finest horror short stories and novellas of the year. This latest collection, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR: VOL. 19, presents the most noteworthy short fiction from 2007.

Jones knows horror. And monsters, vampires, ghouls, zombies, devils and every other possible incarnation the genre creates, as well as several of its most notable authors. Indeed, the list of various anthologies he has assembled is so vast, it fills an entire page. (You have to wonder how he sleeps at night.) And, as he demonstrates here, 2007, as far as horror stories go, was a very good year.

And quiet a eclectic one in both setting and style. The 26 pieces within include locations as varied as the New England seashore; a small, Midwestern town; a backwoods trail in East Texas; an Iraqi P.O.W. camp; a tenement building in New York; a lonely Mexican town; and everything in between. Styles range from the graphic jolt of a dismembered body or an ice pick through the skull, to the more subtle shadowy figures barely visible at night, and those sounds that you alone hear.

Standouts include “The Twilight Express,” where Christopher Fowler proves there is more gold to be mined from the Bradbury-esque setting of a seedy carnival coming to a town. There, a local boy facing a dead-end future sees the carnival as his opportunity to escape.

“Thumbprint” by Joe Hill is a shocking portrait of an officer at the Abu Ghraib prison camp. While it might be argued that the lack of any supernatural element makes it closer to terror than horror, there is no denying that this story — of how administering torture turns humans into monsters — is truly frightening.

Neil Gaiman weighs in with “The Witch’s Headstone,” a chapter from his latest novel, THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, that stands nicely on its own. It’s an entertaining, near-Dickensian fable of a boy returning a favor to a witch buried in unconsecrated ground. Joe R. Lansdale resurrects the delights of vintage pulp in “Deadman’s Road,” featuring his Rev. Jebidiah character and the preacher’s cursed mission to destroy evil wherever he finds it. And Marc Lecard, known primarily for his crime fiction, shows off his creepy chops in “The Admiral’s House,” a classically atmospheric story of a ghost haunting the life of his surviving brother.

Lesser-known, but notable talents are also represented. Like Mark Samuels, who extends the world of H. P. Lovecraft way south of the border in “A Gentleman From Mexico,” and Caitlin R. Kiernan, who playfully but fearfully imagines Ann Darrow’s life after King Kong, just to name a few.

As usual, Jones rounds things out with a detailed and exhaustive introductory essay, an equally inclusive “Necrology” (aided by Kim Newman) and a reference listing of horror-oriented organizations, small publishers, magazines and book dealers at the end. And all for under 15 bucks!

It’s tempting to resort to the cliché promo line of, “If you buy only one horror anthology this year …” But the truth is, unless you’ve scoured every anthology, every near-impossible-to-find magazine, chapbook, collection, online publication and reissue, you very much need this latest summary of the best that horror fiction provides.

Then again, if you have done all of that — well, you’re probably Stephen Jones. In which case: Well done, sir. —Alan Cranis

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST CRIME COMICS edited by Paul Gravett
• THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST HORROR COMICS edited by Peter Normanton
• THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF EXTREME FANTASY edited by Mike Ashley
• THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF WAR COMICS edited by David Kendall

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF STEPHEN JONES:
• THE BEST HORROR FROM FANTASY TALES edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton
• CREEPSHOWS: THE ILLUSTRATED STEPHEN KING MOVIE GUIDE by Stephen Jones
• HORROR: ANOTHER 100 BEST BOOKS edited by Stephen Jones & Kim Newman
• H.P. LOVECRAFT’S BOOK OF THE SUPERNATURAL edited by Stephen Jones
• SUMMER CHILLS edited by Stephen Jones

Related posts:

1. The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics
2. The Horror in the Museum
3. The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics
4. The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy
5. Finally! HORROR to get its own BEST OF anthology in ’06