Ellen Datlow : The Best Horror of the Year


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Following the end of the 21-year fantasy horror annual Datlow did with coeditors for St. Martin's, she moved to Night Shade for a new series focusing solely on horror. The format is similar to that of the previous series: a long introduction summarizing the year's notable publications and events, and a long list of honorable mentions at the end of the book. However there are no individual story introductions; rather an "About the Authors" section concludes each book.

Authors most often reprinted, through Volume 13: Laird Barron (9), Gemma Files, Brian Hodge and John Langan (7 each), then Nathan Ballingrud, Ray Cluley, and Stephen Graham Jones (6 each). (Updated Dec 2021)

  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One, (Night Shade Books, 2009) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Two, (Night Shade Books, 2010) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three, (Night Shade Books, 2011) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four, (Night Shade Books, 2012) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Five, (Night Shade Books, 2013) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six, (Night Shade Books, 2014) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven, (Night Shade Books, 2015) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eight, (Night Shade Books, 2016) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Nine, (Night Shade Books, 2017) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Ten, (Night Shade Books, 2018) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Eleven, (Night Shade Books, 2019) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Twelve, (Night Shade Books, 2020) [isfdb]
  • The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Thirteen, (Night Shade Books, 2021) [isfdb]


Combined Contents by Author and Title


Nina Allan
  • The Lammas Worm -- Vol. #2
  • The Tiger -- Vol. #6
    • Mike Allen
  • The Thirteenth Hell (The Journey to Kailash, 2008) -- Vol. #1
    • Megan Arkenberg
  • Final Exam (Asimov's) -- Vol. #5
    • Kelley Armstrong
  • We Are All Monsters Here -- Vol. #8
    • Stephen Bacon
  • Apports -- Vol. #6
  • Lord of the Sand -- Vol. #8
  • None So Blind -- Vol. #5
    • Dale Bailey
  • The Crevasse (by DB & Nathan Ballingrud) (Lovecraft Unbound) -- Vol. #2
  • The Culvert -- Vol. #7
  • The Donner Party -- Vol. #11
  • Mr. Splitfoot -- Vol. #6
  • Snow -- Vol. #8
    • Nathan Ballingrud
  • The Atlas of Hell -- Vol. #7
  • The Butcher's Table -- Vol. #12
  • The Crevasse (by Dale Bailey & NB) (Lovecraft Unbound)
  • The Good Husband (North American Lake Monsters, 2013) -- Vol. #6
  • Scream Queen -- Vol. #13
  • Wild Acre (Visions, Fading Fast, 2012) -- Vol. #5
    • Stephen J. Barringer
  • each thing i show you is a piece of my death (by SJB & Gemma Files) -- Vol. #2
    • Laird Barron
  • --30-- (Occultation, 2010) -- Vol. #3
  • Blackwood's Baby (Ghosts by Gaslight, 2011) -- Vol. #4
  • Frontier Death Song (Nightmare Oct 2012) -- Vol. #5
  • Girls Without Their Faces On -- Vol. #11
  • In a Cavern, in a Canyon -- Vol. #8
  • Jaws of Saturn (The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, 2013) -- Vol. #6
  • The Lagerstatte (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2008) -- Vol. #1
  • Strappado (Poe, 2009) -- Vol. #2
  • The Worms Crawl in, -- Vol. #7
    • Simon Bestwick
  • Below -- Vol. #12
  • Dermot (Black Static Aug/Sep 2011) -- Vol. #4
  • The Moraine -- Vol. #4
  • The Narrows (We Fade to Grey, 2008) -- Vol. #1
    • Anne Bilson
  • I Remember Nothing -- Vol. #11
    • Leah Bobet
  • Stay -- Vol. #4
    • Gregory Norman Bossert
  • Between Dry Ribs -- Vol. #9
    • Richard Bowes
  • If Angels Fight (F&SF Feb 2008) -- Vol. #1
    • Daniel Braum
  • How to Stay Afloat When Drowning -- Vol. #12
    • Rhoads Brazos
  • Tread Upon the Brittle Shell -- Vol. #7
    • Nadia Bulkin
  • Wish You Were Here -- Vol. #9
    • Christopher Burns
  • The Numbers -- Vol. #9
    • Ramsey Campbell
  • The Callers -- Vol. #5
    • Siobhan Carroll
  • Haunt -- Vol. #11
  • Nesters -- Vol. #9
    • Tim Casson
  • The Withering -- Vol. #6
    • Adam-Troy Castro
  • Red Rain -- Vol. #11
    • Dan Chaon
  • Little America (Shadow Show: All New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury, 2012) -- Vol. #5
    • Suzy McKee Charnas
  • Lowland Sea (Poe, 2009) -- Vol. #2
    • Simon Clark
  • The Tin House -- Vol. #6
    • Ray Cluley
  • Adrenaline Junkies -- Vol. #12
  • At Night, When the Demons Come -- Vol. #3
  • Bones of Crow -- Vol. #6
  • The Castellmarch Man -- Vol. #9
  • Indian Giver -- Vol. #8
  • Painted Wolves -- Vol. #11
    • Stephanie Crawford
  • Tender as Teeth (by SC & Duane Swierczynski) -- Vol. #5
    • Bill Davidson
  • A Brief Moment of Rage -- Vol. #11
    • Kristi DeMeester
  • The Beautiful Thing We Will Become -- Vol. #9
  • Golden Sun -- Vol. #11
  • Milkteeth -- Vol. #11
  • A Song for Wounded Mouths -- Vol. #12
    • Kurt Dinan
  • Plink -- Vol. #7
    • Terry Dowling
  • Mariners' Round -- Vol. #5
    • Steven Duffy
  • The Clay Party -- Vol. #1
  • The Ice Beneath Us -- Vol. #9
  • The Lion's Den (Nemonymous Nine: Cern Zoo, 2009) -- Vol. #2
    • Graham Edwards
  • Girl in Pieces (Realms of Fantasy Apr 2008) -- Vol. #1
    • Inna Effress
  • Liquid Air -- Vol. #10
    • Steve Eller
  • The End of Everything -- Vol. #2
    • Brian Evenson
  • No Matter Which Way We Turned -- Vol. #9
  • Past Reno -- Vol. #7
    • Gemma Files
  • Come Closer -- Vol. #13
  • each thing i show you is a piece of my death (by Stephen J. Barringer & GF)
  • Grave Goods -- Vol. #9
  • Nanny Grey -- Vol. #5
  • The Puppet Motel -- Vol. #12
  • Thin Cold Hands -- Vol. #11
  • This Is Not for You -- Vol. #7
    • Marc E. Fitch
  • The Starry Crown -- Vol. #10
    • Jeffrey Ford
  • A Natural History of Autumn (F&SF Jul/Aug 2012) -- Vol. #5
    • Christopher Fowler
  • Oh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside -- Vol. #3
    • Philip Fracassi
  • Fail-Safe -- Vol. #10
    • Jeannine Hall Gailey
  • Introduction to the Body in Fairy Tales -- Vol. #6
    • Neil Gaiman
  • Black Dog (Trigger Warning, 2015) -- Vol. #8
  • Down to a Sunless Sea -- Vol. #6
    • Stephen Gallagher
  • Shepherd's Business (New Fears, 2017) -- Vol. #10
    • Richard Gavin
  • The Word-Made Flesh -- Vol. #5
    • Adam Golaski
  • The Man from the Peak -- Vol. #1
    • Christopher Golden
  • The Bad Hour (What the #@&% Is That?, 2016) -- Vol. #9
    • Cody Goodfellow
  • At the Riding School -- Vol. #3
  • Nigredo -- Vol. #7
    • Mira Grant
  • You Can Stay All Day -- Vol. #10
    • Orrin Grey
  • The Granfalloon -- Vol. #10
  • No Exit -- Vol. #11
  • Persistence of Vision -- Vol. #7
    • Richard Harland
  • The Fear (Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears, 2010) -- Vol. #3
    • Euan Harvey
  • Harry and the Monkey -- Vol. #1
    • Maria Haskins
  • Cleaver, Meat, and Block -- Vol. #13
    • Trent Hergenrader
  • The Hodag -- Vol. #1
    • Sam Hicks
  • Back Along the Old Track -- Vol. #11
  • Mr. and Mrs. Kett -- Vol. #12
    • Joe Hill
  • You Are Released -- Vol. #11
    • Glen Hirshberg
  • Esmeralda: The First Book Depository Story -- Vol. #1
  • The Nimble Men -- Vol. #2
  • Shomer -- Vol. #3
  • You Become the Neighborhood -- Vol. #4
    • Brian Hodge
  • It's All the Same Road in the End -- Vol. #9
  • Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Walls -- Vol. #3
  • On These Blackened Shores of Time -- Vol. #9
  • Roots and All (A Book of Horrors, 2011) -- Vol. #4
  • The Same Deep Waters as You -- Vol. #6
  • This Stagnant Breath of Change -- Vol. #8
  • West of Matamoros, North of Hell -- Vol. #10
    • Carly Holmes
  • Sleep -- Vol. #11
    • Jane Jakeman
  • Majorlena -- Vol. #6
    • Kij Johnson
  • Mantis Wives (Clarkesworld Aug 2012) -- Vol. #5
    • Carole Johnstone
  • Better You Believe -- Vol. #10
  • Dead Loss -- Vol. #2
  • Departures -- Vol. #7
    • Tom Johnstone
  • Slaughtered Lamb -- Vol. #8
    • Stephen Graham Jones
  • Chapter Six -- Vol. #7
  • Lonegan's Luck (New Genre 6, 2009) -- Vol. #2
  • Lords of the Matinee -- Vol. #13
  • This Was Always Going to Happen -- Vol. #12
  • Till the Morning Comes -- Vol. #3
  • Universal Horror -- Vol. #8
    • Kate Jonez
  • All the Day You'll Have Good Luck (Black Static Jul/aug 2015) -- Vol. #8
    • K. J. Kabza
  • The Soul in the Bell Jar -- Vol. #6
    • Daniel Kaysen
  • The Rising River -- Vol. #1
    • Caitlín R. Kiernan
  • Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No. 8) -- Vol. #7
    • Stephen King
  • The Little Green God of Agony (A Book of Horrors, 2011) -- Vol. #4
    • Derek Künsken
  • The Dog's Paw -- Vol. #6
    • Terry Lamsley
  • In the Absence of Murdock -- Vol. #4
    • Margo Lanagan
  • Bajazzle (Cracklescape, 2012) -- Vol. #5
  • The Goosle (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2008) -- Vol. #1
  • Mulberry Boys (Blood and Other Cravings, 2011) -- Vol. #4
    • John Langan
  • City of the Dog -- Vol. #3
  • Haak -- Vol. #11
  • In Paris, in the Mouth of Kronos -- Vol. #4
  • Lost in the Dark -- Vol. #10
  • Technicolor (Poe, 2009) -- Vol. #2
  • Underground Economy -- Vol. #8
  • Ymir -- Vol. #7
    • Sarah Langan
  • The Night Nurse -- Vol. #12
    • Joe R. Lansdale
  • The Folding Man (Haunted Legends, 2010) -- Vol. #3
  • It Washed Up (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, 2008) -- Vol. #1
  • The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team -- Vol. #12
    • Rich Larson
  • Dark Warm Heart -- Vol. #10
    • Tanith Lee
  • Black and White Sky (Brighton Shock, 2010) -- Vol. #3
    • Sandi Leibowitz
  • Sleeping, I Was Beauty -- Vol. #5
    • Daniel Lemoal
  • Beach Head (On Spec Sum 2008) -- Vol. #1
    • Robert Levy
  • The Oestridae -- Vol. #9
    • E. Michael Lewis
  • Cargo -- Vol. #1
    • Alison Littlewood
  • Black Feathers -- Vol. #4
  • The Dog's Home -- Vol. #7
    • Livia Llewellyn
  • Allochthon -- Vol. #7
  • Bright Crown of Joy -- Vol. #9
  • Omphalos (Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors, 2011) -- Vol. #4
    • Rebecca Lloyd
  • Ragman -- Vol. #9
  • Where's the Harm? -- Vol. #10
    • Jack Lothian
  • A Deed Without a Name -- Vol. #13
  • They Are Us (1964): An Oral History -- Vol. #12
    • S. Qiouyi Lu
  • As Dark As Hunger -- Vol. #12
    • Carmen Maria Machado
  • Descent -- Vol. #8
  • There and Back Again -- Vol. #10
    • Tim Major
  • Eqalussuaq -- Vol. #10
    • Amelia Mangan
  • I Love You Mary-Grace -- Vol. #11
    • Alessandro Manzetti
  • Bloody Rhapsody -- Vol. #13
    • Claire Massey
  • Into the Penny Arcade -- Vol. #5
    • Richard Christian Matheson
  • Transfiguration -- Vol. #3
    • Laura Mauro
  • The Pain-Eater's Daughter -- Vol. #12
    • Bruce McAllister
  • The Crying Child (Cemetery Dance #68, originally "The Bleeding Child") -- Vol. #5
    • Kevin McCann
  • Answered an Ad -- Vol. #5
  • I Am the One -- Vol. #5
  • Two Poems for Hill House -- Vol. #5
    • Keris McDonald
  • The Coat Off His Back -- Vol. #7
    • Gary McMahon
  • Kill All Monsters -- Vol. #5
  • My Boy Builds Coffins -- Vol. #8
  • Some Pictures in an Album -- Vol. #5
  • Tethered Dogs -- Vol. #13
  • What's Out There? -- Vol. #9
    • S. P. Miskowski
  • Alligator Point -- Vol. #10
    • Ralph Robert Moore
  • Monkeys on the Beach -- Vol. #11
    • Edward Morris
  • Lotophagi -- Vol. #2
    • Mark Morris
  • Fallen Boys -- Vol. #3
  • Holiday Romance -- Vol. #10
    • Micaela Morrissette
  • Wendigo -- Vol. #2
    • Tamsyn Muir
  • The Magician's Apprentice (Weird Tales #359) -- Vol. #5
  • The Woman in the Hill -- Vol. #8
    • Linda Nagata
  • Halfway Home -- Vol. #6
    • David Erik Nelson
  • Whatever Comes After Calcutta -- Vol. #10
    • Adam Nevill
  • The Days of Our Lives -- Vol. #9
  • Hippocampus (Terror Tales of the Ocean, 2015) -- Vol. #8
  • Pig Thing -- Vol. #5
    • Kim Newman
  • The Only Ending We Have -- Vol. #6
    • David Nickle
  • Looker -- Vol. #4
    • Thana Niveau
  • The Whisper of Stars -- Vol. #13
  • White Mare -- Vol. #11
    • Garth Nix
  • Shay Corsham Worsted (Fearful Symmetries, 2014) -- Vol. #7
    • Thomas Olde Heuvelt
  • You Know How the Story Goes -- Vol. #11
    • Reggie Oliver
  • Mr. Pigsny -- Vol. #3
  • Mrs Midnight -- Vol. #2
  • The Rooms Are High -- Vol. #8
    • Norman Partridge
  • Lesser Demons -- Vol. #3
    • Diana Peterfreund
  • Playscape -- Vol. #12
    • Sarah Pinsker
  • Two Truths and a Lie -- Vol. #13
    • Norman Prentiss
  • In the Porches of My Ears (Postscripts Spr 2009) -- Vol. #2
    • Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
  • Just Another Desert Night with Blood -- Vol. #3
    • Sarah Read
  • Endoskeletal -- Vol. #10
    • Sam Rebelein
  • My Name is Ellie -- Vol. #12
    • M. Rickert
  • Was She Wicked? Was She Good? -- Vol. #3
    • Kelly Robson
  • A Human Stain (Tor.com) -- Vol. #10
    • Ian Rogers
  • The House on Ashley Avenue (Every House is Haunted, 2012) -- Vol. #5
    • Margaret Ronald
  • When the Gentlemen Go By (Clarksworld (online) Jul 2008) -- Vol. #1
    • Nicholas Royle
  • The Obscure Bird -- Vol. #3
  • Very Low-Flying Aircraft -- Vol. #1
    • Lynda E. Rucker
  • The House on Cobb Street -- Vol. #6
    • R. B. Russell
  • Loup-garou -- Vol. #1
    • Jason Sanford
  • The Eight-Thousanders -- Vol. #13
    • Priya Sharma
  • The Anatomist's Mnemonic -- Vol. #6
  • The Ballad of Boomtown -- Vol. #5
  • Fabulous Beasts (Tor.com 27 Jul 2015) -- Vol. #8
  • The Show -- Vol. #4
    • Robert Shearman
  • I Say (I Say, I Say) -- Vol. #12
  • It Flows from the Mouth -- Vol. #7
  • That Tiny Flutter of the Heart I Used to Call Love -- Vol. #6
  • Thumbsucker -- Vol. #11
    • Eloise C. C. Shepherd
  • A Tiny Mirror -- Vol. #11
    • Miranda Siemienowicz
  • Dress Circle -- Vol. #1
    • Angela Slatter
  • Winter Children -- Vol. #7
    • Michael Marshall Smith
  • Shit Happens -- Vol. #11
  • What Happens When You Wake Up in the Night (Nightjar) -- Vol. #2
    • Lucy A. Snyder
  • Magdala Amygdala -- Vol. #5
    • Amber Sparks
  • This Circus the World -- Vol. #5
    • William Browning Spencer
  • Penguins of the Apocalypse (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, 2008) -- Vol. #1
    • Simon Strantzas
  • Stemming the Tide -- Vol. #6
    • Peter Straub
  • The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine (Conjunctions 56) -- Vol. #4
  • The Process Is a Process All Its Own -- Vol. #9
    • Karina Sumner-Smith
  • When the Zombies Win -- Vol. #3
    • Pete Sutton
  • We Do Like to be Beside -- Vol. #13
    • Peter Sutton
  • Masks -- Vol. #11
    • Duane Swierczynski
  • Tender as Teeth (by Stephanie Crawford & DS)
    • Anna Taborska
  • Little Pig -- Vol. #4
    • Lucy Taylor
  • Nikishi -- Vol. #5
  • Wingless Beasts -- Vol. #7
    • Steve Rasnic Tem
  • Between the Pilings -- Vol. #8
  • The Monster Makers -- Vol. #6
  • Red Rabbit -- Vol. #9
    • Lee Thomas
  • Fine in the Fire -- Vol. #6
    • Steve Toase
  • Call Out -- Vol. #6
  • The Jaws of Ouroboros -- Vol. #11
  • Split Chain Stitch -- Vol. #11
    • Paul G. Tremblay
  • Ice Cold Lemonade 25? Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person -- Vol. #12
    • Letitia Trent
  • Wilderness (Exigencies) -- Vol. #8
    • Catherynne M. Valente
  • The Days of Flaming Motorcycles (Dark Faith, 2010) -- Vol. #3
    • Genevieve Valentine
  • A Dweller in Amenty -- Vol. #7
    • JoSelle Vanderhooft
  • Sweeney Among the Straight Razors -- Vol. #1
    • Stephen Volk
  • Sicko -- Vol. #13
    • C. E. Ward
  • The House of Wonders -- Vol. #9
    • Kaaron Warren
  • Furtherest (Dark Screams Volume 7, 2017) -- Vol. #10
  • The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall -- Vol. #2
    • DB Waters
  • Fury -- Vol. #9
    • Gordon B. White
  • Birds of Passage -- Vol. #12
    • Jay Wilburn
  • Dead Song -- Vol. #5
    • Conrad Williams
  • The Fox (This Is Horror, 2013) -- Vol. #6
  • The Pike -- Vol. #5
    • Chet Williamson
  • The Final Verse -- Vol. #4
    • A. C. Wise
  • Exhalation #10 -- Vol. #13
  • Final Girl Theory -- Vol. #4
  • Harvest Song, Gathering Song -- Vol. #10
  • The Stories We Tell About Ghosts -- Vol. #10
    • Stephanie M. Wytovich
  • The 21st Century Shadow -- Vol. #8
    • Rio Youers
  • Outside Heavenly -- Vol. #7

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    This page last updated Saturday 18 Dec 2021 at 16:43 PT