The Best Horror of the Year. Volume 4

The Undying Thing and Others by Barry Pain (Hippocampus Press) contains for the first time, all of the author’s weird writing and a rare novel in collaboration with James Blyth. Introduction by S. T. Joshi.

The Gaki & Other Hungry Spirits by Stephen Mark Rainey (Dark Regions Press) features seventeen stories, six never before published.

A Bracelet of Bright Hair by Jane Jakeman (Sarob Press) showcases eight very effective ghost stories, one new, with an afterword by the author.

It Knows Where You Live by Gary McMahon (Gray Friar Press) nicely captures the unease and alienation of contemporary life in these fifteen horror stories, all but two original to the collection.

Tales of Sin and Madness by Brett McBean (LegumeMan Books) has twenty stories and short-shorts, some reprints, some original, with the hardest-to-read typeface for everything but the actual stories that I’ve ever tried to decipher. Fie on book designers who have no clue about readability.

Looking at the World with Glass in My Eye by Mark Justice (Graveside Books) has eighteen stories, half original. With an introduction by Ronald Kelly.

Cold Mirrors by C. J. Lines (Adramelech Books) is a debut collection of fourteen stories, nine published for the first time.

Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings by Sam Stone (Telos) contains thirteen stories and six poems, most published for the first time.

Nightingale Songs by Simon Strantzas (Dark Regions Press) is the author’s third collection, containing twelve stories, three new. Strantzas writes stylishly about disturbing subjects and his work is always worth reading.

Multiplex Fandango: A Weston Ochse Reader (Dark Regions Press) is a collection of sixteen stories, six published for the first time. All are well-worth reading.

The Exorcist’s Travelogue by George Berguño (Passport Levant) has seven stories, five published for the first time.

I Smell Blood by Ralph Robert Moore (Sentence Publishing) is the author’s second collection, this one self-published. It contains eight stories, two published for the first time, and a short novel.

In Extremis by John Shirley (Underland Press) features twenty-two stories published between 1991 and 2010, with two originals.

Quiet Houses by Simon Kurt Unsworth (Dark Continents Publishing) is a collection of haunted house stories, each case investigated by paranormal researcher Richard Nakata. All but two of the seven stories are new.

Our Lady of the Shadows by Tony Richards (Dark Regions Press) has twelve dark stories, published over the past twenty years, including four new ones.

Monsters of L.A. by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books) covers the array of horror tropes from vampires to the urban legend in twenty, new, mostly brief stories. In addition, Morton writes about each story in an afterword.

The Odd Ghosts by Maynard Sims (Enigmatic Press) is a collection of eight brief original tales by the writing duo M.P.N Sims & L.H Maynard heralding another collection coming out in 2012. All the stories are well-worth reading.

The Butterfly Man and Other Stories by Paul Kane (PS Publishing) has eighteen stories, most published within the past three years, with four original to the collection. With an introduction by Christopher Golden.

Ex Occident Press brought out several collections including The Peacock Escritoire by Mark Valentine, which collects thirteen stories (six published for the first time); Allurements of Cabochon by John Gale with seventeen stories and prose poems; The Bestiary of Communion by Stephen J. Clark with three novellas; The Mauve Embellishments by Charles Schneider (Passport Levant) is a fascinating collection of twenty-three weird, surreal, and occasionally dark and gruesome vignettes, stories, and poems, each illustrated by the author (this last is the only one seen).

Long Shadows, Nightmare Light by Mark Morris (PS Publishing) is the author’s third collection and includes fifteen stories published over the past eighteen years, with two very good originals. Introduction by Christopher Golden.

The Uncanny Valley: Tales from a Lost Town by Gregory Miller (Stone-Garden.net publishing) has thirty-three short tales told by the inhabitants of the small Pennsylvania town of the title. Most of the stories have been published previously and they lovingly depict the weird happenings that occur until the town’s demise.