The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 2002, Volume 13 Read online

  STEPHEN JONES lives in London, England. He is the winner of two World Fantasy Awards, three Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Awards and two International Horror Guild Awards as well as being a thirteen-time recipient of the British Fantasy Award and a Hugo Award nominee. A former television producer/director and genre movie publicist and consultant (the first three Hellraiser movies, Night Life, Nightbreed, Split Second, Mind Ripper, Last Gasp etc.), he is the co-editor of Horror: 100 Best Books, The Best Horror from Fantasy Tales, Gaslight & Ghosts, Now We Are Sick, H.P. Lovecraft’s Book of Horror, The Anthology of Fantasy & the Supernatural, Secret City: Strange Tales of London and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Dark Terrors, Dark Voices and Fantasy Tales series. He has written Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide, The Essential Monster Movie Guide, The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide, The Illustrated Dinosaur Movie Guide, The Illustrated Frankenstein Movie Guide and The Illustrated Werewolf Movie Guide, and compiled The Mammoth Book of Terror, The Mammoth Book of Vampires, The Mammoth Book of Zombies, The Mammoth Book of Werewolves, The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein, The Mammoth Book of Dracula, The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories By Women, Shadows Over Innsmouth, Dancing With the Dark, Dark of the Night, Dark Detectives, White of the Moon, Keep Out the Night, Exorcisms and Ecstasies by Karl Edward Wagner, The Vampire Stories of R. Chetwynd-Hayes, Phantoms and Fiends and Frights and Fancies by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, The Conan Chronicles by Robert E. Howard (two volumes), The Emperor of Dreams: The Lost Worlds of Clark Ashton Smith, James Herbert: By Horror Haunted, Clive Barker’s A-Z of Horror, Clive Barker’s Shadows in Eden, Clive Barker’s The Nightbreed Chronicles and the Hellraiser Chronicles. You can visit his website at .

  Also available

  The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy

  The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 12

  The Mammoth Book of Best New Science Fiction 14

  The Mammoth Book of Bridge

  The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens

  The Mammoth Book of Chess

  The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy

  The Mammoth Book of Endurance and Adventure

  The Mammoth Book of Fantasy

  The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories

  The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories

  The Mammoth Book of Hearts of Oak

  The Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits

  The Mammoth Book of How It Happened

  The Mammoth Book of How It Happened in Britain

  The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper

  The Mammoth Book of Jokes

  The Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers

  The Mammoth Book of Life Before the Mast

  The Mammoth Book of Locked-Room Mysteries and Impossible Crimes

  The Mammoth Book of Men O’War

  The Mammoth Book of Murder

  The Mammoth Book of Murder and Science

  The Mammoth Book of New Erotica

  The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures

  The Mammoth Book of Private Lives

  The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action

  The Mammoth Book of Puzzles

  The Mammoth Book of SAS & Elite Forces

  The Mammoth Book of Seriously Comic Fantasy

  The Mammoth Book of Sex, Drugs & Rock ’n’ Roll

  The Mammoth Book of Soldiers at War

  The Mammoth Book of Sword & Honour

  The Mammoth Book of the Edge

  The Mammoth Book of The West

  The Mammoth Book of True Crime (New Edition)

  The Mammoth Book of True War Stories

  The Mammoth Book of UFOs

  The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crimes

  The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women

  The Mammoth Book of War Correspondents

  The Mammoth Book of Women Who Kill

  The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games

  The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

  The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries

  THE

  MAMMOTH BOOK OF

  BEST NEW

  HORROR 13

  Edited and with an Introduction by

  STEPHEN JONES

  ROBINSON

  London

  Constable & Robinson Ltd

  55–56 Russell Square

  London WC1B 4HP

  www.constablerobinson.com

  First published in the UK by Robinson,

  an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd 2002

  Collection and editorial material copyright

  © Stephen Jones 2002

  All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in

  Publication Data is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 1-84119-540-5

  eISBN: 978-1-78033-715-9

  Printed and bound in the EU

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction: Horror in 2001

  Mark of the Beast

  CHICO KIDD

  Crocodile Lady

  CHRISTOPHER FOWLER

  All for Sale

  RAMSEY CAMPBELL

  The Two Dicks

  PAUL McAULEY

  By Her Hand, She Draws You Down

  DOUGLAS SMITH

  O Death, Where Is Thy Spatula?

  POPPY Z. BRITE

  Got to Kill Them All

  DENNIS ETCHISON

  No More A-Roving

  LYNDA E. RUCKER

  First, Catch Your Demon

  GRAHAM JOYCE

  Pump Jack

  DONALD R. BURLESON

  Outfangthief

  GALA BLAU

  The Lost District

  JOEL LANE

  Simeon Dimsby’s Workshop

  RICHARD A. LUPOFF

  Our Temporary Supervisor

  THOMAS LIGOTTI

  Whose Ghosts These Are

  CHARLES L. GRANT

  Shite Hawks

  MURIEL GRAY

  Off the Map

  MICHAEL CHISLETT

  Most of My Friends Are Two-Thirds Water

  KELLY LINK

  City in Aspic

  CONRAD WILLIAMS

  Where All Things Perish

  TANITH LEE

  Struwwelpeter

  GLEN HIRSHBERG

  Cleopatra Brimstone

  ELIZABETH HAND

  Cats and Architecture

  CHICO KIDD

  Necrology: 2001

  STEPHEN JONES & KIM NEWMAN

  Useful Addresses

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I would like to thank Kim Newman, David Barraclough, Nick Austin, Andy Cox, Mandy Slater, Rodger Turner and Wayne MacLaurin (sfsite.com), Andrew I. Porter, Harris M. Lentz III, Richard Dalby, Bill Congreve, Gordon Van Gelder, Robert T. Garcia, Tina Rath, Jo Fletcher, Sara Broecker, Mick Sims, Alan M. Clark, Michel Parry, Brian Mooney, Stephen Gallagher, Robert Morgan, Barbara Roden, David Pringle, Jason Williams and John Pelan for all their help and support. Special thanks are also due to Locus, Interzone, Science Fiction Chronicle, Variety and all the other sources that were used for reference in the Introduction and the Necrology.

  INTRODUCTION: HORROR IN 2001 copyright © Stephen Jones 2002.

  MARK OF THE BEAST copyright ©
by Chico Kidd 2001. Originally published in Second Sight and Other Stories. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  CROCODILE LADY copyright © by Christopher Fowler 2001. Originally published in Crimewave 5: Dark Before Dawn and The Devil in Me. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  ALL FOR SALE copyright © by Ramsey Campbell 2001. Originally published on Gothic.net, November 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  THE TWO DICKS copyright © by Paul McAuley 2001. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction No. 598, August 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  BY HER HAND, SHE DRAWS YOU DOWN copyright © by Douglas Smith 2001. Originally published in The Third Alternative Issue 28, Autumn 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  O DEATH, WHERE IS THY SPATULA? copyright © by Poppy Z. Brite 2001. Originally published in The Spook Issue 1, August 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  GOT TO KILL THEM ALL copyright © by Dennis Etchison 2001. Originally published in Cemetery Dance Issue #34. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  NO MORE A-ROVING copyright © by Lynda E. Rucker 2001. Originally published in Darkness Rising I: Night’s Soft Pains. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  FIRST, CATCH YOUR DEMON copyright © by Graham Joyce 2001. Originally published in Brutarian No. 34, Fall 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  PUMP JACK copyright © by Donald R. Burleson 2001. Originally published in Bare Bone #1. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  OUTFANGTHIEF copyright © by Gala Blau 2001. Originally published in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories By Women. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  THE LOST DISTRICT copyright © by Joel Lane 2001. Originally published in The Third Alternative Issue 27, Summer 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  SIMEON DIMSBY’S WORKSHOP copyright © by Richard A. Lupoff 2001. Originally published in NecronomiCon 2001 Program Book. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  OUR TEMPORARY SUPERVISOR copyright © by Thomas Ligotti 2001. Originally published in Weird Tales No. 325, Fall 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  WHOSE GHOSTS THESE ARE copyright © by Charles L. Grant 2001. Originally published in The Museum of Horrors. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  SHITE HAWKS copyright © by Muriel Gray 2001. Originally published in The Third Alternative Issue 27, Summer 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  OFF THE MAP copyright © by Michael Chislett 2001. Originally published in Supernatural Tales #2. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  MOST OF MY FRIENDS ARE TWO-THIRDS WATER copyright © by Kelly Link 2001. Originally published in Stranger Things Happen. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  CITY IN ASPIC copyright © by Conrad Williams 2001. Originally published in Phantoms of Venice. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  WHERE ALL THINGS PERISH copyright © by Tanith Lee 2001. Originally published in Weird Tales No. 325, Fall 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  STRUWWELPETER copyright © by Glen Hirshberg 2001. Originally published on SciFi.Com. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agent, Anderson/Grinberg Literary Management, Inc.

  CLEOPATRA BRIMSTONE copyright © by Elizabeth Hand 2001. Originally published in Redshift. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  CATS AND ARCHITECTURE copyright © by Chico Kidd 2001. Originally published in Supernatural Tales #2. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  NECROLOGY: 2001 copyright © 2002 by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman.

  USEFUL ADDRESSES copyright © 2002 by Stephen Jones.

  In memory of

  Cherry Wilder

  (1930–2002)

  who was always a delight to work with,

  and

  Harry Nadler

  (1940–2002)

  who gave me my first break as a writer.

  INTRODUCTION

  Horror in 2001

  IN 2001, BOOK SALES IN THE UK were boosted by the success of the Harry Potter series to more than £1 billion. Almost 130 million titles were sold by booksellers, although a higher proportion of books are now purchased over the Internet.

  Horror titles were up in America for the first time since the mid-1990s. However, the number of horror books published in Britain dropped to its lowest since the late 1980s and, according to The Bookseller, accounted for just 2.4 per cent of the total books published.

  In February, the Crown Books chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again, having only emerged from bankruptcy protection in November 1999. Books-A-Million bought the inventory and property leases on a number of stores, while the remainder closed down. Crown was once the third-largest book retailer in America.

  With the failure of its online bookselling business, Borders Group, Inc. turned over its website Borders.com to rival Amazon in April.

  Meanwhile, according to a Gallup poll, two-thirds of Americans read ten books or fewer a year, and 13 per cent read no books at all. Even more disturbing is that more than half of adult Americans spend less that thirty minutes every day reading printed matter of any kind – and that includes newspapers and food labels!

  Britain’s Bloomsbury Publishing announced a tenfold rise in profits in September, mostly due to the continuing success of the Harry Potter books. Pre-tax profits rose from £273,000 to £2.85 million in the first six months of the year, and turnover was up 100 per cent at £22.7 million.

  With worldwide sales passing 100 million in May, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling became the highest-paid female author in the world, earning a reported £45 million and bringing her estimated worth to around £220 million. She was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Prince Charles in March, for her contributions to children’s literature.

  However, young fans were disappointed to learn that there would be no new adventure of the boy wizard in 2001. Rowling broke a promise to produce a Harry Potter adventure every year for seven years because she was reportedly too busy with the movie version and supervising merchandising deals.

  In Stephen King’s alien-contact novel Dreamcatcher, the survivors of a bizarre encounter twenty-five years earlier were reunited as adults on an annual hunting trip, where they came upon a disoriented stranger who gave birth to something with very sharp teeth.

  Black House, King and Peter Straub’s much-anticipated sequel to their 1984 collaboration The Talisman, featured a grown-up Jack Sawyer on the trail of a child-eating serial killer known as ‘The Fisherman’. He was aided in his quest by blind DJ Henry Leyden and The Thunder Five, a group of Harley bikers. The novel also included references to a number of other King books, including ‘The Dark Tower’ sequence. The two authors were reportedly paid a $20 million advance, and the book went to the top of the bestseller list in the US with a first printing of two million copies. A one million-copy mass-market paperback reissue of The Talisman contained a teaser first chapter from Black House.

  Clive Barker’s Coldheart Canyon was a big Hollywood ghost story dating from the 1920s. The author himself appeared on the cover of the American edition, suitably attired in period costume and earring.

  Somewhat aptly, HarperCollins designated October as ‘Ray Bradbury Month’ in America with the publication of the author’s latest work, From the Dust Returned: A Family Remembrance. First conceived more than fifty-five years ago, this beautifully written novel about the weird family, the Elliotts, who live in October Country, was constructed around seven previously published stories, including the classic ‘Homecoming’. Along with an afterword by the author, the US hardcover also featured a dust-jacket illustration by Charles Addams. An audio version was released simultaneously, read by actor John Glover.

  In another honour, Mayor James K. Hahn of Los Angeles declared December 14th ‘Ray Bradbury Day’.

  James Herbert’s Once . . . was an adult fairy tale about the dark side of magic. A clever promotion involving the placing of chained elves around London landmar
ks had to be scrapped on September 11th after the terrorist attacks on America. The beautifully illustrated and designed hardcover (which included four full colour plates) was published in two editions by Macmillan with complementary black and white dustjackets.

  One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz had 500,000 copies in print after three printings. It involved a woman on a quest to save a disabled child from the girl’s strange stepfather, who believed that she would be taken by aliens before her tenth birthday. The Paper Doorway: Funny Verse and Nothing Worse was a young-adult poetry collection by Koontz, illustrated by Phil Parks. In Britain, Headline published a paperback omnibus of Koontz’s Watchers/Mr Murder.

  Anne Rice’s Blood and Gold: The Vampire Marius, the tenth book in ‘The Vampire Chronicles’, featured one of the oldest members of the undead and his meeting in the present day with a creature of snow and ice.

  The End of the Rainbow by V.C. Andrews® was the fourth in the Gothic ‘Hudson’ series, while Cinnamon, Ice, Rose, Honey and Falling Stars comprised the five-volume ‘Shooting Stars’ sequence. They were all still probably written by Andrew Niederman. A paperback omnibus of Andrews’s four 1999 ‘Wildflower’ novels was also published. Meanwhile, Niederman’s own novel, Amnesia, was a twist on the Circe myth.

  Ramsey Campbell’s The Pact of the Fathers was about the daughter of a dead movie producer who discovered that her father had made a diabolical deal involving his first-born.