The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 17 Read online

  TTA also published six issues of Interzone, which underwent yet another design change – this time for the better. As the title passed its 200th issue, along with the fiction and usual columns, there were interviews with China Miéville, Susanna Clarke (by her husband, Colin Greenland!), Sarah Ash, Richard Calder and Ian R. MacLeod.

  Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the usual two issues of Patrick and Honna Swenson’s Talebones featured fiction and verse by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, James Van Pelt, Ray Vukcevich and others, along with an interview with Ben Bova, plus all the usual review columns. Jason B. Sizemore’s new digest publication, Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest, also featured review columns and interviews, plus fiction from James P. Hogan, James R. Cain, Lavie Tidhar, Ken Rand, Tom Piccirilli, J. A. Konrath and Bryan Smith.

  James R. Beach’s Dark Discoveries entered its second volume with two issues featuring stories by James Newman, Jeffrey Thomas, Michael Laimo, Paul Finch and Shaun Jeffrey, along with interviews with Thomas, Laimo, Graham Masterton, Brian Keene, Craig Spector, Michael A. Arnzen and Shane Staley of Delirium Books.

  Issue #4 of Marc Shemmens’ The Horror Express was billed as a “Tim Lebbon Special”, and contained two stories, a bibliographic article and an interview with the author. Dean Koontz and Amy Grech also contributed stories, and there was the usual book and film reviews and poetry. The following issue contained an even more impressive line-up of contributors, including stories by Neil Gaiman, Graham Masterton, Bentley Little and Lavie Tidhar, plus interviews with F. Paul Wilson and Shaun Hutson.

  The fifth issue of Trevor Denyer’s Midnight Street showcased author Tim Lees with two stories, an interview and a bibliography. There was also fiction from Gary Fry, Simon Clark, Marie O’Regan and Allen Ashley, an interview with Simon Clark, and a free twenty-page bibliography of Clark’s work, compiled by Tony Mileman.

  The third issue of the revived Argosy, edited by James A. Owen, featured stories by Steve Rasnic Tem, Zoran Kivkovic, Charles Coleman Finlay and Richard A. Lupoff.

  Horror Garage included interviews with Thomas Ligotti, Adrienne Barbeau and Matt Schwartz of Shocklines.com, plus fiction by nobody you probably ever heard of.

  The second digest issue of Allen K’s Inhuman Magazine continued the title’s pulp inspiration with new and reprint stories by Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Michael Laimo, Ramsey Campbell, Thomas F. Monteleone, Brian Lumley and others, all illustrated by editor Allen Koszowski.

  The three issues of William Jones’ Lovecraftian-inspired digest Book of Dark Wisdom: The Magazine of Dark Fiction featured fiction and poetry by David Niall Wilson, Bruce Boston, C. J. Henderson, Amy Grech, A. A. Attanasio, Lavie Tidhar, James S. Dorr, J. Michael Straczynski, Tim Curran and John Weagly, amongst others, along with a regular column by Richard A. Lupoff, interviews with Ramsey Campbell and Douglas Clegg, plus a couple of full-colour covers by Dave Carson.

  I’m not sure what Lovecraft would have made of Michael Amorel’s Cthulhu Sex Magazine, billed as “The Magazine for Connoiseurs of Sensual Horror”. The latest two issues contained the usual mix of stories, verse and artwork, much of the latter quite impressive.

  Edited by Christopher M. Cevasco, the two issues of Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction included fiction and poetry by Paul Finch, Carrie Vaughn, D. J. Cockburn, Darrell Schweitzer and Jane Yolen, plus an article about history in the works of Robert E. Howard by Patrice Louinet.

  Gordon Linzner’s Space and Time #99 included fiction and poetry by Darrell Schweitzer, Hugh Cook, Uncle River, Mark McLaughlin and W. Paul Ganley, along with the usual variable artwork.

  John O’Neill’s always handsome-looking Black Gate: Adventures in Fantasy Literature featured fiction from Iain Rowan, Paul Finch, Jay Lake, Muray Leinster and Charles Coleman Finlay, amongst others, along with an interview with Charlene Harris, an interesting overview of the history of Ace Doubles by Rich Horton, and all the usual columns and departments.

  Shar O’Brien’s NFG continued to bill itself as “Writing With Attitude” with fiction and poetry from America, Britain and Canada.

  The London Vampyre Group’s Chronicles changed to a large-size format with full colour covers and included an interview with Kim Harrison, plus articles on the J. S. Le Fanu’s Carmilla, Dark Shadows comics, Mona the Vampire and methods of Goth dancing!

  The latest incarnation of Amazing Stories was put on hiatus with the February issue by Paizo Publishing. A spokesperson claimed that the magazine was “unexpectedly successful”.

  According to the UK Press Gazette in June, accusations of plagiarism were levelled against British horror film magazine The Dark Side, edited by Allan Bryce, after a high number of reviews appeared to have been lifted from horror film websites and allegedly recycled without permission, payment or credit. Although Bryce admitted to the theft, and offered to pay a nominal fee to the fans whose thousands of words were appropriated, it was rumoured that “now sacked freelance writer” Gordon Booker was actually a pseudonym for the editor himself.

  Canada’s Rue Morgue continued to be the horror fan’s essential guide to the genre. The glossy monthly magazine featured interviews with Douglas Clegg, Jack Ketchum, Tim Lebbon, Thomas Ligotti, Edward Lee, Stephen Jones, Michael Slade, artist Caniglia, Japanese film-makers Shinya Tsukamoto and Takashi Miike, Jess Franco, composer Graeme Revell, John McNaughton, Michael Rooker, the late Amando de Ossorio, Stuart Gordon, Mick Garris, Bruce Campbell, Clive Barker, Jake West, and the Brothers Quay, along with articles on H. P. Lovecraft, werewolves and pulp magazines.

  Clive Barker was one of the guests at Rue Morgue’s hugely successful Festival of Fear: Canadian National Horror Expo, held in Toronto over 26–28 August. Other celebrities who attended included Tony Todd, Linda Blair, Elijah Wood, Gunnar Hansen, Ken Foree, Crispin Glover and Elvira Mistress of the Dark.

  While disgruntled subscribers still waited for their copies of the long-promised Mario Bava book to appear (publication date was delayed yet again, despite an announced September release date), Tim and Donna Lucas managed to squeeze out eight of the scheduled twelve issues of Video Watchdog magazine. Along with the usual DVD, video, audio and book review columns, there were interesting articles on Ray Harryhausen, Universal’s lesser-known monsters, David J. Schow’s overview of Day of the Triffids, Edison’s silent Frankenstein and an appraisal of the first Looney Tunes boxed set. However, we could perhaps have done without the dull interview with Yutte Stensgaard, Larry Blamire’s pointless look at 1950s sci-fi heroes, and more inflated Jess Franco coverage.

  Richard Valley’s Scarlet Street came up with a Val Lewton special that included interviews with elusive performers Simone Simon, Elizabeth Russell and Russell Wade.

  Empire magazine’s The Story of Sci-Fi supplement featured contributions from Kim Newman, amongst others.

  Stephen King’s usually insightful column “The Pop of King” in Entertainment Weekly included the author’s thoughts on book critics’ ignorance of popular fiction (by way of Tom Wolfe’s latest novel), Bret Easton Ellis, DVD extras, Lost, Halloween and George A. Romero’s Living Dead series, but more often than not it was simply lazy lists of the author’s favourite things. At least the magazine also included a fascinating article by Dalton Ross on the making of 1966 cult movie Manos: The Hand of Fate.

  The Halloween issue of Publishers Weekly included a short feature by Peter Cannon on specialist Burbank bookstore Dark Delicacies and its co-proprietor Del Howison.

  The Bulletin of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America featured interesting articles on copyright, literary criticism, starting your own podcasts and blogs (God forbid!), writing a book a year, editing your own stories, game novelisations, a tribute to Andre Norton, and the Authors Guild lawsuit against Google over potential copyright violations, along with all the usual columns.

  Locus featured interviews with Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Susanna Clarke, George R. R. Martin, Tim Pratt, Paul McAuley and MonkeyBrain publisher Chris Roberson, among
st others.

  The three information-packed issues of Barbara and Christopher Roden’s square-bound All Hallows included fiction by Rick Kennett, Reggie Oliver and others, articles on Montague Summers, Edgar Wallace, Robert Murray Gilchrist, “The Monkey’s Paw”, Censorship in Australia, What’s the Matter with Helen?, The Monster Club and Night Tide, short interviews with Chico Kidd, Guillermo del Toro and Joel Lane, plus the usual columns by Ramsey Campbell, Roger Dobson and Richard Dalby.

  Now a chunky annual anthology, David Longhorn’s Supernatural Tales 9 contained sixteen original stories by Dallas Goffin, Tina Rath, Barbara Roden, Jim Rockhill, Gary Fry, Nina Allan, Paul Finch, Michael Chislett and others.

  Issue #26 of Eric M. Heidman’s Tales of the Unanticipated was a perfect-bound issue packed with fiction and poetry by Stephen Dedman, Gerard Houarner, Uncle River, Judy Klass, Mary Soon Lee, Laurel Winter, Bruce Boston, G.O. Clark and others, including “Edgar Allen Pooh”!

  From Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant’s Small Beer Press, the three issues of the literary magazine Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet featured fiction and poetry by Bruce McAllister, Stepan Chapman, Amy Sisson, Diana Pharaoh Francis, David Connerley Nahm and Mary A. Turzillo. There was also a non-fiction piece on The Tenant, and an offbeat comic strip by Lawrence Schimel and Sara Rojo.

  Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt’s near-identical publication Flytrap, from Tropism Press, included fiction from Karen Meisner, Jay Lake, Jeff VanderMeer, Jeffrey Ford and Sonya Taaffe, poetry by Daphne Gottlieb, and entertaining columns about writing by Nick Mamatas and Jed Hartman.

  Edited by John Benson, the two issues of Not One of Us included fiction and verse by Terry Black, Kevin L. Donihe, Sonya Taaffe and others,

  Published free of charge to promote the website, the quarterly print issues of Whispers of Wickedness contained stories and poetry by Peter Tennant, Rhys Hughes, James Harris, Gavin Salisbury and others, along with centrefold news sections. The magazine went to better-quality covers and binding with its Winter 2005 edition and added non-fiction columns to the contents.

  Harlan Ellison’s personalzine Rabbit Hole featured an advance look at the final issue of Dark Horse Comics’ Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor, a short piece by Terry Dowling about updating The Essential Ellison, and a brief tribute to the late Chris Bunch, along with all the usual news about HE.

  Machenalia was the newsletter of The Friends of Arthur Machen and featured news, articles and letters about the author.

  Under editor Debbie Bennett, Prism: The Newsletter of the British Fantasy Society turned out six bi-monthly issues packed with information. Meanwhile, the Society’s magazine Dark Horizons had a new editor, Marie O’Regan, and a new look as the content was expanded from just fiction and poetry to include columns and reviews. Contributors included Tony Richards, Mike Chinn and Bob Covington.

  The British Fantasy Society 2006 calendar was an improvement over the previous year’s attempt. Once again edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan, it included short-short horror tales by Kelly Armstrong, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Simon Clark, John Connolly, Christopher Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Stephen Gallagher, Muriel Gray, Stephen Laws, Graham Masterton and Poppy Z. Brite, along with artwork from Bob Covington, James Ryman and others. The regular BFS Open Night meetings continued in London, with the Christmas event in early December attracting record numbers.

  Exhaustingly edited by S. T. Joshi and Stefan Dziemianowicz, Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia was an impressive and indispensable three-volume hardcover set from Greenwood Press that formed an A-Z guide to horror fiction and its practitioners. Along with a Foreword by Ramsey Campbell, the esteemed line-up of contributors included Mike Ashley, Leigh Blackmore, Everett F. Bleiler, Rusty Burke, Donald R. Burleson, Peter Cannon, Scott Connors, Paula Guran, Melissa Mia Hall, Don Herron, Ben P. Indick, Stephen Jones, Robert Morrish, D. H. Olson, John Pelan, Robert M. Price, Jim Rockhill, Barbara Roden, Christopher Roden, David J. Schow, Darrell Schweitzer, Brian Stableford, Peter Tremayne, Lisa Tuttle, Hank Wagner and Chet Williamson, amongst many others.

  Once again edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman, with an Introduction by Peter Straub, Horror: Another 100 Best Books was a follow-up volume to the Bram Stoker Award-winning 1988 compilation, featuring 100 original essays by an all-new line-up of contributors.

  Gina Wisker’s Horror Fiction: An Introduction was a critical guide to the genre covering themes and major authors, published as part of the “Continuum Studies in Literary Genre” series.

  Stephen King is Richard Bachman by Michael R. Collings was an updated look at the story behind the author’s alter-ego, available in trade hardcover and a 400-copy limited edition signed by Collings, from Overlook Connection Press. In Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished from Cemetery Dance Publications, Rocky Wood with David Rawsthorne and Norma Blackburn compiled an exhaustive guide to around 100 “lost” works by King that also included a chapter from the author’s unpublished 1970 novel Sword in the Darkness.

  Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: A Concordance: Vol.11 by Robin Furth was a reference guide to the final three books in the series, while The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book edited by Brian Freeman and Bev Vincent contained more than 1,000 questions, with illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne. It was published by Cemetery Dance Publications as a trade paperback, hardcover, and a fifty-two copy lettered traycased edition.

  Compiled and edited by Tim Richmond after a decade’s research, Fingerprints on the Sky: The Authorized Harlan Ellison Bibliography was a fully illustrated reader’s guide published by Overlook Connection in trade hardcover, signed limited edition, and a $500.00 lettered slipcased version with additional DVD.

  Although written during its subject’s lifetime, John Gawsworth’s biography The Life of Arthur Machen finally saw print from Tartarus Press and was available as part of the annual subscription to The Friends of Arthur Machen.

  Jason Colavito’s The Cult of Alien Gods: H P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture tied contemporary alien mythology into Lovecraft’s stories and concepts, while H P. Lovecraft in Popular Culture: The Works and Their Adaptations in Film, Television, Music and Games by Don G. Smith was a critical bibliography from McFarland & Company.

  The Lovecraft Lexicon: A Reader’s Guide to Persons, Places and Things in the Tales of H. P. Lovecraft was an encyclopaedic guide by Anthony Pearsall. Originally published in 1991 and translated by Dorna Khazeni, H P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life was a critical essay by French novelist Michel Houellebecq that came with an Introduction by Stephen King and two stories by Lovecraft himself.

  Edited with an Introduction by S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, Letters from New York collected letters written by H. P. Lovecraft while he was living in New York and was the second volume in the “Lovecraft Letters” series from Night Shade Books. Also edited by Joshi and Schultz, and available from Hippocampus Press as a print-on-demand edition, Letters to Rheinhart Kleiner collected letters from Lovecraft to one of his earliest correspondents, along with an essay by Kleiner and poems from both writers.

  Edited with a Preface by Michael H. Hutchins for PS Publishing, A Reverie for Mister Ray: Reflections on Life, Death, and Speculative Fiction was a hefty collection of nearly seventy essays and reviews by Michael Bishop, with an Introduction by Jeff VanderMeer.

  Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars was a collection of thirty-seven essays (twelve original), and The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury was an authorized biography by Sam Weller, billed as “predicting the past and remembering the future”. The book included notes, an index and a selected bibliography.

  Wonder’s Child: My Life in Science Fiction was a softcover reissue by BenBella Books of Jack Williamson’s Hugo Award-winning 1984 autobiography, with an additional twenty years of new material, a portion of the author’s diary from World War II and a new Introduction by Mike Resnick. The 97-year-old Williamson even had a new SF novel out in 2005, entitled Th
e Stonehenge Gate.

  More Giants of the Genre, from print-on-demand publisher Wild-side Press, collected twenty-three new and reprint interviews by Michael McCarty with Whitley Strieber, Laurell K. Hamilton, Joe R. Lansdale, Graham Masterton, Stephen Jones, Charles Grant, Terry Pratchett, Ingrid Pitt, Harlan Ellison, William F. Nolan, John Carpenter, Richard Matheson and others, including controversial mentalist The Amazing Kreskin.

  Lorna Jowett’s Sex and the Slayer: A Gender Studies Primer for the Buffy Fan was a critical examination of Buffy the Vampire Slayer published by Wesleyan University Press. From McFarland, Jess Battis’ Blood Relations: Chosen Families in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel examined the concept of families in the TV shows.

  Facts on File/Checkmark Books published Rosemary Ellen Guiley’s The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters, which featured a Foreword by Jeanne Keyes Youngson.

  2005 was the year of Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Christopher Golden wrote the tie-in novelisation, while Matthew Costello’s King Kong: The Island of the Skull was an official prequel to Jackson’s remake. Russell Blackford’s Kong Reborn was a sequel to the original movie, with scientists cloning a new “Eighth Wonder of the World”.

  Delos W. Lovelace’s 1932 novelisation of the original King Kong was reissued by a number of publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. The Underwood Books edition included four illustrations by Frank Frazetta, Dave Stevens, Jon Foster and Ken Steacy, and the Grosset & Dunlap edition featured four pages of stills from the original RKO movie. The Random House trade paperback included a new Preface by Mark Cotta Caz and an Introduction by Greg Bear, while the compact edition from Gollancz, with a new Afterword by Stephen Jones, was only the second time that the book had appeared in hardcover in Britain.

  With a Foreword by James V. D’Arc, Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong was basically a pointless expansion of Lovelace’s novelisation (including inconsistencies) by artist Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland for St. Martin’s Press. Kong: King of Skull Island, a sequel from the same team, appeared from Dark Horse Comics/DH Press with an Introduction by Ray Harryhausen.