Dark Minds edited by Ross Warren (Dark Minds Press) is another design disaster, with the double-faced type looking like manuscript pages rather than book type. The best story in the book is by the best-known writer, Gary McMahon.
Tattered Souls 2 edited by Frank J. Hutton (Cutting Block Press) is a non-theme anthology of eight original stories and novellas by relatively new writers (none of whom I’d previously heard of except for Forrest Aguirre, better known as an editor than a writer), with the strongest by Stephanie Shaw and Anne Michaud.
Historical Lovecraft is one of two Lovecraftian anthologies published in 2011 by Innsmouth Free Press and edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles. There are twenty-six stories, all new. The strongest are by Orrin Grey, Bryant Thao Worra, William Meikle, and Aaron Polson. The second is Future Lovecraft, featuring thirty-eight new and reprinted Lovecraftian stories and poems based in the future. The best originals are by Nick Mamatas, Helen Marshall, and A. C. Wise.
Necrotic Tissue: Best of Anthology edited by R. Scott McCoy (Stygian Publications) celebrates the quarterly magazine published between 2007–2011 with the mission of encouraging new writers. The book features thirty-one mostly very short stories chosen from those published.
Candle in the Attic edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles (Innsmouth Free Press) has twenty-seven reprinted and original stories and poems of gothic fiction. The best of the originals are by Berit Ellingsen and Orrin Grey.
What Fears Become edited by Jeani Rector (Imajin Books) combines original and reprinted stories from the webzine The Horror Zine. The book includes stories, poetry, and art. The best of the original fiction is by Stephen M. Dare and David K. Ginn.
Lore: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories edited by Rod Heather and Sean O’Leary (The Lore-Firm). Lore was a magazine that published nine issues between 1995 and 1998 and this anthology reprints fourteen stories and a round-robin from the magazine, by writers including Harlan Ellison, Brian McNaughton, Brian Lumley, Elizabeth Massie, and others.
Full Fathom Forty edited by David J. Howe (The British Fantasy Society) is a hefty anthology of forty stories published in honor of the Society’s fortieth anniversary. It consists of reprints and originals, with notable originals by Suzanne Barbieri, Paul Finch, and Robert Shearman (published also in his 2011 collection).
The Mothman Files edited by Michael Knost (Woodland Press) has thirteen original stories about the mythical creature that portends disaster.
Epitaphs: The Journal of the New England Horror Writers edited by Tracy L. Carbone (Shroud Publishing) has twenty-six stories, most published for the first time.
Devil Dolls and Duplicates in Australian Horror edited by Anthony Ferguson (Equilibrium Books) is a reprint anthology with twenty-one stories by Kaaron Warren, Lucy Sussex, Rick Kennett, Stephen Dedman, Robert Hood, and sixteen other Australian writers.
The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2010: The First Annual Collection edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (Ticonderoga Publications) features over 150,000 words of fiction (thirty-three stories and poems) by Australian and New Zealand writers, plus an overview of the year in Australian fantasy and horror.
The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three edited by Ellen Datlow (Night Shade Books) had twenty stories and novelettes and one poem.
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror volume 22 (Robinson/Running Press) contained twenty-three stories, six overlapping with my own volume.
The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2011 edition edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books) has thirty-one stories, including one overlap with my anthology and two with the Jones.
Crucified Dreams edited by Joe R. Lansdale (Tachyon) is a reprint anthology of dark fiction with no really fixed theme as it ranges from sf by Octavia E. Butler, psychological horror by Harlan Ellison and Lewis Shiner to Lovecraftian fiction by Michael Shea, and a mainstream story about boxing by Lucius Shepard. Happily Ever After edited by John Klima (Night Shade Books) reprints thirty-two retold fairy tales and presents one original (by Robert J. Howe), some of them dark. Akashic’s noir series continues to publish a good mix of stories. Cape Cod Noir edited by David J. Ulin featured notable dark stories by Elyssa East, Paul Tremblay, and Jedediah Berry and Indian Country Noir edited by Sarah Cortez and Liz Martínez had more than its fair share of depressing tales about alcoholism and other addictions but did contain a few notable dark stories by Joseph Bruchac and Gerard Houarner. Haiti Noir edited by Edwidge Danticat has notable stories by Patrick Silvain, Ibi Aanu Zoboi, and Edwidge Danticat. New Jersey Noir edited by Joyce Carol Oates has strong dark stories by Jeffrey Ford, Bradford Morrow, Sheila Kohler, Joyce Carol Oates, and a collaboration by Barry N. Malzberg and Bill Pronzini. The Urban Fantasy Anthology edited by Peter S. Beagle and Joe R. Lansdale (Tachyon Publications) is a reprint anthology divided into three sections entitled Mythic Fiction, Paranormal Romance, and Urban Noir with an overall introduction by Beagle, and introductions to each section by Charles de Lint, Paula Guran, and Joe R. Lansdale. Although it features an interesting mix of twenty stories, a few seem out of place in an “urban” fantasy anthology as they take place far from urban areas. When editors do this they have a responsibility to the reader to at least try to justify those choices. One original by Steven R. Boyett. The Monster’s Corner edited by Christopher Golden (St. Martin’s Press) is mixture of original horror, dark fantasy, and crime stories. Although there are non-human monsters populating the anthology, as many of the monsters are human. It’s an interesting, not always successful mix but there are some very good stories by Sarah Pinborough, Jonathan Maberry, Tom Piccirilli, Tananarive Due, and Gary A. Braunbeck, Ghost Writers: Us Haunting Them edited by Keith Taylor and Laura Kasischke (Wayne State University Press) is an all original anthology of twelve ghost stories (mostly fictional, a few true encounters) by Michigan writers such as James Hynes, Nicholas Delbanco, Elizabeth Kostova (author of The Historian), and others. The stories are all readable but only a few are very dark and the best of those are by Steve Amick, James Hynes, and Anne-Marie Oomen. Subterranean Tales of Dark Fantasy 2 edited by William Schaefer (Subterranean Press) has eleven original stories, most of the stories only somewhat dark — the darkest are by Joe Hill, William Browning Spencer, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and Norman Partridge. Gutshot: Weird West Stories edited by Conrad Williams (PS Publishing) is an excellent all original anthology of twenty stories, with more than its share of horror. All the stories are good and well worth reading. Murmurations: An Anthology of Uncanny Stories About Birds edited by Nicholas Royle (Two Ravens Press), an anthology of thirty stories published to benefit the United Kingdom’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, is an excellent mix of new and reprinted fiction. Only some are dark enough to be considered horror but they’re all entertaining. The book includes Daphne du Maurier’s classic “The Birds” plus excellent originals by Joel Lane, Tom Fletcher, Alison Moore, and others. Surreal South ’11 edited by Laura Benedict and Pinkney Benedict (Press 53) is the third volume in the series and features thirty surreal, weird, and sometimes very dark stories (including one with zombies). All but eight are new and the notable darker ones are by Jim Walke, James O’Brien, John Hornor Jacobs, and Josh Woods. Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives edited by Justin Gustainis (Edge) has only a few really dark stories in it, despite the title. The Master in Café Morphine: A Homage to Mikhail Bulgakov edited by D.T. Ghetu (Ex Occidente Press) has twenty-one stories, some dark enough to be considered horror. Philippine Speculative Fiction 6 edited by Nikki Alfar and Kate Osias (no publisher named) presents twenty-two science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories by Filipino writers. The notable dark ones are by Kenneth Yu and Victor Fernando R. Ocampo. 2011 Wilde Stories: The Year’s Best Gay Speculative Fiction edited by Steve Berman (Lethe Press) features dark fiction by Laird Barron, Chaz Brenchley, Joel Lane, and others. Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow (St. Martin’s Press) contained dark stories by Holly Black, Peter Beagle, Nathan Ballingrud, Matthew Kressel, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and others.