Steve Rasnic Tem had two impressive mixed-genre collections out in 2013: Onion Songs (Chomu Press) is a retrospective of this prolific short story writer’s career, with forty-two stories of varying lengths, including several new short-shorts. As always with Tem, this is a mix of existential horror about relationships, weird fictions, and disturbing meditations.
And Celestial Inventories (CZP) with twenty-two stories from obscure venues, plus one new story. Several stories from this latter collection were reprinted in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor (Prime) is the author’s first collection and features twenty-two stories, several published for the first time, a few of them dark.
Caution: Contains Small Parts by Australian Kirstyn McDermott (Twelve Planets) is volume 9 of the Twelve Planets series of short collections. It has four original stories and novellas by the award-winning writer, a couple of them horror.
Nina Allan had two collections out in 2013: Stardust: The Ruby Castle Stories (PS Showcase 11), containing a mix of six horror and mainstream stories and novellas and one poem (all but one new) and Microcosmos (Newcon Press), containing five reprints and two originals by this up-and-coming British writer.
Jewels in the Dust by Peter Crowther (Subterranean Press) collects thirteen fantasy and dark fantasy stories by the British author.
Ghost Stories and Mysteries by Ernest Favenc, edited by James Doig, (Borgo Press) collects thirty-one gothic and supernatural stories by a prolific but now almost forgotten Australian journalist and non fiction writer. The stories span the period 1875–1907 and are reprinted for the first time since their original publications.
Revenge by Yoko Ogawa (Picador), translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder, is an intertwined series of eleven weird, sometimes dark stories, all but three published in English for the first time.
Simulacrum and Other Possible Realities by Jason V. Brock (Hippocampus Press) contains sixteen stories and thirteen poems of sf/f/dark fantasy and horror.
The Bride Price by Cat Sparks (Ticonderoga Publications) features thirteen sf/f and dark fantasy stories by this Australian writer — three of the stories won awards and two appear for the first time.
Everything is a Graveyard by Jason Fischer (Ticonderoga Publications) has fourteen sf/f/dark fantasy stories published since 2008. Three of the stores are new.
This Strange Way of Dying by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Exile Editions) is the first collection by a Mexican-Canadian who is probably better known within horror for her editorship of Innsmouth Free Press. The fifteen stories (four, first published in 2013) are science fiction, fantasy, and horror. A few of them, rather than hinting at something inconclusive beyond the “ending,” simply trail off. But others are quite effective, and my favorite of the originals is a well-told zombie story.
Plow the Bones by Douglas F. Warrick (Apex Publications) is Book 01 of Apex Voices, a new series of collections to be published several times a year. The idea is to introduce mostly newer voices to the reading public. Warrick is an excellent choice — his work includes science fiction, horror, and just plain weird stories. Four of the fourteen appear for the first time (and one was in a vampire anthology earlier this year). Gary A. Braunbeck supplies an introduction.
13 Conjurations by Jonathan Thomas (Hippocampus Press) is the author’s third collection and all but four of the stories are new. Some of the stories are Lovecraftian, others about weird occurrences.
Of Eggs and Elephants by Darren Speegle (Gallows Press) is a fine third collection of sixteen stories, with four originals, including the powerfully weird eponymous novella.
In Search Of and Others by Will Ludwigsen (Lethe Press) has some excellent dark stories among the fifteen in his second collection. Six appear for the first time and there is an introduction by Jeffrey Ford.
The Girlfriend Game by Nick Antosca (Word Riot) collects twelve dark tales by a writer who won the Shirley Jackson Award for his short novel, Midnight Picnic.
The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne An-derton (Fablecroft) is an excellent debut collection of science fiction and horror, often with the two mixed. A few appear for the first time.
Flowers of the Sea by Reggie Oliver (Tartarus press) includes sixteen weird and often dark stories and novellas, including three published for the first time. As always, Oliver’s experiences and enthusiasms shine through this excellent collection. The introduction is by Michael Dirda.
What the Doctor Ordered by Michael Blumlein (Centipede Press) is a beautiful looking collection illustrated throughout by Brian McCarty. Of the fifteen stories, two are new, a few are dark. There’s an introduction by Rudy Rucker.
An Emporium of Automata by D. P. Watt (Eibonvale Press) is an expanded version of the author’s first, hard to find collection. In this edition, there are twenty strange tales.
Rumbullion by Molly Tanzer (Egaeus Press) is the second collection by this up-and-coming writer. Included are seven stories, one a new novella.
Tell My Sorrows to the Stones by Christopher Golden (CZP) brings together twelve stories in different genres. All but two were published in anthologies. The other two have appeared online.
Written by Daylight by John Howard (The Swan River Press) is a beautiful little hardcover volume of eleven weird, sometimes dark stories originally published between 2003 and 2013.
Defeated Dogs by Quentin S. Crisp (Eibonvale Press) is the author’s fifth collection of weird and dark fiction. Of the ten stories, four appear for the first time.
Growing Pains by Ian Whates (PS Publishing) is the author’s debut collection, containing nine science fiction and dark fantasy/horror stories, two published for the first time.
Psychedelia Gothique by Dale Sproule (Arctic Mage) is an overview of the author’s short fiction published between 1984–2013. Five of the stories appear for the first time.
They Might be Demons: A Collection of Flash Fiction Bizarro by Max Booth III (Dark Moon) is filled with strange, often dark (and sometime funny) short-shorts.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell (Knopf) is the excellent second collection by a writer embraced by the literary despite her fantasy/horror writing. Among the eight stories in the new collection are the very dark title story and “Reeling for the Empire.”
The Inner City by Karen Heuler (CZP), the author’s second collection, has fifteen weird, sometimes dark stories, one published for the first time.
The Miniature Wife and Other Stories by Manuel Gonzalez (Riverhead Books) is an interesting fantasy and dark fantasy-tinged debut collection.
The Story So Far by Kit Reed (Wesleyan University Press) is a great overview of Reed’s short fiction, with a selection of thirty-five of her stories published between 1959 and 2013. Prescient, vicious, funny, creepy — she’s written everything during her (so-far) fifty-five-plus year long career. The Oblivion Room by Christopher Conlon (Evil Jester Press) is a fine collection of four stories and one novella, all published for the first time.