Ill at Ease II (Penman Press, no editor) is a short anthology of seven stories, following up from the 2011 three-writer chapbook Ill at Ease. The most interesting stories this time around are by Mark West and Robert Mammone.
Mister October: An Anthology in Memory of Rick Hautala volumes I and II (Journalstone Publishing) is an all-reprint anthology with 100 percent of the profits going to the Hautala family. Rick Hautala, a well-known figure in horror circles, died suddenly in March 2013. Some of the contributors include Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Sarah Langan, F. Paul Wilson, Sarah Pinborough, Joe Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, and other prominent names in horror.
His Red Eyes, Again, edited by Julia Kruk and Tracy Lee (CreateSpace), celebrates the fortieth anniversary of The Dracula Society with thirteen stories, twelve by members. The best stories are by Chris Priestley and Laura Miller.
Chiral Mad 2, edited by Michael Bailey (CreateSpace), is a mix of twenty-eight new and reprinted psychological horror stories. The best of the originals are by Emily B. Cataneo, James Chambers, Patrick O’Neill, Andrew Hook, and Usman T. Malik.
The Tenth Black Book of Horror, edited by Charles Black (Mortbury Press), has fifteen stories, the strongest by Andrea Janes. This volume in the series is a bit too pulpy for my taste.
Hauntings, edited by Ellen Datlow (Tachyon Publications), is a reprint anthology of twenty-four stories of ghosts and other types of hauntings originally published between 1983 and 2012. Included are stories by Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Connie Willis, Lucius Shepard, Joyce Carol Oates, and nineteen other writers.
The Transfiguration of Mister Punch by D.P. Watt, Charles Schneider, and Cate Gardner (Egaeus Press) is an anthology of three works commissioned (by publisher Mark Beech) to reinvent the Punch and Judy mythos. The first by Charles Schneider is a fictitious essay interspersed with macabre vignettes about the history and various aspects of the show. The second grouping, by D. P. Watt, has stories within stories, all very dark. And the third is a disturbing novella by Cate Gardner in which Punch and Judy and another character start out in Hell. The book is profusely illustrated (with drawings and black-and-white photographs) throughout.
Limbus, Inc., edited by Anne C. Petty (Journalstone), is a shared world anthology about an employment agency that uses sketchy methods of hiring employees for unique jobs that might not be survivable. Contributions by Jonathan Maberry, Joseph Nassise, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Brett J. Talley, and Anne C. Petty.
Suffered from the Night: Queering Stoker’s Dracula, edited by Steve Berman (Lethe Press), is an anthology of fourteen new stories, but unfortunately the narrow focus (in contrast to a broader one of “vampires” or the editor’s Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering Edgar Allan Poe—see mention below — which would be/is more successful because it’s not concentrated on one work by Poe) limits the variety and imagination of most of the contributors. Few do more than adding a gay character or changing one of the character’s sexual preferences. Notable exceptions are the stories by Laird Barron, David Shaw, Livia Llewellyn, Seth Cadin, Traci Castleberry, and editor Steve Berman.
Dark Fusions: Where Monsters Lurk!, edited by Lois H. Gresh (PS Publishing), is an entertaining all original anthology of eighteen supernatural, sf/horror, dark fantasy, and horror stories, many containing monsters. The most interesting are by Cody Goodfellow, Nicholas Kaufmann, Nancy Kilpatrick, Lisa Morton, Norman Prentiss, David Sakmyster, Darrell Schweitzer, and Ann K. Schwader.
In Four Summoner’s Tales by Kelly Armstrong, Christopher Golden, David Liss, and Jonathan Maberry (Gallery Books), each contributor takes a crack at the premise: what if the dead could be summoned from their graves.
Dueling Minds, edited by Brian James Freeman (CD), is #10 in the publisher’s signature series. Six stories, two original, with jacket art by Alan M. Clark, and interior illustrations throughout by Erin S. Wells. There, a notable story by Gerard Houarner
All-American Horror of the 21st Century: The First Decade: 2000–2010, edited by Mort Castle (Wicker Park Press), is a volume of thirty stories by American writers dealing with “uniquely American” themes and written in an “equally unique style.” Two of the stories were actually published in the late Nineties. And while I’ve always appreciated editors using a few unknowns in anthologies, it seems counter to the spirit of the showcase that this volume intends to be because several writers are missing — influential and flat-out brilliant new horror writers who started publishing in the late ought’s and are currently flowering during this second decade of the twenty-first century.
ISF 2012 Annual Anthology, edited by Roberto Mendes and Ricardo Loureiro (International Speculative Fiction in association with Hipper Tiger Books and IndieBookLauncher.com), is the first anthology of science fiction, fantasy, and horror published by this international organization promoting speculative fiction from around the world. The stores are all reprints from various magazines and the organization’s webzine.
Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations, edited by Paula Guran (Prime), features twenty-three dark reprints published between 2004 and 2011 by writers such as Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Joe R. Lansdale, Ilsa J. Bick, and many others.
After Death…, edited by Eric J. Guignard (Dark Moon), has thirty-four original stories about death, some but not all dark. The more interesting ones are by Lisa Morton, Joe McKinney, and Ray Cluley. After the End: Recent Apocalypses, edited by Paula Guran (Prime), presents twenty previously published dark, mostly sf tales of what might happen after the world as we know it ends — for whatever reason.
In Heaven, Everything is Fine: Fiction Inspired by David Lynch (Eraserhead Press) features thirty-nine intriguing original and reprinted (nine of the latter) stories, vignettes, and dreamscapes. Most of the pieces are surreal and very effective. Some don’t work at all. A few are laced with horror. The original dark pieces I liked the best are by Edward Morris, Cody Goodfellow, Jeffrey Thomas, Matthew Revert, Andrew Wade Adams, and Garrett Cook.
Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Steve Berman (Lethe Press), presents twenty-six fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror stories and poems about or influenced by Poe, all involving gay or lesbian relationships. There are notable pieces by John Mantooth, Richard Bowes, Ray Cluley, Ed Madden, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Cory Skerry.
End of the Road, edited by Jonathan Oliver (Solaris), mixes sf/f/h in fifteen new stories about travel along the road. There are notable horror stories by Jay Caselberg, Helen Marshall, Paul Meloy, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, S. L. Grey, and Adam Nevill.