Rustblind and Silverbright, edited by David Rix (Eibonvale), is a terrific anthology comprised of twenty-three stories and one poem about railways. Several of the stories treat the theme obliquely, to marvelous effect. Although not all the stories held my interest, most did, and some were excellent, including those by Andrew Coulthard, Christopher Harman, Andrew Hook, John Howard, Joel Lane, Danny Rhodes, Steve Rasnic Tem, Aliya Whiteley, and Charles Wilkinson. There’s also a notable poem by Gavin Salisbury and a brilliant novella by Nina Allan. In addition, the interstitial material by editor David Rix is consistently fascinating.
One Small Step: An Anthology of Discoveries, edited by Tehani Wessely (Fablecroft Publishing), features sixteen original stories by Australian women on the theme of exploration and discovery. There are notable dark stories by Kathleen Jennings and the collaborative teams of Joanne Anderton and Rabia Gale and Lisa L. Hannett and Angela Slatter.
Shades of Blue & Gray, edited by Steve Berman (Prime), has twenty-two original and reprinted fantasy and dark fantasy (with a bit of horror) stories about American Civil War ghosts. Of the fifteen new stories, there were notable dark stories by Ed Kurtz, Chaz Brenchley, Melissa Scott, Laird Barron, Christopher Cevasco, and Cindy Potts.
Rags & Bones, edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt (Little, Brown), has twelve new stories inspired by classic tales of various types ranging from “The Monkey’s Paw” and “Carmilla” to “Sleeping Beauty,” The Man Who Would Be King, and The Awakening. The strongest of the dark tales are by Holly Black, Gene Wolfe, and Kami Garcia.
Horror Without Victims, edited by D. F. Lewis (Megazanthus Press), is an interesting all-original anthology with twenty-five stories: some horror, some just weird. And despite the title, there are indeed occasional victims. With notable dark stories by DeAnna Knipling, Katie Jones, Gary McMahon, David Murphy, John Travis, Charles Wilkinson, and L. R. Bonehill.
Shadows of the New Sun, edited by J. E. Mooney and Bill Fawcett (Tor), features eighteen original stories in honor of the great sf/fantasist (including one by Wolfe himself). There are notable dark stories by Neil Gaiman and Nancy Kress.
Beyond Rue Morgue: Further Tales of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1st Detective, edited by Paul Kane and Charles Prepolec (Titan), features eight new stories, the original “Murder in the Rue Morgue” by Poe, plus a reprint by Clive Barker. There are notable stories by Lisa Tuttle, Stephen Volk, Elizabeth Massie, and Joe R. Lansdale.
Red Spectres: Russian Gothic Tales from the Twentieth Century, selected and translated by Muireann Maguire (The Overlook Press/Ardis), features eleven stories, all but two translated from Russian into English for the first time — subtlety creepy and weird.
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (Tor Books), is a mixture of fantasy and dark fantasy with the darkest stories by Kaaron Warren, Veronica Schanoes, Maureen F. McHugh, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Dale Bailey. The Bailey is reprinted herein.
By Faerie Light, edited by Scott Gable, Caroline Dombrowski, and Dora Wang (Broken Eye Books), is a charming anthology of dark fantasy tales about faeries. A few stories, such as the fine one by Andrew Penn Romine, verge on horror.
The Farthest Shore: An Anthology of Fantasy Fiction from the Philippines, edited by Dean Francis Alfar and Joseph Frederic F. Nacino (the University of the Philippines Press), showcases twelve stories of fantasy and dark fantasy. The volume is also an homage to the third book in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea trilogy, which is set on a fantastical world made of islands, as is the Philippines.
Sorcery & Sanctity: A Homage to Arthur Machen (Hieroglyphic Press) is a tribute featuring twenty stories inspired by Machen’s writing from different periods of his life. Most of the stories are more weird than horrific but would likely appeal to connoisseurs of Machen.
Encounters with Enoch Coffin, by W. H. Pugmire and Jeffrey Thomas (Dark Regions Press), has twelve stories (six by each author) that follow an artist on his quest to paint, illustrate, or create in pottery sights that no one has ever seen before — Lovecraftian and weird.
Horror: Filipino Fiction for Young Adults, edited by Dean Alfar and KennethYu (University of Philippines Press), has fourteen stories. Unfortunately, as an adult, I find most horror anthologies and single-author collections aimed at kids not very creepy. This is no exception but still, there are a couple of notable darker stories by Renelaine Bontol-Pfister and Fidelis Tan.
Memoryville Blues, edited by Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers (PS), is volume 30/31 of the PS Publishing anthology series and has some excellent horror among its twenty-five offerings. The best were by Alastair Reynolds, James Cooper, Lynda E. Rucker, John Grant, Peter Hardy, and a collaboration by Allen Ashley and Douglas Thompson.
The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2013, edited by Paula Guran (Prime), features thirty-five stories and novellas of dark fantasy and horror. One story overlapped with my own The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 24, edited by Stephen Jones (Robinson), features twenty-two reprints published during 2012. There was one overlap with my Volume Five, two with Guran’s.
Wilde Stories 2013: The Year’s Best Gay Speculative Fiction, edited by Steve Berman (Lethe Press), reprinted twelve mixed-genre stories originally published in diverse publications such as Strange Horizons, Shadows and Tall Trees, Subterranean, and several anthologies.
Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Fiction Writing, edited by Sandra Kasturi and Samantha Beiko (Chizine Publications), is the second in this series showcasing sf/f/h first published in 2012. This year’s volume includes thirty-six stories and poetry by Canadians such as Gemma Files, Angela Slatter and Lisa Hannett (a collaboration allowing Aussie Slatter into the anthology), Helen Marshall, Ian Rogers, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2005–2010, edited by Dean Francis Alfar and Nikki Alfar (The University of Philippines Press), is an important addition to world genre literature, presenting thirty science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories selected from the first five years annual Philippine Speculative Fiction anthologies.
There is a triumvirate of American male, dark fiction writers who have sprung up within the past several years and been creating brilliant work: Laird Barron, John Langan, and Nathan Ballingrud. All three have new collections out in 2013.
North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud (Small Beer Press) is the author’s first collection. Some of the nine stories are almost mainstream, I guess you could say mainstream in sensibility, but there’s always a touch of the weird in them. Since publishing his first story in SciFiction in 2003, I’ve been astounded by his range. There’s one original story is a knockout, and it’s reprinted herein.
The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies by John Langan (Hippocampus Press) is the author’s second collection of marvel-ously creepy short fiction. Langan especially shines at the novelette and novella length, and almost everything in the new book is those lengths. Eight were originally published between 2008 and 2010, one on the author’s blog. “Mother of Stone,” the one original, is an excellent novella. It features an introduction by Jeffrey Ford and an afterword by Laird Barron.