Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales edited by Ellen Datlow (Pegasus Books) is an anthology of fifteen dark stories and one poem about various kinds of birds, all but two published for the first time.
Haunted Nights edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton (A Blumhouse Book/Anchor Books Original) is the most recent Horror Writers Association anthology and features sixteen new stories about horror’s favorite holiday, Halloween, and others’ cultures celebrations held around the same time. John Langan’s novella is reprinted herein.
Wicked Haunted: An Anthology by the New England Horror Writers edited by Scott T. Goudsward, Daniel G. Keohane, and David Price (NEHW Press) is an all-original anthology of twenty-four stories and poems about hauntings, with interior art by Ogmios, Judi Calhoun, and Kali Moulton. There are notable stories by James A. Moore, Trisha J. Wooldridge, and KH Vaughn.
Witches: Weirdbook Annual #1 edited by Douglas Draa (Wildside) is the first in a project annual series. It has twenty-one stories and twelve poems. The best was by Matt Neil Hill.
California Screaming edited by Danielle Kaheaku (Barking Deer Press) has fourteen new stories that take place in California. The strongest are by Sarah Read, E. S. Magill, and Aaron C. Smith.
A Breath from the Sky: Unusual Stories of Possession edited by Scott R. Jones (Martian Migraine Press) is an anthology of twenty-one stories, five reprints. There were notable stories by Jonathan Raab, Megan Arkenberg, Gordon B. White, Cody Goodfellow, Premee Mohamed, and Aaron Vlek.
The Beauty of Death II: Death by Water edited by Alessandro Manzetti and Jodi Renee Lester (Independent Legions Publishing) is a big anthology of thirty-nine stories. Eleven are reprints. There are notable original stories by John Langan, Nicola Lombardi, Lisa Morton, Michael Arnzen, Michael Bailey, Simon Bestwick, Daniele Bonfanti, Daniel Braum, Marge Simon, and Lucy A. Snyder.
A Suggestion of Ghosts: Supernatural Fiction by Women 1854—1900 edited by J. A. Mains (Black Shuck Books) features fifteen ghost stories never reprinted after their initial publication. Cover art by Les Edwards. Interiors by Mike Mignola.
Great British Horror 2: Dark Satanic Mills edited by Steve J. Shaw (Black Shuck Books) is a solid annual anthology showcasing modern British horror (with one international author). This volume of eleven stories and novelettes has notable work by Charlotte Bond, Carole Johnstone, Andrew Freudenberg, Cate Gardner, Marie O’Regan, and Angela Slatter.
Unspeakable Horror 2: Abominations of Desire edited by Vince A. Liaguno (Evil Jester Press) features twenty LGBT horror stories, all but three new. There are notable new stories by Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, and Marshall Moore.
Imposter Syndrome edited by James Everington and Dan Howarth (Dark Minds Press) is an all-original anthology of ten stories about doppelgängers, changelings, and other types of duplicates—real or not. There are notable stories by Georgina Bruce, Ralph Robert Moore, and Timothy J. Jarvis.
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep edited by P. D. Cacek and Laura J. Hickman (Necon Books) is a charity anthology with all proceeds going to the Jimmy Fund/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The book is in tribute to the late Bob Booth, known as Papa Necon. Included are thirty-four short stories, poems, and a comic. Nine are reprints. The best of the originals are by Doungjai Gam, Tony Tremblay, and Marianne Halbert.
Tales from Miskatonic University Library edited by Darrell Schweitzer and John Ashmead (PS Publishing) has terrific cover art and end papers by J. K. Potter. Most of the thirteen stories are a bit too close to mythos pastiche for my taste, but there are two notable contributions by P. D. Cacek and A. C. Wise.
Black Wings VI: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror edited by S. T. Joshi (PS Publishing) features twenty-two stories and poems (all but one new). The best are by Ann K. Schwader, Donald Tyson, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jonathan Thomas, and David Hambling.
Shadows Over Main Street, Volume 2 edited by Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward (Cutting Block Books) is an enjoyable volume of seventeen stories (all but two new) combining Lovecraftian horrors with small-town living. There were notable new stories by Max Booth III, Suzanne Madron, James Chambers, Michael Wehunt, and Lucy A. Snyder.
The Children of Gla’aki: A Tribute to Ramsey Campbell’s Great Old One edited by Brian M. Sammons and Glynn Owen Barrass (Dark Regions Press) has contributors writing in response to a Lovecraftian story written by Campbell in 1964. That story is reprinted in the volume, along with seventeen new tales. Most are too narrowly focused on the one creature, but there are notable entries by John Langan, Pete Rawlik, and Tim Curran.
Looming Low Volume 1 edited by Justin Steele and Sam Cowan (Dim Shores) is a good anthology of twenty-six weird, mostly dark stories. There are notable stories by Gemma Files, S. K. Miskowski, A. C. Wise, Brian Evenson, Michael Wehunt, Daniel Mills, Livia Llewellyn, Kaaron Warren, Lisa L. Hannett, Kristi DeMeester, Jeffrey Thomas, Richard Gavin, and Nadia Bulkin. The Miskowski and the Wise are reprinted herein.
Tales from a Talking Board edited by Ross E. Lockhart (Word Horde) contains fourteen new stories about Ouija boards, tarot cards, and other mechanisms of divination. There are notable stories by Nadia Bulkin, Scott R. Jones, Wendy N. Wagner, Matthew M. Bartlett, J. M. McDermott, S. P. Miskowski, and Kristi DeMeester.
Another anthology inspired by Ouija boards is Intersections: Six Tales of Ouija Horror—no editor listed (Howling Unicorn Press), with stories by six crime and horror writers.
Dark Places, Evil Faces compiled by Mark Lumby (PS Publishing) benefits a British cancer facility—it has twenty-five stories, reprints and originals.
Sycorax’s Daughters edited by Kinitra D. Brooks, Linda D. Addison, and Susana M. Morris (Cedar Grove Publishing) has forty-two gothic and horror stories and poems by African American women. Most are new. The strongest are by Eden Royce, Vocab, Tanesha Nicole Tyler, Zin E. Rocklyn, Nicole D. Sconiers, Tracey Baptiste, and Regina N. Bradley.
The Mammoth Book of the Mummy edited by Paula Guran (Robinson) has nineteen stories about mummies, three new. The best of the new ones is by Stephen Graham Jones.
Several best of the years covering horror were published: Year’s Best Body Horror edited by C.P. Dunphey (Gehenna and Hinnom) includes more than forty very short stories, several reprints from between 2002—2016, and the rest new stories published for the first time. It’s intended to be an annual. Year’s Best Hardcore Horror Volume 2 edited by Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax (Comet Press) promises to have the best extreme horror fiction of 2016 that breaks boundaries and trashes taboos, with lots of blood and gore. The Year’s Best Weird Fiction Volume Four edited by Helen Marshall and Michael Kelly (Undertow Press) contains fifteen stories from a variety of venues including Granta Online, Nightmare, Tor.com, Interzone, and other magazines webzines, anthologies, and collections. The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2017 edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books) has thirty-seven stories from magazines, webzines, anthologies, and collections. Three choices overlap with my own best of the year.