Stephen Jones (ed.) – Haunts: Reliquaries of the Dead

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Haunts: Reliquaries of the Dead (Ulysses Press, 2011)

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Acknowledgments
Stephen Jones – Introduction: The Restless Dead
Richard L. Tierney – The Revenant (verse)

M. R. James – A Warning to the Curious
R. Chetwynd-Hayes – The Door
Reggie Oliver – Hand to Mouth
Richard Matheson – Two O’Clock Session
Paul McAuley – Inheritance
Sarah Pinborough – Grandmother’s Slippers
Peter Atkins – The Mystery
Christopher Fowler – Poison Pen
Ramsey Campbell – Return Journey
Lisa Tuttle – Grandfather’s Teeth
Basil Copper – Ill Met by Daylight
John Gordon – The Place
R. B. Russell – The Bridegroom
Kim Newman – Is There Anybody There?
Conrad Williams – Wait
Richard Christian Matheson – City of Dreams
Tanith Lee – A House on Fire
John Gaskin – Party Talk
Simon Kurt Unsworth – The Hurting Words
Robert Silverberg – The Church at Monte Saturno
Neil Gaiman – The Hidden Chamber (verse)
Robert Shearman – Good Grief
Karl Edward Wagner – Blue Lady, Come Back
Michael Marshall Smith – The Naughty Step

About the Editor

Blurb:

The Restless Dead.

Life is over but the dead live on. Within the drafty rooms of an old house, a tarnished locket tumbles to the floor. The haunted souls of the dearly departed are still among us. Ghosts, phantoms, revenants, lost souls — all these troubled spirits have unfinished business on this side of the veil. Doomed to seek out mortal answers, unable to rest until in death they accomplish what they failed to achieve in life.

This hair-raising collection of haunted tales brings together both new writers and celebrated masters — Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Neil Gaiman, Richard Matheson, Michael Marshall Smith and others — for the ultimate collection from beyond the grave.

The characters in each chilling tale are spirits, without bodies but still floating in our world. Some are motivated by love, others by loss or guilt. But sometimes they are driven by much stronger emotions, menacing and diabolical motives that take us up from our reading to check the hallways, secure the locks and question how firmly anchored we ourselves are to our world.

 

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Fearie Tales

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Fearie Tales: Stories of the Grimm and Gruesome (Jo Fletcher, 2014: originally P.S., 2013)

Illustration: Alan Lee
Stephen Jones – Introduction: Don’t Scare The Children
The Wilful Child
Ramsey Campbell – Find My Name
The Singing Bone
Neil Gaiman – Down To A Sunless Sea
Rapunzel
Tanith Lee – Open Your Window, Golden Hair
The Hare’s Bride
Garth Nix – Crossing The Line
Hansel And Gretel
Robert Shearman – Peckish
The Three Little Men In The Wood
Michael Marshall Smith – Look Inside
The Story Of A Youth Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was
Markus Heitz – Fraulein Fearnot
Cinderella
Christopher Fowler – The Ash-Boy
The Elves #1
Brian Lumley – The Changeling
The Nixie Of The Mill-Pond
Reggie Oliver – The Silken Drum
The Robber Bridegroom
Angela Slatter – By The Weeping Gate
Frau Trude
Brian Hodge – Anything To Me Is Sweeter, Than To Cross Shock-Headed Peter
The Elves #2
Peter Crowther – The Artemis Line
The Old Woman In The Wood
Joanne Harris – The Silken People
Rumpelstiltskin
John Ajvide Lindqvist – Come Unto Me
The Shroud

Blurb:
In 1884 Margaret Hunt’s translation of the Brothers Grimm’s Kinder- und Hausmärchen was published as Grimm’s Household Tales—and since that day those stories have inspired writers, artists, poets, songwriters, playwrights and movie-makers the world over. Now, following in the grand tradition of the Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm, some of today’s finest fantasy and horror writers have created their own brand-new fairy tales-but with a decidedly darker twist. Fearie Tales is a fantastical mix of spellbinding retellings of classic stories such as ‘Cinderella’, ‘Rapunzel’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Rumpelstiltskin’, amongst others, along with unsettling tales inspired by other childhood classics, all interspersed with the sources of their inspiration: the timeless stories first collected by the Brothers Grimm. These modern masterpieces of the macabre by Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Ramsey Campbell, Joanne Harris, Markus Heitz, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Angela Slatter, Michael Marshall Smith and many others, are illuminated by Oscar-winning artist Alan Lee, who has also provided the magnificent cover painting. But be warned: this stunning volume of frightening fables is definitely not suitable for children!

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Mammoth Best New Horror 25

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Mammoth Best New Horror 25   (Robinson, October 2014)

Vincent Chong

Stephen Jones – Introduction: Horror In 2013

Kim Newman – Who Dares Wins: Anno Dracula 1980
Neil Gaiman – Click-Clack The Rattlebag
Nicholas Royle – Dead End
Daniel Mills – Isaac’s Room
Angela Slatter – The Burning Circus
Ramsey Campbell – Holes For Faces
Joel Lane – By Night He Could Not See
Reggie Oliver – Come Into My Parlour
Michael Chislett – The Middle Park
Simon Kurt Unsworth – Into The Water
Lynda E. Rucker – The Burned House
Lavie Tidhar – What do we Talk About When We Talk About Z—
Halli Villegas – Fishfly Season
Tanith Lee – Doll Re Mi
Clive Barker – A Night’s Work
Robert Shearman – The Sixteenth Step
Simon Strantzas – Stemming The Tide
Michael Marshall Smith – The Gist
Thana Niveau – Guinea Pig Girl
Kim Newman – Miss Baltimore Crabs: Anno Dracula 1990
Stephen Volk – Whitstable
Blurb:
The World’s Leading Annual Showcase of Horror and Dark Suspense Celebrates 25 Years. For a quarter of a century, this multiple award-winning annual selection has showcased some of the very best, and most disturbing, short stories and novellas of horror and the supernatural. As always, this landmark volume features superior fiction from such masters of the genre and newcomers in contemporary horror. With an in-depth Introduction covering the year in horror, a fascinating Necrology and a unique contact directory, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world’s leading anthology dedicated solely to presenting the very best in modern horror.

 

Stephen Jones & David Sutton – Dark Terrors 6

Stephen Jones & David Sutton (eds) – Dark Terrors 6: The Gollancz Book Of Horror   (Gollancz, 2002)

Gary Blythe

Stephen Jones and David Sutton – Introduction

 Ramsey Campbell – The Retrospective
 Christopher Fowler – We’re Going Where the Sun Shines Brightly  
 John Burke – A Habit of Hating
 Trey R. Barker – Dead Snow
 Stephen Baxter – The Dinosaur Hunter
 Basil Copper – There Lies the Danger…
 Nancy Kilpatrick – Your Shadow Knows You Well
 Jay Lake – Eglantine’s Time
 Graham Masterton – The Burgers of Calais
 Nicholas Royle – Hide and Seek
 Geoff Nicholson – Moving History
 Samantha Lee – Aversion Therapy
 Tony Richards – The Cure  
 David J. Schow – Plot Twist
 Gemma Files – Job 37
 Yvonne Navarro – Mother, Personified
 Joel Lane – The Receivers  
 Lisa Morton – The Death of Splatter  
 Michael Marshall Smith – A Long Walk, for the Last Time
 Glen Hirshberg – The Two Sams
 Jeff VanderMeer – In the Hours After Death
 Les Daniels – Under My Skin  
 Joe Murphy – Sweetness and Light
 Conrad Williams – Haifisch
 Caitlín R. Kiernan – The Road of Pins
 Tim Lebbon – Black
 Kim Newman – A Drug on the Market
 Richard Christian Matheson – Slaves of Nowhere  
 Don Tumasonis – The Prospect Cards
 A. F. Chico Kidd – Handwriting of the God
 Tanith Lee – Midday People
 James Van Pelt – The Boy Behind the Gate
 Mick Garris – A Hollywood Ending

Stephen Jones & David Sutton – Dark Terrors # 5

Stephen Jones & David Sutton (eds) – Dark Terrors # 5 (Gollancz, 2000)

Stephen Jones and David Sutton – Introduction

Christopher Fowler – At Home in the Pubs of Old London
Caitlín R. Kiernan – Valentia
Richard Christian Matheson – Barking Sands
Chaz Brenchley – Everything, in All the Wrong Order
James Van Pelt – Savannah is Six
Brian Hodge – Now Day Was Fled as the Worm Had Wished
David J. Schow – Why Rudy Can’t Read
Ramsey Campbell – No Story in It by
Graham Masterton – Witch-Compass
Nicholas Royle – The Proposal
C. Bruce Hunter – Changes
Tanith Lee – The Abortionist’s Horse (A Nightmare)
Michael Marshall Smith – The Handover
Roberta Lannes – Pearl
Eric Brown – Beauregard
Nancy Kilpatrick – Necromimicos
Joel Lane – The Bootleg Heart
Cherry Wilder – Saturday
Gregory Frost – The Girlfriends of Dorian Gray
Mary A. Turzillo – Bottle Babies
Kim Newman – Going to Series
Lisa Tuttle – Haunts
Dennis Etchison – My Present Wife
Melanie Tem – Alicia
Brian Stableford – The Haunted Bookshop
Mick Garris – Starfucker
Gwyneth Jones – Destroyer of Worlds
Peter Straub – The Geezers
William B. Trotter – Honeysuckle
Gahan Wilson – Final Departure
David Case – Pelican Cay

Stephen Jones – Zombie Apocalypse

Stephen Jones  (ed./”creator”) – Zombie Apocalypse (Robinson, October 2010)

 

Cover design and illustration, JoeRoberts.co.uk

 

Micheal Marshall Smith – Things Past
Mandy Slater – Internal Communication #1
Christopher Fowler – Dead Ground Zero
Mandy Slater – Internal Communication #2
Paul Finch – Special Powers
Mandy Slater – Internal Communication #3
Sarah Pinborough – Diary Entry #1
Mandy Slater – Internal Communication #4
Jo Fletcher – Dead Di And The Zombie King
Mandy Slater – Internal Communication #5
John Llewellyn Probert – Rings Around The Roses
Mandy Slater – Internal Communication #6
Jay Russell – Tweets Of The Dead
Mandy Slater – Automated Reply
Sarah Pinborough – Diary Entry #2
Mandy Slater – Emergency Service #1
Kim Newman – Minutes Of Meeting
Lisa Morton – They’re Coming To Get You
Mandy Slater – Emergency Service #2
Tanith Lee – Letters From A Tower
Mandy Slater – News Front Page #1
Paul McAuley – The Treatment
Mandy Slater – News Front Page #2
Sarah Pinborough – Diary Entry #3
Mandy Slater – Dead Link
Kim Newman – Pastor Pat At The 700 Club
Tim Lebbon – Zmbs
Peter Crowther – Newsflash
Robert Hood – Wasting Matilda
Peter Crowther – Webcam Exchange
Pat Cadigan – We’ll Take Manhattan
Peter Crowther – ‘The Longest Distance Between Two Places’ by Will Halloway
Mark Samuels – The Reign Of Santa Muerte
Pete Atkins – The Show Must Go On
Kim Newman – Zombie Novelty Tracks
Scott Edelman – We Are Not A New People
Kim Newman – Epilogue: The Queen’s Christmas Speech

Blurb:
THE END OF THE WORLD – WITH FLESH-EATING ZOMBIES!

In the near future, a desperate and ever-more controlling UK government attempts to restore a sense of national pride with a New Festival of Britain. But construction work on the site of an old church in south London releases a centuries‑old plague that turns its victims into flesh-hungry ghouls whose bite or scratch passes the contagion – a supernatural virus which has the power to revive the dead – on to others.

`The Death’ soon sweeps across London and the whole country descends into chaos. When a drastic attempt to eradicate the outbreak at source fails, the plague
spreads quickly to mainland Europe and then across the rest of the world.

Told through a series of interconnected eyewitness narratives – text messages, e-mails, blogs, letters, diaries and transcripts – this is an epic story of a world plunged into chaos as the dead battle the living for total domination.

Will humanity triumph over the worldwide zombie plague, or will the walking dead inherit the Earth?

See also the Zombie Apocalypse thread on Vault forum.

Stephen Jones – Mammoth Best New Horror 20

Coming in October 2009!

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Mammoth Book Of Best New Horrror #20 (Robinson, October, 2009)

 

Cover design: JoeRoberts.co.uk Cover artwork: Vincent Chong

Stephen Jones – Introduction:  Horror in 2008

Peter Crowther – Front Page McGuffin And The Greater Story Never Told
Simon Strantzas – It Runs Beneath The Surface
Lynda E. Rucker – These Things We Have Always Known
Neil Gaiman – Feminine Endings
Gary McMahon – Through The Cracks
Tim Lebbon – Falling Off The World
Paul Finch – The Old Traditions Are Best
Ramsey Campbell – The Long Way
Michael Bishop – The Pile
Tanith Lee – Under Fog
Christopher Fowler – Arkangel
Ian R. MacLeod – The Camping Wainwrights
Reggie Oliver – A Donkey At The Mysteries
Steve Duffy – The Oram County Whoosit
Stephen King – The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates
Sarah Pinborough – Our Man In The Sudan
Mark Samuels – Destination Nihil by Edmund Bertrand
Albert E. Cowdrey – The Overseer
Pinckney Benedict – The Beginnings Of Sorrow
Brian Lumley – The Place Of Waiting
Steve Rasnic Tem – 2:PM The Real Estate Agent Arrives

Stephen Jones & Kim Newman – Necrology: 2008
Useful Addresses
Blurb:

The Twentieth Anniversary Edition of the World’s Premier Annual Showcase of Horror and Dark Fantasy fiction.

The year’s best – and darkest – tales of terror, showcasing the most outstanding new short stories and novellas by both contemporary masters of the macabre and exciting newcomers, including lain R. MacLeod, Sarah Pinborough, Mark Samuels, Albert E. Cowdrey, Peter Crowther, Paul Finch, Gary McMahon, Reggie Oliver, Simon Strantzas, Tim Lebbon and Steve Rasnic Tem.

As ever, this acclaimed anthology also offers the most comprehensive annual overview of horror around the world in all -its incarnations, a comprehensive necrology of famous names, and a list of indispensable contact addresses for the dedicated horror fan and writer alike.
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world’s leading annual anthology dedicated solely to presenting the best in contemporary horror fiction.

`The Best New Horror series continues to break from the herd, consistently raising the bar of quality and ingenuity.’ Rue Morgue Magazine
`If you want to see who’s up and coming in the genre, then this is your book.’ Publishing News

www.constablerobinson.com

Thanks to Sam and Georgie for their continued kindness and support!

Stephen Jones – Mammoth Book of Vampires: New Edition

Stephen Jones (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Vampires:  New Edition (Robinson, 2004)

Introduction: The Children of the Night – Stephen Jones

Clive Barker – Human Remains –
Brian Lumley – Necros
Brian M. Stableford – The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady
Michael Marshall Smith – A Place To Stay
Ramsey Campbell – The Brood
Nancy Kilpatrick – Root Cause
Robert Bloch – Hungarian Rhapsody
Christopher Fowler – The Legend Of Dracula Reconsidered As A Prime-Time TV Special
Richard Christian Matheson – Vampire
Hugh B. Cave – Stragella
David J. Schow – A Week in the Unlife
Frances Garfield – The House at Evening
Simon Clark – Vampyrrhic Outcast
R. Chetwynd-Hayes – The Labyrinth
Karl Edward Wagner – Beyond Any Measure
Basil Copper – Doctor Porthos
Paul McAuley – Straight To Hell
Dennis Etchison – It Only Comes Out at Night
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro – Investigating Jericho
Peter Tremayne – Dracula’s Chair
Sydney J. Bounds – A Taste For Blood
Melanie Tem – The Better Half
John Burke – The Devil’s Tritone
Manly Wade Wellman – Chastel
Howard Waldrop – Der Untergang des Abendlandesmenschen
Tanith Lee – Red As Blood
Tina Rath – A Trick Of The Dark
Graham Masterton – Laird of Dunain
F. Paul Wilson – Midnight Mass
Nancy Holder – Blood Gothic
Les Daniels – Yellow Fog
Steve Rasnic Tem – Vintage Domestic
Neil Gaiman – Fifteen Cards From A Vampire Tarot
Harlan Ellison – Try A Dull Knife
Kim Newman – Andy Warhol’s Dracula

The replaced stories are:
F. Marion Crawford – For the Blood Is the Life
Edgar Allan Poe – Ligeia
Bram Stoker – Dracula’s Guest
M. R. James – An Episode of Cathedral History
E. F. Benson – The Room in the Tower
Kim Newman – Red Reign
Neil Gaiman – Vampire Sestina [Verse]

See also: Mammoth Book Of Vampires (original edition)

Stephen Jones – Mammoth Book of Monsters

Stephen Jones (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Monsters (Robinson, 2007)

Edward Miller

David J. Schow – Visitation
Ramsey Campbell – Down There
Scott Edleman – The Man He Had Been Before
Dennis Etchison – Calling All Monsters
R. Chetwynd Hayes – The Shadmock
Christopher Fowler – The Spider Kiss
Nancy Holder – Cafe Endless:Spring Rain
Thomas Ligotti – The Medusa
Gemma Files – In the Poor Girl Taken by Surprise
Sydney J. Bounds – Downmarket
Robert E. Howard – The Horror from the Mound
Jay Lake – Fat Man
Brian Lumley – The Thin People
Tanith Lee – The Hill
Joe R. Lansdale – Godzilla’s Twelve Step Program
Karl Edward Wagner – .220 Swift
Robert Silverberg – Our Lady of the Sauropods
Basil Copper – The Flabby Men
Robert Holdstock – The Silvering
Michael Marshall Smith – Someone Else’s Problem
Clive Barker – Rawhead Rex
Kim Newman – The Chill Clutch of the Unseen

Blurb:

Monsterrific stories by top names in horror writing

Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Ghouls . . . these and many other Creatures of the Night are featured in this bumper collection of stories by such authors as Clive Barker, Harlan Ellison, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Tanith Lee, Michael Marshall Smith, Kim Newman, Joe R. Lansdale, Lisa Tuttle, R. Chetwynd-Hayes, Basil Copper and many others. Here you’ll discover creatures both unnatural and man made, as the walking dead rise from their graves, immortal bloodsuckers seek human nourishment, deformed monstrosities pursue their victims across the countryside, and the ugliest of nightmares is revealed to have a soul. Drawn from the pages of legend and literature, these stories feature Things that slither, stagger, swoop, stomp and scamper. So bolt the doors, lock the windows and shiver in the shadows, because no-one is safe when the Monsters are loose .

Chris Morgan – Dark Fantasies

Chris Morgan (ed.) – Dark Fantasies: New Tales Of Psychological And Supernatural Terror (Legend, 1989)

Introduction: No Slime, No Chainsaws – Chris Morgan

Brian Stableford – The Will
Gary Kilworth – Usurper
Stephen Gallagher – Life Line
A. L. Barker – Charley
R. M. Lamming – Candle Lies
Ian Watson – Tales From Weston Willow
David Langford – The Facts In The Case Of Micky Valdon
Freda Warrington – Shine For Me
Christopher Evans – Lifelines
John Brunner – Dropping Ghyll
Tanith Lee – Don’t Get Lost
Nicholas Royle – Archway
Ramsey Campbell – Being An Angel
Chris Morgan – Interesting Times
Lisa Tuttle – Skin Deep
Brian Aldiss – Three Degrees Over

Chances are, if you’re anything like me, when you read the title of Morgan’s introductory essay – No Slime, No Chainsaws – you’ll react with derisive sneers of “snob horror!” Don’t be deterred by the seemingly anti-splatterpunk stance, however, as this is an excellent Brit Horror anthology and, happily, far from free of bloody mayhem.

Brian Stableford – The Will: Helen returns to the sticks for her father’s funeral to be met with the inevitable barrage of veiled threats and abuse from her loathsome family. This turns to sheer hatred when the will is read and she is left “the remainder of my estate.” Why? All is revealed in a spectacularly unpleasant ending.

Gary Kilworth – Usurper: Franz Culper is upstaged by his shadow in everything it does. It is more efficient at his job, steals his friends, makes love to his wife and locks him out of his home. Driven to desperation, Franz decides on desperate measures to finally get one up on the usurper …

Stephen Gallagher – Life Line: Ryan is convinced he’s spoken to his dead fiance, Belinda, on a mysterious chat-line. His phone bill should be astronomical, but the calls haven’t been registered. He determines to discover the whereabouts of those who run the service and, of course, Belinda, a suicide whose “badly decomposed body washed up on a beach in Holland. The effects of the long immersion had been compounded by the attentions of various kinds of marine life and at least one encounter with a boat propeller.”
Scary and brilliant, and about as funny as a tale containing the lines “I’ve learned one thing. Everything you love, you lose. Everything” can be.

David Langford – The Facts In The Case Of Micky Valdon: Avowed skeptic disproves Valdon’s degeneration into “150 pounds of plump, artificially reared maggots”, as “two professional magicians can now duplicate this trick onstage.” Amongst his far from convincing evidence, he cites a former crony of the deceased’s “great merriment at a reminiscence of Valdon once dropping a wet fish down the front of an unpopular barmaid’s dress” to prove the man was nothing but a practical joker.

Ian Watson – Tales From Weston Willow: Three short stories narrated by Mrs. Prestige in “The Wheatsheaf Inn.” The first deals with cross-country runner, Charlie Fox, who sabotages the hunt and pays a heavy price for his sins. In the second story, Paul and Ruth won’t believe the former vicarage is the centre of the universe … until they’re given appalling proof. Finally, three villagers pretend to be deaf, dumb and/ or blind as they attempt to cheat their way to victory in the County inner-village quiz.

Nicholas Royle – Archway : From the day she moves into her North London flat, Bella is haunted by the scornful laughter of an old, grey faced tramp she’s see on the street. She is unfairly dismissed from her job, encounters the red-tape horrors of the DSS and faces eviction. Finally …

Tanith Lee – Don’t Get Lost: Sally and her boyfriend find it impossible to leave a council estate as the streets keep changing. They break into a house and the boyfriend discovers three headless corpses: it’s as if a giant spider has ensnared and then eaten its prey …

Chris Morgan – Interesting Times: Keith blows £95.50 when he answers an advertisement which promises to “let excitement into your life.” shortly afterward, he receives a note acknowledging receipt of his cheque and informing him he’s just been ripped off. He loses his job, wife, home (as do so many characters in Dark Fantasies) and is mugged, hospitalized, and framed for drug possession. There’s only one way to make it stop.