The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Seventeen

by Ellen Datlow

Genres: Anthologies; Horror

Synopsis

From Ellen Datlow—“the venerable queen of horror anthologies” per the New York Times—comes a new entry in the series that has brought you thrilling stories from Stephen King and Mira Grant, the best horror stories available.

For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the seventeenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Tananarive Due, Carmen Maria Machado, Joe Hill, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.

With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this light creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today's most challenging and exciting writers.

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Release date: December 16, 2025

Publisher: Night Shade Books

Print pages: 456

Sample

SUMMATION 2024

Here are 2024’s numbers: There are twenty-two stories and one poem total in this volume and the story/poem lengths range from 2,000 words to 8,300 words. There are nine stories by women and thirteen stories and a poem by men. Nine stories are by contributors living in the United States, one in New Zealand, three in Canada, one in Australia, one in Wales, and eight in England. Thirteen of the contributors have never before been published in any volume of my Best Horror of the Year series.

AWARDS

The Horror Writers Association announced the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® winners at a banquet in the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley, Saturday June 1, 2024.

The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® went to:

Superior Achievement in a Novel: Tananarive Due, The Reformatory (Gallery Books/Saga Press/Titan Books); Superior Achievement in a First Novel: Christa Carmen, The Daughters of Block Island (Thomas & Mercer); Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel: Trang Thanh Tran, She Is a Haunting (Bloomsbury YA); Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel: Lora Senf, The Nighthouse Keeper (Atheneum Books for Young Readers); Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel: Amy Chu (author) and Soon Lee (artist), Carmilla: the First Vampire (Dark Horse); Superior Achievement in Long Fiction: Ai Jiang, Linghun (Dark Matter INK); Superior Achievement in Short Fiction: Cindy O’Quinn, “Quondam” (The Nightmare Never Ends, Exploding Head Fiction); Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection: Gemma Files, Blood From the Air (Grimscribe Press); Superior Achievement in a Screenplay: Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One (Robot Communications, Toho Studios); Superior Achievement in an Anthology: Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams, Out There Screaming (Random House); Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction: Sadie Hartmann, 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered (Page Street Publishing); Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction: Nadia Bulkin, Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, and Disorder of Indonesia (originally published in Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror) (Black Spot Books); Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection: Stephanie W. Wytovich, On the Subject of Blackberries (Raw Dog Screaming Press).

HWA Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to Mort Castle, Cassandra Peterson, and Steve Rasnic Tem.

The Specialty Press Award was given to Thunderstorm Books.

The Richard H. Laymon President’s Award was given to Brian W. Matthews.

The Silver Hammer Award for service was given to Lila Denning.

The Mentor of the Year Award was given to Lisa Wood.

The Ninth Annual FINAL FRAME Horror Short Competition winners are:

Grand Prize: Renee Zhan for SHÉ (Snake)

Best Writing in a Short Film: Elisa Lucía for Bookworm (dir: Javier Yañez Sanz)

1st Runner-Up to Grand Prize: Tony Morales for Alicia

Audience Award: Tony Morales for Alicia

The 2023 Shirley Jackson Awards were given out Saturday, July 13, at Readercon 33, Conference on Imaginative Literature, in Quincy,

Massachusetts. The winners are:

Novel: The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (Saga Press/Simon & Schuster-US/Titan Books-UK); Novella: To the Woman in the Pink Hat by LaToya Jordan (Aqueduct Press); Novelette: “Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny Magazine); Short Fiction: “The First Mrs. Edward Rochester Would Like a Word” by Laura Blackwell (Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic); Single Author Collection: They Will Dream in the Garden by Gabriela Damián Miravete, translated by Adrian Demopulos (Rosarium Publishing); Edited Anthology: Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic, edited by Jolie Toomajan (Cosmic Horror Monthly).

The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc., also is committed to promoting the legacy of Shirley Jackson and, as part of this mission, presented a Special Award to Elizabeth Hand in recognition of A Haunting on the Hill: A Novel (Mulholland Books, 2023), a novel authorized by the Jackson Estate which returns readers to the world created by Shirley Jackson in The Haunting of Hill House. Previous recipients of a Special Award from the Shirley Jackson Awards are Joyce Carol Oates as editor of the Library of America edition of Shirley Jackson: Novels & Stories (Library of America, 2010); Ruth Franklin, in recognition of her biography Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (Liveright/W.W. Norton, 2016); and editor Ellen Datlow for her anthology When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (Titan Books, 2021).

The 2023 World Fantasy Awards were announced during the 50th World Fantasy Convention, held October 16–20, 2024, at the Sheraton

Niagara Falls in Niagara Falls, New York.

The Life Achievement Awards, presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service to the fantasy field, went to Ginjer Buchanan and Jo Fletcher.

The World Fantasy Awards winners are:

Best Novel: The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (Saga Press/Titan Books UK); Best Novella: Half the House is Haunted by Josh Malerman (Spin a Black Yarn); Best Short Fiction: “Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood” by Nghi Vo (New Suns 2); Best Anthology: The Book of Witches, edited by Jonathan Strahan, (Harper Voyager US/Harper Voyager UK); Best Collection: No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories by Premee Mohamed (Undertow Publications): Best Artist: Audrey Benjaminsen; Special Award—Professional: Liza Groen Trombi, for Locus magazine; Special Award-non-professional: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas for Uncanny Magazine

This year’s judges were Douglas A. Anderson, Stephanie Feldman, Pat Murphy, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, and Dr. Angela Slatter.

NOTABLE NOVELS OF 2O24

The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones (S&S/Saga Press) is the satisfying conclusion to the Indian Lake Trilogy, which takes place in the unlucky town of Prufrock, Idaho. Emotionally damaged Jade Daniels returns home after four years of absence to find things just as screwed up and deadly as previously. Jones had a second novel out from S&S/Saga Press this year. The other, I Was a Teenage Slasher, is also a worthwhile read. As you can tell from the title, the book continues to draw on the author’s interest in the trope of the slasher, but this one is written beautifully from the point of view of the slasher himself. It delves into the well of possibility into where these unstoppable human monsters come from, how they evolve, and how they feel about their lot in life. Is the slasher in control, or is the slasher trope in control of their lives?

The Underhistory by Kaaron Warren (Viper) is simply brilliant. Pera, an elderly woman, runs a haunted house tour through her mansion, even though she doesn’t believe in ghosts. Five violent men escape prison and invade her home, looking for money and a secure place to hide. Pera is guiding a young family through her house when the men arrive and she realizes it’s up to her to keep the family safe and to save

her own life. She uses stories from her past and the trickeries of ghosts to lull the men until she’s the one in control. The impending sense of dread, the voice, the unfolding of secrets all work to make this one of the best novels of the year.

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay (William Morrow) is a spellbinding new take on the cursed movie trope. The only survivor of an infamous (never officially released) amateur film titled Horror Movie, made in 1993, tells the history of the making of the movie in which he played the central role of “the thin kid.” The movie’s director released three scenes from the movie in 2008, and since then the mystery has only deepened. Thirty years later, Hollywood has come calling to make a reboot. Tremblay builds the suspense and creepiness by degrees and we end up with a truly disturbing novel, one of the year’s best.

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman (Del Rey Books) is a terrific novel full of pain and dread. The story is told from the point of view of eight year old Bela, and from the very first page the reader realizes something is very wrong when the child greets “other mommy” after her Mommy and Daddy leave the room at bedtime. Another best of the year.

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson (Quirk Books) is a fabulous folk horror debut. A grieving journalist is assigned to cover what appears to be a ridiculous news story: a human baby is born to a horse, in a small town gripped by what’s almost an obsession with its horses. The incident is complicated when two bodies are found—a man and a horse.

Among the Living by Tim Lebbon (Titan Books) is a terrifying eco-horror novel about something released from deep underground on an arctic island by a group of outsiders seeking to exploit rare earth minerals in the island’s cave system. They make an unsettling discovery in the cave they’re exploring, and one of their members becomes stuck inside as they rush to get out. From then on, things only get worse.

Forgotten Sisters by Cynthia Pelayo (Thomas & Mercer) is a strong novel about two sisters isolated in grief: one is obsessed with the dark history of

Chicago, while the other is obsessed with mermaids. They live on the Chicago River, which claimed their parents in a car accident. Full of ghosts and murder.

King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis (Liveright/W.W. Norton) is Bakis’s first novel since her brilliant, Stoker Award-winning debut, Lives of the Monster Dogs, published almost thirty years ago. The new novel is a gothic with horror overtones and is told by Anna Fort, wife of Charles Fort, the man known for his investigations into weird events around the world. Taking place in 1933, the two are invited to an island resort by a wealthy recluse who harbors awful secrets.

House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden (St. Martin’s Press) is another winner by Golden, who has been at the top of his form with his recent novels. This one is about an American couple who eagerly take the opportunity to buy a house in a small, underpopulated historic town in Sicily for one Euro—with the only stipulation that they remain for five years. But once they arrive, they discover that their new house is where victims of failed exorcisms were kept. Demons, possession, ghosts, catacombs, all figure into the suspenseful mix.

American Rapture CJ Leede (Nightfire) is a terrific and very different follow-up to Leede’s debut, Maeve Fly. A young girl who has been raised in an ultra strict, Catholic home is thrust into the sectarian world by a grisly epidemic that destroys everything she thought she knew. A road trip, a coming-of-age story, and a story about surviving in a violent, chaotic time.

Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin (Nightfire) is a strong second novel that starts in 1995, as seven queer teenagers are sent by their parents to a conversion camp. What they discover there is more than only ugly zealots who want to change them into “normal” people. Grotesque and visceral.

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison (Berkley) is utterly engaging, as two female best friends encounter a group of alluring, mysterious strangers

 who change them into vampires. Before the group can teach the newly turned vampires how to best survive in the world, they run—attempting to escape their fate. In addition to being suspenseful, the book is sexy as hell.

ALSO NOTED

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase (Erewhon Books) is sf/horror taking place in a future Botswana, where everything and everyone is under surveillance. When a woman—whose husband can access all her memories—kills someone in a car accident, that may be the least of her problems as the victim’s ghost hunts down people close to her. How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie (Red Hook) is about a movie director who is tired of making cheap (albeit successful) slashers and wants to make a terrifying horror movie for the ages. His discovery of an old camera might make his dream come true, although this may not be the best outcome for him and his crew. The Bleed by Stephen S. Schreffler (Dark Matter INK) is about two teenage boys who must save their small Michigan town from an evil unleashed by an earthquake while they’re on the run, having been accused of brutal murders they did not commit. We Are Hunted by Tomi Oyemakinde (Feiwel & Friends) is a young adult novel about a family’s visit to an island resort populated by new, exotic plants and animals. However, when the animals go feral, survival is the name of the game. Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pederson (St. Martin’s Press) is about a formerly abusive, dying father’s wish for reconciliation with his two sons, one of whom has married a woman of Asian descent. However, the return of the sons and addition of the mysterious wife of the elder son triggers a slow burning horror story. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle (Nightfire) is a sardonic novel about Hollywood. Just as a jaded scriptwriter has received his first Oscar nomination and his career is thriving, the executives at the studio demand that he kill off the two lesbian characters in his long-running series. When he refuses, he discovers that stance is not an option if he wants to remain alive. The Z Word  by Lindsay King-Miller (Quirk Books) is a queer zombie romp about members of a disparate community coming together to fight zombies— without killing each other. Youthjuice by E. K. Sathue (Hell’s Hundred) is a vicious satire about the beauty industry. A young woman who works at a skincare/wellness company is given a new moisturizer that changes her life. She loves it, but will she continue to use it once she discovers its secret ingredient? Reminiscent of Natural Beauty, the 2023 novel by Ling Ling Huang. Theogasm by Paul StJohn Mackintosh (Roswell Publishing) is an sf/horror novel about a worldwide epidemic that threatens humanity. Gigantvm Penisivm: A Tale of Demonic Possession by Jose Elvin Bueno (CLASH Books) is about a group of gamers who accidentally summon a demon while playing their game. Lost in the Garden by Adam S. Leslie (Dead Ink Books) is about three women who take an ill-advised road trip to a mysterious village where one of their boyfriends has disappeared. Not Born of Woman by Teel James Glenn (Macabre Ink) is an entertaining police procedural about a private detective in 1939 New York City who just happens to be the creation of the scientist Victor Frankenstein. He’s hired by a Roma to retrieve an heirloom that her wastrel brother used to cover a bet with a dangerous loan shark. Nazis, the occult, and murder combine for a fast read. The Drowning House by Cherie Priest (Poison Pen) is about a house that fell into the Pacific Ocean and comes back onto shore years later. The only one who knows the meaning of this has died in a violent storm. The Gathering by C.J. Tudor (Ballantine Books) is about a detective investigating a grisly murder in a small Alaskan town. Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, translated by Heather Cleary (Dutton), is about a vampire who, in the nineteenth century, emigrates from Europe to Buenos Aires and must learn to adapt. It’s an interesting take on the trope by this Argentinian writer. Sarafina by Philip Fracassi (Earthling Publications) is about three brothers who go AWOL during a pitched battle of the American Civil War, eventually taking shelter in a cabin occupied by a beautiful woman and her young son. Dion Boucicault: “The Vampire” (1852) and “The Phantom” (1873) Matthew Knight and Gary D. Rhodes, eds (University of Wales Press), present two previously unpublished versions of plays by a Victorian dramatist. Sycamore by Ian Rogers (Cemetery Dance Publications) is about private investigator, Felix Renn, who thinks he’s taking on a simple missing persons case. But as so often happens, he’s drawn into the vicinity of the dangerous, alternate world of the black lands, a supernatural place Rogers created and has revisited in novellas and short stories since his first story about them was published in 2009. Smothermoss by Alisa Alering (Tin House) is about two sisters in Appalachia whose world is up-ended when two hikers are found murdered on the Appalachia Trail near their community. Voracious by Belicia Rhea (Dark Matter INK) is about a threatened insect apocalypse, and those trying to survive through it. The House that Horror Built by Christina Henry (Berkley) is about a horror fan who takes a job cleaning the house of a famous, reclusive former movie director. She’s less enamored by the job when she begins to hear noises and possible calls for help within the mansion. The Briar Book of the Dead by Angela Slatter (Titan Books) is a dark fantasy about a family of witches whose matriarch dies suddenly, which immediately changes the family dynamics—especially when it comes to the one non-witch in the family. The Invisible Hotel by Yeji Y. Ham (Zando) is about a South Korean woman whose dreams about a hotel begin to unlock the trauma of the country’s past. The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen (Red Hook) is a gothic about a young academic whose travels through Asia entangle him in an ancient, apocalyptic cult. What Grows in the Dark by Jaq Evans (Mira Books) is about a woman whose elder sister disappeared sixteen years earlier in the woods near their home after claiming there was a monster there. The survivor left town, becoming a fake paranormal investigator, only returning when called about two missing teenagers. A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke (Berkley) is about a whaling ship from 1901, which washes up, wrecked on a remote coast of Iceland a century later. An explorer boards the boat to document the ship’s last days before it’s scheduled to be destroyed, ignoring the fact that others have met uncanny ends onboard. Theseus 34 by Rory Hughes (Incunabula Media) is about a man hired to research the depths of human desire by a mysterious organization. Referred to as “transgressive” by the publisher. We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado (William Morrow) is about a couple that moves into a highly desired gated community and discover that their neighbors are very friendly. This initially doesn’t seem like a problem . . . until it is, and strange things begin to happen inside their house. The Body Harvest by Michael J. Seidlinger (CLASH Books) is about two people who bond in a grief share group which feeds their individual obsessions with sickness. Shadow of the Hidden by Kev Harrison (Brigids Gate Press) is about a man whose friend in Turkey has been cursed by a djinn. Together, they embark on a frantic adventure attempting to trace the source of the curse before it envelops the cursed man’s entire family. Eynhallow by Tim McGregor (Raw Dog Screaming Press) is about a mysterious foreigner on a monstrous mission who moves to the Orkney Islands in 1797 and the woman who is hired out by her husband to be his housekeeper. Dearest by Jacquie Walters (Mulholland Books) is about an overwhelmed young mother who, while surprised, is initially grateful when her own, long estranged mother comes to help her. Deena Undone by Debra K. Every (Woodhall Press) is about a woman whose five senses come under attack by a dying aunt whose bargain with an evil entity promises health, if only she’ll allow her niece to be killed. Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville (Hell’s Hundred) is about an FBI agent chasing a gruesome serial killer who drains blood from their victims. I Disappeared Them by Preston L. Allen (Akashic Books) is about a loving family man who is also a serial killer. House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias (Mulholland Books) is about five teenagers who seek revenge after one of their mothers is gunned down in a Puerto Rican slum by people working for the drug kingpin of the island. These Things Linger by Dan Franklin (Cemetery Dance Publications) is a supernatural novel about a man who makes the mistake of trying to re-connect with the recently deceased uncle who raised him. Oracle by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Nightfire) brings back Robert Grimm, who was in Hex, Olde Heuvelt’s first novel. Grimm is forced by a clandestine government agency to investigate various disappearances associated with an eighteenth-century sailing ship discovered in a field. Grey Dog, a debut by Elliott Gish (ECW Press), is about a disgraced teacher sent to a backwater in 1901, and her slide into the same bad situation of her predecessor—as something supernatural takes an unhealthy interest in her. Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina (Berkley) is about a man who left the Louisiana reservation on which he grew up when a bunch of weird events occurred in 1986, but is drawn back ten years later when his niece’s boyfriend appears to have committed suicide there. Exposure by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime) is about a forensic photographer who sees ghosts of murder victims. She’s brought in to assist on a case of a serial killer targeting indigent native people in Gallup, New Mexico. The Devil By Name by Keith Rosson (Random House) takes place five years after a zombie apocalypse, with various people from around the US looking to start a new world while evading a government taken over by a massive corporation that does not have their best interests at heart. Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton (Nightfire) is about a woman whose supposed guardian angel suddenly murders someone she loves, forcing a reckoning of what she might have been hiding from herself her entire life. Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles (Amistad) is a gothic taking place in 1840 England, about an orphan wooed by a stranger. She agrees to wed him and move into his decaying mansion, becoming a virtual prisoner. The Threshing Floor by Steph Nelson (Dark Matter INK) is about a woman desperate enough to join a cult in order to cure her dying son. Abhorrent Accords by John Baltisberger (St Rooster Books) is the third book in a trilogy about a horrific pandemic that threatens to destroy humanity. Grim Root by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam (Dark Matter INK) is about a reality show during which a group of women have to compete for one man by spending a week in a haunted house. This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer (Quirk Books) is a first novel about a group of people who plan to explore an untouched cliff space in the wilds of Kentucky, including a geologist and a climbing “influencer” who both want to make names for themselves. What they don’t know is that the area is filled with danger: vengeful ghosts and the land itself—which is evil and hungry.  Unfortunately, the first chapter, essentially a prologue, gives the whole story away. Why why why? The House at the End of Lacelean Street by Catherine McCarthy (Dark Matter INK) is about a woman who remembers nothing of her past, yet feels compelled to travel to a mysterious house that promises salvation. A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons (Nightfire) is about what happens when a bank heist goes bad, and the perpetrators—with their hostage—hide out in the secluded family shack where a murder occurred years earlier. The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste (Saga Press) is about one of three survivors of an incident twenty years earlier when a block of homes mysteriously disappeared, leaving the homes behind a veil that only she has been able to penetrate in the years since. The Queen by Nick Cutter (Gallery Books) is a grisly sf/horror novel about a teenage girl who disappears after a party and is presumed dead by her best friend—until a package with an iPhone shows up on her doorstep with messages from the friend. Violent Faculties by Charlene Elsby (CLASH Books) is a gruesome revenge fantasy fulfilled against coworkers and acquaintances of an insane philosophy professor angry that her university closed down her department, and who excuses her sadistic so-called experiments on unwilling participants by enveloping them in her own twisted, imaginary philosophy. Body horror galore. I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong (St. Martin’s Press) is about a terminally ill woman who after finding unexpected love, loses it when her husband dies in a car crash. She’s haunted by his last words and goes to a medium to discover what they mean, and things only get worse. The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monica Kim (Erewhon Books) is about the unraveling psyche of a young woman who begins having horrifying nightmares after her father leaves her mother for another woman and her mother starts dating an awful man. Momma Durt by Michael Shea (Hippocampus Press) is a previously unpublished novel by Michael Shea, the late master of weird, cosmic horror. Initially published as a novelette by Weird Tales in 2012, Shea expanded it into a novel for his masters thesis at the University of San Francisco. It’s an eco-horror novel set at a mine in Central California. Incarnate by Richard Thomas (Podium) is about a sineater whose home in the frozen north is invaded by monsters from a break in the fabric of reality. He realizes that he needs to train someone to take over for him . . . but does he have time? A Better World by Sarah Langan (Atria Books) is about a family that moves from a cramped New York City apartment to a gated company town where the couple feel they and their teenage twins will be safe from the increasingly dystopian world . . . and everything is just fine, as long as they follow the rules. Chisel the Bone by Renee S. DeCamillus (Encyclopocalypse Publications) is a sequel to the novella The Bone Cutters about a cult that chisels bones. The protagonist of the novel survived traumatic events, but is now running for her life. Living in Cemeteries by Corey Farrenkopf (JournalStone) is about the gravedigger in a town on Cape Cod who mediates between the ghosts residing there. And in this world, the sins of the fathers are definitely visited upon their descendants. That Which Stands Outside by Mark Morris (Flame Tree Press) is about a couple who return to the woman’s childhood home on an isolated Nordic island upon her mother’s death. They’re met with hostility—especially when things begin to go badly wrong on the island. The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister (Counterpoint) is a gothic about a family that tends a cranberry bog in West Virginia. For generations, they’ve been committed to a specific ritual—that benefits them and the bog—until events conspire to change everything. The Incubations by Ramsey Campbell (Flame Tree Press) is about an Englishman who, upon returning from a visit with a pen pal in a small German town, develops strange symptoms and visions of the world around him that indicate he might have become infected with something from his trip. Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) returns to Area X with three sections. The first takes place decades before Area X forms, finishing with the mysterious end of an expedition. The second section is about a washed-up government agent assigned to evaluate the threat. The third section is from the point of view of a drugged-out, hallucinating individual. The Day of the Door by Laurel Hightower (Ghoulish Books) is about three siblings traumatized by the violent death of their eldest brother. Two decades later, their mother promises

 to reveal what happened to him. All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper (Titan Books) is about events set in motion when a young woman is found dead on the beach with a poem, in a coastal town.

MAGAZINES, JOURNALS, AND WEBZINES

It’s important to recognize the work of the talented artists working in the field of fantastic fiction, both dark and light. The following created dark art I thought especially noteworthy in 2024: Trevor Henderson, Jakub Jagoda, Serena Malyon, Matt Seff Barnes, Dan Sauer, Naomi Simone Borwein, Ario Anindito, Greg Chapman, Jeffrey Alan Love, Ben Jones, Yorgis Cotronis, François Vaillancourt, Cronan Kobylak, Sylvia Strijk, Paul Lowe, Lynne Hansen, Marco Mazzoni, Arian Borda, Nick Maloret, Mario Nevado, Allen Koszowski, Vince Haig, David Nickle, Mary Carroll, Juhasz Sz, Thomas Canty, John Coulthart, Kim Jakobsson, Vincent Chong, D. M. Mitchell, Mikio Murakami, Anastasia Weber, Kealan Patrick Burke, Asya Yordanova, and Daniele Serra.

Rue Morgue edited by Andrea Subissati is an entertaining Canadian non-fiction print magazine for horror movie aficionados, with up-to-date information on most of the horror films being released. The magazine also includes interviews, articles, and movie stills—many of them gory—along with regular columns on books, horror music, video games, and graphic novels.

The Lovecraft Annual No. 18 edited by S. T. Joshi is a must for those interested in Lovecraftian studies. The 2024 issue has 236 pages of essays revolving around H. P. Lovecraft—interpretations of his fiction and the influence of his work on other writers, artists, and culture (including pop culture) in general. David Haden provides an especially entertaining article about Lovecraft’s eating habits and his strong opinions on food and liquor, gleaned from letters mentioning various restaurants at which he

ate while living in New York City.

Dead Reckonings: A Review of Horror and the Weird in the Arts edited by Alex Houstoun and Michael U. Abolafia published two issues in 2024. Both issues included reviews of recent collections and novels by Brian Evenson, Laird Barron, Simon Strantzas, Robert Guffey, Ramsey Campbell, and Adam Golaski; an overview of the late Brian Stableford’s fiction and translation work, and multiple reports on the 2024 NecronomiCon. In addition, each issue featured a regular column by Ramsey Campbell, and one classic piece of fiction.

The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural, and Fantastic Literature edited by Brian J. Showers is an excellent resource for discovering underappreciated Irish writers. Two issues were published in 2024. Issue #23 was a bit more esoteric than usual, with three portraits by James Clarence Mangan (1803–1849) of Charles Maturin (author of Melmoth the Wanderer), John Anster, and Maria Edgeworth. Issue #24 continues the profile series “The Guide to Irish Writers of the Fantastic and Supernatural” featuring nine writers, including Martin Waddell, who contributed many stories to Herbert Van Thal’s Pan Book of Horror series and is still alive. He stopped writing horror after being caught in an IRA explosion in 1972 and wrote children’s books thereafter.

Nightmare edited by Wendy N. Wagner is a monthly webzine of horror and dark fantasy. It publishes stories, articles, interviews, book reviews, and author spotlights. There was notable short fiction and poetry published in 2024 by Jessica Luke Garcia, Victor Forna, Keith Rosson, George Sandison, Manish Melwani, Tania Chen, H. B. Menendez, Adam-Troy Castro, Shannon Scott, Andrew Snover, Gemma Files, Fatima Taqvi, Ally Wilkes, Lisa M. Bradley, Isabel Cañas, Cody Goodfellow, Raven Jakubowski, R. A. Busby, and Thomas Ha.

Supernatural Tales edited by David Longhorn is a reliable venue for good short supernatural fiction, and is published in print three times a year. In 2024, there was notable fiction by Roger Luckhurst, Mark Falkin, Cliff

 McNish, Reggie Chamberlain-King, Steve Duffy, Michael Kelly, William Curnow, and Tom Johnstone. The Falkin and McNish are reprinted herein.

Cosmic Horror Monthly edited by Jolie Toomajan is an excellent little print magazine publishing weird and cosmic horror. Most of the stories are new except for one monthly classic. In 2024, there were notable stories by Eric J. Guignard, Katarina Betterton, Matthew M. Bartlett, Pauline Chow, Logan McConnell, Evelyn Freeling, Erik McHatton, Susan R. Morritt, Georgia Riordan, Max D. Stanton, Joe Koch, Steve Toase, Devan Barlow, D. Matthew Urban, Scott Edelman, and a collaboration by Chelsea Pumpkins and Christopher O’Halloran.

Ghosts & Scholars is a long-running print journal celebrating the works of M. R. James. Two issues were published in 2024, one edited by Helen Kemp and the other by Andy Sawyer, with notable stories by Tina Rath, Victoria Day, and Josh Reynolds. In addition to fiction, the publication features reviews and news related to the Jamesian world.

Weird Horror edited by Michael Kelly published two print issues in 2024, with columns by Simon Strantzas and Orrin Grey, book reviews by Lysette Stevenson, and generous helpings of weird fiction. There was notable dark fiction by R. J. Taylor, Jack Klausner, Aimee Ogden, Seán Padraic Birnie, Elin Olausson, Derrick Boden, Hiron Ennes, Nelson Stanley, Sasha Brown, Jorja Osha, Mike O’Driscoll, Avra Margariti, and Perry Ruhland.

Dracula Beyond Stoker edited by Tucker Christine is a print journal of fiction devoted to new and reprinted stories featuring characters from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. There were four issues in 2024, one spotlighting the brides, one spotlighting Arthur, Quincey, and Jack (the three friends who loved Lucy Westenra). The “Brides” issue is especially good. ...