The Ammonite Violin Others

Fourteen original stories inspired by the influential horror writer, including tales by Laird Barron, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Gemma Files, and Brian Evenson. Compiled by Hugo and Bram Stoker Award–winning editor Ellen Datlow, these original stories of the supernatural employ H. P. Lovecraft’s trademark terror of the cosmic unknown. A fresh generation of writers have been set free to play in his playground, exploring new themes and new horrors. In “Oblivion Mode” by Laird Barron, a revenge-fueled woman and her ragtag band confront a vampiric baron. Rumored to have belonged to a Donner Party survivor, a jade figurine winds its way through many different hands and centuries, spreading evil along the way in Caitlín R. Kiernan’s “Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille.” In Gemma Files’s “Little Ease,” a pest exterminator meets a woman researching Enochian—the language of angels—and makes a horrific discovery in the walls of a building. A woman’s new pair of bifocals comes with a warning she should take seriously in “Glasses” by Brian Evenson. Also included are tales by Siobhan Carroll, Orrin Grey, Richard Kadrey, A. C. Wise, Brian Hodge, Stephen Graham Jones, John Langan, Maria Dahvana Headley, David Nickle, and Livia Llewellyn. “The power of this anthology shows in that it’s not only a must for Lovecraft fans, but for any fan of solid, mature, and mind-boggling weird fiction, courtesy of one of the finest editors in the industry.” —New York Journal of Books “You don’t need to be a fan of H.P. Lovecraft to enjoy the quality storytelling in this book. If you are, though, you might enjoy it even more.” —Horrible Book Reviews

This fiendish anthology, complied by the horror genre’s most acclaimed editor, drags you into the twisted minds of modern literary masters at their fiendish best. Visionary storytellers fill this collection of tales lyrical and strange, monstrous and exhilarating, horrific and transformative. *A sweetly vengeful voice on the radio calls a young soldier out to join a phantom patrol. *A hotel maid who threw her newborn child from a fourth-story window lingers in an interminable state. *An intern in a paranormal research facility delves deeply into the unexplained deaths of two staff members. *A serial killer plans his ultimate artistic achievement: the unveiling of an extremely special instrument in a very private concert. At once familiar and shocking, these riveting stories will haunt you long after you put down your book and turn out the light.

An anthology focusing on newer elements of steampunk, one which deconstructs the staples of the genre and expands on them, rather than simply repeating them, with a greater spread both in terms of location and character. This is steampunk with a modern, post-colonial sensibility. Contributors include: Jeff VanderMeer, Caitlín Kiernan, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jay Lake, Cherie Priest, Cat Rambo, Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine and many more.

Caitlin R. Kiernan is at the forefront of contemporary gothic, weird and science fiction literature. She has written more than a dozen novels, over 250 short stories, many chapbooks, along with a large number of graphic works. For these Kiernan has won numerous awards. This first full-length look at Kiernan's body of work explores her fictional universe through critical literary lenses to show the depth of her contributions to modern genre literature. A prolific and creative writer, Kiernan's fictions bring to life our fears about the other, the unknown, and the future through stories that range widely across time and space. A sense of dark terror pervades her novels and stories. Yet Kiernan's fictional universe is not disengaged from reality. That is because she works within the long tradition of gothic fiction speaking to the gravest ethical, social and cultural issues. In her dark fiction, Kiernan illustrates the terror of the tyranny of the normal, the oppression of marginalized people, and the pervasive violence of our time. Her dystopian sf propels today's dangerous economic, social, political and environmental tendencies into the future. Kiernan's fiction portrays troubling truths about the current human condition.

Sixteen stories inspired by the 20th century’s great master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft, and his acknowledged masterpiece, At the Mountains of Madness, in which an expedition to the desolation of Antarctica discovers evidence of an ancient ruin built by horrific creatures at first thought long-dead, until death strikes the group. All but two of the stories are original to this edition, and those reprints are long-lost works by science fiction masters Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Silverberg.

25 chilling short stories by outstanding female writers. Women have always written exceptional stories of horror and the supernatural. This anthology aims to showcase the very best of these, from Amelia B. Edwards's 'The Phantom Coach', published in 1864, through past luminaries such as Edith Wharton and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, to modern talents including Muriel Gray, Sarah Pinborough and Lilith Saintcrow. From tales of ghostly children to visitations by departed loved ones, and from heart-rending stories to the profoundly unsettling depiction of extreme malevolence, what each of these stories has in common is the effect of a slight chilling of the skin, a feeling of something not quite present, but nevertheless there. If anything, this showcase anthology proves that sometimes the female of the species can also be the most terrifying . . .

For over three 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 seventh volume of this 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: Neil Gaiman Kim Robinson Stephen King Linda Nagata Laird Barron Margo Lanagan 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.