Synopses & Reviews
For nearly two decades, readers have turned to
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant continue this critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of stories. The fiction and poetry here is culled from an exhaustive survey of the field, nearly four dozen works ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magic realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol style. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, and sections on graphic novels, by Charles Vess; on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge; on media, by Ed Bryant; and on music, by Charles de Lint. With a long list of Honorable Mentions, this is an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.Isabel Allende
Laird Barron
Elizabeth Bear
Andrew Bonia
Chaz Brenchley
Tom Brennan
Jack Cady
Jennifer Chang
Robert Coover
Albert E. Cowdrey
Kelly Everding
Jeffrey Ford
Theodora Goss
Elizabeth Hand
Joe Hill
Glen Hirshberg
Pentti Holappa
Dave Hutchinson
China Miéville, Emma Bircham, and Max Schäfer
Sarah Monette
Ralph Robert Moore
Adam L.G. Nevill
Kim Newman
Reggie Oliver
Chuck Palahniuk
Stacey Richter
Barbara Roden
Deborah Roggie
Jay Russell
Geoff Ryman
Mark Samuels
Willa Schneberg
Nisi Shawl
Delia Sherman
Bruce Sterling
Howard Waldrop
Daniel Wallace
Marley Youmans
Review
"The editors present a veritable feast of fantasy and horror, some of which readers will relish, and others of which, in the grand tradition of the genres, may turn stomachs." VOYA
Review
"[A]ll-around high-quality storytelling." Library Journal
Synopsis
For nearly two decades, readers have turned to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant continue this critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of stories. The fiction and poetry here is culled from an exhaustive survey of the field, nearly four dozen works ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magic realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol style. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, and sections on graphic novels, by Charles Vess; on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge; on media, by Ed Bryant; and on music, by Charles de Lint. With a long list of Honorable Mentions, this is an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.
About the Author
Ellen Datlow is the acclaimed editor of such anthologies as
Blood Is Not Enough,
Little Deaths,
Alien Sex,
Vanishing Acts and
The Dark. She has won the Hugo Award for Best Editor once, the World Fantasy Award seven times, and the International Horror Guild Award for
The Dark. She and Terri Windling also won the Bram Stoker Award for
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: SeventeenthAnnual Collection and
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection. She currently edits fiction for SCIFI.COM.
Kelly Link and Gavin Grant started Small Beer Press in 2000. They have published the zine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet ("tiny but celebrated"---The Washington Post) for seven years.
Kelly Link's first collection of short stories, Stranger Things Happen, was selected as a Best Book of the Year by Salon, Locus, and The Village Voice. Stories from the collection have won the Nebula, Tiptree, and World Fantasy Awards. Her most recent short stories have appeared in The Dark and The Faery Reel. She recently published Magic for Beginners, and when she isn't writing, she edits the anthology Trampoline.
Originally from Scotland, Gavin Grant regularly reviews fantasy and science fiction. Publications where his work has appeared include Scifiction, Strange Horizons, The Third Alternative, and Singularity.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsSummation 2005: Fantasy—Kelly Link and Gavin J. GrantSummation 2005: Horror—Ellen DatlowFantasy and Horror in the Media: 2005—Edward BryantGraphic Novels: 2005—Charles VessAnime and Manga: 2005—Joan D. VingeMusic of the Fantastic: 2005—Charles de LintObituaries: 2005—James FrenkelWalpurgis Afternoon—Delia ShermanThe Mushroom Duchess—Deborah RoggieAn Incident at Agate Beach—Marley YoumansAmong the Tombs—Reggie OliverObedience, or The Lying Tale (poem)—Jennifer ChangAmerican Morons—Glen HirshbergShallaballah—Mark SamuelsNight Train: Heading West (poem)—Sarah MonetteDenial—Bruce SterlingNorthwest Passage—Barbara RodenProboscis—Laird BarronKronia—Elizabeth HandOmens (poem)—Kelly EverdingFollow Me Light—Elizabeth BearBoatman's Holiday—Jeffrey FordThe Horse of a Different Color (That You Rode In On)—Howard WaldropWhen Angels Come In—Adam L. G. NevillTwilight States—Albert E. CowdreyJolly Bonnet—Andrew BoniaThe Last Ten Years in the Life of Hero Kai—Geoff RymanThe Souls of Drowning Mountain—Jack CadyThe Last One—Robert CooverThe Ball Room—China Miéville, Emma Bircham, and Max SchäferNymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus (poem)—Theodora GossVacation—Daniel WallaceCruel Sistah—Nisi ShawlDing-Dong-Bell—Jay RussellA Case Study of Emergency Room Procedure and Risk Management by Hospital Staff Members in the Urban Facility—Stacey RichterThe Scribble Mind—Jeffrey FordScarecrow—Tom BrennanGoing the Jerusalem Mile—Chaz BrenchleyGrief (poem)—Willa SchnebergBoman—Pentti HolappaThe Machine of a Religious Man—Ralph Robert MooreHot Potting—Chuck PalahniukMy Father's Mask—Joe HillThe Guggenheim Lovers—Isabel AllendeA Statement in the Case—Theodora GossThe Pavement Artist—Dave HutchinsonThe Gypsies in the Wood—Kim Newman