Scan barcode
A review by smalefowles
The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: Ten Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction by Ellen Datlow
4.0
A well-curated collection of horror stories with divergent approaches. Overall top-shelf stuff, even if it wasn't all to my tastes. It actually gives a nice sense of the breadth of the genre, and I bet there's something for every horror reader in here.
My top five:
1. "Black and White Sky" - Lee: A surreal and unique story of what happens when the magpies get weird.
2. "The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine" - Straub: A nasty tale about some nasty people, with some very creepy and ambiguous moments.
3. "Lowland Sea" - Charnas: This was the first story in the collection, and its 'Masque of the Red Death' vibes hit extra strong in 2020.
4. "The Days of Our Lives" - Nevill: Now this is a bad marriage.
5. "The Man From the Peak" - Golaski: The narrator is an unbearable person, but he still doesn't deserve a visitor from the peak.
The stories by Stephen Graham Jones, Laird Barron, and John Langan were also very good, but I already like those writers.
My top five:
1. "Black and White Sky" - Lee: A surreal and unique story of what happens when the magpies get weird.
2. "The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine" - Straub: A nasty tale about some nasty people, with some very creepy and ambiguous moments.
3. "Lowland Sea" - Charnas: This was the first story in the collection, and its 'Masque of the Red Death' vibes hit extra strong in 2020.
4. "The Days of Our Lives" - Nevill: Now this is a bad marriage.
5. "The Man From the Peak" - Golaski: The narrator is an unbearable person, but he still doesn't deserve a visitor from the peak.
The stories by Stephen Graham Jones, Laird Barron, and John Langan were also very good, but I already like those writers.