A review by gentlemanjeff
The Best Horror of the Year Volume Twelve by Ellen Datlow

4.0

This is one of the more impressive collections Datlow has put together. Highlights include the shorts Playscape by Diana Peterfreund, My Name is Ellie by Sam Rebelein and the very short This Was Always Going to Happen by the inimitable Stephen Graham Jones. Consolation prizes to The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team by Joe R. Lansdale and Nathan Ballingrud for his sprawling vision contained in the length of a novella, The Butcher's Table. This volume contained no fewer misprints than previous editions, maybe even more when you consider the number evident just in the last story, which made the experience slightly less satisfying than it otherwise would have been. There were a few duds, as there always are in horror anthologies, but this is still one of the best horror collections ever assembled. If you, too, are a Best Horror series fan, number 12 is more of what we love.