The darkness creeps upon us and we shudder, or it suddenly startles and we scream. There need be no monsters for us to be terrified in the dark, but if there are, they are just as often human and supernatural. Join us in this outstanding annual exploration of the year's best dark fiction that includes stories of quiet fear, the utterly fantastic, the weirdly surreal, atmospheric noir, mysterious hauntings, seductive nightmares, and frighteningly plausible futures. Featuring thirty-five tales from masterful authors and talented new writers sure to make you reconsider walking in the shadows alone . . .
Contents:
Instructions for use / Paula Guran --
No ghosts in London / Helen Marshall --
Fake plastic trees / CaitliΜn R. Kiernan --
The natural history of autumn / Jeffrey Ford --
Great-grandmother in the cellar / Peter S. Beagle --
Renfrew's course / John Langan --
End of white / Ekaterina Sedia --
Who is Arvid Pekon? / Karen Tidbeck --
Iphigenia in Aulis / Mike Carey --
Slaughterhouse blues / Tim Lebbon --
England under the white witch / Theodora Goss --
The sea of trees / Rachel Swirsky --
The man who forgot Ray Bradbury / Neil Gaiman --
The education of a witch / Ellen Klages --
Welcome to the reptile house / Stephen Graham Jones --
Glamour of madness / Peter Bell --
Bigfoot on campus / Jim Butcher --
Everything must go / Brooke Wonders --
Nightside eye / Terry Dowling --
Escena de un asesinato / Robert Hood --
Good hunting / Ken Liu --
Go home again / Simon Strantzas --
The bird country / K.M. Ferebee --
Sinking among lilies / Cory Skerry --
Down in the valley / Joseph Bruchac --
Armless maidens of the American west / Genevieve Valentine --
Blue lace agate / Sarah Monette --
The eyes of water / Alison LIttlewood --
The tall grass / Joe R. Lansdale --
Game / Maria Dahvana Headley --
Pearls / Priya Sharma --
Forget you / Marc Laidlaw --
When death wakes me to myself / John Shirley --
Dahlias / Melanie Tem --
Bedtime stories for Yasmin / Robert Shearman --
Hand of glory / Laird Barron.