The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror [17]

It's interesting to look at "Where Angels Come In" from this angle, as the basic story set-up is very easy to grasp. An English town suffers a long history of missing people, mostly children, the mystery of which seems to be tied to a very odd, old building fenced off from public access. One of the few escapees from this fate, a partially paralyzed boy, tells of his experiences inside that house - the rest of the story is flashback, with only a perfunctory return to the framing device for form's sake at the conclusion.

Even when we know we can't get a satisfying ending to the larger mystery, and have no sense of deeper resonance, the story still succeeds on its writing oddly, even with the "monster rally" plethora of strange creatures, I wouldn't really call it a "monster story".

Following on these thoughts on ambiguity is the excellent if caveat-able "Sickhouse Hospitality" by Terry Lamsley , pretty much a novella for all intents and purposes. A savvy if less-than-respectable man tracks down his "client", another less-than-respectable man, to a brand new, high-tech, sprawling and mysterious medical facility attached to an old hospital. Our main character nearly gets lost inside the near-empty complex before he finds his "friend", then discovers even greater mysteries involving strange plants, technology and many, many rats, as he's press-ganged into patient status as well.

More mystery abounds in the less than caring medical treatment he receives, the strange status of other patients and in the occasional snatches of conversation he can grab, until a growing problem suddenly forces an evacuation Said reader could even be me, under different circumstances, where the author doesn't do as good a job keeping things interesting or the story flowing along - I'd normally find such a strange accumulation of plot details that don't all add up to be either annoying, stylistically assumptive or just plain lazy see previous paragraph but here I found it did a good job of maintaining an unreal tone in what is a very prosaic if cold, off-putting and sterile setting.

The story seems to be a reflection on state-run healthcare versus corporate healthcare and the creeping of the latter into the former in Great Britain, with all its promises of high-tech care and efficiency masking the expected corporate disinterest in actual human suffering and focus on only those who can afford its ministrations. The view spoiler [rat attack hide spoiler ] ending was a nice "resurgence of the Victorian" and the last line leaves much to ponder but likely never solve , resonating the ideas of vast conspiracies and the working class public as guinea pigs for the moneyed classes.

Good stuff and quite drolly funny at times. There were three fully excellent stories here. This story strand is woven together with her therapy sessions, childhood memories featuring visions of fairies and her deceased older sister, and the artist's friendship with an older gay man. It's a nice bit of dark fantasy, not really horror, but very engaging. Finally, there's Ramsey Campbell 's "The Decorations", a Christmas-themed story about a little boy and his recently divorced Mom visiting her parents for the holiday.

Grandmother, unfortunately, is mentally unstable and fixated on her elaborate decorations, especially the hollow plastic light-up Santa on the roof, onto which she projects a lot of her paranoia. Campbell has a certain rhythm to his writing and he does a great job knotting up the tension derived from a child's fear and half-understanding but slowly coming into focus interactions with the inexplicable adult world. I found the ending particularly powerful, as it succeeds masterfully at the difficult to pull off "supernatural or psychological? And that's it for this time round.

Currently reading this year's edition, then I really need to take a break from horror fiction for a while Oct 24, Amy rated it really liked it. I'm a total sucker for anthologies. Maybe it's a short attention span. I really enjoyed this book. Most of the stories I wouldn't even call horror. There were some good old fashioned ghost stories.

I especially liked a really creative ghost story about a haunted IKEA. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks about creepy things in normal environments, "What if They could definitely be called dark fantasy, but I wonder if they get classified as ho I'm a total sucker for anthologies. They could definitely be called dark fantasy, but I wonder if they get classified as horror to sound more serious, or something. Or maybe because they don't fit in "sword and sorcery" fantasy? These yearly books have some of the most creative stories around. Though the story they picked from Joe Hill I had already read it in 20th Century Ghost was not his best, nor the most creative.

Horror movies should follow horror stories, not the other way around. The Joe Hill story in this book sounded like it was based on any one of a number of recent horror movies and they all sound the same. There's way too many movies out there that follow the "Saw" movie formula and it's so old. So many of the stories in this book were way more creative than the "horror" movies that are out. I need to write a little blurb about short stories. My mom says she hates short stories because she feels like they end just as she's getting interested.

The thing I love about short stories is that I think it's a sign of great writing when someone can transport me completely to another world in so few pages. These stories had me escape to so many worlds. I also liked that there were so many international authors. Some of the places that I was transported to included little corners of British geography and culture that are fascinating because they're different in little ways that we take for granted.

We don't notice our culture around us because we take it for granted that it's the way the world is. When I read from an author who is coming from small town life in Britain and they surround me with details and aspects of their culture, I feel like I've had a glimpse into a new and exotic place, despite our shared language and some history. Once again, though, I'm completely critical of the swearing in a few of the stories.

I think it's distracting from the story and jars me out of the world that they've created and back into the mundane. I also wonder if it's a little contrived. Does the author think they have to throw in an f-word to prove that they're current and edgy?

Paperback Editions

So, as much as I would love for my friends who are readers to experience some of these other worlds and especially that haunted IKEA I can't recommend the book because of the language in some of the stories. Nov 07, Bogdan rated it liked it. But stil there are quite good ones.

The Cubist's Attorney by David Atkins - an attorney gets hold on a strange case. Good text, not so surprising ideea. Terry Lamsley - Sickhouse Hospitality — an engaging story, good flow, interesting ideea, the end was not quite was I expected. Clive Barker - Haeckel's Tale. I knew this one. Nine stories from twenty three. Not a bad score. But it could be better. Usually this is my percentage with the whole Best Of stuff.

Jun 30, Sabella Daiabczenko rated it really liked it. Like most anthologies - some of the stories are so-so, but a few are great! Aug 19, Erin rated it it was ok Shelves: The stories that were good were very very good. The stories that were bad were horrid. May 22, Prospero rated it liked it. An even mix of hits and misses in this large anthology. The better tales included: Nevill the most frightening story Best New Horror by Joe Hill easily the most horrific and disturbing story in the collection.

Oct 18, Jess rated it really liked it Shelves: The only one I didn't really care for was "American Morons. Aug 22, bluetyson added it. Apr 19, Vlad rated it really liked it Shelves: This is by far the most consistently good series of short horror stories, I've read four or five of them so far. It's pretty clear Stephen Jones doesn't really like splattery horror, though the Joe Hill story in this book is an exception.

Publication: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 17

If you like these kinds of stories, this is a great book for you. I'm sorry but I hated this collection. Other than a couple of stories, the rest promised the world and delivered nothing. I got sick of getting all excited, only for some stories to not only peter out, but to stop DEAD entirely! It's as if the writers reached their word count goal and just simply stopped writing.

1. Responsibility to Protect: Cultural Perspectives in the Global South (Global Institutions).
2. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror!
3. Walk the Land : A Journey on Foot through Israel.

So many stories had zero point, actually went nowhere. I know they are short stories but come on! Jan 25, Greg Kerestan rated it really liked it. Another solid volume, though not a classic in the series. But it's "The Ball Room" that truly hooked into my mind, since I remember playing in the ball room at Ikea as a child, long ago. Jul 17, Jason rated it liked it Shelves: I don't read a lot of horror but I found that I enjoyed this collection. I like the fact that new horror is more about psychology than it is about murder, ghosts, etc.

I didn't care for some of the stories in this volume while others were exceptional. Albert Kivak rated it really liked it Dec 01, Thrown With Great Force rated it really liked it Dec 20, Pam rated it it was amazing Sep 01, Lizzy rated it liked it Jul 18, Paul Montgomery rated it it was amazing Apr 15, Editor Stephen Jones has picked a fine crop in this edition number With 2 stories from usual contributor Ramsey Campbell "The Decorations" amazed me while the other story "The Winner" seemed anything but, wondering if Jones couldn't have found a better story to close the volume with.

Overall a good read if you like horror anthologies. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I found only a few gems amongst the stories in this edition. I buy these when I am not able to find a book I want. It sort of fills in while I shop. They keep me entertained and I often find an author I want to read more of. This volume was weak in that area. Hard to find locally, love Amazon for book purchases. We have 2 horror short story readers in the family, so this makes a great gift twice. We then take them to the local used book store for credit or cash.

I really enjoy short horror anthologies, however the complaint I have about this book is that the first 78 pages consist of a nonsense essay called Horror in The last 89 pages or so are a necrology of writers and artists that died that year. I really didn't care for either. The stories were good, but I think i will avoid any others in this series because these two things seem to be a regular feature. See all 8 reviews. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime.

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