The Very Best of Best New Horror ed by Stephen Jones - hardcvr
Introduction by Ramsey Campbell.
Cover art by Edward Miller.
For the past twenty years, the annual Best New Horror series has been the major showcase for superior short stories and novellas of horror and dark fantasy. Edited by Stephen Jones, the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award-winning series has published more than 450 stories by around 200 of the genre's most famous and acclaimed authors, as well as those newcomers who are just starting out on their careers. To celebrate the anthology's twentieth anniversary, the editor has selected from each volume one story that he considers to be the "best" for reasons explained in his historical introduction to each tale. As a result, some of horror's biggest names are represented, including Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Harlan Ellison, Brian Lumley and Neil Gaiman, along with newer writers such as Joe Hill, Glen Hirshberg, Mark Samuels and Terry Lamsley. With a unique Introduction by Ramsey Campbell, and an indispensable Index detailing the entire contents of the series over all twenty volumes, The Very Best of Best New Horror is a tribute to the world's premier annual anthology of contemporary horror fiction.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
| EDITOR'S FOREWORD | Stephen Jones |
| INTRODUCTION: BETTERING THE BEST | Ramsey Campbell |
| NO SHARKS IN THE MED | Brian Lumley |
| THE MAN WHO DREW CATS | Michael Marshall Smith |
| THE SAME IN ANY LANGUAGE | Ramsey Campbell |
| NORMAN WISDOM AND THE ANGEL OF DEATH | Christopher Fowler |
| MEFISTO IN ONYX | Harlan Ellison |
| THE TEMPTATION OF DR STEIN | Paul J. McAuley |
| QUEEN OF KNIVES | Neil Gaiman |
| THE BREAK | Terry Lamsley |
| EMPTINESS SPOKE ELOQUENT | Caitlín R Kiernan |
| MR. CLUBB AND MR. CUFF | Peter Straub |
| WHITE | Tim Lebbon |
| THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT: ANNO DRACULA, 1981 | Kim Newman |
| CLEOPATRA BRIMSTONE | Elizabeth Hand |
| 20TH CENTURY GHOST | Joe Hill |
| THE WHITE HANDS | Mark Samuels |
| MY DEATH | Lisa Tuttle |
| HAECKEL'S TALE | Clive Barker |
| DEVIL'S SMILE | Glen Hirshberg |
| THE CHURCH ON THE ISLAND | Simon Kurt Unsworth |
| THE NEW YORK TIMES AT SPECIAL BARGAIN RATES | Stephen King |
| INDEX TO TWENTY YEARS OF BEST NEW HORROR |