The Best Horror of the Year Volume 2

By Ellen Datlow
Night Shade Books, $15.95, 306 pages

Plague, zombies, black magic, the unknown, darkness, monsters… The Best Horror of the Year Volume 2 hits a lot of the classic high notes of the genre, without feeling like any story is a retread or a pale copy.

Slow burn storytelling is the order of the day in Datlow’s latest collection of the macabre and the morbid. Virtually every story included is heavy on atmosphere, encouraging the reader to delve deeper, making you an accomplice in your own terror and unnerving – Just as it should be.

Please indulge me while I briefly summarize a few outstanding examples.

The End of Everything questions the definition of “monster,” by featuring a serial killer who is mysteriously immune to zombie attacks. What Happens When You Wake Up in the Night turns the idea of a child’s nightmare on its head, while Technicolor presents the horror story as meandering college lecture. The Lion’s Den tells the curious tale of a zoo haunted by a suicide that affects the animals in horrifying ways. I can honestly say I’ve never read a story quite like it.

With Ellen Datlow at the wheel, you simply can’t go wrong.

Reviewed by Glenn Dallas