The Best New Horror, Vol. 7

This book never made it to my door.

A 3.58 anthology, so over the 3.50 mark for a fantasy book is good. There's a reasonable length introduction and overview by the editor, and the usual list of people that have carked it at the end, of varying relevance to horror, etc. The clear standout story among some other good work is Terry Dowling's 'Scaring the Train'. Best New Horror 07 : Tirkiluk - Ian R. MacLeod Best New Horror 07 : The Most Boring Woman in the World - Christopher Fowler Best New Horror 07 : Extinctions in Paradise - Brian Hodge Best New Horror 07 : Food Man - Lisa Tuttle Best New Horror 07 : More Tomorrow - Michael Marshall Smith Best New Horror 07 : Going Under - Ramsey Campbell Best New Horror 07 : Survivor - Dave Smeds Best New Horror 07 : The Stones - Patrick Thompson Best New Horror 07 : Back of Beyond - Cherry Wilder Best New Horror 07 : A Hundred Wicked Little Witches - Steve Rasnic Tem Best New Horror 07 : The Finger of Halugra - Manly Wade Wellman Best New Horror 07 : The Toddler - Terry Lamsley Best New Horror 07 : Not Here Not Now - Stephen Gallagher Best New Horror 07 : The Bungalow House - Thomas Ligotti Best New Horror 07 : Cradle - Alan Brennert Best New Horror 07 : The Sixth Dog - Jane Rice Best New Horror 07 : Scaring the Train - Terry Dowling Best New Horror 07 : La Serenissima - David Sutton Best New Horror 07 : The Bars on Satan's Jailhouse - Norman Partridge Best New Horror 07 : The Bone-Carver's Tale - Jeff VanderMeer Best New Horror 07 : The True History of Doctor Pretorius - Paul J. McAuley Best New Horror 07 : The Grey Madonna - Graham Masterton Best New Horror 07 : Loop - Douglas E. Winter Best New Horror 07 : The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires - Brian Stableford Best New Horror 07 : Lacuna - Nicholas Royle Eskimo diary. 3 out of 5 Maybe I'll Black and Decker him. The kids, too. 3.5 out of 5 Rio street kid pack aide. 4 out of 5 Family dinner. 3.5 out of 5 ABE Penet partial p0rn picture. 4 out of 5 Phone flesh tide. 3.5 out of 5 Unicorn group tattoo. 4 out of 5 Crabbed him. 3 out of 5 Scary shooter. 3 out of 5 A lot less than that will do me in. 3 out of 5 Stone god cure can be crushing. 3.5 out of 5 Cooked kid later course. 3.5 out of 5 Hit and run. 3.5 out of 5 Audio tape dream disappointment. 3 out of 5 Water broken Blade-like baby bummer. 4 out of 5 Manimal mutts. 3.5 out of 5 Train pranksters nailed. 4 out of 5 Venice Underground double ploughing. 3.5 out of 5 Batboot anti-goblin smallfoot dark man. 3.5 out of 5 Armless art. 2.5 out of 5 A man who uncovers Pretorius' secret gets a Famous Monsters recitation and demonstration. 4 out of 5 Stone me, that was a nun. 4 out of 5 Perfect p0rno collection, beginning to ending. 4 out of 5 Wilde Wells Watson overman future. 3.5 out of 5 Sandgroper dunny, late. 3 out of 5 4.5 out of 5

Hey all, watch what you buy. This is the 2001 edition. The photos is edition 6 for 1995. By putting the wrong photo up, booksellers are confused. Check before you buy.

Ligotti's "Our Temporary Supervisor" is undoubtedly, along with "First, Catch Your Demon" story in this anthology. It has perhaps the most pessimistic backdrop of any story that I've ever read. It is Kafkaesque, surreal and exceedingly creepy. "First, Catch Your Demon" is about a half woman/half scorpion who seduces a man in a drugged out/mystical fashion? The story is written in a style that I've never seen the like of, perhaps only Nabokov or Bernhard.

Here is my personal favourites, notes and brief comentaries about them : Harvest - Norman Partridge - 8,5 - A little gem Sometimes in the Rain - Charles Grant - 10,0 - A moving and wonderful ghost story !! Dead Orchards - Ian R. Macleod - 10,00 - Beautiful piece of decadent writing, one of the best. The Temptation of Dr Stein - Paul J. Mackauley - 9,00 - Excellent historical mystery Waywang Kulit - Gary Killworth - 10,0 - By far the most original tale in this collection The Scent of Vinegar - Robert Bloch - 9,5 - Black humour in Bloch's manner, very funny. The Homecoming - Nicholas Royle - 9,5 - Mixes social realism with Cthulu Mythos The Singular Habits of Wasps - Geoffrey Landis - 9,0 - Excellent steampunk adventure featuring Sherlock Holmes and Watson. To Receive is Better - Michael Marshall Smith - 9,0 - Intense and depressing story about a mutiltaed boy. The Alchemy of Throat - Brian Hodge - 10,0 - Another wonderful piece of decadent writing

The name Stephen Jones is enough to make me pick up any anthology, and this is is another excellent addition to the best New Horror series. Every story in this collection reveals a different aspect of the continually growing "horror genre," yet none of them leave behind the essential elements of horror; in all cases, the writing is what most stands out. Jones has the admirable quality of discerning talent in a wide variety of practitioners; frankly I was getting bored with the proliferation of really bad erotic-horror and splatterpunk anthologies.Jones knows that writing matters, and every story in this book affirms horror writing as ranking with the finest writing anywhere