“Fears is modern horror fiction at its finest.”
—Vogue Horror

“Ellen Datlow has long ago earned her place as the premier anthologist of fantasy and horror. Appearing in one of her unique volumes is recognized as a significant honor, and Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror is no different.”
—Joe R. Lansdale, author of In the Mad Mountains

 “For decades, Ellen Datlow has set the bar. One of the most influential editors in the history of genre fiction, the gold standard of anthologists, and the ultimate tastemaker for Horror stories. Datlow’s career and reputation are entirely unique—there’s only one Ellen.”
—Christopher Golden, author of Ararat

“Datlow’s latest themed anthology gathers 21 stories, all reprints that have previously appeared across the publishing landscape since 2000 (except for one, the penultimate story by the late Charles Birkin, which was originally published in 1964). Together, these tales illustrate the evolution of the psychological horror subgenre, moving these stories out of the hands of narrators with severe mental illness and into spaces where the fear can seep in from anywhere and anyone—a dinner party, your own family, random encounters, vacation. Things are clearly not as they seem, and the monsters are more human than anyone wants to admit. The anthology has plenty of big names to draw readers in, from Josh Malerman to Joyce Carol Oates to Stephen Graham Jones (whose previously out-of-print story, ‘Teeth,’ which closes the volume, is a worthy draw here in and of itself). But Datlow has racked up the awards because she is able to identify excellent stories from authors that readers may be less familiar with; here, she includes the intense, atmospheric unease of an overburdened caregiver in Priya Sharma’s ‘My Mother’s Ghost,’ the reality of a young girl’s father terrifyingly unveiled by Hailey Piper in ‘Unkindly Girls,’ and the existentially unsettling ‘Cavity’ by Theresa DeLucci, which lists the 32 times the main character has met a murderer, including her own. This collection is not for the faint of heart, but there are legions of fans of both psychological suspense and horror, meaning there is a built-in audience that will be eager to get their hands on this book. It also pairs well with the Bram Stoker Award–nominated Dark Matter Presents Human Monsters (2022), edited by Sadie Hartmann and Ashley Sawyers, in which Malerman’s story first appeared.”
—Booklist

“Ellen Datlow has a supernatural talent for assembling fantastic stories into must-read anthologies, and Fears is another extraordinary example of that talent. There are no ghosts here, no monsters. Just some of the most terrifying people you’re likely to meet. Fears is filled with deeply unsettling stories of psychological horror that will continue to haunt you long after the book is closed.”
—Josh Rountree, author of The Legend of Charlie Fish

“Ellen Datlow has expertly gathered stories that surprise by enticing us down one path and then morph, unexpectedly, into a deeper level of anxiety and dread. Here we discover the most creative creatures of terror are human beings, who wear masks of normality to hide monstrous desires and actions. Each author skillfully finds different ways to lead us one step deeper into their flavor of mental, emotional, psychological horror.”
—Linda D. Addison, author of How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend

“Ellen Datlow, literature’s mistress of darkness, has an unflinching eye for the glorious and the grotesque and an unerring ear for the voices that define and illuminate our genre. With Fears, the latest addition to her already remarkable bibliography, she proves yet again that she is one of the premier anthologists of her—or any other—generation.”
—Pete Atkins, author of Hellraiser: Bloodline

“There are a lot of great editors that play in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror sandbox. But are any of them as consistently brilliant at crafting genre anthologies, as consistently brilliant at attracting the very best authors and building drool-worthy tables of contents, as Ellen Datlow? No. She’s the very best, as Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror amply demonstrates.”
—Dave Writes and Draws