Ellen Datlow (credit: THIS IS HORROR)

Brad K. Horner on his eponymous site loves Ellen Datlow’s forthcoming anthology NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR.

Since this hasn’t been released yet, I’m going to skip all the spoilerish stuff and the Story by Story gush or other reaction, and instead pick out some of my absolute favorites and otherwise tease some of the best ideas and themes for the rest, because I’m gonna be honest… the whole book of horror tales was rather fantastic. 

I mean, it should be. This was a cherry-picking of the last ten year’s best horror stories from some of the biggest non-stratospheric names in the business. Meaning it’s mostly underrated authors or authors that are up-and coming or are well on their way to becoming household names.

That being said, I was thoroughly creeped out, disturbed, amused, and even awed. Most of these did a very good job at keeping me on the edge of my seat, and some even managed to make me really squirm and and want to say, “Enough, enough” and a few made me want to go out and pick up everything that author has ever written and be thankful that this book let me in on the big secret of their existence. 🙂

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Now, just so you know, I loved almost all of these stories, and leaving some of these out actually kind of pains me. 🙂 I’m still anxious after reading this entire book. And that’s all because of the fantastic skills and the creepy dolls and the western zombies and the UF overdrive of hell infestations and good old fashioned roadtrip murder sprees. 🙂

Really, this one one hell of a fun ride. Anyone just looking for a good sampler or just a crazy good time could do FAR worse than this. 🙂

For UNNERVING MAGAZINE, Eddie Generous praises the book.

To describe this anthology collectively solid would be an understatement. Though not all tickled equally, all proved merit in garnering attention for a sampler of the traits befitting best horror fiction written in the last decade. Originality oozes from these tales (as does much blood, tears and cries) like flags risen in newly discovered dirt masses.

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The different shades of horror shared a quality of writing rarely met in a collection of shorts from such a variety of authors. Deep, rich scenery, multi-dimensional heroes and villains, scenes of strong atmosphere and believability, it is here and thick all over. The weirdness and newness of the voiced themes adds to the overall appeal in a way so rare it’s still bleeding.  

In her own words, editor Ellen Datlow is an enthusiast of horror and enough so that, though not declaring it a best of, can put together volumes of her favorite short horror fictions spanning a decade and present it as something just like that. Nightmares, horror reprinted for works originally published from 2005-2015 is of the highest quality of anthology available.

FOR THE LOVE OF WORDS included, without comment, NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR among their Ominous October selections of books they plan on reading this Halloween season.

Congratulations to Ellen for her book THE DOLL COLLECTION winning the British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.

For more info about NIGHTMARES: A NEW DECADE OF MODERN HORROR, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Nihil

Design by Elizabeth Story