Books like Best New Horror 21 (The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, #21)

Volume 21 of Best New Horror is a very solid entry in the long-running series. It’s structured, like all the rest, with a lengthy Introduction which focuses on all things (books, films, etc.) Horror for 2009, as well as an equally lengthy “Necrology” at the end of the book. The book is approximately 500 pages long, with 200 pages taken up by these two sections. This used to annoy me, and I know it still annoys many. I now find these sections useful, especially the Introductions. If you like Horror, these Introductions, if you take a long view, are great resources if you’re looking for older tiles and authors. One comment on this particular effort is that Jones seems uncharacteristically grumpy. Maybe it’s the massive changes rolling through the publishing industry, but whatever it is, I was surprised at Jones’ snarky swipe at fellow Horror anthologist Ellen Datlow. To some extent I believe they kind of complement each other. Jones tends to be very British, whereas Datlow shows a willingness (not always a good thing, given some of the examples I’ve read) to stretch the boundaries of genre. A few comments on the stories:1. Michael Kelly, “The Woods.” Meh. A really short piece that had me wondering if Jones was thinking of Flash Fiction (Don’t ask me about the definition, since I don’t know) when he included this piece. The author says that he wrote this piece, with Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants.” Whatever. It didn’t help the story.2. Stephen King & Joe Hill, “Throttle.” Pretty good story that uses Richard Matheson’s “Duel” as its inspiration. This time the “duel” is between a motorcycle gang and a trucker. This story is sneaky good in that (unlike the original) there is some identification with the trucker. One thing that hurt the story (for me) was the knowledge that King is a fan of the TV show, “Sons of Anarchy.” It was hard not to see some of the characters of the story as characters from the show.3. Babara Roden, “Out and Back.” A young couple exploring an abandoned amusement park. Roden does an outstanding job establishing atmosphere. However, I wasn’t crazy about the ending. Still, a good read.4. Ramsey Campbell, “Respects.” Couldn’t finish it. I’m a big fan of Campbell, but that doesn’t mean I like everything. If the story doesn’t click, reading him can be like swimming in extra chunky peanut butter. Two pages from this one did the trick.5. Simon Strantzas, “Cold to the Touch.” Lovecraftian story set in the Arctic. Global warming, God, and something in the ice. First time I’ve read this guy. Meh. It's been done before, and done better.6. M.R. James & Reggie Oliver, “The Game of Bear.” An unfinished James story, that is finished by Oliver. Oliver did a good job with it. I thought the ending in particular captured James’ ability to truly shock you.7. Chris Bell, “Shem-el-Nessim: An Inspiration in Perfume.” I hate the title, but I love the story. If you’re a fan of the original 1931 movie, The Mummy (the one with Karloff), then you should enjoy this story. Outstanding.8. Michael Marshall Smith, “What Happens When You Wake Up in the Night.” Why is this story in this collection? Filler, and that’s about it.9. Nicholas Royle, “The Reunion.” Disorienting tale that takes place at a college reunion. It’s well written, but left me cold.10. Simon Kurt Unsworth, “Mami Wata.” Great story that takes place at a mine in Africa. Something is scaring (and killing) the workers. I’ve now read 3 stories by Unsworth, all in different settings, showing wonderful range. He’s one of the new writers I now look for in anthologies. Outstanding.11. Richard Christian Matheson, “Venturi.” A story about the Malibu fires. I thought this was going to be filler, but found it to be pretty harrowing. Solid story. Well done.12. John Gaskin, “Party Talk.” A haunting story that reminded me of both M.R. James and Henry James (“Turn of the Screw”). This is evil stuff, and may well be the best pure Horror story in the collection. Outstanding.13. Terry Dowling, “Two Steps Down the Road.” A paranormal investigator comes to investigate a possible haunting in Vietnam. This one has style to burn. If you like Asian horror, then you should like this one. Outstanding – and Evil.14. Mark Valentine, “The Axholme Toll.” An evil book story, set on a remote island. This story is very reminiscent of M.R. James. It’s pretty good, but normally I like this sort of story much better than I actually did. Just a bit too dry. Still, I would like to read more from this author.15. Robert Shearman, “Granny’s Grinning.” A humorous story (I think) about zombies. I’m bored with zombies, so I skipped it. 16. Rosalie Parker, “In the Garden.” Well written, super short story. The problem with this one is that I knew, after a paragraph or so, how it would end.17. Stephen Volk, “After the Ape.” Best story in the collection. It’s not really a Horror tale (and I’m flexible on that), but more like dark fantasy. Whatever it is, it’s Outstanding. King Kong, the Aftermath, with Ann Darrow getting drunk while the big guy gets removed, piece by piece, down below. It’s 1933, but you can’t help but pick up on 9/11, the dangers of populism, and so much more. This story could of easily found its way into a an adventuresome literary magazine.18. Brian Lumley, “The Nonesuch.” Couldn’t finish it. And at 40 pages, that sort of sucks.19. Michael Kelly (again), “Princess of the Night.” Why is this in here? I can’t fathom why Jones feels this writer needs to bookend the stories. He just isn’t that good.Overall, 3 1/2 stars, rounded up because the good stuff was really good.