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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Year's Best First Annual Collection by Book Anniversary: The Year’s Best Fantasy First Annual Collection. By Cat Eldridge: In honor of Ellen Datlow sharing the cover for Best Horror of the Year , Volume Twelve, let’s note that the first volume in what would be the long-running award-winning Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror anthology series was published in August of 1988. It wasn’t called that but was titled The Year’s Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection . Cover art here as it was for all twenty-one volumes is by Tom Canty. It was edited by her and as it would be for the next sixteen years until Gavin J. Grant and would take over for Windling for the last five volumes. As a reviewer would note of a later volume, “…the essays at the beginning are fascinating: Summation of Fantasy 1993 by Windling; Summation of Horror 1993 by Datlow; Comics by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull; Horror and Fantasy in the Media by .” I don’t remember if the first volume had the summations but I’ll ask Ellen. (Some hours later and after a long email conversation of fiction, living spaces and dark chocolate.) Yes, she says that they’ve had the summations. Oh, the authors you ask. Just look at the cover below. It’s a fair representation of the writers found in the series but I couldn’t summarize the diversity of those whose writings are here as Datlow and Windling over their sixteen volumes would find writers and fiction of an amazing breadth, often delving into literary publications for these works that were delightfully obscure. and are here, but so are Natalie Babbit, author of Tuck Everlasting , and Kathryn Ptacek, later winner of two Stokers, who I’d never heard at that point but who turned out to be delightful writers. Did I mention there’s a Alan Moore Liavek novella here? The first volume won a for Best Anthology and the series would eventually win a total of three World Fantasy Awards and a Stoker. You won’t find them being offered up in digital form as the packager has said in an email to me when I asked if that was planned that they didn’t secure digital rights when the original author contracts were done. A hallowed series was off to a very fine start. If you’ve not read it, the trade paper edition can be had rather reasonably. Share this: 1 thought on “ Book Anniversary: The Year’s Best Fantasy First Annual Collection ” Ed Bryant’s column was always interesting and fun, but he had the odd habit of only occasionally keeping production companies straight from broadcast networks–he consistently referred to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER as a Fox series, as opposed to the presentation of the WB network and then UPN, at least in the US. While with most other series, he would attribute them to their broadcast homes, or equivalent. That bit of trivia didn’t ever keep the volumes from being excellent surveys of the fantasy and horror fields, and I miss them, even if Ellen’s current series allows her an excellent Whole Book to devoted to horror each year. Missing ’s and Ed Gorman’s companion BOTYs from the Tor nexus is a sadder thought, of course. from the LOCUS INDEX: xiii · Summation 1987: Fantasy · Terri Windling · ar xx · Summation 1987: Horror · Ellen Datlow · ar xxix · Horror and Fantasy on the Screen · Edward Bryant · ar xxxiv · Obituaries · Misc. · bg 1 · Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight · Ursula K. Le Guin · nv Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences, Capra Press, 1987 26 · A World Without Toys [“The House Under the Street”] · T. M. Wright · ss Upstate Oct 26 ’86 35 · DX · Joe W. Haldeman · pm In the Field of Fire, ed. Jeanne Van Buren Dann & Jack M. Dann, Tor, 1987 43 · Friend’s Best Man · · ss F&SF Jan ’87 59 · The Snow Apples · · ss Tales from the Forbidden Planet, ed. Roz Kaveney, Titan, 1987 71 · Ever After · Susan Palwick · nv IASFM Nov ’87 91 · My Name Is Dolly · William F. Nolan · ss Whispers VI, ed. Stuart David Schiff, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1987 95 · The Moon’s Revenge · Joan Aiken · ss London: Cape, 1987 105 · Author’s Notes · Edward Bryant · ss Night Visions 4, ed. Anon., Arlington Heights, IL: Dark Harvest, 1987 112 · Lake George in High August · John Robert Bensink · ss Masques #2, ed. J. N. Williamson, 1987 117 · Csucskari [from The Sun, The Moon, and the Stars] · Steven Brust · ex : Ace, 1987 135 · The Other Side · · ss Program Book, 1986; story based on a J.K. Potter illustration. 146 · Pamela’s Get · David J. Schow · nv Twilight Zone Aug ’87 168 · Voices in the Wind · Elizabeth S. Helfman · ss Spaceships & Spells, ed. Jane Yolen, Martin H. Greenberg & Charles G. Waugh, Harper & Row, 1987 176 · Once Upon a Time, She Said · Jane Yolen · pm National Storyteller Journal Spr ’87 178 · The Circular Library of Stones · · ss Omni Feb ’87 187 · Soft Monkey · Harlan Ellison · ss Mystery Scene Reader #1, ed. Ed Gorman, Fedora, 1987 200 · Fat Face · · nv Axolotl Press: Eugene, OR, 1987 222 · Uncle Dobbin’s Parrot Fair [Newford] · · nv IASFM Nov ’87 244 · The Pear-Shaped Man · George R. R. Martin · nv Omni Oct ’87 269 · Delta Sly Honey · · ss In the Field of Fire, ed. Jeanne Van Buren Dann & Jack M. Dann, Tor, 1987 285 · Small Heirlooms · M. John Harrison · ss Other Edens, ed. Christopher Evans & , London: Unwin, 1987 296 · The Improper Princess · Patricia C. Wrede · ss Spaceships & Spells, ed. Jane Yolen, Martin H. Greenberg & Charles G. Waugh, Harper & Row, 1987 307 · The Fable of the Farmer and Fox · John Brunner · vi Omni Jun ’87 310 · Haunted · · nv , ed. & Peter D. Pautz, Arbor House, 1987 327 · Dead Possums · Kathryn Ptacek · ss Doom City, ed. Charles L. Grant, Tor, 1987 338 · Pictures Made of Stones · Lucius Shepard · pm Omni Sep ’87 348 · Splatter: A Cautionary Tale · Douglas E. Winter · ss Masques #2, ed. J. N. Williamson, 1987 357 · Gentlemen · John M. Skipp & Craig Spector · nv The Architecture of Fear, ed. Kathryn Cramer & Peter D. Pautz, Arbor House, 1987 380 · Demon Luck [Ithkar] · Craig Shaw Gardner · ss Magic in Ithkar #4, ed. Andre Norton & Robert Adams, Tor, 1987 389 · Words of Power · Jane Yolen · ss Visions, Delacorte, 1987 401 · Jamie’s Grave · Lisa Tuttle · ss #10, ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1987 415 · The Maid on the Shore · Delia Sherman · ss F&SF Oct ’87 428 · Halley’s Passing · Michael McDowell · ss Twilight Zone Jun ’87 443 · White Trains · Lucius Shepard · pm Night Cry Spr ’87 449 · Simple Sentences · Natalie Babbitt · ss The Devil’s Other Scrapbook, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1987 453 · A Hypothetical Lizard [Liavek] · Alan Moore · nv Liavek: Wizard’s Row, ed. Will Shetterly & Emma Bull, Ace, 1987 488 · Honorable Mentions: 1987 · Misc. · bi. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow. World Fantasy Award Winners. Novel: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip. Short Fiction: "Pages from a Young Girl's Journal" by . Collection/Anthology: by . Novel: by . Short Fiction: "Belsen Express" by . Collection/Anthology: The Enquiries of Doctor Esterhazy by . Novel: Doctor Rat by . Short Fiction: "There's a Long Long Trail A-Winding" by . Collection/Anthology: Frights edited by Kirby McCauley. Novel: by Fritz Leiber. Short Fiction: "The Chimney" by Ramsey Campbell. Collection/Anthology: Murgunstrumm and Others by Hugh Cave. Novel: by . Short Fiction: "Naples" by Avram Davidson. Collection/Anthology: Shadows edited by Charles L. Grant. Novel: Watchtowe r by Elizabeth A. Lynn. Short Fiction: "Mackintosh Willy" by Ramsey Campbell tied with "The Woman Who Loved the Moon" by Elizabeth A. Lynn. Collection/Anthology: Amazons edited by . Novel: The Shadow of the Torturer by . Short Fiction: "The Ugly Chickens" by . Collection/Anthology: edited by Kirby McCauley. Novel: Little, Big by . Novella: "" by . Short Fiction: "The Dark Country" by tied with "Do the Dead Sing?" by By . Collection/Anthology: Elsewhere edited by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold. Novel: Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea. Novella: "Confess the Seasons" by Charles L. Grant tied with "Beyond Any Measure" by . Short Fiction: "The Gorgon" by . Collection/Anthology: Nightmare Seasons by Charles L. Grant. Novel: by John M. Ford. Novella: Black Air by . Short Fiction: "Elle Est Trois (La Mort)" by Tanith Lee. Collection/Anthology: High Spirits by . Novel: by Robert Holdstock tied with by Barry Hughart. Novbella: The Unconquered Country by Geoffrey Ryman. Short Fiction: "Still Life with Scorpion" by tied with "The Bones Wizard" by Alan Ryan. Collection/Anthology: 's Volumes I, II, III by Clive Barker. Novel: Song of Kali by . Novella: "Nadleman's God" by T.E.D. Klein. Short Fiction: "Paper Dragons" by James P. Blaylock. Collection/Anthology: Imaginary Lands edited by Robin McKinley. Novel: by Patrick Suskind. Novella: "Hatrack River" by . Short Fiction: "Red Light" by David J. Schow. Collection/Anthology: Tales of the Quintana Roo by James Tiptree Jr. Novel: by . Novella: "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight? " By Ursula K. Le Guin. Short Fiction: "Friend's Best Man" by Jonathan Carroll. Collection/Anthology: The Architecture of Fear edited by Kathryn Cramer and Peter D. Pautz tied with Dark Descent edited by David G. Hartwell. Novel: by . Novella: "The Skin Trade" by George R.R. Martin. Short Fiction: "Winter Solstice, Camelot Station" by John M. Ford. Collection/Anthology: The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Novel: Lyonesse: Madouc by . Novella: "Great Work of Time" by John Crowley. Short Fiction: "The Illusionist" by . Collection/Anthology: The Year's Best Fantasy: Second Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Novel: by James Morrow tied with Thomas the Rhymer by . Novella: "Bones " by . Short Fiction: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by and . Collection: The Start of the End of It All and Other Stories by Carol Emshwiller. Anthology: Best New Horror edited by and Ramsey Campbell. Novel: Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon. Novella: "The Ragthorn" by Robert Holdstock and . Short Fiction: "The Somewhere Doors" by . Collection: The Ends of the Earth by Lucius Shepard. Anthology: The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror: Fourth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Novel: by . Novella: "The Ghost Village" by Peter Straub. Short Fiction: "This Year's Class Picture" by Dan Simmons tied with "" by . Collection: The Sons of Noah and Other Stories by . Anthology: Metahorror edited by Dennis Etchison. Novel: Glimpses by . Novella: "Under the Crust" by Terry Lamsley. Short Fiction: "The Lodger" by Fred Chappell. Collection: Alone with the Horrors by Ramsey Campbell. Anthology: 4 edited by , Amy Stout, and Betsy Mitchell. Novel: Towing Jehovah by James Morrow. Novella: "Last Summer at Mars Hill"by . Short Fiction: "The Man in the Black Suit" by Stephen King. Collection: The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians and A Conflagration Artist both by . Anthology: Little Deaths edited by Ellen Datlow. Novel: by Christopher Priest. Novella: "Radio Waves"by . Short Fiction: "The Grass Princess" by Gwyneth Jones. Collection: Seven Tales and a Fable by Gwyneth Jones. Anthology: The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women edited by Susan Williams and Richard Glyn Jones. Novel: Godmother Night by . Novella: "" by . Short Fiction: "Thirteen Phantasms" by James P. Blaylock. Collection: The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye by . Anthology: Starlight 1 edited by . Novel: The Physiognomy by . Novella: "Streetcar Dreams" by . Short Fiction: "Dust Motes" by P.D. Cacek. Collection: The Throne of Bones by Brian McNaughton. Anthology: : Fantasy edited by and Stephen Pagel. Novel: The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdich. Novella: "The Summer Isles" by Ian R. McLeod. Short Fiction: "The Specialist's Hat" by Kelly Link. Collection: Black Glass by . Anthology: Dreaming Down-Under edited by and . Novel: by Martin Scott. Novella: "The Transformation of Martin Lake" by Jeff VanderMeer tied with "Sky Eyes" by . Short Fiction: "The Chop Girl" by Ian R. McLeod. Collection: Moonlight and Vines by Charles De Lint tied with Reave the Just and Other Tales by Stephen R. Donaldson. Anthology: Silver Birch, Blood Moon edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Novel: by Tim Powers tied with Galveston by . Novella: "The Man on the Ceilin g" by and . Short Fiction: "The Pottawatomie Giant" by . Collection: Beluthahatchie and Other Stories by Andy Duncan. Anthology: Dark Matter edited by Sheree R. Thomas. Novel: by Ursula K. Le Guin. Novella: "The Bird Catcher" by S.P. Somtow. Short Fiction: "Queen for a Day" by Albert E. Cowdrey. Collection: by . Anthology: edited by Dennis Etchison. Novel: The Facts of Life by tied with Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip. Novella: "The Library" by Zoram Zivkovic. Short Fiction: "Creation" by Jeffrey Ford. Collection: The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford. Anthology: The Green Man edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling tied with Leviathan 3 edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Forrest Aguirre. Novel: by . Novella: "A Crowd of Bone" by . Short Story: "Don Ysidro" by . Collection: Bibliomancy by Elizabeth Hand. Anthology: Strange Tales edited by . Novel: Jonathan Strange and Mrs. Norrell by . Novella: "The Growlimb" by Michael Shea. Short Story: "" by . Collection: by Margo Lanagan. Anthology: Acquainted with the Night edited by Barbara & Christopher Roden tied with Dark Matter: Reading the Bones edited by. Sheree R. Thomas. Novel: by . Novella: "Voluntary Committal" by . Short Story: "CommComm" by . Collection: The Keyhole Opera by Bruce Holland Rogers. Anthology: edited by . Novel: by Gene Wolfe. Novelette: "Botch Town" by Jeffrey Ford. Short Story: "Journey into the Kingdom" by M. Rickert. Collection: Map of Dreams by M. Rickert. Anthology: edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow. A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, will bring together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson. Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Cassandra Khaw, Karen Heuler, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, Laird Barron, M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, and Genevieve Valentine. The full collection includes: Funeral Birds by M. Rickert For Sale By Owner by Elizabeth Hand In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There by Seanan McGuire A Hundred Miles and a Mile by Carmen Maria Machado Quiet Dead Things by Cassandra Khaw Something Like Living Creatures by John Langan Money of the Dead by Karen Heuler Hag by Benjamin Percy Take Me, I Am Free by Joyce Carol Oates A Trip to Paris by Richard Kadrey The Party by Paul Tremblay Refinery Road by Stephen Graham Jones The Door in the Fence by Jeffrey Ford ​ Pear of Anguish by Gemma Files Special Meal by Josh Malerman Sooner or Later, Your Wife Will Drive Home by Genevieve Valentine Tiptoe by Laird Barron Skinder’s Veil by Kelly Link. purchase a copy here. ABOUT ELLEN DATLOW. Ellen Datlow has been editing , fantasy, and horror short fiction for over thirty-five years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION . She currently acquires short fiction for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited more than a hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year, Lovecraft’s Monsters, Fearful Symmetries, The Doll Collection,, The Monstrous, Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror , Black Feathers, Haunted Nights (with Lisa Morton), and Mad Hatters and March Hares (stories inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There ). Forthcoming are The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea , Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories , and The Best of the Best (covering the first Ten volumes of the Best Horror of the Year series). She’s won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for “outstanding contribution to the genre,” was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: 20th Annual Collection (2007) by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Gavin J. Grant (Editor), Kelly Link (Editor) Other authors: Nathalie Anderson (Contributor), Lee Battersby (Contributor), Jeanne Marie Beaumont (Contributor), Josh Bell (Contributor), Edward Bryant (Foreword) — 37 more , Simon Clark (Contributor), Charles de Lint (Foreword), Paul Di Filippo (Contributor), Terry Dowling (Contributor), Jeffrey Ford (Contributor), Ben Fountain (Contributor), James Frenkel (Foreword), Jeannine Hall Gailey (Contributor), Stephen Gallagher (Contributor), Frances Hardinge (Contributor), Christopher Harman (Contributor), Glen Hirshberg (Contributor), William Hope Hodgson (Contributor), Nik Houser (Contributor), Stephen Graham Jones (Contributor), Minsoo Kang (Contributor), (Contributor), Margo Lanagan (Contributor), Sarah Monette (Contributor), Scott Nicholson (Contributor), Joyce Carol Oates (Contributor), Tim Pratt (Contributor), M. Rickert (Contributor), Benjamin Rosenbaum (Contributor), Christopher Rowe (Contributor), Nicholas Royle (Contributor), (Contributor), Brett Alexander Savory (Contributor), John Schoffstall (Contributor), Ira Sher (Contributor), Delia Sherman (Contributor), Jeff VanderMeer (Foreword), Stephen Volk (Contributor), Kaaron Warren (Contributor), Ysabeau S. Wilce (Contributor), Caleb Wilson (Contributor), Gene Wolfe (Contributor) Other authors: See the other authors section. Series: Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (20) Recently added by leennnadine, kelseyporritt, libiris, kayohgee, KatherineWalker, Ashardin, cns1000, fred_mouse, parasolofdoom. Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A collection of the best fantasy and horror short fiction published in 2006. I always enjoy these anthologies, and this one was no exception. The stories are both literary and entertaining, and there's a good mix of styles. As is usually the case, however, I found that the fantasy selections were strongly weighted in favour of contemporary and/or urban stories, with a few historical pieces thrown in. Are there really so few authors doing good work with traditional fantasy? The few traditional selections were not, to my mind, all that they could have been. They mostly employed dense, difficult language that forced me out of the story as I decoded the author's meaning. While I found most of the stories enjoyable and thought-provoking while I was reading them, very few jumped out at me this time around. The sole exception was "The Lineaments of Gratified Desire" by Ysabeau S. Wilce. Oddly enough, the story uses the dense, difficult language I mentioned above, but the author makes it work for her. Instead of shunting me out of the story, it forced me further in and kept me involved. The story itself is rather gruesome and cruel, filled as it is with characters who navigate via a very different sort of moral compass, but I found myself utterly entranced by the worldbuilding. I absolutely loved it, and have since sought out more of Wilce's work. She's fantastic. I definitely recommend the collection as a whole to those who like short fiction. I didn't feel that it was as strong as previous entries in the series, but it was still most definitely worthwhile. ( ) (Amy) Yes, I'm a year behind, but see elsewhere for the laments about books getting lost in the stacks around here. Anyway. I used to be a real devotee of the YBFH series, and for a while was obsessively collecting back issues. Then I stopped reading it at all for a few years (my poverty relapse, that was), and then forgot about it, and with one thing and another this is the first I've read since the one published in 2002, and therefore the first I've read without Terri Windling. What I always liked best about the series was the Summation sections at the front, which I would read with pen and paper ready to hand, noting down anything that seemed interesting that I had missed. Well, this year, that was a great big zero. In the years since 2001, I have apparently got much better at keeping track of the year's output on my own, because I'd heard of almost all of it, and just about everything that sounded interesting I had in fact already read. So that was disappointing. (I'm not sure why, though - goodness knows anything that makes me put more books on my to-buy list would be a mixed blessing!) Also disappointing were the stories themselves. Caveat: I'm not a fan of horror in general (though some horrific fantasy is enjoyable), so in reading these anthologies I've always approached those stories introduced by Ellen Datlow with a bit of hesitation. In this instance, though, an awful lot of the K.L./G.G. stories were highly creepifying in their own right, so by halfway through I was a little uneasy whenever starting a new story. I actively enjoyed five of the nearly 40 stories, of which one I had read previously. The number to which I actively objected was smaller - two or three, maybe - but still, that leaves over 30 stories which left little or no impression, which is still not a terribly good ratio. I don't regret having read it - a couple of those stories I liked were good enough to make up for the rest, particularly "In the House of the Seven Librarians" - but I'd be reluctant to go out of my way to pick up any more. I might end up buying the one published last year, but then again, I might not. And since there won't be one this year, I have to wonder if I am not alone in this reaction. (http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/zenos- library/2009/01/the_years_best_fantasy_. ) ( ) My favorite thing about this series is the annual wrap-up the editors do for fantasy and horror the previous year. It's a great way to catch up on any good books I might have missed over the year and I've often gone back to pick up a recommendation or two. In spite of the usefulness of the summaries, the point of the book is to present the best short fiction of the year in horror and fantasy. On the horror side, the stories are excellent, and I generally enjoy them. In most years, though, I find the fantasy selections unsatisfying. The stories lean to the modern fantasy and magical realism side rather than more traditional forms of fantasy. I haven't decided if this lack is due to the editors' taste or a limitation of the catalog available for selection. It's hard for me to believe nobody's writing any stories like Fritz Lieber used to. The current volume is worth a flip-through, for the annual summary if nothing else. ( ) The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: First Annual Collection (1988) by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Editor) Other authors: Joan Aiken (Contributor), Natalie Babbitt (Contributor), John Robert Bensink (Contributor), John Brunner (Contributor), Steven Brust (Contributor) — 30 more , Edward Bryant (Contributor), Ramsey Campbell (Contributor), Jonathan Carroll (Contributor), Charles de Lint (Contributor), Harlan Ellison (Contributor), Carol Emshwiller (Contributor), Craig Shaw Gardner (Contributor), Joe Haldeman (Contributor), M. John Harrison (Contributor), Elizabeth S. Helfman (Contributor), Gwyneth Jones (Contributor), Ursula K. Le Guin (Contributor), George R. R. Martin (Contributor), Michael McDowell (Contributor), Alan Moore (Contributor), William F. Nolan (Contributor), Joyce Carol Oates (Contributor), Susan Palwick (Contributor), Kathryn Ptacek (Contributor), David J. Schow (Contributor), Michael Shea (Contributor), Lucius Shepard (Contributor), Delia Sherman (Contributor), John Skipp (Contributor), Craig Spector (Contributor), Lisa Tuttle (Contributor), Douglas E. Winter (Contributor), Patricia Wrede (Contributor), T.M. Wright (Contributor), Jane Yolen (Contributor) Other authors: See the other authors section. Series: Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (1) Recently added by Laurel17, JohnB12, belmbooks, Dustructo, ProfWhite, BORG_club, TomWeiss, Faustus61, hullbass, Gurdrewhousehold. Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. My favourite of the fantasy tales was "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight", while there were some very unnerving horror stories, with the scariest being "The Pear-Shaped Man", and "Halley's Passing". The ending of "The Pear-Shaped Man" was a bit confusing, but I think that the Pear-Shaped Man was a psychic vampire who is never satisfied by his prey and feels that they have taken as much from him as he has taken from them. "Halley's Passing" was about another kind of vampire and the ending made it even more frightening than it had been up to that point. A very varied selection of stories. ( ) The very first YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR anthology. (The name was changed from the third volume on). I found it difficult not to compare this first volume to the later editions. While this early volume does have much in common with the later collections, there are some notable differences. The summations, for one, are much shorter, and there are only four of them: Fantasy, Horror, Fantasy and Horror in the Media, and Obituaries. (Later volumes also include essays on comics and graphic novels, manga and anime, and music). The fantasy focus is also rather different. While later collections are heavily weighted towards magical realism and contemporary fantasy, this first volume contains a surprising number of imaginary world stories and retold fairy tales. Quality-wise, though, there's not much difference between this and the later collections. The stories are thought-provoking and beautifully written, as always. Even when a story didn't particularly grab me, I could appreciate the author's grasp of the craft. Many of these authors also often manage to broaden our concept of genre. If you're looking for fantasy or horror with a more literary bent, you really ought to grab a YBF&H. There are some real gems herein, too. My personal favourites were: "DX" by Joe Haldeman; "The Snow Apple" by Gwyneth Jones; "Ever After" by Susan Palwick; "The Moon's Revenge" by Joan Aiken; "The Improper Princess" by Patricia C. Wrede; and "Halley's Passing" by Michael McDowell. And then there's "The Hypothetical Lizard" by Alan Moore, which is by far the best of a very good bunch. Even if every other story had been tripe, I'd keep the anthology around for this piece alone. It's a harsh, brutal story and I doubt I could return to it any time soon, but I am so glad I read it. I highly recommend this collection, and the series as a whole. If you're looking for some good short fiction, this'd be a great place to start. (A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )