Customer Reviews

Best New Horror (Mammoth Book of Best New Horror)

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4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Except for the two stories by Chico Kidd (They had been my introduction to her work, but thereafter I had to search for more and came across the top-notch Summoning Knells and Other Inventions) and one extraordinary erotic fever dream by Graham Joyce, the rest are trash, being a goulash of gore, sex, mysticism and attempted humour. It is evident from this fare that Stephen Jones has been losing his touch for quite some time now, and the throne rightfully belongs to Ellen Datlow.

Not strong and fast paced enough for me. I like quick stories that flow and catch your attention! Definitely more slow, perhaps "spooky" but not quite horror stories. If you can get it cheap, grab it for a few of the stories, but the editor didnt seem to be interested in keeping the readers attention so I wouldnt pay much more than a few dollars for this one. I have over 300 anthologies and didnt bother keeping this one.

The collection of stories in this anthology are pitiful not horrific. This book opens with 90 pages of an intro that provides a chronology of "events" for the genre for the year. An absolute waste of paper and ink. Neither interesting nor relevant to a good horror story. Finally the book opens with the first of "The Best New Horror", a triffling werewolf story that left me wanting. Better stories are told by 6-year olds. But I had faith and kept reading and was further disappointed by the quality of the stories that followed. Don't waste your time, your money or your shelf space. This book is not worth any of them.

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.