Horror: The Best of the Year, 2006 Edition (Horror the Best of the Year)

A good start by Lansdale, a fine, watery finish by Wilson, an atmospheric piece by Kiernan and some class work by Roden and Barron in the middle, along with Smith and Hill's evil supervillain. The others are decent or ok except the waste of paper piece of rubbish by VanderMeer. Expect the odd 2.5 or writer whose style I find generally boring like Ricket, but not dreck like that, in general.

Take that one out you have a 4.0 book rather than the 3.75 you find here, with a story average of 3.47.

A very brief intro and overview of sources of horror stories, and a bio paragraph for each author is included at the end.

Horror Best of the Year 2006 : The Shadows Kith and Kin - Joe R. Lansdale
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : The Souls of Drowning Mountain - Jack Cady
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : The Other Grace - Holly Phillips
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Sitting Tenant - Nicholas Royle
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : The Cape - Joe Hill
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : La Peau Verte (Green Skin) - Caitlin R. Kiernan
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : A Very Little Madness Goes a Long Way - M. Rickert
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : There's a Hole in the City - Richard Bowes
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Northwest Passage - Barbara Roden
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Proboscis - Laird Barron
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Haeckel's Tale - Clive Barker
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Lost - Jeff VanderMeer
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Unblinking - Ramsey Campbell
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Real People Slash - Nick Mamatas
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : Fair Exchange - Michael Marshall Smith
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : This Hand Waving - Simon Owens
Horror Best of the Year 2006 : The Call of Farther Shores - David Niall Wilson

Family campus postal warmup.

4 out of 5

Mine dead destruction.

3.5 out of 5

No memory, me.

3 out of 5

Not a live-in discovery.

3.5 out of 5

I am the bad guy.

4 out of 5

Naked stag destiny, sis, sorry.

4 out of 5

Crow street cull.

3 out of 5

Toasty ghosty.

3.5 out of 5

You don't know Jack about hills having eyes.

4 out of 5

Bounty hunter mound terror.

4 out of 5

Zombie orgy impregnation.

3.5 out of 5

Too mushy.

2 out of 5

Neighbour rivalry lesson.

3.5 out of 5

Control of socialist mi is go.

2.5 out of 5

Coral acquaintance swap stain.

4 out of 5

Dead not over.

3 out of 5

Chip off the old salty figurehead following block.

4 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/11... ( )

An enjoyable collection overall, although many of the stories seemed to be much more just fantasy rather than horror. The stories tend toward the thought-provoking without many that are actually frightening.

"The Shadows, Kith and Kin" - Joe Landsdale ***
A view inside the mind of a mass murderer. Interesting, but not really new.
"The Souls of Drowning Mountain" - Jack Cady **
The dead return to a mining town. I didn't get much out of this.
"The Other Grace" - Holly Phillips ***
A girl named Grace suddenly loses all memory of who she is.
"Sitting Tenant" - Nicholas Royle ***
A man makes a disturbing discovery about his new house.
"The Cape" - Joe Hill ****
A boy discovers that his superhero cape actually allows him to fly.
"La Peau Verte" - Caitlin Kiernan ***
Fairies
"A Very Little Madness Goes a Long Way" - M. Rickert ***
An evil force attacks an angel unaware of her powers.
"There's a Hole in the City" - Richard Bowes ****
9/11 brings ghosts of past tragedies back to New York.
"Northwest Passage" - Barbara Roden ****
An ancient force haunts an isolated section of woods.
"Proboscis" - Laird Barron **
Bizarre events near the Mima Mounds in Washington.
"Haeckel's Tale" - Clive Barker ****
A necromancer helps satisfy a woman with strange sexual tastes. Good gross-out story.
"Lost" - Jeff VanderMeer **
A man depressed over losing his wife travels to another world.
"Unblinking" - Ramsey Campbell ***
A professor becomes obsessed with his strange neighbor
"Real People Slash" - Nick Mamatas ***
A writer uncovers an alien conspiracy to take over the world.
"Fair Exchange" - Michael Marshall Smith ****
A thief finds a piece of stone that exerts a strange attraction on him. A good Cthulhu-related story.
"This Hand, Waving" - Simon Owens **
A father saves the hand of his dead son.
"The Call of Farther Shores" - David Niall Wilson ***
A bowsprit from an old ship holds the memories of a sailor's doomed love. ( )