The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror

October 15, 2020
Twenty-five tales of murder, revenge, monstrous creatures, and a love story or two are included in this anthology. Guran's introduction states the stories were not chosen with any theme in mind but there is a pervasive thread of loss here: of life, of family, of self, of the world as it was. In Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart by Sam J. Miller, a New York City cabbie receives a piece of Kong from an embittered Ann Darrow, the woman who cared for the Eighth Wonder of the World. Ken Liu's Thoughts and Prayers spotlights a grieving mother's attempts to change attitudes toward gun violence through social media. In Nghi Vo's Boiled Bones and Back Eggs, an innkeeper and her niece, who serve both the living and the dead, have their lives disrupted when a vainglorious ghost comes to stay. Theodora Goss reflects on a classic fairy tale in Conversations With the Sea Witch, while Maria Dahvana Headley presents a lyrical ode to the magic of knowledge and those determined to preserve it in Read After Burning. Fans of dark storytelling will be delighted.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)