Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is among the most famous literary figures of all time. For more than a hundred years, his adventures have stood as imperishable monuments to the ability of human reason to penetrate every mystery, solve every puzzle, and punish every crime. For nearly as long, the macabre tales of H. P. Lovecraft have haunted readers with their nightmarish glimpses into realms of cosmic chaos and undying evil. But what would happen if Conan Doyle’s peerless detective and his allies were to find themselves faced with mysteries whose solutions lay not only beyond the grasp of logic, but of sanity itself. In this collection of all-new, all-original tales, twenty of today’s most cutting edge writers provide their answers to that burning question

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” This statement was true when H. P. Lovecraft first wrote it at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it remains true at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The only thing that has changed is what is unknown. With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this “light” creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year, edited by Ellen Datlow, chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness, as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers. The best horror writers of today do the same thing that horror writers of a hundred years ago did. They tell good stories — stories that scare us. And when these writers tell really good stories that really scare us, Ellen Datlow notices. She’s been noticing for more than a quarter century. For twenty-one years, she coedited The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and for the last six years, she’s edited this series. In addition to this monumental cataloging of the best, she has edited hundreds of other horror anthologies and won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards. More than any other editor or critic, Ellen Datlow has charted the shadowy abyss of horror fiction. Join her on this journey into the dark parts of the human heart. either for the first time. or once again

Time and Tide wait for No Man… Television Director Sam Baker, along with his assistant Zita, is visiting an ancient Roman amphitheatre in England as a prelude to the staging of a televised rock concert. Without warning, the site is hit by lightning, and those within it realise that ‘today’ now seems to be ‘yesterday’. Suddenly, everyone is back in the amphitheatre, and it now seems to be a week ago. Then a year… then ten years… Those who die do not come back, but for everyone else, they are periodically returned to the Roman ruin exactly as they were when the lightning struck for the first time. Unable to prevent the time shifts and their helter-skelter fall back through the years, Sam and his new friends soon learn that it is only a matter of time before all realities merge, an event that will cost them their lives. ‘A powerful tale of human endeavour’ Shivers ‘His is surely the most outrageous imagination to grace horror since the discovery of Clive Barker.’ Hellnotes

The World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award-winning series. This latest edition of the world's premier annual showcase devoted exclusively to excellence in horror and dark fantasy fiction contains some of the very best short stories and novellas by today's finest exponents of horror fiction. Also featuring the most comprehensive yearly overview of horror around the world, lists of useful contact addresses and a fascinating necrology, this is the only book that should be required reading for every fan of dark fiction. Like all of the other volumes in this series, award-winning editor Stephen Jones once again brings us the best new horror, revisiting momentous events and chilling achievements on the dark side of fantasy in 2004. This book was nominated for the 2005 British Fantasy Award

An anthology of stories edited by Mike Ashley Marianne is an important fictional formulation of Sand's thinking on the role of women and the nature of democracy. This edition includes a long biographical preface which quotes extensively from her correspondences

Welcome To The Frightmare Lands… Imagination can be a terrible revenge when a storybook character takes on a life of his own…. Trick or treat suddenly takes on a whole new meaning for one doctor who has long been exercising his powers over life and death…. When two boys' existences and identities somehow become intertwined, is one the dreamer and the other a dream? She thought she'd found the ideal apartment until it began to take on an eerie life of its own…. These are just a few of the twenty-six dwelling places of terror you'll visit in…

TERRIFYING STORIES THAT WILL LEAVE YOU SHUDDERING AT EVERY BARELY GLIMPSED SHADOW— Once again, Karl Edward Wagner has dared to prowl where many fear to tread, seeking out the finest tales of terror by such masters of malice and mayhem as Ramsey Campbell and Ed Gorman—haunting and harrowing legends calculated to strike fear in the hearts of even the most stalwart readers. A photographer whose obsession with images may bring to life trouble beyond his wildest fantasies…. A couple caught up in an ancient ritual that offers the promise of unending health, but at a price that may prove far too high…. A woman whose memory may be failing her with the passing years—or for a far more unnatural reason…. These are just three of the provocative, imagination-grasping stories included in this year’s ghoulish gallery

“…THE JUICIEST BLOODFEST, THE MOST IRONIC CONTE CRUEL, THE SUBTLEST EVOCATION OF WISPY HORROR.” Return, if you dare, to the dark realms of terror with intrepid guide Karl Edward Wagner as he once again seeks out the most fear-inspiring tales of the year. Cower in horror as Jack the Ripper reaches out from the grave to take bloody vengeance on a rock band… even as a “retired” serial killer experiences the perfect end to a perfect life… while an injured woman receives a blood transfusion only to find she has lost control of her will… and a garbage dump spawns a malignant new breed of life—or death… Join Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell, Wayne Allen Sallee, T.E.D. Klein, Lisa Tuttle, and their fellow masterminds of the macabre on this year’s unforgettable, chill-packed journey into the heart of the horrific! A kid’s camping supplies turn out to be not quite what the catalog advertised… A pulp writer’s imagination really gets the better of him… A suburban dog-run turns out to be an exercise in terror… A juror’s identification with a convicted murderer becomes more than simple sympathy…