I’ve handed in everything to my editor but my summary for The Best Horror of The Year Volume Seventeen.
Congratulations, especially to the 13 (!) writers whose work has never previously been published in my YBFH or Best Horror of the year series.

Table of Contents

The Cleaner Victoria Dalpe
Summer Bonus Lee Murray
Like Furies Ephinany Ferrell
Body Worlds Tom Johnstone
An Act of Sorrow James Cooper
Fancy Dad David Nickle
Only Children Gemma Files
The Rock Statue Mark Falkin
In Flickering Light Dan Coxon
Davidson’s Son Charles Wilkinson
The Boy in the Closet Douglas Ford
Blessed Mary Stephen Volk
Mrs Crace Cliff McNish
A Lullaby of Anguish Marie Croke
Drive Brian Evenson
Archies Paul Tremblay
Sunk Richard Thomas
Less Exalted Tastes Gemma Amor
The Ribbon Rule Mae Jimenez
The Night Birds Premee Mohamed
Pages From a Diary Steve Kilbey
Broken Back Man Lucie McKnight Hardy
I Love the Very Flesh Off You Robert Shearman

From Ellen Datlow—“the venerable queen of horror anthologies” per the New York Times—comes a new entry in the series that has brought you thrilling stories from Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, the best horror stories available.

For more than four decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the fourteenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Encompassed in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as: Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Laird Barron, Mira Grant, and many others.

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 chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness as articulated by today’s most challenging and exciting writers.

Table of Contents

• Summation of the Year 2021—Ellen Datlow
• Redwater — Simon Bestwick
• Caker’s Man — Matthew Holness
• Black Leg — Glen Hirshberg
• The Offering — Michael Marshall Smith
• Fox Girl — Lee Murray
• Shuck — G. V. Anderson
• The Hunt at Rotherdam — A. C. Wise
• Dancing Sober in the Dust — Steve Toase
• The God Bag — Christopher Golden
• The Strathantine Imps — Steve Duffy
• The Quizmasters — Gerard McKeown
• All Those Lost Days — Brian Evenson
• “Elephant Subjected to the Predations of a Mentalist” – Dir. B.S. Stockton, 1921 And “Ol’ Will’s Birthday Bash and Dither Family Reunion” – Dir. Various, 1952
• — Jonathan Raab
• Three Sisters Bog — Eóin Murphy
• The Steering Wheel Club — Kaaron Warren
• The King of Stones — Simon Strantzas
• Stolen Property — Sarah Lamparelli
• Shards — Ian Rogers
• Chit Chit — Steve Toase
• Poor Butcher-Bird — Gemma Files
• Trap — Carly Holmes
• I’ll Be Gone By Then — Eric LaRocca
• Jack-in-the-Box — Robin Furth
• Tiptoe — Laird Barron
• Honorable Mentions
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgment of Copyright
• About the Editor

Coming from the Tor/Nightfire imprint in April 2022

Table of Contents

• You Have What I Need by Ian Rogers
• The Midway by Fran Wilde
• Wet Red Grin by Gemma Files
• The Virgin Jimmy Peck by Daryl Gregory
• The Ghost of a Flea by Priya Sharma
• The Atrocity Exhibitionists by Brian Hodge
• “The Father of Modern Gynecology”: J. Marion Syms, M.D. (1813-1883) by Joyce Carol Oates
• Here Comes Your Man by Indrapramit Das
• Siolaigh by Siobhan Carroll
• What Is Love But the Quiet Moments After Dinner? by Richard Kadrey
• The Island by Norman Partridge
• Flaming Teeth by Garry Kilworth
• Strandling by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• The Special One by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ
• Devil by Glen Hirshberg
• Crick Crack Rattle Tap by A. C. Wise
• Children of the Night by Stephen Graham Jones
• The Smell of Waiting by Kaaron Warren
• Now Voyager by Livia Llewellyn
• The Last Drop by Carole Johnstone
• Three Mothers Mountain by Nathan Ballingrud
• Widow-Light by Margo Lanagan
• Sweet Potato by Joe R. Lansdale
• Knock, Knock by Brian Evenson
• What is Meat with No God? by Cassandra Khaw
• Bitten by Himself by Laird Barron
• Burial by Kristi DeMeester
• Beautiful Dreamer by Jeffrey Ford
• Bloedzuiger by John Langan