For over
quarter of a century now, editor Stephen Jones has been putting together the
annual anthology of short stories under the title of Best New Horror. This, the twenty-sixth collection, is packaged
beneath a lurid cover from the horror comics of the 1950s, but don’t let that
fool you; inside are nineteen stories that showcase just how versatile the
horror genre is. There are tales that would make Lovecraft and MR James proud,
sat side by side with stories of magic, fables of ghoulish children and others
that have little or no supernatural elements within them. What they all have in
common, is the quality of writing.

Collections can
sometimes suffer when some stories are weaker than others, often perceived as
fillers, but this certainly isn’t the case here. Jones – a master editor – has
assembled a group of such a high standard, that there isn’t a poor one among
them. All of them succeed in keeping the reader in suspense, ending with a
payoff or twist that rewards the time spent with them; many linger in the mind days
later, challenging perceptions and prompting re-assessment or even a re-read.
It would be impossible to pick out a favourite, as so many managed to get under
this reviewer’s skin, whether they were read in the brightness of a summer’s
day, or in suitably atmospheric lamp light.

Anyone who has
read a Best New Horror collection
will know that a cracking set of stories isn’t all you get. Jones’s
introduction is worth the price on the cover alone, as he runs down almost
everything that’s happened in the world of horror films, TV and books.
Similarly, there’s a Necrology at the end, where – with the aid of Kim Newman –
the deaths of anyone involved in the business of giving people scares are
chronicled. One minor quibble is that, with this version being a paperback (the
original hardback published in 2015), both introduction and Necrology feel
slightly out of date, covering the year 2014.

Best New Horror 26 sets the standard for short story collections, in
whatever genre, by ensuring that each tale draws emotion from the reader,
delivering not only the shocks and scares that horror fans expect, but also subtle
psychological twists that will have its readers thinking long into the night.
Jones voices concerns about the future of the genre, but it would seem it will be
safe in his hands and those of the writers that he has put into this stunning
anthology.

BEST NEW HORROR 26 / EDITOR: STEVEN JONES / AUTHOR: VARIOUS / PUBLISHER: PS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW