Search Worlds Without End

For more than a decade, readers have turned to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant continue their critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of stories. The fiction and poetry here is culled from an exhaustive survey of the field-- nearly four dozen stories, ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magical realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol-style. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror and Year's Best sections--on comics, by Charles Vess, and on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge and on film and television by Edward Bryant. This is an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.

*Terry Bisson *Kevin Brockmeier *Dan Chaon *Peter Crowther *Theodora Goss *Daphne Gottlieb *Glen Hirshberg *Brian Hodge *Nina Kiriki Hoffman *Kij Johnson *Paul LaFarge *Thomas Ligotti *Sara Maitland *Maureen F. McHugh *Steve Rasnic Tem *Benjamin Rosenbaum *Michael Marshall Smith *Michael Swanwick *Karen Traviss *Megan Whalen Turner

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2003: Fantasy - essay by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
• Summation 2003: Horror - essay by Ellen Datlow
• Media of the Fantastic: 2003 - essay by Edward Bryant
• Comics and Graphic Novels: 2003 - essay by Charles Vess
• Anime and Manga: 2003 - essay by Joan D. Vinge
• Music of the Fantastic: 2003 - essay by Charles de Lint
• Obituaries: 2003 - essay by James R. Frenkel
• At the Mouth of the River of Bees - (2003) - shortstory by Kij Johnson
• Why I Became a Plumber - (2003) - shortstory by Sara Maitland
• Bread and Bombs - (2003) - shortstory by M. Rickert
• The Red Bow - (2003) - shortstory by George Saunders
• The Wife - (2003) - shortstory by Vandana Singh
• Only Partly Here - (2003) - novelette by Lucius Shepard
• Bone - (2003) - poem by Steve Rasnic Tem
• Old Virginia - (2003) - novelette by Laird Barron
• A Study in Emerald - (2003) - novelette by Neil Gaiman
• You Go Where It Takes You - (2003) - shortstory by Nathan Ballingrud
• L'Aquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of Stars) - (2003) - shortstory by Dean Francis Alfar
• Harvey's Dream - (2003) - shortstory by Stephen King
• Woeful Tales from Mahigul - (2003) - novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
• King Rat - (2003) - shortstory by Karen Joy Fowler
• The Hortlak - (2003) - novelette by Kelly Link
• With Acknowledgements to Sun Tzu - (2003) - novelette by Brian Hodge
• Ash City Stomp - (2003) - shortstory by Richard Butner
• King Dragon - (2003) - novelette by Michael Swanwick
• Invisible Geese: A Theory - (2003) - poem by Patrick O'Leary
• The Perfect City - (2003) - poem by Patrick O'Leary
• Bedfordshire - (2003) - novelette by Peter Crowther
• N0072-JK1 - (2003) - shortstory by Adam Corbin Fusco
• Cell Call - (2003) - shortstory by Marc Laidlaw
• The Fishie - (2003) - shortstory by Philip Raines and Harvey Welles
• Hunger: A Confession - (2003) - shortstory by Dale Bailey
• Mr. Sly Stops for a Cup of Joe - (2003) - shortstory by Scott Emerson Bull
• The Baby in the Night Deposit Box - (2003) - novelette by Megan Whalen Turner
• Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur - (2003) - shortstory by Paul LaFarge
• The Silence of the Falling Stars - (2003) - novelette by Mike O'Driscoll
• At the Mythical Beast - (2003) - poem by Jon Woodward
• The Fluted Girl - (2003) - novelette by Paolo Bacigalupi
• The Brief History of the Dead - (2003) - shortstory by Kevin Brockmeier
• Flotsam - (2003) - novelette by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• The Bees - (2003) - shortstory by Dan Chaon
• Dancing Men - (2003) - novelette by Glen Hirshberg
• Lily, with Clouds - (2003) - shortstory by Theodora Goss
• The Man Who Did Nothing - (2003) - shortstory by Karen Traviss
• Husband - (2003) - shortstory by Shelley Jackson
• Open Doors - (2003) - shortstory by Michael Marshall Smith
• The Valley of Giants - (2004) - shortstory by Benjamin Rosenbaum
• Purity - (2003) - shortstory by Thomas Ligotti
• Ancestor Money - (2003) - shortstory by Maureen F. McHugh
• Final Girl II: The Frame - (2003) - poem by Daphne Gottlieb
• Almost Home - (2003) - novelette by Terry Bisson
• Honorable Mentions: 2003 - essay by uncredited
• The People Behind the Book - (2003) - essay by uncredited

For more than a decade, readers have turned to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. The critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition continues with another stunning collection, including stories by M. T. Anderson, Laird Barron, Simon Bestwick, Simon Brown, Stepan Chapman, Douglas Clegg, D. Ellis Dickerson, Terry Dowling, Andy Duncan, Jean Esteve, John Farris, Mélanie Fazi, Jeffrey Ford, Christopher Fowler, Stephen Gallagher, Theodora Goss, Elizabeth Hand, Alice Hoffman, Shelley Jackson, John Kessel, Margo Lanagan, Tanith Lee, Bentley Little, Elizabeth A. Lynn, Gregory Maguire, China Miéville, Richard Mueller, Joyce Carol Oates, Frances Oliver, Chuck Palahniuk, Tina Rath, Philip Raines and Harvey Welles, M. Rickert, Anna Ross, Alison Smith, R.T. Smith, Peter Straub, Lucy Sussex, Catherynne M. Valente, Greg Van Eekhout, and Conrad Williams. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, and sections on comics, by Charles Vess, on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge, on media, by Ed Bryant, and on music, by Charles de Lint. With a long list of Honorable Mentions, this is an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2004: Fantasy - essay by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
• Summation 2004: Horror - essay by Ellen Datlow
• Fantasy and Horror in the Media: 2004 - essay by Edward Bryant
• Comics and Graphic Novels: 2004 - essay by Charles Vess
• Anime and Manga: 2004 - - essay by Joan D. Vinge
• Fantasy and Horror in Music: 2004 - essay by Charles de Lint
• Obituaries: 2004 - essay by James R. Frenkel
• The Oakthing - (2004) - novelette by Gregory Maguire
• Horton's Store - (2004) - poem by R. T. Smith
• Rite of Spring - (2004) - shortstory by Margo Lanagan
• A Hazy Shade of Winter - (2004) - shortstory by Simon Bestwick
• The Skin of the World - (2004) - shortstory by Douglas Clegg
• Zora and the Zombie - (2004) - novelette by Andy Duncan
• The Changeling - (2001) - poem by Theodora Goss
• Revenge of the Calico Cat - (2004) - novelette by Stepan Chapman
• Frozen Charlottes - (2003) - shortstory by Lucy Sussex
• Reports of Certain Events in London - (2004) - novelette by China Miéville
• House of Ice - (2004) - poem by Jean Esteve
• Restraint - (2004) - shortstory by Stephen Gallagher
• The Baum Plan for Financial Independence - (2004) - shortstory by John Kessel
• Dancing on Air - (2004) - shortstory by Frances Oliver
• Cold Fires - (2004) - shortstory by M. Rickert
• And the Sea Shall Give Up Its Dead - (2004) - shortstory by Richard Mueller
• A Trick of the Dark - (2004) - shortstory by Tina Rath
• The Bad Magician - (2004) - shortstory by Philip Raines and Harvey Welles
• Speir-Bhan - (2004) - shortstory by Tanith Lee
• Hunting Meth Zombies in the Great Nebraskan Wasteland - (2002) - shortstory by John Farris
• Guts - (2004) - shortstory by Chuck Palahniuk
• Water Babies - (2004) - novelette by Simon Brown
• Mr. Aickman's Air Rifle - (2004) - novella by Peter Straub
• We Find Things Old - (2004) - shortstory by Bentley Little
• Wonderwall - (2004) - shortstory by Elizabeth Hand
• Postcretaceous Era - (2004) - shortstory by D. Ellis Dickerson
• Watch and Wake - (2004) - shortstory by M. T. Anderson
• The Oracle Alone - (2004) - poem by Catherynne M. Valente
• A Night in the Tropics - (2004) - shortstory by Jeffrey Ford
• Clownette - (2004) - shortstory by Terry Dowling
• Stripping - (2004) - shortstory by Joyce Carol Oates
• Seven Feet - (2004) - shortstory by Christopher Fowler
• Singing My Sister Down - (2004) - shortstory by Margo Lanagan
• Bulldozer - (2004) - novelette by Laird Barron
• These Various Methods of Brightness - (2004) - poem by Anna Ross
• The Cajun Knot - (2004) - shortstory by Mélanie Fazi (trans. of Le noeud cajun 2000)
• Tales from the City of Seams - (2004) - shortstory by Greg van Eekhout
• The Specialist - (2004) - shortstory by Alison Smith
• Here Is the Church - (2004) - shortstory by Shelley Jackson
• The Witch of Truro - (2004) - shortstory by Alice Hoffman
• Lapland, or Film Noir - (2004) - shortstory by Peter Straub
• What Her Mother Said - (2004) - poem by Theodora Goss
• The Owl - (2004) - shortstory by Conrad Williams
• The Silver Dragon - (2004) - novelette by Elizabeth A. Lynn
• Honorable Mentions: 2004 - essay by uncredited
• The People Behind the Book - essay by uncredited

For nearly two decades, readers have turned to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant continue this critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of stories. The fiction and poetry here is culled from an exhaustive survey of the field, nearly four dozen works ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magic realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol style. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, and sections on graphic novels, by Charles Vess; on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge; on media, by Ed Bryant; and on music, by Charles de Lint. With a long list of Honorable Mentions, this is an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2005: Fantasy - essay by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
• Summation 2005: Horror - essay by Ellen Datlow
• Fantasy and Horror in the Media: 2005 - essay by Edward Bryant
• Graphic Novels: 2005 - essay by Charles Vess
• Anime and Manga: 2005 - essay by Joan D. Vinge
• Music of the Fantastic: 2005 - essay by Charles de Lint
• Obituaries: 2005 - essay by James R. Frenkel
• Walpurgis Afternoon - (2005) - novelette by Delia Sherman
• The Mushroom Duchess - (2005) - shortstory by Deborah Roggie
• An Incident at Agate Beach - (2005) - novelette by Marly Youmans
• Among the Tombs - (2005) - shortstory by Reggie Oliver
• Obedience, or The Lying Tale - (2005) - poem by Jennifer Chang
• American Morons - (2005) - shortstory by Glen Hirshberg
• Shallaballah - (2005) - shortstory by Mark Samuels
• Night Train: Heading West - (2005) - poem by Sarah Monette
• Denial - (2005) - shortstory by Bruce Sterling
• Northwest Passage - (2004) - novelette by Barbara Roden
• Proboscis - (2005) - novelette by Laird Barron
• Kronia - (2005) - shortstory by Elizabeth Hand
• Omens - (2005) - poem by Kelly Everding
• Follow Me Light - (2005) - shortstory by Elizabeth Bear
• Boatman's Holiday - (2005) - shortstory by Jeffrey Ford
• The Horse of a Different Color (That You Rode In On) - (2005) - shortfiction by Howard Waldrop
• Where Angels Come In - (2005) - shortstory by Adam Nevill
• Twilight States - (2005) - shortstory by Albert E. Cowdrey
• Jolly Bonnet - (2005) - poem by Andrew Bonia
• The Last Ten Years in the Life of Hero Kai - (2005) - novelette by Geoff Ryman
• The Souls of Drowning Mountain - (2005) - shortstory by Jack Cady
• The Last One - (2005) - shortstory by Robert Coover
• The Ball Room - (2005) - shortfiction by China Miéville and Emma Bircham and Max Schaefer
• Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus - (2005) - poem by Theodora Goss
• Vacation - (2005) - shortstory by Daniel Wallace
• Cruel Sistah - (2005) - shortstory by Nisi Shawl
• Ding-Dong-Bell - (2005) - shortstory by Jay Russell
• A Case Study of Emergency Room Procedure and Risk Management by Hospital Staff Members in the Urban Facility - (2005) - shortstory by Stacey Richter
• The Scribble Mind - (2005) - novelette by Jeffrey Ford
• Scarecrow - (2005) - shortstory by Tom Brennan
• Going the Jerusalem Mile - (2005) - shortstory by Chaz Brenchley
• Grief - (2005) - poem by Willa Schneberg
• Boman - (2005) - shortstory by Pentti Holappa
• The Machine of a Religious Man - (2005) - shortstory by Ralph Robert Moore
• Hot Potting - (2005) - shortstory by Chuck Palahniuk
• My Father's Mask - (2005) - novelette by Joe Hill
• The Guggenheim Lovers - (2005) - shortstory by Isabel Allende
• A Statement in the Case - (2005) - shortstory by Theodora Goss
• The Pavement Artist - (2004) - shortstory by Dave Hutchinson
• The Gypsies in the Wood - (2005) - novella by Kim Newman
• Honorable Mentions: 2005 - essay by uncredited
• The People Behind the Book - essay by uncredited

For twenty years this award-winning compilation has been the nonpareil benchmark against which all other annual fantasy and horror collections are judged. Directed first by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling and for the past four years by Datlow and Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant, it consistently presents the strangest, the funniest, the darkest, the sharpest, the most original-in short, the best fantasy and horror. The current collection, marking a score of years, offers more than forty stories and poems from almost as many sources. Summations of the field by the editors are complemented by articles by Edward Bryant, Charles de Lint, and Jeff VanderMeer, highlighting the best of the fantastic in, respectively, media, music, and comics, as well as honorable mentions-notable works that didn't quite make the cut, but are nonetheless worthy of attention. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twentieth Annual Collection is a cornucopia of fantastic delights, an unparalleled resource and indispensable reference that captures the unique excitement and beauty of the fantastic in all its gloriously diverse forms, from the lightest fantasy to the darkest horror.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2006: Fantasy - essay by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
• Summation 2006: Horror - essay by Ellen Datlow
• The Year in Media of the Fantastic: 2006 - essay by Edward Bryant
• Fantasy in Comics and Graphic Novels: 2006 - essay by Jeff VanderMeer
• Music of the Fantastic: 2006 - essay by Charles de Lint
• Obituaries: 2006 - essay by James R. Frenkel
• Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter - (2006) - novelette by Geoff Ryman
• First Kisses from Beyond the Grave - (2006) - novelette by Nik Houser
• The Last to Be Found - (2006) - shortstory by Christopher Harman
• Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery - (2006) - shortstory by John Schoffstall
• Becoming the Villainess - (2006) - poem by Jeannine Hall Gailey
• Persephone and the Prince Meet Over Drinks - (2006) - poem by Jeannine Hall Gailey
• The Night Whiskey - (2006) - novelette by Jeffrey Ford
• In the House of the Seven Librarians - (2006) - novelette by Ellen Klages
• Drowning Palmer - (2006) - novelette by Sarah Monette
• Landfill - (2006) - shortstory by Joyce Carol Oates
• Another Word for Map is Faith - (2006) - shortstory by Christopher Rowe
• Lionflower Hedge - (2006) - shortstory by Ira Sher
• A Fearful Symmetry - (2006) - shortstory by Minsoo Kang
• Messages - (2006) - shortstory by Brett Alexander Savory
• Ballade - (2005) - poem by William Hope Hodgson
• My Babe, My Babe - (1912) - poem by William Hope Hodgson
• The Box - (2006) - shortstory by Stephen Gallagher
• Halfway House - (2006) - shortstory by Frances Hardinge
• La Fée Verte - (2006) - novelette by Delia Sherman
• Father Muerte & the Flesh - (2006) - shortstory by Lee Battersby
• Winkie - (2006) - shortstory by Margo Lanagan
• Tell - (2006) - poem by Nathalie Anderson
• Dog Person - (2006) - shortstory by Scott Nicholson
• The Extraordinary Limits of Darkness - (2006) - shortstory by Simon Clark
• Cup and Table - (2006) - shortstory by Tim Pratt
• The Churring - (2006) - shortstory by Nicholas Royle
• Dead Sea Fruit - (2006) - shortstory by Kaaron Warren
• Directions - (2006) - shortstory by Caleb Wilson
• La Profonde - (2006) - shortstory by Terry Dowling
• Journey into the Kingdom - (2006) - novelette by M. Rickert
• The Good Ones Are Already Taken - (2006) - novelette by Ben Fountain
• A Pig's Whisper - (2006) - shortstory by Margo Lanagan
• 31/10 - (2006) - shortstory by Stephen Volk
• Sob in the Silence - (2006) - shortstory by Gene Wolfe
• Yep, I Said Camel - (2006) - poem by Josh Bell
• Femaville 29 - (2006) - shortstory by Paul Di Filippo
• A Siege of Cranes - (2006) - novelette by Benjamin Rosenbaum
• Is Rain My Bearskin? - (2006) - poem by Jeanne Marie Beaumont
• The Lineaments of Gratified Desire - (2006) - novella by Ysabeau S. Wilce
• Raphael - (2006) - novelette by Stephen Graham Jones
• The Muldoon - (2006) - novelette by Glen Hirshberg
• Honorable Mentions: 2006 - essay by uncredited
• The People Behind the Book - essay by uncredited

As in every year since 1988, the editors tirelessly scoured story collections, magazines, and anthologies worldwide to compile a delightful, diverse feast of tales and poems. On this anniversary, the editors have increased the size of the collection to 300,000 words of fiction and poetry, including works by Billy Collins, Ted Chiang, Karen Joy Fowler, Elizabeth Hand, Glen Hirshberg, Joyce Carol Oates, and new World Fantasy Award winner M. Rickert. With impeccably researched summations of the field by the editors, Honorable Mentions, and articles by Edward Bryant, Charles de Lint and Jeff VanderMeer on media, music and graphic novels, this is a heady brew topped off by an unparalleled list of sources of fabulous works both light and dark.

Table of Contents:

• Summation 2007: Fantasy - essay by Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link
• Summation 2007: Horror - essay by Ellen Datlow
• The Year in Media of the Fantastic: 2007 - essay by Edward Bryant
• Fantasy in Comics and Graphic Novels: 2007 - essay by Jeff VanderMeer
• Music of the Fantastic: 2007 - essay by Charles de Lint
• Obituaries: 2007 - essay by James R. Frenkel
• The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics - (2007) - novelette by Daniel Abraham
• Vampires in the Lemon Grove - (2007) - shortstory by Karen Russell
• Holiday - (2007) - shortstory by M. Rickert
• Hum Drum - (2007) - shortstory by Gary McMahon
• Scenes of Hell - (2007) - poem by Billy Collins
• Splitfoot - (2007) - shortstory by Paul Walther
• The House of Mechanical Pain - (2007) - shortstory by Chaz Brenchley
• The Last Worders - (2007) - shortstory by Karen Joy Fowler
• The Monsters of Heaven - (2007) - shortstory by Nathan Ballingrud
• The Fiddler of Bayou Teche - (2007) - shortstory by Delia Sherman
• Monkey - (2007) - poem by Eliza Griswold
• Mr Poo-Poo - (2007) - shortstory by Reggie Oliver
• Winter's Wife - (2007) - novelette by Elizabeth Hand
• Troll - (2007) - poem by Nathalie Anderson
• The Tenth Muse - (2007) - shortstory by William Browning Spencer
• The Drowned Life - (2007) - novelette by Jeffrey Ford
• The Swing - (2007) - novelette by Don Tumasonis
• Follow Me Home - (2007) - poem by Sonya Taaffe
• The Forest - (2007) - novelette by Laird Barron
• Fragrant Goddess - (2007) - shortstory by Paul Park
• Up the Fire Road - (2007) - novelette by Eileen Gunn
• The Gray Boy's Work - (2007) - novelette by M. T. Anderson
• The Seven Devils of Central California - (2007) - poem by Catherynne M. Valente
• The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate - (2007) - novelette by Ted Chiang
• Valentine, July Heat Wave - (2007) - shortstory by Joyce Carol Oates
• A Thing Forbidden - (2007) - shortstory by Donald Mead
• A Reversal of Fortune - (2007) - shortstory by Holly Black
• Village Smart - (2007) - poem by Maggie Smith
• Rats - (2007) - shortstory by Veronica Schanoes
• A Perfect and Unmappable Grace - (2007) - shortstory by Jack M. Haringa
• The Boulder - (2007) - shortstory by Lucy Kemnitzer
• The Hill - (2007) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• Lovers: (Jaafar the Winged) - (2007) - poem by Khaled Mattawa
• The Ape Man - (2007) - shortstory by Alexander MacBride
• The Hide - (2007) - shortstory by Liz Williams
• England and Nowhere - (2007) - shortstory by Tim Nickels
• Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again - (2007) - novelette by Garth Nix
• Toother - (2007) - shortstory by Terry Dowling
• Closet Dreams - (2007) - shortstory by Lisa Tuttle
• The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change - (2007) - novelette by Kij Johnson
• Honorable Mentions: 2007 - essay by Ellen Datlow and Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link