Screams From the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous
WINNER of the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology!
A Shirley Jackson and Locus Award Finalist! A World Fantasy Award Nominee!
A bone-chilling anthology from legendary horror editor, Ellen Datlow, Screams from the Dark contains twenty-nine all-original tales about monsters.
From werewolves and vampires, to demons and aliens, the monster is one of the most recognizable figures in horror. But what makes something, or someone, monstrous?
Award-winning and up-and-coming authors like Richard Kadrey, Cassandra Khaw, Indrapramit Das, Priya Sharma, and more attempt to answer this question. These all-new stories range from traditional to modern, from mainstream to literary, from familiar monsters to the unknown … and unimaginable.
This chilling collection has something to please—and terrify—everyone, so lock your doors, hide under your covers, and try not to scream.
Contributors include: Ian Rogers, Fran Wilde, Gemma Files, Daryl Gregory, Priya Sharma, Brian Hodge, Joyce Carol Oates, Indrapramit Das, Siobhan Carroll, Richard Kadrey, Norman Partridge, Garry Kilworth, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Chikodili Emelumadu, Glen Hirshberg, A. C. Wise, Stephen Graham Jones, Kaaron Warren, Livia Llewellyn, Carole Johnstone, Margo Lanagan, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Evenson, Nathan Ballingrud, Cassandra Khaw, Laird Barron, Kristi DeMeester, Jeffrey Ford, and John Langan.
ELLEN DATLOW has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for over thirty-five years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. In addition, she has edited more than a hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep, Echoes, Final Cuts, Body Shocks, and When Things Get Dark.
She’s won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for “outstanding contribution to the genre,” was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.
She lives in New York and co-hosts the monthly Fantastic Fiction Reading Series at KGB Bar.
Praise for Screams from the Dark
“Screams from the Dark crackles with ferocious energy and ravenous delights. A thrilling feast for we who love monsters. Datlow has gathered the kinds of stories to which all gruesome campfire tales aspire.” —Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Light Most Hateful
“Screams from the Dark brings together some of the boldest voices in horror to create a shrieking chorus that will echo in your mind long after you’ve closed the book. There is a darkness in these pages that leaks out and shows you worlds you never dreamed possible. Not even in your worst nightmares.” —Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley
“This epic volume, with its impressive table of contents, will satisfy the hordes of readers looking for new takes on the monster trope.” —Library Journal
“An unflinching symphony of darkness… Screams from the Dark earns my highest recommendation, ranking among the best compilation of short stories that I’ve read in any genre.” —Grimdark Magazine
“’What is a monster?’ Datlow (the Best Horror of the Year series, editor) asks in her introduction to this excellent anthology, which brings together a tremendous variety of answers from the leading voices in horror.…Any horror fan will be glad to check this out.” —Publishers Weekly
“This is a treat for horror fans.” —Booklist
Praise for Ellen Datlow
“When I see Ellen Datlow as editor on an anthology, my first thought is always, ‘That’s a must-buy.’ She’s such a knowledgeable editor, with a sharp eye and a long-standing love of the genre that leaps from every page.” —Tim Lebbon, author of The Silence
“Ellen Datlow is the empress of the horror anthology—enviably well-read, eagle-eyed for talent, eager for originality, she’s one of the glories of the field.” —Ramsey Campbell, author of The Searching Dead
“Ellen Datlow is the tastemaker, the greatest, most respected, and most prolific horror anthologist who’s ever lived. Every Datlow anthology is a gift to the genre.” —Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat