The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19: No. 19 (Mammoth Books) [Kindle Edition]

Whether you've been a fan of the genre for years, or you're simply curious about the status of contemporary horror fiction, Best New Horror is pretty much the ideal place to start.

Volume Nineteen kicks off with editor Stephen Jones' usual exhaustive survey of the genre, covering everything from publishing trends, the latest novels and collections from big names to young Turks alike, to horror in the cinema, on TV and DVD. But as ever it's the fiction that really makes Best New Horror such an indispensable annual collection.

This year there are 26 short stories and novellas. Established masters of the genre are here - there's fine work from Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman and Christopher Fowler - but some of the real higlights come from the newer names and rising stars of the genre. Gary McMahon, Mark Samuels, Glen Hirshberg, Simon Strantzas, Reggie Oliver and Joel Knight especially demonstrate the depth and breadth of modern horror fiction, with stories that often pay homage to familiar tropes (and even classic writers) while remaining fresh and new. These stories range from the deliciously creepy to the flat-out disturbing; they prove yet again that not only does Stephen Jones know a good horror story when he reads one, but that there is more than enough great contemporary horror fiction being written to make his annual Best New Horror a must read.

Last year's volume recently won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology of the Year, and deservedly so -

- but what about this year's Volume 19, which is one of the longest in the series, a total - from cover to cover - of 640 pages?

It contains not a single weak story, its 26 tales ranging from the 'merely' very good to the excellent. Simply put, these are the best short stories you'll read this year, period. In ANY genre. And that isn't hyperbole: every year I read Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year together with Heidi Pitlor's The Best American Short Stories - but Best New Horror 19 trumps them all, not only in the quality of the writing, but in the daring of the imagination on show, with Christopher Fowler providing a tale worthy of vintage Ray Bradbury, while Caitlín R. Kiernan's tour de force, "The Ape's Wife", riffs on the various 'what ifs' of Ann Darrow's life following the death of King Kong, and the heir to the grand tradition of the weird tale, Mark Samuels, treks to Mexico where we discover H.P. Lovecraft is alive and still writing. Newcomers Simon Kurt Unsworth, Gary McMahan and Simon Strantzas ably hold their own against such genre masters as Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman, with small press stalwarts Mike O'Driscoll, Joel Lane and Conrad Williams not only at the height of their powers but happily growing better and better with each passing year.

And, once again, the incomparable Glen Hirshberg proves why he is now my favourite short story writer.

Together with superb tales from Stephen King's son Joe Hill, the delightful Terror from Texas hisownself Joe R. Lansdale, bestselling crime author Michael Marshall and bestselling fantasy author Steven Erikson - what are you waiting for?!

(This review comes from an advance copy bought at the FantasyCon, Nottingham England book launch on September 20th, 2008. Twelve of the contributors were on hand to sign the book. Only 50 advance copies were made available for the launch.)

If you haven't already done so, I urge you to seek out Volume 18, for not only is it itself an award-winning book, but so are three of the stories inside: Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe and Geoff Ryman. Also included in last year's volume are brilliantly blazing stories by Glen Hirshberg, David Morrell, Al Sarrantonio (editor of the massive 999 anthology a few years back), Richard C. Matheson and an 88 page novella by the always consistently dependable Kim Newman!

A mix of short stories, all of which are worth are interesting and well written. One of the best compilations.