The Year's Best Horror Stories

The Year’s Best Horror Stories was a series of annual anthologies published by DAW Books from 1971 to 1994 under the successive editorships of Richard Davis from 1971 to 1973, and, after a two-year hiatus, Gerald W. Page from 1976 to 1979, and Karl Edward Wagner from 1980 to 1994. The series was discontinued after Wagner's death. It was a companion to DAW’s The Annual World’s Best SF and The Year's Best Fantasy Stories, which performed a similar office for the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Each annual volume reprinted what in the opinion of the editor was the best horror short fiction appearing in the previous year. The series also aimed to discover and nurture new talent. It featured both occasionally recurring authors and writers new to the horror genre. Veterans among the contributing authors included Brian Lumley, David Drake, Eddy C. Bertin, Kit Reed, Lisa Tuttle, R. Chetwynd-Hayes, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Stephen King, and Tanith Lee; some of the then-newcomers to the field featured were Al Sarrantonio, Dennis Etchison, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Juleen Brantingham, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

The series

Volumes edited by Richard Davis

1. The Year’s Best Horror Stories, editor Richard Davis, 1971.

• Double Whammy (1970), by Robert Bloch
• The Sister City (1969), by Brian Lumley
• When Morning Comes (1969), by Elizabeth Fancett
• Prey (1969), by Richard Matheson
• Winter (1969), by Kit Reed
• Lucifer (1969), by E. C. Tubb
• I Wonder What He Wanted (1971), by Eddy C. Bertin
• Problem Child (1970), by Peter Oldale
• The Scar (1969), by Ramsey Campbell
• Warp (1968), by Ralph Norton
• The Hate (1971), by Terri E. Pinckard
• A Quiet Game (1970), by Celia Fremlin
• After Nightfall (1970), by David A. Riley
• Death's Door (1969), by Robert McNear

2. The Year’s Best Horror Stories II, editor Richard Davis, 1972.

• Foreword by Christopher Lee
• David's Worm (1971), by Brian Lumley
• The Price of a Demon (1972), by Gary Brandner
• The Knocker at the Portico (1971), by Basil Copper
• The Animal Fair (1971), by Robert Bloch
• Napier Court (1971), by Ramsey Campbell
• Haunts of the Very Rich (1971), by T. K. Brown, III
• The Long-Term Residents (1971), by Kit Pedler^
• Like Two White Spiders (1973), by Eddy C. Bertin^
• The Old Horns (1973), by Ramsey Campbell^
• Haggopian (1973), by Brian Lumley^
• The Events at Poroth Farm (1972), by T. E. D. Klein^
• Thirst (1972), by Gerald W. Page
• The Throwaway Man (1970), by Stepan Chapman
• The Woman With the Mauve Face (1972), by Rosemary Timperkey
• The Shadows of the Living (1970), by Ronald Blythe

^Stories added to a 1974 edition

3. The Year’s Best Horror Stories III, editor Richard Davis, 1973.

• Pages from a Young Girl's Journal (1973), by Robert Aickman
• The Long-Term Residents (1971), by Kit Pedler
• The Mirror from Antiquity (1972), by Susanna Bates
• Like Two White Spiders (1973), by Eddy C. Bertin
• The Old Horns (1973), by Ramsey Campbell
• Haggopian (1973), by Brian Lumley
• The Recompensing of Albano Pizar (1973), by Basil Copper
• Were-Creature (1971), by Kenneth Pembrooke
• Events at Poroth Farm (1972), by T. E. D. Klein
• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs (1973), by Harlan Ellison^
• The Man in the Underpass (1975), by Ramsey Campbell^
• S.F. (1975), by T. E. D. Klein^
• Uncle Vlad (1973), by Clive Sinclair^
• Judas Story (1975), by Brian Stableford^
• The House of Cthulhu (1973), Brian Lumley^
• Satanesque (1974), by Allan Weiss^
• Burger Creature (1973), by Stepan Chapman^
• Wake Up Dead (1975), by Tim Stout^
• Forget-Me-Not (1975), by Bernard Taylor^
• Halloween Story (1972), by Gregory Fitz Gerald^
• Big, Wide, Wonderful World (1958), by Charles E. Fritch^
• The Taste of Your Love (1975), by Eddy C. Bertin^

^Stories added to a 1975 edition

Volumes edited by Gerald W. Page

4. The Year’s Best Horror Stories IV, editor Gerald W. Page, 1976.

• Forever Stand The Stones (1975), by Joseph F. Pumilia
• And Don't Forget the One Red Rose (1975), by Avram Davidson
• Christmas Present (1975), by Ramsey Campbell
• A Question of Guilt (1976), by Hal Clement
• The House on Stillcroft Street (1975), by Joseph Payne Brennan
• The Recrudescence of Geoffrey Marvell (1976), by G. N. Gabbard
• Something Had to Be Done (1975), by David Drake
• Cottage Tenant (1975), by Frank Belknap Long
• The Man with the Aura (1974), by R. A. Lafferty
• White Wolf Calling (1975), by Charles L. Grant
• Lifeguard (1975), by Arthur Byron Cover
• The Black Captain (1975), by H. Warner Munn
• The Glove (1975), by Fritz Leiber
• No Way Home (1975), by Brian Lumley
• The Lovecraft Controversy-Why? (1976) essay by E. Hoffmann Price

5. The Year’s Best Horror Stories V, editor Gerald W. Page, 1977.

• The Service (1976), by Jerry Sohl
• Long Hollow Swamp (1976), by Joseph Payne Brennan
• Sing a Last Song of Valdese (1976), by Karl Edward Wagner
• Harold's Blues (1976), by Glen Singer
• The Well (1977), by H. Warner Munn
• A Most Unusual Murder (1976), by Robert Bloch
• Huzdra (1977), by Tanith Lee
• Shatterday (1975), by Harlan Ellison
• Children of the Forest (1976), by David Drake
• The Day It Rained Lizards (1977), by Arthur Byron Cover
• Followers of the Dark Star (1976), by Robert Edmond Alter
• When All the Children Call My Name (1977), by Charles L. Grant
• Belsen Express (1975), by Fritz Leiber
• Where the Woodbine Twineth (1976), by Manly Wade Wellman

6. The Year’s Best Horror Stories VI, editor Gerald W. Page, 1978.

• At the Bottom of the Garden (1975), by David Campton
• Screaming to Get Out (1977), by Janet Fox
• Undertow (1977), by Karl Edward Wagner
• I Can Hear the Dark (1978), by Dennis Etchison
• Ever the Faith Endures (1978), by Manly Wade Wellman
• The Horse Lord (1977), by Lisa Tuttle
• Winter White (1978), by Tanith Lee
• A Cobweb of Pulsing Veins (1977), by William Scott Home
• Best of Luck, (1978), by David Drake
• Children of the Corn (1977), by Stephen King
• If Damon Comes (1978), by Charles L. Grant
• Drawing In (1978), by Ramsey Campbell
• Within the Walls of Tyre (1978), by Michael Bishop
• There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding (1976), by Russell Kirk

7. The Year’s Best Horror Stories VII, editor Gerald W. Page, 1979.

• The Pitch (1978), by Dennis Etchison
• The Night of the Tiger (1978), by Stephen King
• Amma (1978), by Charles R. Saunders
• Chastel (1979), by Manly Wade Wellman
• Sleeping Tiger (1978), by Tanith Lee
• Intimately, With Rain (1978), by Janet Fox
• The Secret (1966), by Jack Vance
• Hear Me Now, My Sweet Abbey Rose (1978), by Charles L. Grant
• Divers Hands (1979), by Darrell Schweitzer
• Heading Home (1978), by Ramsey Campbell
• In the Arcade (1978), by Lisa Tuttle
• Nemesis Place (1978), by David Drake
• Collaborating (1978), by Michael Bishop
• Marriage (1977), by Robert Aickman

Volumes edited by Karl Edward Wagner

8. The Year’s Best Horror Stories VIII, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1980.

• The Dead Line (1979), by Dennis Etchison
• To Wake the Dead (1979), by Ramsey Campbell
• In the Fourth Year of the War (1979), by Harlan Ellison
• From the Lower Deep (1979), by Hugh B. Cave
• The Baby-Sitter (1978), by Davis Grubb
• The Well at the Half Cat (1979), by John Tibbets
• My Beautiful Darkling (1979), by Eddy C. Bertin
• A Serious Call (1979), by George Hay
• Sheets (1979), by Alan Ryan
• Billy Wolfe's Riding Spirit (1979), by Kevin A. Lyons
• Lex Talionis (1979), by Russell Kirk
• Entombed (1979), by Robert Keefe
• A Fly One (1979), by Steve Sneyd
• Needle Song (1979), by Charles L. Grant
• All the Birds Come Home to Roost (1979), by Harlan Ellison
• The Devil Behind You (1979), by Richard A. Moore

9. The Year’s Best Horror Stories IX, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1981.

• The Monkey (1980), by Stephen King
• The Gap (1980), by Ramsey Campbell
• The Cats of Pere Lachaise (1980), by Neil Olonoff
• The Propert Bequest (1980), by Basil A. Smith
• On Call (1980), by Dennis Etchison
• The Catacomb (1980), by Peter Shilston
• Black Man with a Horn (1980), by T.E.D. Klein
• The King (1980), by William Relling Jr.
• Footsteps (1980), by Harlan Ellison
• Without Rhyme or Reason (1980), by Peter Valentine Timlett

10. The Year’s Best Horror Stories X, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1982

• Through the Walls, by Ramsey Campbell
• Touring, by Gardner Dozois, Jack Dann, and Michael Swanwick
• Every Time You Say I Love You, by Charles L. Grant
• Wyntours, by David G. Rowlands
• The Dark Country, by Dennis Etchison
• Homecoming, by Howard Goldsmith
• Old Hobby Horse, by A. F. Kidd
• Firstborn, by David Campton
• Luna, by G. W. Perriwils
• Mind, by Les Freeman
• The Foggy, Foggy Dew, by Joel Lane
• Competition, by David Clayton Carrad
• Egnaro, by M. John Harrison
• On 202, by Jeff Hecht
• The Trick, by Ramsey Campbell
• Broken Glass, by Harlan Ellison

11. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XI, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1983.

12. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XII, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1984.

• Names (1983), by Jane Yolen
• After-Images (1983), by Malcolm Edwards
• Out of Africa (1983), by David Drake
• The Flash! Kid, by Scott Bradfield
• Uncle Otto's Truck (1983), by Stephen King
• Just Waiting (1983), by Ramsey Campbell
• Ventriloquist's Daughter, the (1983), by Juleen Brantingham
• Wall-Painting, the (1983), by Roger Johnson
• Man With Legs, the (1983), Al Sarrantonio
• Attic, the (1983), by Billy Wolfenbarger
• One for the Horrors (1983), by David J. Schow
• Come to the Party (1983), by Frances Garfield
• Keepsake (1983), by Vincent McHardy
• 3:47 AM (1983), David Langford
• Elle Est Trois, (La Mort) (1983), by Tanith Lee
• Chair, the (1983), by Dennis Etchison
• Echoes (1983), by Lawrence C. Connolly
• Mistral (1983), by Jon Wynne-Tyson
• Spring-Fingered Jack (1983), by Susan Casper

13. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XIII, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1985.

14. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XIV, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1986.

15. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XV, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1987.

• The Yougoslaves, by Robert Bloch
• Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back, by Joe R. Lansdale
• Apples, by Ramsey Campbell
• Dead White Women, by William F. Wu
• Crystal, by Charles L. Grant
• Retirement [“Even Death Gets Tired”], by Ron Leming
• The Man Who Did Tricks with Glass, by Ron Wolfe
• Bird in a Wrought Iron Cage, by John Alfred Taylor
• The Olympic Runner, by Dennis Etchison
• Take the “A” Train [Dennis Cassady], by Wayne Allen Sallee
• The Foggy, Foggy Dew, by Joel Lane
• The Godmother, by Tina Rath
• Pale, Trembling Youth, by W. H. Pugmire & Jessica Amanda Salmonson
• Red Light, by David J. Show
• In the Hour Before Dawn, by Brad Strickland
• Necros, by Brian Lumley
• Tattoos, by Jack M. Dann
• Acquiring a Family, by R. Chetwynd-Hayes

16. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XVI, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1988.

• Popsy, by Stephen King
• Neighbourhood Watch, by Greg Egan
• Wolf/Child, by Jane Yolen
• Everything to Live For, by Charles L. Grant
• Repossession, by David Campton
• Merry May, by Ramsey Campbell
• The Touch, by Wayne Allen Sallee
• Moving Day, by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
• La Nuit des Chiens, by Leslie Halliwell
• Echoes from the Abbey, by Sheila Hodgson
• Visitors, by Jack M. Dann
• The Bellfounder’s Wife, by A. F. Kidd
• The Scar, by Dennis Etchison
• Martyr Without Canon, by T. Winter-Damon
• The Thin People, by Brian Lumley
• Fat Face, by Michael Shea

17. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XVII, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1989.

• Fruiting Bodies, by Brian Lumley
• Works of Art, by Nina Kiriki, Hoffman
• She’s a Young Thing and Cannot Leave Her Mother, by Harlan Ellison
• The Resurrection Man, by Ian Watson
• Now and Again in Summer, by Charles L. Grant
• Call 666, by Dennis Etchison
• The Great God Pan, by M. John Harrison
• What Dreams may Come, by Brad Strickland
• Regression, by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
• Souvenirs from a Damnation, by Don Webb
• Bleeding Between the Lines [Dennis Cassady], by Wayne Allen Sallee
• Playing the Game, by Ramsey Campbell
• Lost Bodies, by Ian Watson
• Ours Now, by Nicholas Royle
• Prince of Flowers, by Elizabeth Hand
• The Daily Chernobyl, by Robert Frazier
• Snowman, by Charles L. Grant
• Nobody’s Perfect, by Thomas F. Monteleone
• Dead Air, by Gregory Nicoll
• Recrudescence, by Leonard P. Carpenter

18. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XVIII, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1990.

19. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XIX, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1991.

20. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XX, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1992.

21. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXI, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1993.

22. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII, editor Karl Edward Wagner, 1994.

• The Ripper’s Tune, by Gregory Nicoll
• One Size Eats All, by T.E.D. Klein
• Resurrection, by Adam Meyer
• I Live To Wash Her, by Joey Froehlich
• A Little-Known Side of Elvis, by Dennis Etchison
• Perfect Days, by Chet Williamson
• See How They Run, by Ramsey Campbell
• Shots Downed, Officer Fired, by Wayne Allen Sallee
• David, by Sean Doolittle
• Portrait of a Pulp Writer, by F. A. McMahan
• Fish Harbor, by Paul Pinn
• Adroitly Wrapped, by Mark McLaughlin
• Thicker Than Water, by Joel Lane
• Memento Mori, by Scott Thomas
• The Blitz Spirit, by Kim Newman
• Companions, by Del Stone, Jr.
• Masquerade, by Lillian Csernica
• Price of the Flames, by Deidra Cox
• The Bone Garden, by Conrad Williams
• Ice Cream and Tombstones, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• Salt Snake, by Simon Clark
• Lady’s Portrait, Executed in Archaic Colors, by Charles M. Saplak
• Lost Alleys, by Jeffrey Thomas
• Salustrade, by D.F. Lewis
• The Power of One, by Nancy Kilpatrick
• The Lions in the Desert, by David Langford
• Turning Thirty, by Lisa Tuttle
• Bloodletting, by Kim Antieau
• Flying Into Naples, by Nicholas Royle
• Under the Crust, by Terry Lamsley

References

• The Year's Best Horror Stories series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• DAW Books website (and other sites)