The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror annuals are always a treat; read this one and The Year's Best Science Fiction Sixteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois and you'll have a fairly complete overview of speculative fiction from 1998 as well as hours of great reading.

Datlow and Windling, renowned for crossing genre boundaries, gather stories and poems from mainstream magazines, literary journals, and Internet zines. There are vampires, a Lovecraft homage, enchanted birds and animals, shapeshifters, adult fairy tales, ghosts, and even a hunted muse. The best are Byatt's sensuous, enchanting "Cold"--about an ice princess who marries a glass-blowing desert prince--and Straub's novella, "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff" (which won the Stoker award for Best Long Fiction in 1999), a black comedy of revenge gone awry. The reference material includes each editor's review of the year's best novels, collections and anthologies, magazines, related nonfiction, children's books, and art. There's also a roundup of 1998's film, television, and dramatic offerings by Ed Bryant, a brief essay on comics by Seth Johnson, and obituaries by James Frenkel.

It's an invaluable source of introductions to authors you might not otherwise try, plus thought-provoking observations on fantasy in all its guises. You may not get to a convention this year, but if you've read Datlow and Windling, you'll know what a good one is like. --Nona Vero

From Publishers Weekly
Twelve years of taking the pulse of literary horror and fantasy fiction haven't dulled Datlow and Windling's discrimination. The latest volume in their acclaimed series is a cornucopia of treats harvested from a wide assortment of trade and specialty press publications (including e-zines) issued in the U.S. and abroad. Though the editors split space evenly, Datlow's 11 solo horror picks run long, the better to accommodate their atmospherics and meticulously orchestrated chills. Peter Straub's "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff," an arch revenge thriller of Dickensian style and scope, is one of several stories that give old-fashioned horrors a contemporary twist. Modern terrors get their due in Dennis Etchison's "Inside the Cackle Factory," a flicker of Hollywood noir, and John Kessel's brilliant "Every Angel Is Terrifying," a sequel to Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" that stands on its own as a haunting meditation on failed redemption. Windling's 32 fantasy selections include eight poems and 24 stories that span a variety of story types: dark fantasy in Stephen King's unsettling dream tale "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French"; magic realism in Kurahashi Yumiko's man-to-animal fable "The House of the Black Cat"; parable in Jorge Luis Borges's brief "The Rose of Paracelsus." Kelly Link, in her wry metafiction "Travels with the Snow Queen," and A.S. Byatt, in her exquisite romance "Cold," show the traditional fairy tale to be alive and well. In addition, three stories were chosen by both editors. Notwithstanding the very different paths horror and fantasy fiction have taken in recent years, this indispensable anthology proves that a well-told tale can enthrall readers regardless of genre preference. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Beginning with Kelly Link's haunting version of a classic fairy tale ("Travels with the Snow Queen") and ending with A.S. Byatt's somber story of a princess's search for happiness ("Cold"), the 38 stories and eight poems that make up this collection offer a bird's-eye view of fantasy and horror for 1998. Essays summarizing the year in fantasy, horror, and film, as well as a list of Honorable Mentions, provide an overview of the state of imaginative fiction. Including works by Lisa Goldstein, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, and numerous other genre notables and newcomers, this volume belongs in most fantasy collections. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
paper 0-312-20686-0 Forget the other best-story collections. Datlow and Windling's is the one that pins everything on imagination, then throws in fine writing as well. You aren't going to find a better sheaf of shorts this year than this one starring Jorge Luis Borges (``The Rose of Paracelsus''), A.S. Byatt (``Cold''), Stephen King (``That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French''), Peter Straub (``Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff''), Neil Gaiman (``Shoggoth's Old Peculiar''), Pulitzer-winner Steven Millhauser (``Claire De Lune''), and two by brilliant Bostonian newcomer Kelly Link. ``Travels with the Snow Queen'' begins, ``Part of you is always traveling faster, always traveling ahead. Even when you are moving, it is never fast enough to satisfy that part of you.'' Just as effective is the opening of Links ``The Specialist's Hat'': `` `When you're Dead,' Samantha says, 'you don't have to brush your teeth.' `When you're Dead,' Claire says, `you live in a box, and it's always dark, but you're not ever afraid.' Claire and Samantha are identical twins. Their combined age is twenty years, four months, and six days. Claire is better at being Dead than Samantha.'' Also included are summations of the years best fantasy (Windling) and horror (Datlow), Edward Bryant's essay ``Horror and Fantasy in the Media: 1998,'' Seth Johnson on comics, and a necrology of those who departed last year for that Great Fantasy and Horror Publisher in the Sky. A seriously excellent anthology. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"As always, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror is the most broadly literate . . . and the most varied of all the genre annuals."-Locus

"The most extensive and reliable guide to the field available."-Realms of Fantasy

"The quality and the variety of the work in these annuals are guaranteed by the astonishing assiduousness of the editors."-Necrofile

"A collection not to be missed by anyone seriously interested in fantasy or horror."-Kirkus Reviews

"The two editors cast their nets as widely as humanly possible, and a set of these books on the shelf constitutes a uniquely authoritative guide to the progress of fantasy and horror fiction during the last decade and a bit."-The New York Review of Science Fiction


Review
"As always, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror is the most broadly literate . . . and the most varied of all the genre annuals."-Locus

"The most extensive and reliable guide to the field available."-Realms of Fantasy

"The quality and the variety of the work in these annuals are guaranteed by the astonishing assiduousness of the editors."-Necrofile

"A collection not to be missed by anyone seriously interested in fantasy or horror."-Kirkus Reviews

"The two editors cast their nets as widely as humanly possible, and a set of these books on the shelf constitutes a uniquely authoritative guide to the progress of fantasy and horror fiction during the last decade and a bit."-The New York Review of Science Fiction


Review
"As always, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror is the most broadly literate . . . and the most varied of all the genre annuals."-Locus

"The most extensive and reliable guide to the field available."-Realms of Fantasy

"The quality and the variety of the work in these annuals are guaranteed by the astonishing assiduousness of the editors."-Necrofile

"A collection not to be missed by anyone seriously interested in fantasy or horror."-Kirkus Reviews

"The two editors cast their nets as widely as humanly possible, and a set of these books on the shelf constitutes a uniquely authoritative guide to the progress of fantasy and horror fiction during the last decade and a bit."-The New York Review of Science Fiction


Book Description
Over 250,000 words of the finest fantasy and horror

A. S. Byatt
Charles de Lint
Karen Joy Fowler
Neil Gaiman
Lisa Goldstein
Stephen King
Ellen Kushner
Patricia A. McKillip
Steven Millhauser
Michael Marshall Smith
Peter Straub
Jane Yolen

For more than a decade, readers have looked to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to showcase the highest achievements of fantastic fiction. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling 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 fantastic fiction, and a long list of Honorable Mentions, making this volume a valubale reference source as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror


From the Publisher
This volume includes stores from: Jorge Luis Borges
Chana Bloch
Michael Blumlein
Catharine Savage Brosman
Sylvia Brownrigg
Judy Budnitz
A. S. Byatt
Susanna Clarke
Sarah Corbett
Charles de Lint
Marisa de los Santos
Nick DiChario
Terry Dowling
Carol Ann Duffy
Steve Duffy
Sara Douglass
Dennis Etchison
Larry Fontenot
Karen Joy Fowler
Neil Gaiman
Bruce Glassco
Lisa Goldstein
Christopher Harman
Rick Kennett
John Kessel
Stephen King
Ellen Kushner
Terry Lamsley
Kelly Link
Patricia A. McKillip
Steven Millhauser
Lawrence Osgood
Norman Partridge
Holly Prado
Mary Rosenblum
Ralph Salisbury
Delia Sherman
Michael Marshall Smith
Ilan Stavans
Peter Straub
Mark W. Tiedemann
Ray Vukcevich
Jane Yolen
Kurahashi Yukimo

About the Author
Ellen Datlow is the acclaimed editor of such anthologies as Sirens and other Daemon Lovers (with Terri Windling), Blood Is Not Enough, Lethal Kisses, and Off Limits, and has won the World Fantasy Award five times. She lives in New York City and currently edits the on-line magazine Event Horizon.

Terri Windling won the Mythopoeic Award for her first adult novel, The Wood Wife. She has edited numerous books and anthologies, including The Essential Bordertown and Silver Birch, Blood Moon, the most recent in a series of contemporary fairy tale anthologies, edited with Ellen Datlow. Honored five times with the World Fantasy Award, she divides her time between Devon, England, and Tucson, Arizona.

ANNOTATION

The annual excellence that has garnered this series two consecutive World Fantasy Awards and a windfall of critical acclaim continues in an impressive new anthology. Comprehensive in its coverage of the year in horror and fantasy, this collection features works by Ellen Kushner, Pat Cadigan, Jane Yolen, and dozens of others.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This acclaimed series, winner of numerous World Fantasy Awards, continues its tradition of excellence with scores of short stories from such writers as Michael Bishop, Edward Byrant, Angela Carter, Terry Lamsley, Gabriel Garcia Marquex, A.R. Morlan, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, Jane Yolen and many others. Supplementing the stories are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantastic fiction, Edward Bryant's witty roundup of the year's fantasy films, and a long list of Honorable Mentions -- all of which adds up to an invaluable reference source, and a font of fabulous reading.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This collection is short on fantasy and long on horror--with special emphasis on sadomasochism, which, in the hands of an author like Kathe Koja, can result in a darkly illuminating story about sexual fantasies sometimes better left unrealized. Not all writers are so gifted, however. Grant Morrison gives us an offensive story about a blind heroine who is urinated upon and slashed with a razor before being clamped to a ``Chair of Final Submission.'' But Datlow and Windling, who edited the earlier volumes in this series, offer entertaining fare as well, including several appearances by good old-fashioned vampires. K. W. Jeter's aged monster has needs that promise to make his daughter's life a horror for all eternity, while Jane Yolen pens a touching tale of a young girl whose love allows her undead mother to go to her eternal rest. Also included are some enjoyable new turns on famous characters, including Peter Pan, Robin Hood and Santa Claus. Deserving of special mention are Nancy Willard's magically real tale of a man who returns from the dead to retrieve his pets and Robert Holdstock and Garry Kilworth's suspenseful, literate tale of an archeologist on the trail of immortality. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Twelve years of taking the pulse of literary horror and fantasy fiction haven't dulled Datlow and Windling's discrimination. The latest volume in their acclaimed series is a cornucopia of treats harvested from a wide assortment of trade and specialty press publications (including e-zines) issued in the U.S. and abroad. Though the editors split space evenly, Datlow's 11 solo horror picks run long, the better to accommodate their atmospherics and meticulously orchestrated chills. Peter Straub's "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff," an arch revenge thriller of Dickensian style and scope, is one of several stories that give old-fashioned horrors a contemporary twist. Modern terrors get their due in Dennis Etchison's "Inside the Cackle Factory," a flicker of Hollywood noir, and John Kessel's brilliant "Every Angel Is Terrifying," a sequel to Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" that stands on its own as a haunting meditation on failed redemption. Windling's 32 fantasy selections include eight poems and 24 stories that span a variety of story types: dark fantasy in Stephen King's unsettling dream tale "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French"; magic realism in Kurahashi Yumiko's man-to-animal fable "The House of the Black Cat"; parable in Jorge Luis Borges's brief "The Rose of Paracelsus." Kelly Link, in her wry metafiction "Travels with the Snow Queen," and A.S. Byatt, in her exquisite romance "Cold," show the traditional fairy tale to be alive and well. In addition, three stories were chosen by both editors. Notwithstanding the very different paths horror and fantasy fiction have taken in recent years, this indispensable anthology proves that a well-told tale can enthrall readers regardless of genre preference. (July) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Beginning with Kelly Link's haunting version of a classic fairy tale ("Travels with the Snow Queen") and ending with A.S. Byatt's somber story of a princess's search for happiness ("Cold"), the 38 stories and eight poems that make up this collection offer a bird's-eye view of fantasy and horror for 1998. Essays summarizing the year in fantasy, horror, and film, as well as a list of Honorable Mentions, provide an overview of the state of imaginative fiction. Including works by Lisa Goldstein, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, and numerous other genre notables and newcomers, this volume belongs in most fantasy collections. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This collection of over 40 stories and poems includes selections by Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, K.W. Jeter, Fred Chappell, and others as well as essays on the state of fantasy and horror in 1991. Recommended for most libraries' anthology collections.

Realms of Fantasy