Fears: Tales Of Psychological Horror

(Paperback)

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Description

Bestselling horror editor Ellen Datlow (Body Shocks) returns with twenty-one stories of extreme psychological dread from such horror icons as Stephen Graham Jones, Priya Sharma, Josh Malerman, Margo Lanagan, and more. The unsettling tales explore the nature of fear as it stirs in dysfunctional families, toxic friendships, and mismatched lovers, which culminates in relentless stalkers, remorseless killers, and perpetrators of savage rituals. Far beneath the mere supernatural lives something worse: the depths of human depravity. Your child is sacrificed in compensation for your social misstep. You compete in a sick game to save your loved ones. Your mom is insane, your dad is dying, your brother is not your brother, and you're stuck in the same house until one or all of you are dead. In her newest landmark anthology, Ellen Datlow has unearthed twenty-one exemplary tales of what people should fear the most: other people.

Your grandfather confesses his heinous crime to you alone. You try to save a young girl from sexual assault, but she's not really a victim. Your child is sacrificed in compensation for your social misstep. You compete in a sick game to save your loved ones. Your mom is insane, your dad is dying, your brother is not your brother, and you're stuck in the same house until one or all of you are dead.

Far below the unlikeliness of the supernatural lives something worse: the depths of human depravity. We live in fear of the cruelties of respected leaders and of the despicable crimes of neighbors who seem normal. We live with anxiety about our innermost desires and the unforgivable things we might do in a moment of passion. Or, if we fail to curb our urges, we live with the terrible secrets of our unfettered resentments.

In this uniquely unsettling anthology, editor Ellen Datlow has unearthed twenty-one exemplary tales of what humanity fears most: People.

Fears contributors include:

• Dale Bailey
• Laird Barron
• Simon Bestwick
• Charles Birkin
• Ray Cluley
• Theresa DeLucci
• Steve Duffy
• Sharon Gosling
• John Patrick Higgins
• Carole Johnstone
• BTPS Fall/Winter 2024 Adult Catalog
• Stephen Graham Jones
• Margo Lanagan
• Livia Llewellyn
• Josh Malerman
• Bracken MacLeod
• Annie Neugebauer
• Tim Nickels
• Joyce Carol Oates
• Stewart O'Nan
• Hailey Piper
• Priya Sharma

Reviews

Advance Praise for Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror

"For decades, Ellen Datlow has set the bar. One of the most influential editors in the history of genre fiction, the gold standard of anthologists, and the ultimate tastemaker for Horror stories. Datlow's career and reputation are entirely unique-there's only one Ellen." -Christopher Golden, author of Ararat

"Ellen Datlow has long ago earned her place as the premier anthologist of fantasy and horror. Appearing in one of her unique volumes is recognized as a significant honor, and Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror is no different." -Joe R. Lansdale, author of In the Mad Mountains

Praise for Ellen Datlow

[STARRED REVIEW] "Hugo Award-winning editor Datlow (Edited By) brings together 29 spinetingling tales of body horror to terrify even the most seasoned horror reader." -Publishers Weekly

[STARRED REVIEW] "VERDICT: This authoritative collection is a must for any library, as an introduction to body and extreme horror for readers and librarians alike." -Library Journal

[STARRED REVIEW] "Multiple award-winner Datlow has worked her way through previously published stories from across the dark fiction landscape, uncovering the breadth of these horrific tales. -Booklist

"Ellen Datlow doesn't just have her thumb on the pulse of horror, she is the pulse of horror." -Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians

"[Nightmares] delivers on its intention of showcasing the best in a decade of fantastically ambitious and creative dark and frightful fiction, as well as following up on a past classic." -Metaphysical Circus

"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

"I have a short list of editors that I will buy an anthology of, regardless of whether or not I have even heard of the writers it contains, and Ellen Datlow is at the top of that list." -Horror Talk

Author Bio

Ellen Datlow is one of horror's quintessential, bestselling, and most acclaimed editors. She has won multiple Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, and Shirley Jackson awards and has received lifetime achievement awards from several organisations including the World Fantasy and World Horror Associations. She was the fiction editor of OMNI for nearly twenty years, and edited the magazines Event Horizon and Sci Fiction, and is currently a genre fiction editor at Tor.com. Her many anthologies include the long-running Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, the Best Horror of the Year series; Snow White, Blood Red; Lovecraft's Monsters; Naked City; The Monstrous; Body Shocks; and Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror. Datlow lives in New York City.