I hope the future volumes continue with these sorts of intros.īut as with any anthology, the proof is in the pudding.
Page points to the historical importance of the recently folded fanzine Macabre, edited by Joseph Payne Brennan, and the then-current importance of fanzines like Whispers and Weirdbook as premier horror outlets. I get sort of tired of the typical horror intro that says something like, “Since the dawn of time mankind has always been frightened…” or where the editor gives an idiosyncratic take on where the horror field is. He does here what became familiar in later horror anthologies (I’m thinking especially of Ellen Datlow) where the editor lays out a “State of the Union,” letting readers know what the editor sees as the primary sources of horror, the best new talent, and the markets and venues driving the field, not to mention the sorts of themes and ideas that seem to be stoking it. Page includes a new kind of introduction in The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VI, which signals an intriguing change. And perhaps it doesn’t matter if the collected stories are indeed that good. Defending another editor in a different context John O’Neill recently said, it’s “entirely the editor’s call.” But doesn’t Year’s Best imply more than simply the editor’s own particular choices? Maybe not. Six! Almost half of the stories in an anthology called Year’s Bestwere not published previously. Series VI includes fourteen stories, only one from a professional magazine three came from books, four from fanzines, but six stories were original to this volume. There are three women in this volume: Janet Fox, Tanith Lee, and Lisa Tuttle, and a total of three Brits: Ramsey Campbell, David Campton, and Tanith Lee. In comparison with the series’ first British editor, Richard Davis, Gerald Page tend to focus on American authors, almost all men. It’s fairly creepy, but not one of my favorite Whelan horror pieces. Where Whelan’s covers usually have a big surreal background, this one is more muted and draws your eyes to the foreground. Michael Whelan (1950–) appears for the fourth time in a row on the cover, though with a very different style from his previous efforts. The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VI, published in 1978, was the third volume in the series edited by horror author and editor Gerald W.
The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VI (DAW, 1978).
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