Best New Horror

I took a side-step from Matthew Pearl's historical literary thriller, The Dante Club into a book, which arrived recently in the mail, that is wholeheartedly, and in a way you might also say, genetically, loyal to the Horror genre. The book is 20th Century Ghosts, a short story collection written by Joe Hill, a truncated pseudonym for Joseph Hillstrom King, the second child of horror-meisters Stephen and Tabitha King. His short stories are, unlike his infamous father's pulp fiction, truer to the subtlely and cleverly executed, well-crafted, witty, original storytelling of a writer like Ray Bradbury. According to the June 22nd post on Joe Hill's official website, 20th Century Ghosts was recently awarded two Bram Stoker Awards: for Best New Horror and Best Short Story Collection. You would figure a book and writer of this repute - I got hooked after reading his literary interview / article "Joe Hill: The Point of Confession" in July's issue of Locus magazine - out since 2005 would be now available widely, but, alas, 20th Century Ghosts has been only printed exclusively by one minor British publishing company, PS Publishing. I had to personally, and indirectly, order my copy from an American merchant, who had imported a few copies, via Alibris.

Here I offer summaries from Joe Hill's website of two stories I've read from 20th Century Ghosts. You can tell just from reading these how much Hill is aware of and plays wickedly with the formulas of Horror fiction, without feeding his readers the boring old sour, lukewarm stories.

Abraham's Boys:

My story, tentatively titled “Abraham’s Boys,” concerns the tortured relationship between an old and disgraced Van Helsing, and the two sons who fear and loathe him.

Best New Horror:

The hero of “Best New Horror” is the burned-out editor of an annual horror anthology, a man who finds himself drawn into a quixotic search for a young writer with a macabre reputation. Be careful what you go looking for. You might find it...