The year is winding down, I’m still catching up on all the wonderful work published in 2024, and I fully recognize that catching up is impossible. That said, every year, I try to shout out the the works that most stuck with me from what I did manage to read. Posts focused on novels, novellas, and short fiction, are forthcoming, but to kick things off, here are the collections and anthologies that I enjoyed the most this year.
Slow Burn by Mike Allen features gorgeous illustrations by Paula Arwen Owen, with stories that provide a nice sampling of horror and dark fantasy. I always enjoy revisiting stories I’ve read previously and discovering new ones. My favorite stories in the collection included “Strange Wisdoms of the Dead” co-written with Charles M. Saplak, “Falling is What it Loves”, the titular “Slow Burn”, “Abhor”, “The Butcher, the Baker”, and “Comforter”. I reviewed the collection in more detail earlier this year, and that review can be found here.
Limelight by Lyndsey Croal is another excellent collection published this year. The opening story, “Patchwork Girls” was one of my favorites, exploring the fetishization and sexualization of violence against women on film, as a woman made from lab-grown parts dies over and over again on camera until she finally finds a ways break the cycle. Another stand-out was “Hush, Little Sister”, a lovely, heartbreaking, and complex exploration of loss and grief, as Isabelle is forced to deal with the copy of her sister that her parents made after her death, once they die as well. Overall, the collection does an excellent job of using speculative fiction to explore the human condition, from science fiction, to fantasy, to horror, and everything in-between.
Death Aesthetic by Josh Rountree is a slim collection that packs a punch. I always enjoy Josh’s work, and as with Mike Allen’s collection, it was a pleasure to revisit stories I’d read before and discover ones that were new to me. One of my favorites in the collection happened to piece an original piece, “The Green Realm”, which has a nice subtle eeriness to it as the main character revisits childhood memories, returning to the site of a camping trip where something inexplicable happened. Another favorite was “We Share Our Rage with the River”, a dark animal bride story of women fished up from the river and forced into marriages.
The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread edited by dave ring, is a wonderful anthology of gorgeous, decadent, and atmospheric stories. Everything Neon Hemlock publishes is pretty much a must buy for me, and this anthology did not disappoint. There’s an overall Gothic vibe, where crumbling houses, beautiful decay, and unhealthy and obsessive relationships abound. There really weren’t any stories that didn’t work for me, which is rare. In an overall strong anthology, my favorite contributions were by Hailey Piper, Lyndall Clipstone, M.L.Krishnan, Suzan Palumbo, E. Saxey, Marianne Kirby, E. Catherine Tobler, Natalia Theodoridou, Shaoni C. White, Bendi Barrett, and Caitlin Starling.
Northern Nights edited by Michael Kelly is a truly excellent anthology of Canadian horror and dark fiction. (Full disclosure, I do have a story in the anthology, but it would be one of my favorite reads of the year regardless.) Like Neon Hemlock, pretty much everything Undertow Books publishes is a must buy for me. The anthology captures what, for me, is one of the hallmarks of a lot of Canadian horror – a deep sense of place. Whether or not the environment is actively adversarial in a story, it frequently plays a central role. The stories in Northern Nights lean into that, full of rich, immersive sensory detail that immediately transports the reader to whatever locale is being described. My favorite contributions were by Simon Stranzas, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Siobhan Carroll, David Nickel, Rory Say, Premee Mohamed, and Camilla Gurdova.
Death in the Mouth Volume 2 edited by Cassie Hart and Sloane Leong is a worthy follow-up to the first volume. The anthology as a physical object deserves mention; each story is accompanied by an original illustration, and the design and cover art are compelling – bright colors and dark creatures, a combination that was true of the art gracing the cover of the first volume as well. My favorite stories were by Ana Hurtado, Nadia Bulkin, Xavier Garcia, J.A.W. McCarthy, Radha Kai Zan, and Alexandra Stochach.
Honorable Mentions (work published before 2024)
No One Will Come Back for Us by Premee Mohamed has picked up a whole host of award wins and finalist spots, and with good cause. It’s a gorgeous collection of dark fiction and horror. Pretty much every story in the collection sings, full of evocative prose suggesting lived-in worlds that extend beyond the page.
Out There Screaming edited by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams has also received a good deal of well-deserved attention. It won’t come as a surprise that Jordan Peele has a good eye for compelling stories and in particular, compelling horror. I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology overall, but my favorite contributions were “Eye & Tooth” by Rebecca Roanhorse, “Invasion of the Baby Snatchers” by Lesley Nneka Arimah, “The Rider” by Tananarive Due, “Dark Home” by Nnedi Okorafor, “Flicker” by LD Lewis, “A Grief of the Dead” by Rion Amilcar Scott, “A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree” by Nicole D, Sconiers, and “Hide & Seek” by P. Djeli Clarke.
