For twenty years this award-winning compilation has been the nonpareil benchmark against which all other annual fantasy and horror collections are judged. Directed first by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling and for the past four years by Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin J. Grant, it consistently presents the strangest, the funniest, the darkest, the sharpest, the most original — in short, the best fantasy and horror.The current collection, marking a score of years, offers more than forty stories and poems from almost as many sources. Summations of the field by the editors are complemented by articles by Edward Bryant, Charles de Lint and Jeff VanderMeer highlighting the best of the fantastic in, respectively, media, music and comics as well as honorable mentions — notable works that didn’t quite make the cut but are nonetheless worthy of attention.

The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: 20th Annual Collection is a cornucopia of fantastic delights, an unparalleled resource and indispensable reference that captures the unique excitement and beauty of the fantastic in all its gloriously diverse forms, from the lightest fantasy to the darkest horror.

Featuring: M. T. Anderson, Laird Barron, Simon Bestwick, Simon Brown, Stepan Chapman, Douglas Clegg, D. Ellis Dickerson, Terry Dowling, Andy Duncan, Jean Esteve, John Farris, Melanie Fazi, Jeffrey Ford, Christopher Fowler, Stephen, Gallagher, Theodora Goss, Elizabeth Hand, Alice Hoffman, Shelley Jackson, John Kessel, Margo Lanagan, Tanith Lee, Bentley Little, Elizabeth A. Lynn, Gregory Maguire, China Mieville, Richard Mueller, Joyce Carol Oates, Frances Oliver, Chuck Palahniuk, Tina Rath, Philip Raines and Harvey Welles, M. Rickert, Anna Ross, Alison Smith, R.T. Smith, Peter Straub, Lucy Sussex, Catherynne M., Valente, Greg Van Eekhout, Conrad Williams.

“In the two decades since this venerable series was inaugurated, so many venues have begun to welcome horror and fantasy stories that these dedicated editors play a crucial role in bringing the best new works to fans who don’t always read far afield. Trend spotters will note numerous ghost stories in Datlow’s horror picks, including Christopher Harman’s ‘The Last to Be Found’ and Stephen Volk’s ’31/10,’ supremely eerie exercises in the ghost-hunt-gone-bad vein, and Stephen Gallagher’s ‘The Box’ and Glen Hirshberg’s ‘The Muldoon,’ whose spooks are equal parts psychological and supernatural. Link and Grant’s eclectic fantasy picks range from the haunting magical realism of Geoff Ryman’s Hugo- and WFA-nominated ‘Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter’ to the light urban fantasy of Ellen Klages’s ‘In the House of Seven Librarians’ and Jeffrey Ford’s blend of whimsy and the macabre in ‘The Night Whiskey.’ As the line between fantasy and horror blurs, this combined presentation of their exemplars will give readers of both genres much to enjoy, and may even broaden a few horizons.” Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

“Bring out the bone china — a critically acclaimed fantasy/horror annual celebrates its 20th anniversary in grand style….Worth a space on any bookshelf.” Kirkus Reviews

“A standard that…will be the one to beat in the future.” Locus

“The best anthology I have read in a while, this is great for keeping up with what is going on in the worlds of fantasy and horror, or simply as a collection of fine stories.” The Zone

“This is the anthology to pick up every year if you want to read the best short fiction from the previous year and get overviews of the best fiction, non-fiction, films and video, anime, and music that was released in that year.” Green Man Review

“Long lived and always outstanding.” Science Fiction Chronicle

For nearly two decades, readers have turned to The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror to find the most rewarding fantastic short stories. Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant continue this 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 works ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magic realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol style. Rounding out the volume are the editors’ invaluable overviews of the year in fantasy and horror, and sections on graphic novels, by Charles Vess; on anime and manga, by Joan D. Vinge; on media, by Ed Bryant; and on music, by Charles de Lint. With a long list of Honorable Mentions, this is an indispensable reference as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror.

Datlow, Link, and Grant continue their critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of fiction and poetry, ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magical realism to dark tales.

Ellen Datlow was editor of Sci Fiction, the multi award-winning fiction venue of SciFi.com for six years, and before that fiction editor of Omni and Omni.com for many years. She continues to edit anthologies for adults, young adults, and children. Her horror anthology Inferno will be out in December.Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant started Small Beer Press in 2000. They have published the zine Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet (“Tiny, but celebrated” — Washington Post) for ten years. An anthology, The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, will be published this autumn.

Kelly Link is the author of two collections, Stranger Things Happen, and Magic For Beginners (one of Time Magazine‘s Best Books of the Year). Stories from her collections have won the Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, Tiptree, and Locus awards, and her work has recently appeared in A Public Space, Firebirds Rising, and Best American Short Stories 2005.

Originally from Scotland, Gavin J. Grant regularly reviews fantasy and science fiction. Publications where his work has appeared include the Los Angeles Times, BookPage, Strange Horizons, and Salon Fantastique.