Review Summaries

• Readers value the breadth of the lineup and the way the book surveys the horror scene of its time. Although the size of the anthology naturally creates some unevenness, its strengths as a curated selection remain clear.

• The range of eerie and experimental stories gives it variety, but the overall cohesion can feel different from reader to reader. Memorable standouts also make the anthology's ups and downs more noticeable as a long collection.

Reviews

• We all have different ideas of what makes good horror - this is a fine collection in my opinion

  I actually loved most of the stories in here and am quite annoyed with the reviewer who said the stories belonged in 'Murder She Wrote". Maybe the reviewer wanted blood and guts and no imagination. These stories are cleverer than that. Blanca for example, has a lovely creeping menace running through it. I'm very fond of "The Horn", even though it's an idea that's been used before, the fact that the characterisation (Rough and ready, cheerful Mick, posh, whiney David and the narrator in the middle) is well written and the nature of the creature that threatens them is unusual. "No Sharks In the Med" is another favourite even though the sexism irritated me a little. I'd say it's impossible to review horror stories objectively, everybody knows what kind they like. Personally I'm very happy with this collection.

• Great anthology

  Great anthology.

• A long enjoyed series of collections

  Overall, I enjoyed the book. There were few stories that didn't interest me. Really, even the ones that just weren't to my taste had redeeming qualities. Many of these authors have been frequent inhabitants of the Best New Horror series since this first issue. The ones that stood out to me most were Pin, Carnal House, Lizaveta, Snow Cancellations, and No Sharks in the Med. None of them made my skin crawl or made me check the locks, but they were good, solid stories with interesting characters, atmosphere, and settings. I recommend the series to anyone who enjoys horror, whether this one or more recent ones.

• Moderate Collection of Horror

  I often find that Collections of Short stories are a litte bit hit or miss, and this one, once again comes into this category. I bought this book second hand, as I am fan of Horror and this series attracted my interest. This was released back in 1990, so some of the stories are a little bit dated, for example "The Eye of the Ayatollah" by Ian Watson, dealing with the tracking down of Salman Rushdie, unfortunately there are some very poor stories included here, some of which are baffling like "The Strange Design of Master Rignolo" by Thomas Ligotti and "Blanca" by Thomas Tessier. The book is saved by some brilliant little stories like "Pin" by Robert McCammon a disturbing story about a man pushing a Pin into his eye. "No Sharks in the Med" by Brian Lumley, which will concern you if you are on holiday in Greece, "Bad News" by Richard Laymon, involving a horrible un-named creature, and a CCTV age shocker "Closed Circuit" by Laurence Staig, you may never go in a shopping centre again. All in all a enjoyable collection, with only one story that I skipped over.

• Great introduction to horror

  Collecting the series, would recommend to fans of horror.

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