Final Cuts

April 1, 2020

Datlow, editor of numerous horror anthologies (The Best Horror of the Year, The Green Man, Lovecraft's Monsters) returns with another excellent collection of short stories featuring some of today's best horror writers, representing the full range of diversity within the genre. Eighteen authors pen tales of terror, each with a connection to film or TV. Popular and best-selling authors including Kelley Armstrong, Josh Malerman, and Richard Kadrey are joined by promising newcomers like Cassandra Khaw and A.C. Wise. Usman T. Malik explores our obsession with reality TV, presenting a serial killer who wants his execution live-streamed; Gemma Files uses interview transcripts and emails to tell a horrifying story about a cult horror actress; and John Langan contributes a novella that begins as an innocent email conversation between two writers about their possible collaboration on a vampire tale that slowly, and satisfyingly, unravels as something far more sinister. VERDICT The unique themes and diverse array of stories make this anthology appealing to a variety of horror readers and is a great introduction to new readers looking for work by a range of authors.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 13, 2020
Datlow (The Best Horror of the Year series, editor) has tapped some of horror’s top talents for this anthology’s 18 outstanding riffs on silver screen terrors, which draw inspiration from silent films, eerie webisodes, grindhouse gorefests, and snuff flicks. In “Das Gesicht,” Dale Bailey imagines the history of an early film so unsettling it was never released. Jeffrey Ford’s “From the Balcony of the Idawolf Arms” conjures a creepy camera obscura show secretly watched by a pair of latchkey kids, and Brian Hodge’s superb “Insanity Among the Penguins” describes a suppressed Herzogesque documentary on cannibalism. Nathan Ballingrud in “Scream Queen” and Gemma Files in “Cut Frame” both tell of Hollywood stars whose cinematic personas, a horror heroine and a femme fatale respectively, bleed into their lives off-camera. The impressive creative range and the authors’ willingness to push their ideas to the limit make this a memorable exploration of the intersection between horror literature and film. Genre enthusiasts should snap this up. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House.

May 1, 2020
Award-winning editor Datlow presents a spine-tingling collection of 18 original stories revealing how darkness can exist in the entertainment industry, narratives about filmed satanic rituals, violent death recordings, and unsavory facts uncovered in unexpected places. In Kelly Armstrong's "Drunk Physics," two graduate students discover that their popular physics education video channel may be haunted. Nathan Ballingrud's down-on-his-luck journalist in "Scream Queen" finds more than he expected while interviewing an elderly woman whose only movie role was a small but cultishly memorable part in a sleazy 1970's exploitation flick. A serial killer intent on immortalizing his final big kill before he gets too old learns his willing victim is not so willing, after all. In the last and longest story, "Altered Beast, Altered Me," by Garth Nix, two writers share increasingly dark stories via email, feeding their obsession with a costume jewelry prop worn by Bela Lugosi when portraying Dracula. These chilling film trade tales are an emotional and impactful feast waiting to be devoured by horror fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)