The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 17
Edited by Ellen Datlow
Night Shade Books (late 2025)
Reviewed by Mario Guslandi
Legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow is back with yet another “year’s best,” an annual treat for any horror lover.
As customary, Datlow not only provides a selection of her favorite short stories that appeared in print during the previous year, but conveys a massive amount of information about anything concerning the horror area.
Thus, she lists and briefly comments upon the year’s awards, the best horror novels and novellas published in the English speaking world, the most compelling collections and anthologies, the best genre magazines, journals and websites, poems and essays dealing with dark fiction and horror.
Truly an incredible source of information for anyone interested in horror.
Personally every time I read Datlow’s yearly “Best” I discover a lot of material which had totally escaped my attention, and I’m very grateful for that.
As for the included short fiction, here’s my own “ very best” chosen among Datlow’s twenty-three best stories of the year.
“An Act of Sorrow” by James Cooper is a totally outstanding piece of horror featuring a “professional” mourner getting involved in an extremely unusual situation.
“The Boy in the Closet” by Douglas Ford is an excellent, spooky tale revolving around a mysterious closet in a school classroom where someone is supposedly hiding.
Gemma Amor provides “Less Exalted Tastes,” a deeply disturbing piece wherein a realtor, eager to acquire an old mansion, has to face unforeseen dangerous events, while Robert Shearman pens I Love the Very Flesh Off You,” a splendid example of “surrealistic” horror featuring a man who has to attend the funeral of his wife’s previous husband.
If these hints are not enough for you, just go ahead and secure a copy of this invaluable book.
- Advance Review: THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR, Vol. 17 - November 3, 2025
- Book Review: AN ARABIAN NIGHT-MARE AND OTHERS - May 7, 2025
- Book Review: ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES - January 31, 2025
- Advance Review: THESE THINGS THAT WALK BEHIND ME - September 8, 2024
- Book Review: DISINTEGRATION - June 16, 2024
- Book Review: THIS MORTAL COIL - April 16, 2024
- Book Review: DEAD LETTERS - March 17, 2024
- Book Review: THE GOOD UNKNOWN - December 22, 2023
- Book Review: A CURIOUS CARTOGRAPHY - September 3, 2023
- Book Review: ELEMENT OF DOUBT - July 2, 2023
