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The Year's Best Horror Stories Series VIII
Another Year's best horror collection selected by Karl Edward Wagner.
Paperback
First published July 1, 1980
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About the author
Karl Edward Wagner
245 books393 followersKarl Edward Wagner (12 December 1945 – 13 October 1994) was an American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. His disillusionment with the medical profession can be seen in the stories "The Fourth Seal" and "Into Whose Hands". He described his world view as nihilistic, anarchistic and absurdist, and claimed, not entirely seriously, to be related to "an opera composer named Richard". Wagner also admired the cinema of Sam Peckinpah, stating "I worship the film The Wild Bunch".
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 21, 2009
And finally, at YEAR'S BEST HORROR VOLUME 8, we reach the first volume edited by Karl Edward Wagner, featuring stories originally published in 1979.
Wagner really put his imprint on this annual series, bringing in material from a wide range of sources right from the beginning and continuing that standard for the next decade or so. This coincided with a boom in the small press horror field and the establishment of TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE as a new, mainstream market for writers of weird fiction.
The change is apparent almost immediately. There is not one weak story in this book (or, to be more objective, and kinder to Gerald W. Page, not one story "not to my taste"). Dennis Etchison starts things off with "The Dead Line", a disturbing tale about organ harvesting and the future of medical "care". "The Babysitter" by Davis Grubb (author of Night of the Hunter) is an exercise in suspense revolving around a babysitter, her three charges, and an errant gun. I found it an interesting "moment in time" story, as Grubb seems to be grappling with America's recent war history (Vietnam) and general gun culture. Intriguing stuff. John Tibbetts' "The Well At The Half Cat" is nicely old-fashioned, lots of atmospheric detail pervading a story in which a man refurbishes an old pub and ends up replaying a role in a past murder. To be honest, the story itself was a bit familiar, but the poetic and atmospheric detail really sell it.
"A Serious Call" by George Hay is a slight tale about a lecture on the nature of good and evil delivered by a Reverend at a Polytechnic. I find myself somewhat at odds with its point, but the execution is quite enjoyable. Alan Ryan's "Sheets" is a workplace horror tale focusing on the boredom and drudgery of department stores. Again, a slight tale but, also again, entertaining and brief. One of the first indicators of Wagner's new approach is the inclusion of Robert Keefe's "Entombed" - a story that seems pretty much like a non-genre, lit piece, despite all the mummy imagery. A good read all the same, as it's an interesting sketch of a troubled teenager. "A Fly One" by Steve Sneyd features an odious main character (think "tough-talking, 70's TV show police detective") who believes he may have just nailed the right suspect in a girl's murder. Despite the arrogant lead, the tale itself is told in a solid, authentic, 70s British cop argot, with only the end being a slight disappointment.
Hugh B. Cave's "From The Lower Deep" is a pulpy, creepy story with a great setting - a half-flooded fishing village on an island from which most of the inhabitants have fled (and those remaining are being preyed upon by something unknown). Not world shaking, but it does the job. Eddy C. Bertin (seemingly a prolific Dutch writer and someone I'd like to read more work by) provides a narrative involving mental illness, psychic vampirism and a femme fatale in the Baudelaire-derived "My Beautiful Darkling". Very good stuff. Another example of a "wouldn't have been included until Wagner became editor" story is "Billy Wolfe's Riding Spirit" by Kevin Lyons, originally published in EASYRIDER Magazine. Familiar but fun, it sets the New Jersey police against a motorcycle riding criminal who can't be caught.
Despite what I said about Russell Kirk's stolid conservatism in a previous volume's review, he turns in a fine tale in "Lex Talonis", in which a reformed and saved (in the religious sense) criminal is blackmailed into pulling one more robbery job in a house of horrors. It may have all of Kirk's trademark heavy religious and social commentary (the failed urban neighborhood reforms of the 70's come under some serious drubbing) but is quite well done nonetheless. Along similar lines is "The Devil Behind You" by Richard Moore, in which a young boy playing hooky from church meets the Devil in the woods...or does he? It's a sharp little tale with a surprisingly nasty ending. Charles L. Grant's "Needle Song", about the deleterious effects imposed on a neighborhood when a mysterious old lady moves in, is interesting if, in the usual Grant style, a bit hard to pin down.
Harlan Ellison gets *two* stories in this volume. The first, "In The Fourth Year Of The War", is a nice, compact little tale about a man driven by another personality (or is it?) to take revenge for past slights from his life. It's good, representative Ellison.
Ellison's second story ties with Ramsey Campbell for best piece in the book. That's funny because Ellison's piece, "All The Birds Come Home To Roost", is hard to classify as a horror story, although any "love 'em and leave 'em" profligate guy hearing the set-up would disagree. Let's just say that a man with a long dating history suddenly finds that history running in reverse. I'll leave it at that. Maybe "psychological horror" might cover it.
Ramsey Campbell's piece, "To Wake The Dead" is also an oddity, as it's really the first chapter of his novel of the same name (To Wake the Dead retitled The Parasite for the U.S.). Regardless, it stands alone as a story in which a group of kids sneak into an old house to fool around with a Ouija board and get more than they bargained for. That might not sound too original, and it isn't, but what makes it such a superb piece is that the writing, the language, the pacing and atmosphere are so masterfully handled that the piece is creepy as hell. Excellent stuff.
Wagner really put his imprint on this annual series, bringing in material from a wide range of sources right from the beginning and continuing that standard for the next decade or so. This coincided with a boom in the small press horror field and the establishment of TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE as a new, mainstream market for writers of weird fiction.
The change is apparent almost immediately. There is not one weak story in this book (or, to be more objective, and kinder to Gerald W. Page, not one story "not to my taste"). Dennis Etchison starts things off with "The Dead Line", a disturbing tale about organ harvesting and the future of medical "care". "The Babysitter" by Davis Grubb (author of Night of the Hunter) is an exercise in suspense revolving around a babysitter, her three charges, and an errant gun. I found it an interesting "moment in time" story, as Grubb seems to be grappling with America's recent war history (Vietnam) and general gun culture. Intriguing stuff. John Tibbetts' "The Well At The Half Cat" is nicely old-fashioned, lots of atmospheric detail pervading a story in which a man refurbishes an old pub and ends up replaying a role in a past murder. To be honest, the story itself was a bit familiar, but the poetic and atmospheric detail really sell it.
"A Serious Call" by George Hay is a slight tale about a lecture on the nature of good and evil delivered by a Reverend at a Polytechnic. I find myself somewhat at odds with its point, but the execution is quite enjoyable. Alan Ryan's "Sheets" is a workplace horror tale focusing on the boredom and drudgery of department stores. Again, a slight tale but, also again, entertaining and brief. One of the first indicators of Wagner's new approach is the inclusion of Robert Keefe's "Entombed" - a story that seems pretty much like a non-genre, lit piece, despite all the mummy imagery. A good read all the same, as it's an interesting sketch of a troubled teenager. "A Fly One" by Steve Sneyd features an odious main character (think "tough-talking, 70's TV show police detective") who believes he may have just nailed the right suspect in a girl's murder. Despite the arrogant lead, the tale itself is told in a solid, authentic, 70s British cop argot, with only the end being a slight disappointment.
Hugh B. Cave's "From The Lower Deep" is a pulpy, creepy story with a great setting - a half-flooded fishing village on an island from which most of the inhabitants have fled (and those remaining are being preyed upon by something unknown). Not world shaking, but it does the job. Eddy C. Bertin (seemingly a prolific Dutch writer and someone I'd like to read more work by) provides a narrative involving mental illness, psychic vampirism and a femme fatale in the Baudelaire-derived "My Beautiful Darkling". Very good stuff. Another example of a "wouldn't have been included until Wagner became editor" story is "Billy Wolfe's Riding Spirit" by Kevin Lyons, originally published in EASYRIDER Magazine. Familiar but fun, it sets the New Jersey police against a motorcycle riding criminal who can't be caught.
Despite what I said about Russell Kirk's stolid conservatism in a previous volume's review, he turns in a fine tale in "Lex Talonis", in which a reformed and saved (in the religious sense) criminal is blackmailed into pulling one more robbery job in a house of horrors. It may have all of Kirk's trademark heavy religious and social commentary (the failed urban neighborhood reforms of the 70's come under some serious drubbing) but is quite well done nonetheless. Along similar lines is "The Devil Behind You" by Richard Moore, in which a young boy playing hooky from church meets the Devil in the woods...or does he? It's a sharp little tale with a surprisingly nasty ending. Charles L. Grant's "Needle Song", about the deleterious effects imposed on a neighborhood when a mysterious old lady moves in, is interesting if, in the usual Grant style, a bit hard to pin down.
Harlan Ellison gets *two* stories in this volume. The first, "In The Fourth Year Of The War", is a nice, compact little tale about a man driven by another personality (or is it?) to take revenge for past slights from his life. It's good, representative Ellison.
Ellison's second story ties with Ramsey Campbell for best piece in the book. That's funny because Ellison's piece, "All The Birds Come Home To Roost", is hard to classify as a horror story, although any "love 'em and leave 'em" profligate guy hearing the set-up would disagree. Let's just say that a man with a long dating history suddenly finds that history running in reverse. I'll leave it at that. Maybe "psychological horror" might cover it.
Ramsey Campbell's piece, "To Wake The Dead" is also an oddity, as it's really the first chapter of his novel of the same name (To Wake the Dead retitled The Parasite for the U.S.). Regardless, it stands alone as a story in which a group of kids sneak into an old house to fool around with a Ouija board and get more than they bargained for. That might not sound too original, and it isn't, but what makes it such a superb piece is that the writing, the language, the pacing and atmosphere are so masterfully handled that the piece is creepy as hell. Excellent stuff.
March 11, 2025
And here we are suddenly on the verge of the 1980s, the decade where horror both flourished and floundered, rolled up its dirty sleeves and sharpened its edges against convention, only to quickly falter into juvenile fantasies and suburban grimoires where B-circuit gore became a mainstay for the mid-lists. Did 1979 prove worthy for the DAW Horror series, now championed by editor, Karl Edward Wagner? (phew, Gerald Page's prior entries as editor were spotty at best).
The Dead Line by Dennis Etchison - organ harvesting inside hospitals no different than morgues, a solid tale with one of the most memorable opening lines: "This morning I put ground glass in my wife's eyes. She didn't mind. She didn't make a sound. She never does." Etchison was pretty much on fire from 1978 to 1982, and this is proof of it.
To Wake the Dead by Ramsey Campbell - one of the most sustained works of continual and building dread. A young girl and her friends bring out the Ouija board in a derelict house. Of course, the visitor is not welcome, and in usual fashion, something fumbling in the dark moves closer down the hallway. This short eventually became the novel 'The Parasite', surely one of Ramsey's most batshit Tor Horror novels. Top-shelf classic.
In the Fourth Year of the War by Harlan Ellison - a revenge tale in need of revision, perhaps. But a decent, if not forgettable, serial killer expose. Basically, kill those adults who made your childhood so shitty.
From the Lower Deep by Hugh B. Cave - a moody tale that touches into territories both Insmouthian and of hoodoo.
The Baby-Sitter by Davis Grubb - the author of 'The Night of the Hunter' again turns his pen to another tale of children gone spoiled. Here two boys terrorize their babysitter with a rifle. Perhaps not Grubb's intent, but I was laughing at the hijinx in this suburban tale, not frightened or disturbed whatsoever. Basically, it's slapstick.
The Well at the Half Cat by John C. Tibbetts - well, you have ghosts, a bad love affair, a shuttered well. Sure, it's a finely written tale, but it's too stepped in convention to make it all that memorable.
My Beautiful Darkling by Eddy C. Bertin - a succubus at a carnival captures the amorous hungers of a layabout old man. Nice twist at the end, but isn't that the mold of these 1970s shorts? To put all the pressure of the story on one little last-paragraph realization/reveal. Haunting enough but not a classic by any means.
A Serious Call by George Hay - Shit, Satan must have run out of ways to kill the devout. Catholic brimstone horror for Sunday Service tea. Tepid.
Sheets by Alan Ryan - if you ever worked retail then this story develops another layer of dreadful skin. Of course, here we have an ex-teacher slumming it at a department store during Christmas. Short and sweet, and full of EC Comics delirium ala cheap, low-thread-count bedsheets.
Billy Wolfe's Riding Spirit by Kevin A. Lyons - ghost rider on the Jersey Turnpike. Its simplicity could be its charm, yet to me, the story felt woefully unfinished. Imagine M.R. James on a Harley. I know, I really can't.
Lex Talionis by Russell Kirk - Kirk writes Christian horror, and most of his stories deal with criminals in a situation that may transcend them, or bring them to a lowly Hell where sinners never get a second chance. Some reincarnation, a heist, an ex-con soliloquy. Solid.
Entombed by Robert Keefe - a teenager hides at the Boston MFA for an overnight. He chooses the Egyptian Room. Mummies and adolescent dismay are the staples in this short and rather 'fair' tale that evokes some creepiness.
A Fly One by Steve Sneyd - a hunchback suspect is brought into the police station. One-note build-up arrives rather grotesquely yet has the overall predictability of a mile-away slow ball.
Needle Song by Charles L. Grant - old bat moves in the neighborhood, tinkling her piano in the evening like some heartbroken siren, bringing good luck and good fortune to all those who listen. In the company of his finest Oxrun set pieces, this is a solid story of Grant's suburban penny dreadfuls.
All the Birds Come Home to Roost by Harlan Ellison - the superior of the Ellison entries, this is basically a come-uppance tale as a proto-male player finds all his past loves returning to him in haphazard fashion. If you ever saw an ex in public, Ellison would clearly tell you to get the fuck away. Is Ellison in some way trying to tell us he was a Casanova? We all know this man's ego is legendary, so it's tough not to see him as the main character here.
The Devil Behind You by Richard A. Moore - short and sweet, a brutal tale of a neglected child dodging Sunday service to hide in the woods beyond the church. Only when he meets an ugly man in prison pants and a gun in his belt, the boy unwillingly becomes an accomplice to a small crime that ends in a raw-knuckled gut punch.
Overall, Karl Edward Wagner has elevated the Year's Best Horror from the tepid waters under Gerald Page's editorial pen. Still, a solid *** 1/2.
The Dead Line by Dennis Etchison - organ harvesting inside hospitals no different than morgues, a solid tale with one of the most memorable opening lines: "This morning I put ground glass in my wife's eyes. She didn't mind. She didn't make a sound. She never does." Etchison was pretty much on fire from 1978 to 1982, and this is proof of it.
To Wake the Dead by Ramsey Campbell - one of the most sustained works of continual and building dread. A young girl and her friends bring out the Ouija board in a derelict house. Of course, the visitor is not welcome, and in usual fashion, something fumbling in the dark moves closer down the hallway. This short eventually became the novel 'The Parasite', surely one of Ramsey's most batshit Tor Horror novels. Top-shelf classic.
In the Fourth Year of the War by Harlan Ellison - a revenge tale in need of revision, perhaps. But a decent, if not forgettable, serial killer expose. Basically, kill those adults who made your childhood so shitty.
From the Lower Deep by Hugh B. Cave - a moody tale that touches into territories both Insmouthian and of hoodoo.
The Baby-Sitter by Davis Grubb - the author of 'The Night of the Hunter' again turns his pen to another tale of children gone spoiled. Here two boys terrorize their babysitter with a rifle. Perhaps not Grubb's intent, but I was laughing at the hijinx in this suburban tale, not frightened or disturbed whatsoever. Basically, it's slapstick.
The Well at the Half Cat by John C. Tibbetts - well, you have ghosts, a bad love affair, a shuttered well. Sure, it's a finely written tale, but it's too stepped in convention to make it all that memorable.
My Beautiful Darkling by Eddy C. Bertin - a succubus at a carnival captures the amorous hungers of a layabout old man. Nice twist at the end, but isn't that the mold of these 1970s shorts? To put all the pressure of the story on one little last-paragraph realization/reveal. Haunting enough but not a classic by any means.
A Serious Call by George Hay - Shit, Satan must have run out of ways to kill the devout. Catholic brimstone horror for Sunday Service tea. Tepid.
Sheets by Alan Ryan - if you ever worked retail then this story develops another layer of dreadful skin. Of course, here we have an ex-teacher slumming it at a department store during Christmas. Short and sweet, and full of EC Comics delirium ala cheap, low-thread-count bedsheets.
Billy Wolfe's Riding Spirit by Kevin A. Lyons - ghost rider on the Jersey Turnpike. Its simplicity could be its charm, yet to me, the story felt woefully unfinished. Imagine M.R. James on a Harley. I know, I really can't.
Lex Talionis by Russell Kirk - Kirk writes Christian horror, and most of his stories deal with criminals in a situation that may transcend them, or bring them to a lowly Hell where sinners never get a second chance. Some reincarnation, a heist, an ex-con soliloquy. Solid.
Entombed by Robert Keefe - a teenager hides at the Boston MFA for an overnight. He chooses the Egyptian Room. Mummies and adolescent dismay are the staples in this short and rather 'fair' tale that evokes some creepiness.
A Fly One by Steve Sneyd - a hunchback suspect is brought into the police station. One-note build-up arrives rather grotesquely yet has the overall predictability of a mile-away slow ball.
Needle Song by Charles L. Grant - old bat moves in the neighborhood, tinkling her piano in the evening like some heartbroken siren, bringing good luck and good fortune to all those who listen. In the company of his finest Oxrun set pieces, this is a solid story of Grant's suburban penny dreadfuls.
All the Birds Come Home to Roost by Harlan Ellison - the superior of the Ellison entries, this is basically a come-uppance tale as a proto-male player finds all his past loves returning to him in haphazard fashion. If you ever saw an ex in public, Ellison would clearly tell you to get the fuck away. Is Ellison in some way trying to tell us he was a Casanova? We all know this man's ego is legendary, so it's tough not to see him as the main character here.
The Devil Behind You by Richard A. Moore - short and sweet, a brutal tale of a neglected child dodging Sunday service to hide in the woods beyond the church. Only when he meets an ugly man in prison pants and a gun in his belt, the boy unwillingly becomes an accomplice to a small crime that ends in a raw-knuckled gut punch.
Overall, Karl Edward Wagner has elevated the Year's Best Horror from the tepid waters under Gerald Page's editorial pen. Still, a solid *** 1/2.
March 4, 2016
This was a very good collection of horror stories. One thing that I noticed while reading this collection was how horror stories have changed. Specifically, something that once was considered "pulp" horror would be considered "literary" by today's standards. I'm not sure what caused such a shift of perception, but it seemed apparent with this collection.
This one include some authors I didn't know, as well as some heavy hitters including Harlan Ellison, Ramsay Campbell, Dennis Etchison, and Charles L. Grant. The stories range from Lovecraft type monsters to more human villains, as well as some that fall in between. The majority were psychological.
The stories as a group did a tremendous job of creating a sense of forboding, as the whole time I was reading I felt creeped out. As I said earlier, the stories seemed much more literary than most modern collections, but perhaps that's just a sign of the times.
This is a fairly hard to find paperback, but if you really enjoy horror short stories this one is worth tracking down.
This one include some authors I didn't know, as well as some heavy hitters including Harlan Ellison, Ramsay Campbell, Dennis Etchison, and Charles L. Grant. The stories range from Lovecraft type monsters to more human villains, as well as some that fall in between. The majority were psychological.
The stories as a group did a tremendous job of creating a sense of forboding, as the whole time I was reading I felt creeped out. As I said earlier, the stories seemed much more literary than most modern collections, but perhaps that's just a sign of the times.
This is a fairly hard to find paperback, but if you really enjoy horror short stories this one is worth tracking down.
August 19, 2020
Karl Edward Wagner took over the editorship of DAW's Year's Best Horror series from Gerald W. Page in 1980 with this eighth volume, which features a creepy Michael Whelan cover. Wagner's choices came from a wide variety of original sources rather than just the traditional short horror magazines of the time, and he seemed to be to be willing to include more works from little- and unknown writers. Among the highlights of this volume are stories by Ramsey Campbell, Davis Grubb, Alan Ryan, Dennis Etchinson, Charles L. Grant, Russell Kirk, and two stories from Harlan Ellison. My favorite is From the Lower Deep by Hugh B. Cave.
August 26, 2014
These things are like primers for writing weird/horror/dark fantasy fiction. Everyone starting out should get them, and they're so cheap on the secondary market, it's almost criminal. Wish I'd come across these ten years ago.
July 4, 2009
The first year's best collection to be edited by Karl Edward Wagner. This stuff is more horror than some of the earlier volumes, which still had a lot of fantasy elements in it. Great stories here by Etchison and Ellison, and plenty of just generally intersting stuff.
September 23, 2024
A solid 4 for this collection, the first in the series edited by Wagner. There were a couple of stories I didn't care for, but the majority of these were very good. Often these kinds of things are far more hit and miss, but this is a great anthology, rife with excellently written, intelligent tales.
January 27, 2011
A mediocre collection overall. Too many of the stories seemed pointless; when I’d reach the end, I’d cock an eyebrow and say “Huh?” But a few of the stories were quite good.
“To Wake the Dead” by Ramsey Campbell. My favorite Ramsey Campbell story so far. It’s about some kids who sneak out to hold a seance in a haunted house and call up something more than they bargained for. Effective atmosphere and a clever manipulation of standard parental fears about peer pressure make this an excellent read. This story is actually the prologue to Campbell’s novel, The Parasite (American title), but the story stands well on its own.
“From the Lower Deep” by Hugh B. Cave. When their island homes are flooded after an earthquake, most of the residents flee. But those who remain face something far worse than floodwaters. Cave does an excellent job of building up suspense and keeping the reader guessing.
“All the Birds Come Home to Roost” by Harlan Ellison. A man becomes terrified as he encounters all the women he’s been involved with over the years, one by one, in reverse order. (To say more, would give too much away...)
“To Wake the Dead” by Ramsey Campbell. My favorite Ramsey Campbell story so far. It’s about some kids who sneak out to hold a seance in a haunted house and call up something more than they bargained for. Effective atmosphere and a clever manipulation of standard parental fears about peer pressure make this an excellent read. This story is actually the prologue to Campbell’s novel, The Parasite (American title), but the story stands well on its own.
“From the Lower Deep” by Hugh B. Cave. When their island homes are flooded after an earthquake, most of the residents flee. But those who remain face something far worse than floodwaters. Cave does an excellent job of building up suspense and keeping the reader guessing.
“All the Birds Come Home to Roost” by Harlan Ellison. A man becomes terrified as he encounters all the women he’s been involved with over the years, one by one, in reverse order. (To say more, would give too much away...)
March 18, 2025
Volume VIII was the first edited by Karl Edward Wagner. In 1980 the boom was underway. When I first landed a copy of this paperback, I read the stories by Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell, Harlan Ellison, Alan Ryan, and Charles L. Grant, but I left money on the table when I got distracted and picked up another book instead.
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2020...
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2020...
August 21, 2019
A solid collection with my favorites being the last two stories: All The Birds Come Home To Roost by Harlan Ellison and The Devil Behind You by Richard A. Moore. I also really liked A Serious Call by George Hay, My Beautiful Darkling by Eddy C. Bertin and In The Fourth Year Of The War, another by Harlan Ellison.
August 13, 2023
Fun collection of creepy tales. Love Wagner’s introductions & contextualizations for each contributor.
Currently reading
July 15, 2024"Needle Song" by Charles L. Grant - Eric and Caren run afoul of a local witch.
"The Baby-Sitter" by Davis Grubb - wc
"A Serious Call" by George Hay - wc
"Sheets" by Alan Ryan - wc
"A Fly One" by Steve Sneyd - wc
"The Baby-Sitter" by Davis Grubb - wc
"A Serious Call" by George Hay - wc
"Sheets" by Alan Ryan - wc
"A Fly One" by Steve Sneyd - wc
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2015
Every single story in this book is horrifying. Don't read before bed.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews