The Best Horror of the Year Quotes

“Any idea what started it?” “No obvious point of origin, but Perry Horne will be out later and he can tell us more.” Joe unzipped his jacket a little way and palmed sweat from his throat. “I don’t need a fire marshal to tell you it wasn’t an accident, though.” Peck sighed and stiffened his jaw. The fire chief nodded, started toward the ruin. Peck followed. They skirted the yard where dry grass ticked, then crossed to the house’s eastern face, intact but damaged. The ground was soupy from the hoses’ spray. Peck stepped around the deeper puddles where the sky was reflected dull. A child’s soft toy stared at him with stitches for eyes. “You might want to ready yourself,” Joe said. Heat drove off the building and kinked the air and Peck felt his shirt latch to his back.”
― Ellen Datlow, Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven

“The culvert beckoned like a dark eye, cloacal and alluring.”
― Ellen Datlow, Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven

“But abuse isn’t like an uncomfortable pair of boots you can just kick off. It’s like being the passenger in a car speeding the wrong way down the highway. You know there’s hurt ahead, but you’re too scared to jump out. All you can do is hope it slows down, or better still, that it stops completely. Maybe it’s different for other victims, who have more family and friends, or who live in a bigger town.”
― Ellen Datlow, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven

“A man with no memory is interesting, while a man with sad memories can’t be buried fast enough.”
― Ellen Datlow, Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven