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A review by tombomp
The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eleven by Ellen Datlow
dark
3.75
I think I probably enjoyed this more just cause I haven't really read short stories in a while and I just found myself really absorbed in all the different kinds of stories people tell regardless of quality. There was maybe one outright clunker and the rest were all decent (even if they didn't really "hit") to great.
The worst for me was Monkeys on the Beach, which reminded me of the Salad Days Monty Python sketch. A bunch of bad things happen for no real reason and are bad enough to not feel realistic but also too realistic to be enjoyably absurd. It's 100% possible this was supposed to be funny and the humour just didn't hit.
My favourite was Thumbsucker by Robert Shearman: an uncomfortable, disconcerting and slightly gross tale that's horror without anything that should be scary happening, combined with a sympathetic narrative about being old and lonely. Just a great one word concept that gets written wonderfully.
The worst for me was Monkeys on the Beach, which reminded me of the Salad Days Monty Python sketch. A bunch of bad things happen for no real reason and are bad enough to not feel realistic but also too realistic to be enjoyably absurd. It's 100% possible this was supposed to be funny and the humour just didn't hit.
My favourite was Thumbsucker by Robert Shearman: an uncomfortable, disconcerting and slightly gross tale that's horror without anything that should be scary happening, combined with a sympathetic narrative about being old and lonely. Just a great one word concept that gets written wonderfully.