The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five

By: Margo Lanagan, Ellen Datlow - editor, Ramsey Campbell, Dan Chaon, Laird Barron, Lucy Taylor

Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May

Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Darkness, both literal and psychological, holds its own unique fascination. Despite our fears, or perhaps because of them, listeners have always been drawn to tales of death, terror, madness, and the supernatural, and no more so than today when a wildly imaginative new generation of dark dreamers is carrying on in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft and King, crafting exquisitely disturbing literary nightmares that gaze without flinching into the abyss - and linger in the mind long after.

Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow knows the darkest corners of fiction and poetry better than most. Once again, she has braved the haunted landscape of modern horror to seek out the most chilling new works by both legendary masters of the genre and fresh young talents. Here are twisted hungers and obsessions, human and otherwise, along with an unsettling variety of spine-tingling fears and fantasies. The cutting edge of horror has never cut deeper than in this comprehensive showcase of the very best the field has to offer. Enter at your own risk.

©2013 Ellen Datlow; 2013 Night Shade Books (P)2015 Audible Inc.

Not really horror

This anthology was more dark and depressing than horror. Not for light listening, I had to keep rewinding to follow the stories.

Meh

A largely forgettable collection. This is the third volume I've listened to and the book's title is clearly subjective. For me, I have noticed after listening to 3 volumes so far, they save the best story for last and the stories seem to get better towards the end. The narration was great but couldn't stop me from fast forwarding or out right abandoning 3-4 stories. I will check out the other volumes; each volume has a few gems and it's great for my commute.

This is NOT a book of horror stories

Has The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five turned you off from other books in this genre?
Not this genre but definitely this series.

Any additional comments?
The majority of stories in this book might fit the suspense genre but the only way this would fit in the horror category is ironically. The stories were bland and I frequently had to check to see if I had finished one and started another they were quite boring and I didn't even bother finishing the book. Unfortunately I wasted a credit on volume 6 as well, I will give it a shot but I couldn't have lower expectations.

Horror or ashore?

This is a great collection of horror stories. Most of the stories held my attention and were gruesome, truly holding to the horror genre. I told my wife last night I just finished this book of horror stories. She asked why I was listening to a book of whore stories. Apparently she did not hear me correctly.

If the title is optional why can't I submit :P

Not exactly what I would call horror stories (there were a few), a lot of the stories are just really "bummer" situations.

A variety of unconventional horror stories

A package of horror stories from some of the leading horror writers. Naration is usually good, except when the narrator has to play a woman. Then he threw me out of the stories. However, there's no way all of these stories I will appeal to even most readers. Best one to me was the Laird Barron story which was the very last one. I already have trouble remembering the others.

good example of a narrator making all the diff

Any additional comments?

Very interesting stories by some of the best writers in horror fiction. These stories were made even more wonderful by the narrator. He is PHENOMENAL. I cannot compliment him enough. There were some fabulous stories here and then there were some okay stories that Mr. May's narration made fabulous.

Okay, I'll stop gushing over the narrator now and say a little something about the stories.... I found about 95% of them to be really really good. Obviously, a few really stood out, like "Little America" and "The House on Ashley Ave." (of which I could have read more of - I hope the author is going to write a novel about the very interesting Meerfield Group). There were 2 or 3 stinkers, but overall this anthology is well worth the money.

Best pass this one by

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I can't imagine anyone who might actually enjoy this entire collection. There are a couple stories that rise above the rest, but even those aren't outstanding.

Any additional comments?

I simply cannot imagine that these stories represent the best of any year. Some are simply poorly written. Others suggest that the author didn't understand the concept of the short story.

Terrible

This book should be called, A bunch of Authors who have no idea how to end a story. Almost all stories had abrupt terrible endings, that will leave you saying wtf time and time again.

Largely forgettable

I didn't enjoy this like I thought I would. None of the shorts were horrifying. Many were what I considered ok but I want more from my reads than just ok. A good handful were senseless and left me asking "why?". Not one I will listen to again.