THE BEST

HORROR OF THE YEAR

Volume Four

EDITED BY ELLEN DATLOW

Also Edited by Ellen Datlow

A Whisper of Blood

A Wolf at the Door (with Terri Windling)

Alien Sex

Black Heart, Ivory Bones (with Terri Windling)

Black Swan, White Raven (with Terri Windling)

Black Thorn, White Rose (with Terri Windling)

Blood is Not Enough: 17 Stories of Vampirism

Blood and Other Cravings

Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror

Digital Domains: A Decade of Science Fiction and Fantasy

Haunted Legends (with Nick Mamatas)

Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural

Lethal Kisses

Little Deaths

Lovecraft Unbound

Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy

Nebula Awards Showcase 2009

Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex

Omni Best Science Fiction: Volumes One through Three

Omni Books of Science Fiction: Volumes One through Seven

OmniVisions One

and Two

Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe

Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears (with Terri Windling)

Salon Fantastique: Fifteen Original Tales of Fantasy (with Terri Windling)

Silver Birch, Blood Moon (with Terri Windling)

Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (with Terri Windling)

Snow White, Blood Red (with Terri Windling)

Supernatural Noir

Swan Sister (with Terri Windling)

Tails of Wonder and Imagination: Cat Stories

Teeth: Vampire Tales (with Terri Windling)

The Beastly Bride: And Other Tales of the Animal People (with Terri Windling)

The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One

The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Two

The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three

The Beastly Bride: Tales of the Animal People

The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (with Terri Windling)

The Dark: New Ghost Stories

The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm

The Green Man: Tales of the Mythic Forest (with Terri Windling)

Troll’s Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales (with Terri Windling)

Twists of the Tale

Vanishing Acts

The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (with Terri Windling, Gavin J. Grant, and Kelly Link)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to thank Melody Chamlee for being my first reader. I’d like to thank Stefan Dziemianowicz for his generosity and his time and Charles Tan for bringing material from the Philippines to my attention. Also thanks to Andrew Alford, Nick Mamatas, and Michael Kandel for their suggestions.

I’d like to acknowledge the following magazines and catalogs for invaluable information and descriptions of material I was unable to obtain: Locus, Publishers Weekly, British Fantasy Society Journal, S.F. Commentary, and Prism

(the quarterly journal of fantasy given with membership to the British Fantasy Society). I’d also like to thank all the editors who made sure I saw their magazines during the year, the webzine editors who provided printouts, and the book publishers who provided review copies in a timely manner. Also, the writers who sent me printouts of their stories when I was unable to acquire the magazine or book in which they appeared.

Thanks to Merrilee Heifetz and Sarah Nagel at Writers House.

And a very special thank you to Jeremy Lassen, Jason Williams, and Ross Lockhart.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Little Green God of Agony Stephen King

Stay Leah Bobet

The Moraine Simon Bestwick

Blackwood’s Baby Laird Barron

Looker David Nickle

The Show Priya Sharma

Mulberry Boys Margo Lanagan

Roots and All Brian Hodge

Final Girl Theory A. C. Wise

Omphalos Livia Llewellyn

Dermot Simon Bestwick