A chilling horror anthology of 19 original short stories from a world-class line-up of the masters of horror, delving into the histories and traditions of the spookiest season of the year. Presented by Hugo Award winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, and featuring stories by Josh Malerman, Stephen Graham Jones, Garth Nix as well as many more.Halloween, Samhain, Día de los Muertos—festivals across the world where we can commune with those we have lost, when spirits can cross over, and when the boundary between the living and the dead is far, far too thin.A young boy encounters a woman with an ancient and terrifying link to the holiday, a group of college students attend a Halloween party to die for, and a troubled girl exploits a local urban legend to try and turn her life around. From America to New Zealand via the rural Romanian wilderness, this anthology explores our worldwide obsession with the spookiest season of the year, when the veil is lifted and the spirits come alive. Featuring 19 original stories from bestselling and award-winning masters of the genre, and from Hugo, World Fantasy, Locus, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-winning editor and horror legend Ellen Datlow, this anthology invites you to carve a pumpkin, light the lanterns and welcome in trick or treaters from across the world. With stories by:Josh MalermanLee MurrayRich LarsonClay McLeod Chapman Livia LlewellynMichael Marshall SmithStephen Graham Jones Linda D. AddisonChristopher GoldenAlma KatsuBrian EvensonSiobhan CarrollChịkọdịlị EmelụmadụTheresa DeLucciGarth NixJeffrey FordRichard KadreyNathan BallingrudJohn Langan
Contributors: (W) Christopher Golden; Stephen Graham Jones; Chikodili Emelumadu; Lee Murray; John Langan; Nathan Ballingrud; Garth Nix; Brian Evenson; Josh Malerman; Rich Larson; Clay McLeod Chapman; Livia Llewellyn; Michael Marshall Smith; Linda D. Addison (CT) Ellen Datlow
Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.       She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards. Datlow was recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.