18/02/2020
Sneak Peek at Intro to YEAR'S BEST HARDCORE HORROR VOL 5
GOING GLOBAL
INTRODUCTION BY
RANDY CHANDLER AND
CHERYL MULLENAX
2019. The year certainly made its mark on the world—and more than its share of scars. It also made for a bounty of good horror stories of the extreme kind, the best of which the tales herein serve to illustrate.
2019 was the year YBHH went global. Not by design but because the stories inside just happened to have been written by authors hailing from various parts of the globe. From Australia by way of South Africa, to Italy, Scotland, Norway, Taiwan, North America and India--the common denominator being that their tales come from darkest regions of imagination.
Kicking things off in fine feminist fashion, Hailey Piper flips the script in “Feast for Small Pieces” to show us things from the perspective of the femme fatale herself. If she is a wicked seductress, maybe she has good reason.
Kristopher Triana carves out his return to our pages with “Goddess of Gallows” from Necro’s irreverent The Big Book of Blasphemy. With his trademark hardcore style, Kris pulls no punches and won’t leave you hanging—but Ixtab the Mayan goddess whose name translates as “hangwoman” might have other ideas.
“Late Night Incident At The White Trash Motel” ponders what would happen if the director of a film similar to Get Out was kidnapped by white nationalists. Duane Bradley has it all worked out in his “black” redneck noir comedy.
From one of our favorite anthologies of the year, The New Flesh: A Literary Tribute to David Cronenberg, comes Gwendolyn Kiste’s “A New Mother’s Guide To Raising An Abomination.” In true Cronenbergian spirit, she offers advice you won’t find in any self-help articles. Seth Brundle would surely get it.
From perhaps the unlikeliest anthology of the year, Tales From The Crust, cooked up by David James Keaton and Max Booth III, we serve up “Upper Crust” by Michael Paul Gonzalez. Turns out the guys really deliver the goods with all the tasty horror toppings. The trick will be forgetting what you read here the next time you order pizza.
Annie Neugebauer also makes a return to our pages with “Redless.” Annie describes this one as “nutso and fun” and we think you’ll agree (if you have a hankering for hardcore gore and juicy storytelling).
Bram Stoker Award-winning author Tim Waggoner is back with “A Touch of Madness,” Tim’s disturbing take on the fear of insanity from The Pulp Horror Book of Phobias. When the consummate horror writer plumbs these pulp depths, you know you’re in for a shuddering treat. Don’t be surprised if this one wins Tim another prize.
When Joseph Bouthiette Jr. recommends stories to us, we always pay close attention because he has never steered us wrong. As editor of Honey & Sulphur, he turns out some of the best fiction and poetry available anywhere. Joanna Koch’s “Paradisum Voluptatis” is an ekphrasis of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” It’s absolutely one of the best stories we read this year and we thank Joseph and Joanna for the privilege of reprinting it here.
Sean Patrick Hazlett pays tribute to Thomas Ligotti in his examination of the root of all evil in corporate corruption with “Radix Malorum,” an eerie tale haunted by smiling flesh balloons.
Also from the Cronenberg tribute anthology is Leo X. Robertson’s “Lackers.” A journalist investigates a strange new community who celebrate their physical imperfections in this twisted o**y of body horror.
Rajiv Moté guides a return trip to Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights--but what could possibly be delightful in a landscape of monsters, torture, and mayhem? See for yourself in “Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?”
Syon Das’s “Darjeeling” takes us along with a group of teenage scouts to the Himalayan town to spend a night at the Banerjee Estate, a place with a haunted history of brutal murder. But the housekeeper has been keeping a terrible secret in the years since the slaughter occurred.
In “MRSA Me” Alicia Hilton tells this chilling story from the point of view of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body and for which there is no sure cure. As Alicia’s tale so vividly demonstrates, the unseen threats are the most terrifying.
In “What Did You Do To The Children” David L. Tamarin gives us an unhealthy dose of torture p**n with a decidedly demented twist. Anyone easily triggered should probably skip this one.
Next comes Matthew V. Brockmeyer’s “Have A Heart.” Some tales tug at your heartstrings, but this one may rip it right out of your chest. This is a deeply disturbing story of a small child in hopeless jeopardy. If you thought Stephen King’s “Gerald’s Game” was unnerving, be warned: this tale is much more so.
D.A. Xiaolin Spires takes us on a tour of the tallest building in the world: Taipei 101. If you’ve never seen this magnificent building in Taiwan, we suggest you find images of it online so you can truly picture the full body-horror effect. This story is from Sarah Read’s Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, a wonderful compendium of new myths of transformation. Highly recommended.
Alessandro Manzetti’s “Kirti” gives us a rickshaw ride to a rendezvous with an enticing Calcutta pr******te named Kirti. We wouldn’t say her john’s bitten off more than he can chew but things certainly don’t go according to his l***y plan.
From Melbourne, Australia, Deb Sheldon delivers the ultraviolent historical tale “The Tea and Sugar Train.” Trust us, this is in no way a tea party. There are bloodthirsty monsters in the harsh desert lands of the Outback and the pregnant protagonist has to fight for her life.
Also from Down Under, Ben Pienaar introduces “Stargirl,” a psychopathic musician who attempts to create a new kind of music using the sounds of suffering. She starts by torturing small animals but doesn’t stop there. As her fame spreads round the world, the effect of her strange sound begins to manifest in disturbing ways. With no end in sight.
Scáth Beorh wraps things up with Q***r Weather: A Poetic Tablua Rasa. This mind-bending poem could be a love/hate letter to God, or something else entirely. Take it as you will. It’s a fitting coda to this year’s cursed tome. For now we’ll wrap this up so you can get on to the tales. As Scáth says in his poem:
“Embrace these misty monsters now
they are your brothers, sisters.”
--RANDY CHANDLER & CHERYL MULLENAX
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