Tim Lebbon - New Fears 2: Brand New Horror Stories by Masters of the Macabre

So here we are again.

For those of you who missed out on the original volume in this series, let me explain what New Fears is all about. As a child I grew up reading numerous anthologies of ghost and horror stories, and back in those halcyon days they were nearly all un-themed. Each book contained a delicious blend of stories both supernatural and non-supernatural, some of which would be gory, some subtle, some surreal, some sad, some funny In short, you never knew what kind of story you were going to be reading next, as a result of which each anthology was a leap into the unknown, a journey of twists and turns leading to a series of exhilarating destinations.

In recent years, though, market forces have dictated that if anthologies are to appeal to the reader, then they must have a theme. Hence we now see a proliferation of anthologies in which all the stories are about vampires, or zombies, or werewolves, or mad scientists; or anthologies in which all the stories are set in the same location; or anthologies whose stories all focus on a single, sometimes abstract concept: evolution, the dark, phobias, obsessions, dreams.

Dont get me wrong. Some of these themed anthologies are excellent. But theyre also restrictive to a greater or lesser degree, and whenever I read one I find myself hankering for a bit more variety; I find myself thinking wistfully of the un-themed genre anthologies which have most influenced and excited me over the years: the annual Pan and Fontana Books of Horror and Ghost Stories; Ramsey Campbells New Terrors (originally published in two volumes in 1980, and as an omnibus edition in 1985); Kirby McCauleys Dark Voices (1980); Douglas E. Winters Prime Evil (1989); Nicholas Royles Darklands (1991) and Darklands 2 (1992); Stephen Jones and David Suttons six-volume Dark Terrors series (19962002).

My aim with New Fears, therefore, is to bring back the un-themed horror anthologyand not as a one-off, but as an annual publication, with each volume acting as a showcase for the very best and most innovative fiction that this exhilarating genre has to offer. Horror is a catch-all term for a field that has an almost infinite variety of approaches, themes and styles, and I want New Fears to reflect that.

And judging by the feedback weve received for the first volume weve made an excellent start.

When New Fears was released in September 2017 my main hope was that the modern horror readership would buy into an old idea made new. But not only did they buy into the idea, they embraced it like a long-lost but much-loved relative, lavishing it with praise and plaudits, and even with love.

Ginger Nuts of Horror said that New Fears oozes quality from an eclectic range of leading writers from the world of horror and dark fiction whereas Kendall Reviews described the book as a stunning collection of nineteen tales that will both terrify and delight you. The quality of writing is brilliant a special anthology that I hope to see run and run HorrorTalk, meanwhile, thought New Fears a gathering of glittering gems by some of the finest minds in the business today and Risingshadow simply described it as one of the best horror anthologies of the year

Additionally, New Fears was chosen as the only anthology on Barnes and Nobles auspicious and influential Best Horror of 2017 list.

An excellent start then, as I said.

But now its time to look forward, not back. Which begs the question: what does New Fears 2 have to offer?

Well, first and foremost an entirely new line-up of writers. From the outset I decided that in order to showcase the work of as many genre practitioners as possible, all of the writers who had a story in volume one would be ineligible to send me a story for volume two. What this means is that, taken together, volumes one and two of New Fears offer you forty brand new stories from forty of the best genre writers working today. Which doesnt mean Ive now exhausted the options where new contributors are concernedfar from it. Such is the current vibrancy of the genre that if New Fears continues beyond volume two, there are many, many more writers I would love to feature within its pages. Indeed, if I wanted to, I could almost certainly fill up at least half a dozen volumes of New Fears before returning to writers Ive used before. In fact, my only regret with editing these first two volumes has been that Ive had to restrict my choices. Believe me, the hardest part of being an editor is not, as some might think, having to plough through hundreds of submissions to find the nuggets of gold; its having to turn excellent stories and writers away because there simply isnt room to accommodate them all.

Im delighted with the choices Ive made for New Fears 2, though, and I hope you will be too. As in volume one, the stories featured here are from a range of established masters, such as Stephen Volk, Tim Lebbon and Steve Rasnic Tem, recent genre stars like Paul Tremblay, Benjamin Percy and Catriona Ward, and relative newcomers like Priya Sharma, Laura Mauro, Aliya Whiteley and Kit Power.

Also, as in volume one, the stories are a dizzyingly eclectic mix of styles and approaches. Within these pages are tales of inanimate objects infused with evil; of otherworldly entities and living myths; of family curses and predators both natural and supernatural; of dread and regret and madness and outright terror.

There are stories too which may not at first seem like horror stories at all, but which nevertheless leave you with the uncomfortable notion that there is something askew, off-kilter, not quite right with the world.

Fears, after all, come in many shapes and sizes, and here is just a small selection of them. And who knows? Maybe one of your own fears is waiting for you right here.

Why not find out?

Just turn the page.

The sea brought the container in on the highest tide that Little Isle had seen in thirty years, beaching it on the rocks at the base of the cliffs.

Magnus and his sons found it first. Theyd been following the trail of dead seals and fish along the beach.

The ferry had been cancelled because the sky over the other islands and the mainland was wild, but the driving wind and rain had paused over Little Isle, making it a bright spot in the darkness.

Hildy, Magnuss wife, gave him a pointed look when he suggested a day of roaming to the boys, before saying, Back for lunchtime, okay? You have a homework box for days like this.

Days when they were cut off and they couldnt get to primary school on the next island.

The sea was now in retreat. The air smelt swept clean. Water collected in the ripples on the sand and reflected the blue sky overhead.

Donald, Magnuss younger son, saw the dead seal first. Magnus squatted beside it. Its neck was badly bruised and one of its eyes had gone. A flipper was missing.

What happened to it, Dad?

Magnus rolled it over. His cursory post-mortem was inconclusive.

I dont know.

They followed the curve of the beach, and there lay mackerel, herring and ugly monkfish, dull eyes wide in surprise at their fate. Some were whole, but most were torn up, the clumsy dissection revealing guts and flesh already starting to rot.