The name Stephen Jones is enough to make me pick up any anthology, and this is is another excellent addition to the best New Horror series. Every story in this collection reveals a different aspect of the continually growing "horror genre," yet none of them leave behind the essential elements of horror; in all cases, the writing is what most stands out. Jones has the admirable quality of discerning talent in a wide variety of practitioners; frankly I was getting bored with the proliferation of really bad erotic-horror and splatterpunk anthologies.Jones knows that writing matters, and every story in this book affirms horror writing as ranking with the finest writing anywhere

Here is my personal favourites, notes and brief comentaries about them :

Harvest - Norman Partridge - 8,5 - A little gem

Sometimes in the Rain - Charles Grant - 10,0 - A moving and wonderful ghost story !!

Dead Orchards - Ian R. Macleod - 10,00 - Beautiful piece of decadent writing, one of the best.

The Temptation of Dr Stein - Paul J. Mackauley - 9,00 - Excellent historical mystery

Waywang Kulit - Gary Killworth - 10,0 - By far the most original tale in this collection

The Scent of Vinegar - Robert Bloch - 9,5 - Black humour in Bloch's manner, very funny.

The Homecoming - Nicholas Royle - 9,5 - Mixes social realism with Cthulu Mythos

The Singular Habits of Wasps - Geoffrey Landis - 9,0 - Excellent steampunk adventure featuring Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

To Receive is Better - Michael Marshall Smith - 9,0 - Intense and depressing story about a mutiltaed boy.

The Alchemy of Throat - Brian Hodge - 10,0 - Another wonderful piece of decadent writing

this is an interesting collection. 4 great stories by Tuttle, Chetwynd-Hayes, and others. a few ok stories here too. that makes it pretty good for an anthology. well picked. not bad invented stories. more plot-driven stories than in most anthologies.

There are only two other horror anthologies that I think are better than this one, and those two really ARE classics (THE DARK DESCENT and GREAT TALES OF TERROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL) Not only are the stories in this anthology very good, but offer a very wide variety of horror tales. Many different "flavors" of terror are available in this collection, from nice suspensful terror, to really visceral horror at something unspeakable occurring, to the completely physical revulsion to seeing a living mammal pulped in a feed thresher. Nice touch, that. There are vampires and Things Out of Time, possession tales and Mysterious Strangers. My favorites included: a short gothic horror novel ("Murgunstrumm" by Hugh B. Cave), Lumley's Lovecraftian "The House of the Temple", a real gem by Ramsey Campbell ("Out of Copyright") that ought to make the most jaundiced reader of horror think a little whenever s/he thumbs open a familiar text, and a simply AWESOME story by Lisa Tuttle ("The Horse Lord"). Rober Bloch's "Yugoslaves" shows why he's a master, and "The Jumpity-Jim" by R. Chetwyd-Hayes is a pretty nasty little tale. These are just the very best of the stories there; all of them are pretty good. Stephen Laws' "Junk" deserves mention as well. Jeesh. "The Black Drama" might give away its punchline a bit too soon, but it still provides some nice pulpy entertainment. All in all, this collection EARNS its 11 bucks worth of chills.

The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time, edited by Peter Guzzardi, consists of a collection of material found on Adams's hard-drive after his untimely death in 2001, together with various earlier essays, stories, interviews, etc. It forms a tribute to the creative genius of Douglas Adams (and a last chance to squeeze some money out of the Hitchhiker franchise).
The book begins with a prologue, originally written by Nicholas Wroe for The Guardian, and an introduction by Christopher Cerf. After that, the collected material by Douglas is arranged into three parts, entitled, appropriately enough, "Life," "The Universe," "And Everything." The third part contains, among other things, some unfinished chapters from the next book that Adams had been working on before he died. That book was to have been entitled The Salmon of Doubt. These chapters have been edited together from several different versions that Adams had left behind, and forms only a short beginning, frustratingly, of the whole story, ending as it does abruptly in the middle. As the result stands, it is a story about Dirk Gently, but Adams had earlier confessed himself stuck, having found that the ideas he had been working on were more suitable for a Hitchhiker story, than for a Dirk Gently story. His plan was accordingly to write the sixth Hitchhiker book, and incorporate the best ideas from what he had already written on the Salmon of Doubt. Sadly, he never got a chance to do this.
Among the other material in the book, there are two pieces of writing that were of special interest to me. The first one is a reprint of an interview that Adams gave for American Atheist, and the other is a printed version of an extemporaneous speech that Adams delivered at Digital Biota 2, Cambridge, in which he gave his view on the origin of the concept of God.
The material collected in this book shows Adams at his funniest best. The chapters of The Salmon of Doubt that he had finished gives as a glimpse of what would have been another triumph of comedic writing for Adams, had he only been given a chance to finish it. The book ends with an epilogue written by Adams's close friend, Richard Dawkins.

There is a particularly English (ie the Country as opposed to the language) method of writing that, even as it describes sci fi, fantasy or simply The Bizarre World in general, cannot help but conjure images of village greens, stately homes, cups of tea, and cricket matches; PG Wodehouse, Michael Palin, Terry Pratchett and Evelyn Waugh are all exponents of this art, but Douglas Adams was one of my favourite, if not most prolific, authors in this style. His sad death last year has provided his publisher with an excuse to publish this, final, collection of his work.
And quite a mixture it is; here are prologues to books, introductions to events, eclectic newspaper and magazine articles, short stories and one unfinished novel, the work in progress known as 'The Salmon of Doubt', a Dirk Gently book. Would he have approved this book? Well, given that he was willing to pen an introduction to PG Wodehouse's unfinished 'Sunset at Blandings', the evidence very much points (at least, in my mind) to the fact that he would.
Even as an introduction to his work, this book is worth a read - it opens with a biographical portrait and the selection of material covers most of his written life. For Adams enthusiasts, the book is goldmine - perhaps not the mother lode, but certainly a mine containing enough nuggets to make you happy with the purchase.
One point - it is not really 'hitching the galaxy for one last time' as implied on the cover; there is only a short Hitch Hikers story here, and it has appeared elsewhere.
However, to summarise: if you've never read Adams before, this will leave you seeking more. If you already know him, this an affectionate if varied romp through his literary history.

I purchased Douglas Adams' posthumous book exactly one year and one day after his extremely untimely passing. I have always thought that there is something inherently wrong about losing one's idols. "Salmon of Doubt" is a prime example of how wrong it truly is.

"Salmon of Doubt" is so absolutely and quite wonderfully Douglas.

This collection of articles, interviews, random thoughts and unfinished novel is an genuine treat to read. His unmistakable voice shines through on each and every page. For someone who professed to agonize over the whole "writing thing", Douglas did it with a style that is often imitated, yet never will be duplicated.

I was delighted to see "Cookies" make its way into this collection. I laughed when he included in the 4th Hitchhiker's novel, and was fortunate enough to hear him retelling this true story. He had everyone at this Chicago hotel bar in absolute hysterics some years ago, reliving the moment. I have never forgotten it.

"Maggie and Trudie" also stands out as one of my other favorite entries here. As does "The Private Life of Genghis Khan". The interviews included also give a further glimpse into this marvelously gifted man.

There is no doubt in my mind that the ever-so brief "Salmon of Doubt" story/novel itself would have been a joy to read had he been around to finish it. It would have worked perfectly well as the next Dirk Gently (or possible 6th HH) novel. I found myself reading this portion quickly, watching the pages dwindle and knowing it was going to abruptly end. It did. Now I'm left wondering what happened to Dirk and Desmond the rhinoceros. It's going to bug me till the end of time. Which I am sure would thrill Douglas to no end.

I'll have to ask Douglas when I see him at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe how it all ends.

This book raises loads of thought-provoking questions about who was involved in the Oklahoma City bombing. . . There is no question even in Jones' account that McVeigh was involved. And Jones' protests that-- based on the theory that McVeigh may not have been the "triggerman"-- McVeigh might not have been guilty of murder is hogwash. If McVeigh was involved to the extent that even Jones admits, in the new edition, that he was, then he was guilty of murder by through accountability and conspiracy to commit murder, if nothing else. The book is an excellent foreshadower to what really occurred on the eve of McVeigh's execution: The FBI turned up more documents. In this regard, Jones was correct. But the inferences and conclusions he draws from pieces of evidence or interpretations of pieces of evidence are far more grand than the evidence itself supports. Jones is not able present a convicing case for any theory other than that advanced by the goverment. He is, however, quite successful in demonstrating that perhaps the is evidence of the involvement of "others unknown" that could have been discovered had the government had an interest in finding it. As too often happens, it seems law enforcement rested on its collective laurels when sufficient evidence was gathered to support its theory of the case. I started reading this book a few days before McVeigh was executed and finish a few days after he was put to death. More than anything else, I am disappointed that he is gone, since no one in power will have any incentive to further investigate who was involved in preparing for and carrying out the bombing, nor, naturally, will McVeigh ever tell us the whole truth.

Forget or ignore the fact that Jones was McVeigh's lawyer. This book is an excellent historical account of the event, and a great accessory to another interesting take on the bombing, the book "The Secret Lives of Bill Clinton," and articles on thenewamerican.com. Unavoidable facts detailed clearly in this book include the extra human leg found in the ruins (combat boot and sheath intact -- all 168 dead had both legs recovered), numerous eyewitness accounts/testimony denoucing nearly every point of the Justice Dept.'s ludicrous "lone-bomber" theory, and the cirus McVeigh and cohorts launched in the months before the bombing which exposes McVeigh for what he is -- a willing 'Patsy' who could never have pulled this off alone.

If you don't want to be up at nights thinking about the case, then read American Terrorist -- the McVeigh-sanctioned lie-a-thon that gives him the twisted glory for the attack, and the book that will let you sleep at night knowing the only person you believe responsible is behind bars.

If you want the truth, read this book. You'll realize that McVeigh is laughing at the latest FBI fumble with the recently turned over 3,000+ pages, he is pleased with the new FBI embarrassment and will probably ask for a new trial just to make the gov't look even worse (even though he'll still be convicted), and that the recent release of the documents was probably delayed by the sophomoric Clinton-Reno administration in order to pass the blame onto Mr. Bush.

Regardless of your beliefs about the bombing, you won't be albe to ignore the facts about the extra leg found, and the facts about ANFO bombs and their inability to be driven 300 miles by anyone. And you'll be glad that McVeigh stupidly criticized Jones, endangering McVeigh's legacy, so that more facts about the case could come out.

The author, Timothy McVeigh's former lead defense attorney, sets out to sow the seeds of doubt concerning Timothy Mcveigh's role in the OCB, diminishing Tim's role to that of an appointed patsy in a much larger scheme. Unfortunately, these seeds neither take root in the FBI, which was not interested in even entertaining the thought of a possible conspiracy despite unresolved facts, nor in the minds of the jurors- minds, Steven Jones asserts with logical argument and careful observation, which likely were already biased against McVeigh from the onset, a contributing factor leading to an unfair trial for McVeigh.

Conspiracy: a phone call to the Department of Justice in DC stating that the Murrah building had been bombed, half an hour BEFORE the explosion actually occurred; the Murrah building being on prior "bombing" lists by various groups, and being scoped by another person dear to this story mentioned in the book when Tim was just in high school and had not yet even met this person!

Unresolved facts: an extra LEG at the crime scene...still UNIDENTIFIED...John DOE #2? McVeigh allegedly alone, ordering dinner at the Dreamland Motel, but the delivery person described SOMEONE ELSE answering the door, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Jones recounts the testimonies of the Ryder rental shop employees, at least one of whom described someone OTHER THAN MCVEIGH.

FBI Obfuscation: The government had an obligation to hand over all exculpatory evidence to the defense team, but always dragged its feet and tried to hide as much as possible. FBI laboratory analysis ineptitude: a given, with supporting facts. McVeigh's clothing: kept in a PAPER BAG, not a sealed, plastic bag, which allowed all sorts of contaminants to taint it, including even McVeigh's own personal gun.

Unfair Trial: This needs to be read firsthand, as Jones is the expert here. Bottom line: biased jury, and a possibly biased judge who wouldn't allow Jones to even present much of the conspiracy evidence and prime witness testimony (i.e., Carol Howe). Although this may not have proved McVeigh innocent, it would certainly have created REASONABLE DOUBT in any individual with a functioning brain.

(I have read "American Terrorist," by Michel and Herbeck, and mention is never made in that book about the phone call, the extra leg, and FBI obfuscation, though it does gloss over the possibility that the trial may have been unfair.)

"Other's Unknown" is a MUST READ for those who want a more complete story that only Timothy McVeigh's lead defense attorney can offer. This book is not a personal book about Timothy, the young man, but is strictly related to the development of McVeigh's defense and the obstacles faced by the defense team.

I've been a consistant reader from Volume I on of this anthology, but I must admit that lately the selections have been dissappointing. It seems as if Stephen Jones must always include some of the same authors in every volume, even though there are better horror stories from other authors not included for that year.

For this year, the landmark 999 was clearly the best horror anthology, of which this volume contains only two stories (the ones by Klein and Campbell). Clearly the 999 stories by Ligotti, Lansdale and Oates were far better than the majority of the stories included in Best New Horror 11.

Still, you might find the little Halloween vignettes by Tem amusing and the Schow story Unshaped a bit disconcerting, but I think, aside from the Campbell story (see 999), Peter Straub's story of a legendary Jazz saxaphonist is quite superb.

Hopefully Jones will be more discriminating in the future, rather than continually playing his favourites.

If it wasn't for these horror anthologies (also The years best fantasy and horror) I would never have found all these great writers (from both sides of the atlantic). I do realize both of these top anthologies mentioned above have their "favorite" core authors, but all in all Stephen Jones is an excellent editor in mostly everything he touches. Having found such authors as Michael Marshall Smith, James Herbert, Simon Clark, Ramsey Campbell from Great Britain and Joe R. Lansdale, Joyce Carol Oats, Peter Straub, F. Paul Wilson to name just a small list its hard to include all our own personal favorites but hopefully these will continue to be published into the future.

I must confess to feeling rather more enthusiastic than the previous two reviewers about this volume. Horror fans have a lot to thank Steven Jones for, and in the list of his achievements this series must come near the top. While anthologies such as Dark Forces, Douglas E Winter's Prime Evil and Al Sarrantonio's 999 have been excellent one-off collections, the Best New Horror series is an annual reminder of how a genre with a sometimes dubious reputation can still come up with some of the most brilliantly written stories of the year. These are pieces by talented authors who are obviously working in the genre out of choice, producing work that stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of mainstream fiction currently available. Volume 11 maintains the tradition established by its predecessors, with standout novellas by F Paul Wilson (Aftershock), Tim Lebbon (White) and Peter Straub (Pork Pie Hat). David Case (famous for The Cell and The Hunter from The Pan Book of Horror Stories) also has an entry, and Paul McAuley's "Naming the Dead" is a super tale of a Victorian detective tackling spirits in modern-day London in a story which sounds from his introduction as if it was written for Jones' Dark Detectives anthology which came out from Fedogan and Bremer last year. Certainly it would not have been out of place in that volume. So, 21 stories with not a bad one among them, a summary of the year in horror and a detailed "Necrology" listing all those connected (however tenuously) with the genre who have departed over the last twelve months. Anyone with a passing interest in how good this genre really can be (and that's nothing short of excellent to me and you) should get a copy of this now.

I found this book very helpful. If you are thinking about bringing a great dane to your house, I would recomend that you read this book first.

Every year the book is updated to include new prescription and nonprescription drugs. I like the fact that it is in paperback and affordable. It is easy to understand. What I found most helpful was that it tells you all the possible side effects and drug interactions. I have found this book invaluable and will continue to buy the updated versions for years to come.

When these authors talk about long-term history, they are including hominid cultures in prehistorical Europe, and Asian and African cultures, not just historical Eurocentrism. They discuss how Marx and Weber sidestep everything except European experience, and how consideration of multiple civilizations shows that social development is not a straight line. There are not many other sociology books I've read whose bibliographies include articles such as "Hominid Use of Fire in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene." Of course, since I'm not a sociologist, there's much I don't know - perhaps there are many other such books out there. But I certainly didn't find them while collecting a shelf-full for a grad-school sociology course (required for a major in another social science). This was one of the most readable of the 30 or so books I plowed through.

The main concept the authors wish to convey is that history (and sociology) should not be concerned only with chronology, but also with long-term processes. Stages, or phases, have been commented on by previous sociologists, most of them having the view either that the stages showed a steady progress upward - or a steady deterioration downward. Life has either degenerated from a golden age to a machine age, or we are now the most civilized the world has ever been in all things. In both cases, the main concerns of such authors were primarily to explain conditions in the author's present world by showing how these had arisen out of previous conditions. Such stages were a favorite of 19th-century sociologists and anthropologists. However, twentieth century authors may have gone too far in rejecting stage models; our authors here feel that both chronology and "phaseology" should be taken into account. This leads the authors to "processes."

One of the most useful concepts presented is the authors' view of the major transformations in society: from a stage where there were no societies with control over fire, agriculture, or mechanical industry, to a stage where some societies controlled some of those, to a stage where some societies control all of those areas. Then, we can place particular societies into context - if we call a particular society "agrarian", is it coexisting with many other agrarian societies? Or with industrial societies? Are they on their way toward an industrial society?

There is then a chapter showing the relationship between agrarian societies and religion; the function of priests as determiners of when it is time to plant is illustrated by both historic and not-too-long-ago examples. This is followed by a look at how an agrarian culture leads to socially stratified societies, and to warrior classes, and how the subsequent "taming" of warriors is a necessary element for further social development.

This book is somewhat academic, but not dense with jargon. It is not extremely heavy reading, and can be understood by someone without an intensive knowledge of sociology or economics. It's helpful if the reader is at least familiar with the names of such theorists as Marx, Spencer, Weber; for someone who has been introduced to those theorists in an undergraduate sociology class, and is looking for a more modern point of view from which to start a term paper or other further study, this book is a good starting point. Its multicultural viewpoint that includes Asian and African civilizations will be a welcome change from the Eurocentrism of the older theorists, and should also appeal to the professor for whom a student might be writing such a paper. Because of its title, it might not immediately come to such a reader's attention - since history, rather than social development, is in the title, some might pass over it. That would be a mistake.

Jones manages to focus in on the most basic parts of 18th Cent. art, from its light-hearted Rococo beginnings to its more serious-minded and sometimes political NeoClassicism. What he lacks in detail he more than makes up for by writing in an accessible, straight-forward prose that doesn't require a Master's Degree in Art History to be understood. He provides numerous illustrations, many of which (unfortunately) are not in color, and he also touches on major accomplishments in architecture and landscape design. This book is a great introduction for anyone interested in a study of 18th cent. art or even for the curious layman, but it is probably too general for serious researchers.

I would recommend this book for all passing horror fans and experts alike; Clive Barker, that well respected mentor of modern English horror, has created a fine compendium. If at times a little pretentious, particularly in the sprawling and philosophical introduction, the layout is first-class and it doesn't dwell on the statistics-for-anoraks that so many of these type of film book do. Enjoyable, perhaps even essential for your film shelf. It is at times a little lightweight; at others, snobbish and frothy.

This book is not written by Clive Barker, but is based on the tv-series that took its que after the successful author. As far as i can see most of the text is written by Stephen Jones. But this should not scare away the Barker fans, because the book is packed with illustrations and qoutes from our favourite author. On top of that the book contains a lot of interesting essays about a lot of horrorrelated subjects(A-Z).
Great buy and beautiful book!

Combining short but insightful text with a visually stunning layout design, _Clive Barker's A-Z of Horror_ provides a light read on some very dark subjects. It would make an excellent gift for both those making their first steps into this genre as well as for old hands looking for something to keep around for visitors to squeal about.