The Creep's Nightmares Vol. 1

Taking inspiration from another blogger (you can find his blog here: Singular Points) I’ve decided to compile my favorite short horror stories into a hypothetical anthology.  It should be no secret by now that there’s nothing I love more than a great short horror story.  Last year around this time I published a selection of my favorite short horror anthologies so likewise it should be no surprise that I have a ton of these books(go here:My Anthologies).  It’s always been a dream of mine to edit my own anthology so without further stalling here is

The Creep’s Nightmares Vol. I

1. Custard Cream by Robert Shearman

(Early this year I bought a book that was suggested to me by Barnes & Noble on a whim from an author I had never heard of.  This time it paid off but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sorely disappointed.  I bought the trade paperback but it is also available in ebook form and that edition contains a few stories not featured in the trade.  The following story can be found in “Remember Why You Fear Me” by Shearman himself.  “Custard Cream” effectively draws the reader in by use of second person perspective making you the subject of the story.  Having watched and read horror all my life it’s not easy to scare me.  With that said I was already terrified of spiders and this story doesn’t ease my mind one bit.)

2. Foet by F. Paul Wilson

(Pronounced feet as in fetus, you can only imagine what this story is about.  Wilson claims the story originated from an encounter with a female friend wearing a fur coat.  Wilson, offended by her poor taste argued she “would wear human skin if it were in vogue”.  You can find this one in Stephen Jones’ “Mammoth Book of New Terror” and Thomas Monteleone’s “Borderlands 2”.)

3. The Late Shift by Dennis Etchison

(This story shouldn’t be missing from any anthology.  In fact I have it collected in two volumes and can’t remember which I read it from first.  You can find it in Kirby McCauley’s “Dark Forces” as well as Stephen Jones’ “Mammoth Book of Terror”.  Without giving away too much about the story it involves some very unconventional zombies and is hands down one of my favorite short stories.)

4. Obsequy by David J. Schow

(Following one unorthodox zombie story with another, Obsequy poses the question, what if our dead loved ones rose?  Not what if our dead loved ones rose mindless, violent, eating machines, but just what if they remained what they were in life.  Although I read it in “The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18” it feels like more of a drama than horror to me.  That could be an all new niche all to itself, the zombie drama.)

5. Time Was by David Morrell

(Short horror fiction often explores different themes.  While some are more graphic and brutal others are more cerebral.  I can’t help but think of “The Twilight Zone” whenever I read one of these stories.  This one reminds me of a season 3 episode called “Person or Persons Unknown”.  In the episode a man wakes up next to his wife but when she wakes up she claims she’s never seen him before.  And so it goes with everyone he knows.  A similar set of circumstances happens in “Time Was”.  A man on his way home from the office experiences some strange weather patterns out in the desert.  He then ends up at an old wild west saloon.  He buys a case of sarsaparilla and then drinks one.  The next thing he knows he’s waking up in the sand.  He goes back to his wife and she claims he’s a stranger as does everyone else he knows including bosses and coworkers.  This story can be found in “The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 17” edited by Stephen Jones.

6. The Silence of Falling Stars by Mike O’Driscoll

(Like the previous story this one is cerebral and explores themes of isolation, loneliness, and sensory deprivation.  The Death Valley setting only adds to the atmosphere.  This story can be found in “The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 15”)

7. The Rubber Room by Robert Bloch

(Following two psychological horror stories is another one by the father of the genre.  This story takes an in depth first person view inside the mind of a homicidal maniac.  Why he did what he did and the rationale that led up to it.  You can find this one in Ramsey Campbell’s “New Terrors II”)

8. Churches of Desire by Philip Nutman

(I’m just going to put all the psychological horror together in the middle of this anthology.  Why bother breaking the trend once I’ve started it.  While so far this anthology is filled with what you might call strange tales this one certainly is the sleaziest.  The story revolves around a struggling, desperate, broke, alcoholic horror writer when he travels to Rome in order to get an interview that may get him some recognition.  He spends a bulk of the story in dingy porn theaters and thinking to himself.  This story can be found in Thomas Monteleone’s “Borderlands II”)

9. Ladies In Waiting by Hugh B. Cave

(This creepy little ghost story signified a comeback for Hugh B. Cave.  After reading an article in a women’s magazine by a Hugh Cave, Karl Edward Wagner contacted the magazine asking if that was the same Hugh B. Cave of Weird Tales.  When the response came back he corresponded with Cave and then released an anthology of his earlier works through his own independent press.  When nostalgia for weird tales came back in the 70’s Cave began writing horror again.  This story was first published in the “Whispers” fanzine and later in the first “Whispers” anthology.)

10. Ever the Faith Endures by Manly Wade Wellman

(It seems only appropriate that I put these two veterans of the weirds back to back.  Most of what I’ve read of Wellman is his John the Balladeer stories, but I came across this one that I totally forgot I read in “The Best Horror from Fantasy Tales”.  The story begs the question what happens to a god when people stop worshipping it.)

11.  Pig’s Dinner by Graham Masterton

(“After a brief detour we’re back to the visceral.  “Pig’s Dinner” is about two pig farming brothers.  One mistakenly dismembers the other when he turns on a feed grinder.  The mutilated brother insists that’s he’s dead already so he may as well turn the feed grinder back on and finish the job.  Rather than ruin the rest of the story I think I’ll just tell you to look for it in Stephen Jones’ “Mammoth Book of Terror”.)

12. Dead to the World by Allen Ashley

(To some there is nothing more horrifying than the mysteries our own bodies possess.  These types of stories are among my favorites.  This one involves a man whose orifices are slowly closing up day by day.  You can find this one in “The Best Horror from Fantasy Tales”)

13. The Forbidden by Clive Barker

(No horror anthology is complete without a story from Clive Barker.  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Candyman” then you should be very familiar with this story as it is the basis for that movie.  If you haven’t seen the movie quickly read this story then see the movie and let me know which you thought was better.  You can find this one in Barker’s own “In the Flesh” or in “The Best Horror from Fantasy Tales”)

14. Where There’s a Will by Richard Matheson and Richard Christian Matheson

(A father and son who are both accomplished authors came together to write this one.  Unfortunately I can’t describe much about it without giving away the twist.  All I can really say is it involves a man digging out of a grave.  This is the second to last story in Kirby McCauley’s “Dark Forces”.)

15. Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner

(There’s a reason this one has made it into so many different anthologies.  It is Karl Edward Wagner at his absolute best and I’ve saved the absolute best for the absolute last.  All I can say is it’s moody, atmospheric, and tends to stay with you long after you’ve read it.  The only reason it’s so far down on this list is because I think it’s a story you need to ease yourself into not read right off the bat.  You can find it in “Whispers”, “The Mammoth Book of Zombies”, and Wagner’s own Centipede Press edition of “Where the Summer Ends”.)