The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Ninth Annual Collection (No. 9)

This renowned series, recipient of three World Fantasy Awards, continues to captivate and fascinate readers. Stories by such notables as: Scott Bradfield, A.S. Byatt, Pat Cadigan, Peter Crowther, Charles De Lint, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee, Ursula K. Le Guin, Patricia A. McKillip, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Douglas E. Winter, and thirty-three other acclaimed writers show off the very best of contemporary fantasy and horror, while comprehensive and exhaustive summations add critical depth to this unique anthology. This book is essential for all fans of the weird and wonderful. A collection forty-six horror and fantasy fiction stories from the year 1995 from a wide selection of well-known genre authors Acknowledgement -- Summation 1995: fantasy / Terry Windling -- Summation 1995: horror / Ellen Datlow -- Horror and fantasy in the media: 1995 / Edward Bryant -- Obituaries / James Frankel -- Home for Christmas / Nina Kiriki Hoffman -- Heartfires / Charles de Lint -- Screens / Terry Lamsley -- King of crows / Midori Snyder -- Professor Gottesman and the Indian rhinoceros / Peter S. Beagle -- The hunt of the unicorn / Ellen Kushner -- More tomorrow / Michael Marshall Smith -- Penguins for lunch / Scott Bradfield -- Ether OR / Ursula K. Le Guin -- Paper lantern / Stuart Dybek -- [Lunch at the Gotham café](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19781075W) / Stephen King -- Queen of knives (poem) / Neil Gaiman -- Dragon-rain / Eileen Kernaghan -- Llantos de la Llorona: warnings from the wailer (poem) / Pat Mora -- Too short a death / Peter Crowther -- The James Dean garage band / Rick Moody -- Because of dust / Christopher Kenworthy -- Loop / Douglas E. Winter -- La loma, la luna / Sue Kepros Hartman -- Women's stories (poem) / Jane Yolen -- Swan/princess (poem) / Jane Yolen -- Switch / Lucy Taylor -- Scaring the train / Terry Dowling -- Blood knot / Steve Rasnic Tem -- The girl who married the reindeer (poem) / Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin -- The otter woman (poem) / Mary O'Malley -- Resolve and resistance / S.N. Dyer -- La dame / Tanith Lee -- Circe's power (poem) / Louise Glück -- Dragon's fin soup / S.P. Somtow -- The granddaughter / Vivian Vande Velde -- Daphne and Laura and so forth (poem) / Margaret Atwood -- A lamia in the Cévennes / A.S. Byatt -- The guilty party / Susan Moody -- She's not there / Pat Cadigan -- The white road (poem) / Neil Gaiman -- Refrigerator heaven / David J. Schow -- After the elephant ballet / Gary A. Braunbeck -- Henry V, part 2 / Marcia Guthridge -- Mrs. Greasy / Robert Reed -- ############## / Joyce Carol Oates -- The printer's daughter / Delia Sherman -- Prayer (poem) / Nancy Willard -- Jacob and the angel (poem) / Jane Yolen -- The lion and the lark / Patricia A. McKillip -- Honorable mentions. Continuing the tradition of excellence maintained by previous volumes in this series, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror assembles the finest examples of fantastic literature published in 1995. The forty-six stories and poems range widely from fabulous realms that never were to the magic inherent in everyday life, from ghosts and unnameable terrors to unicorns, talking penguins, and many more wonderful impossibilities. Featuring the editors' comprehensive year-end summations and a long list of honorable mentions, this volume is truly a treasure trove of delightful reading for all. --front flap