Laird Barron to edit inaugural Year’s Best Weird Fiction

[Freyasfire]

Really exciting news from Michael Kelly's blog!!!!

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Press Release Laird Barron to edit inaugural Year’s Best Weird Fiction Toronto, Canada, July 2013 — Laird Barron, a master of the weird tale, will edit the inaugural volume of the Year’s Best Weird Fiction for Undertow Publications. Barron’s work has been nominated for several awards, and has been reprinted in numerous “Year’s Best” anthologies. “It’s a tremendous honor to edit the inaugural Year’s Best Weird Fiction. I am pleased to be working with Michael Kelly and his Undertow Publications, an eminent force in the horror and weird fiction genres,” Barron said. Established in 2009 by writer Michael Kelly, Undertow Publications (UP) is home to the acclaimed weird journal Shadows & Tall Trees, from which a number of stories have been selected for various “Best Of” anthologies. The initial release from UP, Apparitions, was a finalist for The Shirley Jackson Award. As editor, Kelly has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson and British Fantasy Society Awards, and his fiction has appeared in a number of venues, including The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. “I’m thrilled that Laird Barron has agreed to edit the first Year’s Best Weird Fiction,” Kelly said. “I could think of no better person for the initial edition.” Undertow Publications is undertaking a crowd-funding campaign to raise funds for the book. Kelly says, “There has never been a dedicated volume of the year’s finest weird fiction. It seems evident that an independent press will have to take up the task. We are hopeful the many aficionados of weird fiction will help fund what we believe will become an important and vital annual anthology. We envision very little, if any, overlap with the other “Year’s Best” volumes. And I’m excited to see what Laird conjures.” For more information, and to help fund the campaign, visit Years Best Weird Fiction | Indiegogo

Everyone contribute if you can! It would be amazing if this could be made into a reality!

[nomis]

I just wanted to bump this thread again. Funding is halfway there, but could still use some help. If you haven't contributed, please consider doing so. If you have (or if you can't) please consider helping in other ways, like promoting the campaign to others.

Speaking for myself, I think a "Best Weird" volume is a great idea, and an important tool to help promote the sort of fiction we like best. None of the other annuals really capture the same flavour. I'm really looking forward to reading this one.

[mgriffin]

I hope this project will get enough support to happen. I really want to see this book!

[Freyasfire]

Almost two thirds of the way there, with 39 days to go. I'm starting to get a good feeling that this project will actually materialize. Knock on wood...

[nomis]

Only $850 to go. If anyone hasn't made a contribution (or, really, a pre-order) now is the time to open your pocketbook.

403 Forbidden

[waffles]

Finally got off my distracted ass and signed up. Hope this succeeds.

[mgriffin]

The project seems to be regaining the momentum it had when the Indiegogo first went up. Seems sure to make the funding goal now.

[nomis]

We can hope, but $400 is still $400 away. It would really help if everyone spread the word and promoted the thing. I'd like to see Laird's and Mike's vision come true. It would be a shame to come this close and stall.

[Freyasfire]

And the goal has been met!

I got this update from Michael Kelly last night:

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And we are now funded! Thank you everyone for making the inaugural Year's Best Weird Fiction a reality! Laird and I appreciate all your support. There are still 10 days to go on the campaign. Any extra monies received will help fund Shadows & Tall Trees volume 6. Laird and I have already been working hard on theYear's Best Weird Fiction. Now we put our noses to the grindstone and start the heavy lifting. We plan to have the inaugural volume out in August 2014. If you chose another book as one of your perks, we will start sending them out in the new year, once we are finishing up work on Year's Best Weird Fiction. Thanks once again! If you've any questions/concerns/comments, please get in touch. Best Wishes, -Michael

How cool is that?

[Brendan Moody]

The TOC for the first volume has been announced: link.

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“Success” by Michael Blumlein, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov./Dec. “Like Feather, Like Bone” by Kristi DeMeester, Shimmer #17 “A Terror” by Jeffrey Ford, Tor.com, July. “The Key to Your Heart Is Made of Brass” by John R. Fultz, Fungi #21 … “A Cavern of Redbrick” by Richard Gavin, Shadows & Tall Trees #5 “The Krakatoan” by Maria Dahvana Headley, Nightmare Magazine/The Lowest Heaven, July. “Bor Urus” by John Langan, Shadow’s Edge “Furnace” by Livia Llewellyn, The Grimscribe’s Puppets “Eyes Exchange Bank” by Scott Nicolay, The Grimscribe’s Puppets “A Quest of Dream” by W.H. Pugmire, Bohemians of Sesqua Valley “(he) Dreams of Lovecraftian Horror” by Joseph S. Pulver Sr., Lovecraft eZine #28 “Dr. Blood and the Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron” by A.C. Wise, Ideomancer Vol. 12 Issue 2 “The Year of the Rat” by Chen Quifan, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August. “Fox into Lady” by Anne-Sylvie Salzman, Darkscapes “Olimpia’s Ghost” by Sofia Samatar, Phantom Drift #3 “The Nineteenth Step” by Simon Strantzas, Shadows Edge “The Girl in the Blue Coat” by Anna Taborska, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol. 1 “In Limbo” by Jeffrey Thomas, Worship the Night “Moonstruck” by Karin Tidbeck, Shadows & Tall Trees #5 “Swim Wants to Know If It’s as Bad as Swim Thinks” by Paul Tremblay, Bourbon Penn #8 “No Breather in the World But Thee” by Jeff VanderMeer, Nightmare Magazine, March. “Shall I Whisper to You of Moonlight, of Sorrow, of Pieces of Us?” by Damien Angelica Walters, Shock Totem #7.

Looks like a great selection.