The Best Ellen Datlow Anthologies For Devourers of Short Horror Stories

This World Fantasy Award and Shirley Jackson Award-winning anthology contains 20 stories meant to push the reader’s fear to the absolute limit. 

In order to build this collection, Datlow asked her favorite horror authors to “provide the reader with a frisson of shock, or a moment of dread so powerful it might cause the reader outright physical discomfort; or a sensation of fear so palpable that the reader feels impelled to turn up the lights very bright and play music or seek the company of others to dispel the fear.” 

Mission definitely accomplished. 

The 22 stories in this collection explore the connection between sex and death, giving insight into the dark side of desire. Ranging from erotic to psychological, these horrifying tales are not your average love stories. 

The title of this anthology comes from a 17th-century French euphemism for orgasm: “la petite mort.”

At the time, it was believed that a piece of a man’s life force left him after each sexual encounter. Freaky. 

Dolls have long been a uniquely creepy and evocative symbol in horror literature. The 17 stories in this collection take a fresh and utterly disturbing approach to the classic horror motif. 

Each story delves into the inherent unsettling nature of an object so lifelike and yet so unalive. This anthology is dotted with doll photographs taken by Datlow herself along with other longtime doll collectors. 

With stories from acclaimed authors like Joyce Carol Oates and Stephen Graham Jones, this is one star-studded, deeply disturbing collection. 

Publisher’s Weekly called this anthology the “yardstick by which future ghost fiction will be measured.” Indeed, these stories are not your boring, old-fashioned, predictable ghoulish tales. 

Ellen Datlow was determined to prove that ghost stories still possess the power to terrify modern readers and so requested from her favorite horror writers stories that redefine and expand on the ghost genre. 

The result is a collection that explores darkness in both the living and the diseased and the horrifyingly unknowable nature of the tormented dead. 

With this anthology, Ellen Datlow approaches the genre of hard-boiled noir crime fiction, with a supernatural twist of course! 

In “Dead Sister” by Joe R. Lansdale, a small town private eye attempts to solve a case of grave robbing at the hands of someone–or something–beyond our realm.

In “The Getaway” by Paul G. Tremblay, a group of crooks gets a terrifying punishment after robbing a pawn shop. 

With these stories and more from other renowned authors, this collection is a new take on both crime noir and the supernatural. 

Lewis Carrol’s Alice books are some of the most famous examples of strange literature. With an uncanny and hallucinogenic atmosphere, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are the perfect inspiration for weird and freaky tales. 

Here, 18 of the best authors of weird fiction draw from the surreal characters and events in Wonderland in original short stories and poems.

This is the Wonderland you remember, made even creepier and more puzzling. 

In this anthology, Ellen Datlow brings her innovative curatorial skills to one of the most classic terrifying myths: vampires. From gothic to satiric, horror to erotic, these tales go beyond the black capes and pointy teeth of generic vampirism. 

These vampires drain not just blood, but human life force and wills. This reinvention of vampirism is not for the faint of heart. There will be blood and there will be terror. 

As the subtitle suggests, Screams from the Dark is an anthology that “goes there” to get a deep thrill and chill from its readers.

Across 29 stories, Datlow comprises a vision of complexities, monsters as once familiar made fresh. The keyword here is “monster” in all its various forms.

The anthology includes stories by authors like Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen Graham Jones, Gemma Files, A.C. Wise, and more. 

An tribute to Shirley Jackson, When Things Get Dark sees Ellen Datlow collecting and curating an excellent range of stories that tackle the unique, complex, and nuanced blend of horror that Shirley Jackson pioneered through her writing.

With stories by authors like Kelly Link, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, and more, When Things Get Dark is an anthology that does so much, including demonstrating the deftness of Datlow’s ability to explore a theme across a single volume. 

Datlow tackles the unknown depths of the sea in The Devil and the Deep.

Be it the creatures that may very well exist in the lightless bottoms of the ocean floor or the human monsters that sail the sea in search of pilfering and pouncing on unsuspecting victims, the anthology paints a picture of just how little we know of the planet’s oceanic realms—and how that unknown quality creates its own blend of horror.  

Body horror at its best reminds us that we don’t need to look elsewhere to find horror; it exists within our own skin.

Across dozens of provocative stories by writers like Tananarive Due, Cassandra Khaw, Nathan Ballingrud, and more, Datlow shows readers just how much a body can terrify.

Be it organ harvesting, plastic surgery or worse, Body Shocks is an anthology of extreme body horror that’ll leave more than a few scars. 

The title alone should have many a reader taking pause, only to delve into the back cover for a look.

In Alien Sex, Datlow gathers 19 stories from authors like Geoff Ryman, Lisa Tuttle, Harlan Ellison, and more to explore the dark and surprising worlds that can be created when science fiction and romance (and a whole array of genres) blend to explore the physical side of connection.

It’s an anthology that will surely surprise readers. 

In  Children of Lovecraft, Datlow provides a space that explores Lovecraftian territory through how it has inspired generations of writers to create their own cosmic tales of horror.

From Stephen Graham Jones’s “Eternal Troutland” to Brian Evenson’s “Glasses,” the anthology is refreshing yet familiar in exploring why Lovecraft’s influence can be felt across genres. 

Who doesn’t love a good ghost story, one that really unsettles and leaves a reader in a state of perplexion and wonder?

In Haunted Legends, Datlow joins author and editor Nick Mamatas to offer twenty stories from authors like Joe R. Lansdale, Laird Barron, and more that delve into the world of ghost stories, urban legends, and tales that make what should be a safe place one that makes us question if our own reality.  

In this anthology, we see Datlow’s range right down to the granular level, where the theme of monsters takes on a prismatic effect.

Akin to the concept of the human monster, there is seldom one side to the story, and surely plenty of sides to the characters that occupy the stories included in the anthology.  

Has anyone else always found the carnival to be more like its own form of chaos?

Beyond clowns and cotton candy, the stories in Nightmare Carnival explore the how and why of this odd subgenre of horror.

With stories by Priya Sharma, Nathan Ballingrud, Nick Mamatas, and more, Datlow’s anthology is a reader-beware kind of tome—one that offers a tour through a carnival of nightmares. 

Ellen Datlow has tirelessly curated the Best Horror series for years, which alone is a feat and a must-read morsel for anyone looking for some fresh new frights.

The fifteenth volume, released at the start of 2024, consists of stories by Tananarive Due, Andy Davidson, and so many more.

The series is an excellent way to see how the genre shifts, changes, and refracts across time, all the while getting a chance to find a new tale that scares you to the core.