There wasn’t much to like about 2020. The less said the better. I did however read some great stories. Like last year, I’ve listed my favourites below. You can find the 2019 list here.
Notes: I need to read more novels from independent presses. Not everything on the list was released in 2020 – I’m still behind on a lot of my reading. I’ve only provided links for the short stories and novellas, using links to the presses directly where possible.
I hope you find something to enjoy. Here it is:
Novels
- Mark Z. Danielewski – House of Leaves
- Lucy Foley – The Hunting Party
- Ken Grimwood – Replay
- Joe Hill – NOS4R2
- Malcolm McDowell – The Elementals
- Nic Pizzolatto – Galveston
- Iain Reid – I’m Thinking of Ending Things
- Paul Tremblay – A Head Full of Ghosts
Non-Fiction:
- Derren Brown – Happy
- Jon Krakauer – Into the Wild
Novellas:
- Gemma Amor – Dear Laura
- Paul Michael Anderson – Standalone
- Nathan Ballingrud – The Visible Filth
- Max Booth III – We Need To Do Something
- Richard and Billy Chizmar – Widow’s Point
- Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol
- Chad Lutzke – Of Foster Homes and Flies
- Michael Wehunt – Everything Is Beautiful And Nothing Bad Can Ever Happen Here
- Michael David Wilson – The Girl In The Video
Short Stories:
- Paul Michael Anderson – The Man at Dealey Plaza (The Wicked Library)
- Simon Avery – The Black Paintings (Black Static #75)
- Will Christopher Baer – The Age of Reason (The Coachella Review)
- Gary Budden – Collector of Games (The Shadow Booth Vol.4)
- Rae Carson – Badass Moms In The Zombie Apocalypse (Uncanny Magazine #32)
- Jay Caselberg – The Verandah (The Shadow Booth Vol.4)
- Adam Troy Castro – Today’s Question of the Day in Waverly, Ohio (Nightmare Magazine #89)
- Joshua Chaplinski – Satanic Panic Attack (Dark Moon Digest #38)
- Ray Cluley – I have heard the mermaids sing (Probably Monsters – Out of Print)
- Ray Cluley – In The Wake of My Father (Black Static #74)
- Ray Cluley – Painted Wolves (The Dark #63)
- Andy Davidson – In Our Town, Everyone’s a Writer (Dark Moon Digest #41)
- Kristi DeMeester – A Life That Is Not Mine (Lost Highways)
- Kristi DeMeester – The Wicked Shall Come Upon Him (Everything That’s Underneath)
- J.C Drake – Preacher (Walk Hand In Hand Into Extinction)
- Tananarive Due – Last Stop on Route Nine (Nightlight Podcast)
- Brian Evenson – Elo Havel (Nightmare Magazine #88)
- James Everington – Advent (Sinister Horror Company Advent Calendar)
- James Everington – Defensive Wounds (The Shadow Booth Vol.4)
- Kurt Fawver – The Bleeding Maze: A Visitors Guide (Nightmare Magazine #83)
- Orrin Grey – When a Beast Looks Up at the Stars (Pseudopod)
- Maria Haskins – Six Dreams About The Train (Flash Fiction Online)
- Veronica Henry – A Terminal Kind of Love (Fiyah Magazine #14)
- Michael Patrick Hicks – Revolver
- Millie Ho – A Moonlit Savagery (Nightmare Magazine #91)
- Abi Hynes – Phantasmagoria (Black Static #76)
- Jack Ketchum – Returns (Closing Time)
- T. Kingfisher – Metal Like Blood in the Dark (Uncanny Magazine #36)
- Gwendoline Kiste – The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra’s Diary) (Nightmare Magazine #86)
- Joe R. Lansdale – The God of the Razor (Bumper Crop)
- Victor LaValle – Recognition (New York Times)
- Laura Mauro – When Charlie Sleeps (The Dark #62)
- Soren Narnia – Twelve Tiny Cabins (Knifepoint Horror)
- Flannery O’Connor – A Good Man Is Hard To Find
- Tom Piccirilli – Alchemy (Futile Efforts)
- Kit Power – Enemies (Voices)
- Kit Power – The Hand (Voices)
- Carlie St. George – Some Kind of Blood-Soaked Future (Nightmare Magazine#85)
- Carlie St. George – Spider Season, Fire Season (Nightmare Magazine #94)
- Cherrae L. Stuart – 3115 Wicker Street (Nightlight Podcast)
- Paul Tremblay – Growing Things (Growing Things and Other Stories)
- D.J. Tyrer – Bad Men (Walk Hand In Hand Into Extinction)
- Karl Edward Wagner – Sticks (The Dark Decent)
- Michael Wehunt – The Teeth of America (Personal Website)
- Claire Wrenwood – Dead Girls Have No Names (Nightmare Magazine #95)
- Jack Westlake – Pomegranate, Pomegranate (Pseudopod)
Finally, if you’re hungry for more story recommendations, take a look at James Everington’s blog. He always puts together a top notch end of year list and his puts mine to shame.