Bestselling Horror Story Anthologies

Looking for horror stories and horror story collections? The 10 horror anthologies below are the best current collections of horror stories available on Amazon, and they're bound to please.

  1. The New Dead: A Zombie AnthologyThe New Dead: A Zombie Anthology by Christopher Golden - If horror stories about the living dead tickle your fancy, then this collection from Christopher Golden would be a great purchase. 19 stories are included, from authors as diverse as Joe Hill, Rick Hautala, and Joe Lansdale.
  2. The Best of HP LovecraftThe Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre by H.P. Lovecraft - An affordable introduction to H.P. Lovecraft, who is considered by most people to be Poe's successor as master of the horror story. Lovecraft has been a huge influence on every horror writer since.
  3. The Empty House and Other Ghost StoriesThe Empty House and Other Ghost Stories by Algernon Blackwood - This is one of only two single-author anthologies of horror stories included on this list. Blackwood is a master of the craft, and his stories were a huge influence on H.P. Lovecraft.
  4. Poe's ChildrenPoe's Children: The New Horror by Peter Straub - Over 600 pages of horror stories selected by one of the master horror novelists writing today, Peter Straub. Authors included in the collection include John Crowley, Thomas Tessier, and Thomas Ligotti.
  5. Darkness: Two Decades of Modern HorrorDarkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror by Ellen Datlow - Darkness presents 25 horror stories from a diverse group of writers including Clive Barker, Peter Straub, and Stephen King.
  6. Vile Things: Extreme Deviations of HorrorVile Things: Extreme Deviations of Horror by Cheryl Mullenax - British horror writers Graham Masterton and Ramsey Campbell both have stories included in this anthology of horror stories, and other authors include Tim Curran and Randy Chandler.
  7. Hellbound HeartsHellbound Hearts by Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan - This is an anthology of stories set in the same universe as Clive Barker's novel The Hellbound Heart. (That book was the source material for the Hellraiser movies.) Includes stories from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean.
  8. Dark Delicacies III: HauntedDark Delicacies III: Haunted by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb - The editor, Del Howison, owns and operates one of only two all-horror bookstores in the USA, Dark Delicacies. This anthology includes a novella from Chuck Palahniuk, as well as short stories from notable horror authors like David Morrell and Clive Barker.
  9. The Mammoth Book of the Best New HorrorThe Mammoth Book of the Best New Horror by Stephen Jones - Presents short horror stories from 1989 to 2008 from authors like Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Tim Lebbon, Joe Hill, Clive Barker, and Stephen King.
  10. Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry DeadZombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead by John Skipp - Features 32 zombie stories from notable horror authors like Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Robert R. McCammon, and Joe Lansdale.

Horror Stories - Podcasts

Listening to podcasts is one of the very best ways to listen to horror stories, as they are hard to find on the radio in the modern age of the internet, and they rarely exist on television, as everyone favors movies and shows. Horror stories as podcasts are great fun for all ages, as stories can be found of classic horror and suspense, which even children can enjoy, or the more gruesome tales of terror and bloodshed. Whatever one enjoys, there are many horror stories to choose from, and a few are outlined below.

One website for horror podcasts is Pseudopod, which has stories submitted by current writers to be read and recorded. One such story is "Papa was a Gypsy," a dark tale about ghosts and the ramifications of following them. It features a young woman following in her dead mother's footsteps, and is gritty and suspenseful the whole way through.

Another, similar website is Podanza, which features older stories, recorded for radio in the sixties and before. They have stories such as "Final Resting Place," "The Vampire's Desire," and "Ghost Town Hermit." Throwbacks to an older time, these stories are sure to scare current listeners just as they did when they first aired. There are a large supply of stories, so one will not run out of options any time soon.

For more famous works for horror that have been recorded for podcast, one could turn to http://horrortales.libsyn.com/. This website features many great works, both old and new. One of their biggest projects is a full recording of Stephen King's Salem's Lot, a brilliant vampire novel; the novel takes up seven separate recordings, all of which can be found on the website.

For the very best in old horror stories available as podcasts, one should look to the website of Vintage Horror. They have great stories such as "Willows," written by Algernon Blackwood. Published in 1907, this story is truly one of the best ever written -- even H.P. Lovecraft said so, that man who was himself a master of the genre. They take the oldest stories, the ones that people really did enjoy on the radio back before television, when the radio was the only option, and they make them again available for today's audience.

No matter what one is looking for in horror stories, one can find podcasts that will provide it. These are excellent to listen to in the fall, with Halloween coming, but are really great any time of the year, as they provide a style of entertainment that it is hard to find nowadays. If one is a fan of horror in general, one should look to podcasts to provide both those famous stories written a long time ago -- "Frankenstein," for example, or "The Most Dangerous Game" -- and those written by current writers who are putting out horror tales even into the modern day -- Stephen King's "The Gingerbread Girl," for instance, or his award-winning "The Man in the Black Suit."