I can never resist a new anthology by Ellen Datlow. If you’re unfamiliar, Datlow has put together about ninety different anthologies of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, including The Best Horror of the Year, The Doll Collection, and Children of Lovecraft. Earlier this year, I reviewed a Halloween collection she did with Lisa Morton called Haunted Nights. When I heard that she had just put out a horror anthology themed entirely around the ocean, I knew I had to add it to my list. The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea came out in March and contains a fantastic collection of all-new short horror fiction by authors both well-known and unfamiliar.
Dark and primordial, the ocean has been a source of fear since the earliest days of human storytelling. And despite how much we’ve advanced in technology since then, we’ve still barely pierced the darkness of its mysterious depths. That’s why the sea makes such a great focus for a collection of horror stories. There are so many different types of fears we have around the water—from sea monsters, to ghosts, drowning, or getting stranded—and each of the fifteen stories in this anthology takes the prompt in a completely different direction. No matter what kind of horror you like, there’s a story in here for everyone.
With so many anthologies under her belt, Ellen Datlow has truly mastered the art of selecting and organizing stories for the best possible collection. Like many of her other books, The Devil and the Deep starts right off with one story that will drag you in. “Deadwater” by Simon Bestwick was one of my favorites, mainly due to the force of the protagonist’s personality. Emily is a young woman with a mysterious past who has finally found peace in a small harbor town. But when the body of a man she knows is revealed by the receding tide, she sets out to enact her own justice. One of the most unusual stories in the collection is “A Ship of the South Wind.” The only story set far from the coast, it tells of a supernatural captain who sails his land-ship across the plains of the American West. “Sister, Dearest Sister” by Seanan McGuire was the only story by an author with whom I was already familiar. It’s a retelling of “The Little Mermaid,” of sorts, only much darker. If you like some humor with your horror, then Michael Marshall Smith’s tale of a zombie breakout in the midst of a ship-board tech conference, “Shit Happens,” may be right up your alley. I’ll warn you, though, that this one is not just gory but outright gross, so it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Lastly, The Devil and the Deep closes out with perhaps the best story in the collection: “Haunt” by Siobhan Carroll. This deceptive tale seems to be about shipwrecks, ghost ships, and the horrors of a slow death out at sea, but ultimately the true horror is the transatlantic slave trade, and the complicity each sailor is guilty of. The author’s real-life training as a sailor and rigging-climber as well as her academic expertise help to infuse the story with a realism that makes you feel as though you’re right there on the boat beside her characters.
You can find The Devil and The Deep at your local retailer, or click this Bookshop.org affiliate link to buy it online and support both indie bookstores and The Gothic Library in the process!