Very pleased to announced that my short story “The Pain-Eater’s Daughter” has been chosen for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year volume 12. The full TOC is below:
Ice Cold Lemonade 25ȼ Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person by Paul Tremblay
A Song For Wounded Mouths by Kristi DeMeester
Birds of Passage by Gordon B. White
The Puppet Motel by Gemma Files
The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team by Joe R. Lansdale
The Night Nurse by Sarah Langan
They Are Us (1964): An Oral History by Jack Lothian
As Dark As Hunger by S. Qiouyi Lu
I Say (I Say, I Say) by Robert Shearman
The Pain-Eater’s Daughter by Laura Mauro
The Hope Chest by Sarah Read
Nor Cease You Never Now by Ren Warom
Playscape by Diana Peterfreund
Adrenaline Junkies by Ray Cluley
Watching by Tim Lees
Mr. And Mrs. Kett by Sam Hicks
Below by Simon Bestwick
My Name is Ellie by Sam Rebelein
Slipper by Catriona Ward
How To Stay Afloat When Drowning by Daniel Braum
This Was Always Going to Happen by Stephen Graham Jones
The Butcher’s Table by Nathan Ballingrud
I’m especially pleased that “The Pain-Eater’s Daughter”, of all my stories, is the one Ellen chose. It’s a story about Romany Gypsy heritage, and about family, and about disability. But most of all, it’s a story about love.
Those who know me will be aware that making Best Horror of the Year has been a bucket list item of mine since I started this whole writing malarkey, so to have finally made it is an absolute joy. And to stand alongside the likes of Nathan Ballingrud, Robert Shearman, Paul Tremblay, Catriona War and so many other wonderful writers is a real privilege.
Dispatches from the Sinister Room 
Excellent news. Many congratulations. 🙂