<b>A <i>Washington Post</i> Best Book of the Year<br> <br> </b>Peter Straub&mdash;bestselling author and 8-time Bram Stoker Award winner&mdash;has gathered here 24 bone-chilling, nail-biting, frightfully imaginative stories that represent the best of contemporary horror writing. <br> <br> Dan Chaon <b>&ldquo;The Bees&rdquo;</b><br> Elizabeth Hand <b>&ldquo;Cleopatra Brimstone&rdquo;</b><br> Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem <b>&ldquo;The Man on the Ceiling&rdquo;</b> <br> M. John Harrison <b>&ldquo;The Great God Plan&rdquo;</b><br> Ramsey Campbell <b>&ldquo;The Voice of the Beach&rdquo;</b><br> Brian Evenson <b>&ldquo;Body&rdquo;</b><br> Kelly Link <b>&ldquo;Louise&rsquo;s Ghost&rdquo;</b><br> Jonathan Carroll <b>&ldquo;The Sadness of Detail&rdquo;</b><br> M. Rickert <b>&ldquo;Leda&rdquo;</b><br> Thomas Tessier<b> &ldquo;In Praise of Folly&rdquo;<br></b>David J. Schow <b>&ldquo;Plot Twist&rdquo;</b><br> Glen Hirshberg <b>&ldquo;The Two Sams&rdquo;</b><br> Thomas Ligotti <b>&ldquo;Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story&rdquo;</b><br> Benjamin Percy <b>&ldquo;Unearthed&rdquo;</b><br> Bradford Morrow <b>"Gardener of Heart&rdquo;</b><br> Peter Straub <b>&ldquo;Little Red&rsquo;s Tango&rdquo;</b><br> Stephen King <b>&ldquo;The Ballad of a Flexible Bullet&rdquo;</b><br> Joe Hill <b>&ldquo;20th Century Ghost&rdquo;</b><br> Ellen Klages <b>&ldquo;The Green Glass Sea&rdquo;</b><br> Tia V. Travis <b>&ldquo;The Kiss&rdquo;</b><br> Graham Joyce <b>&ldquo;Black Dust&rdquo;</b><br> Neil Gaiman <b>&ldquo;October in the Chair&rdquo;</b><br> John Crowley <b>&ldquo;Missolonghi 1824&rdquo;</b><br> Rosalind Palermo Stevenson <b>&ldquo;Insect Dreams&rdquo;</b>