The Problem with Awards This collection knocked around since the '90s with several publishers, starting with Arkham House, giving up on it.  Cemetery Dance brought it out ultimately.  It had been so long in the tennis court that Lansdale couldn't find his original introduction and had to write a new one!
 
The collection is above average but points out the problem with awards.  There are just enough 5-star stories to balance the 3-star, hence the 4-star rating.  This should be a 5-star collection if these are all award winners, supposedly the best horror stories during each year.  The problems with awards like The Stokers is they are awarded by the very same people who write and edit horror stories.  The Horror Writers Association (HWA) nominates and awards the prizes.  Now what can possibly be wrong with this?  Well politics for one:  there are too many considerations that go into the award rather than just simply what is the best; who's turn it is, who's hot, who's not, who's been overlooked, who deserves it this time.  In many cases these considerations overwhelm the simple consideration of the quality of the work. The short story category isn't as bad as some other categories like anthology or poetry where the number of entrants is so small and you see the same editors and poets in the finals year after year.  Therefore you see the same anthology editors or poets winning every two to three years or so.
 
The problem is the HWA is an insular organization made up largely of the same folks who produce the content for the awards.  This results in a back-slapping, hand shaking, circle jerk, chummy, incestuous relationship within the organization.  You see the same crap happening in things like the Academy Awards, the Grammys, the Emmys, etc.
 
This collection just barely made it from 3-1/2 to 4 stars in my ratings and there is no excuse for that in what should be the very best stories.  There are, however, a few gems in here. ( )

This is a collection of Bram Stoker Award winning stories which was originally commissioned years ago, but publisher deals kept falling through until Cemetery Dance finally went ahead with it in 2012. As a result, the most recent entry is from 1996.

"The Scent of Vinegar" by Robert Bloch: A film historian searches for treasure in an old, abandoned 1940s brothel, but finds something horrifying instead.

"The Calling" by David B. Silva: A man cares for his mother who is dying of cancer. Absolutely chilling final lines.

"Chatting with Anubis" by Harlan Ellison: After a massive quake, two paleontologists descend into the earth to investigate what appears to be a newly uncovered, ancient temple.

"The Pear-Shaped Man" by George R.R. Martin: A woman is disturbed by the weird, disgusting man who lives below her apartment. I read this about a year ago in The Year's Best Fantasy Vol. 1 and thought it was kind of goofy, but somehow I liked it much better this time around. This time the creepiness outweighed the humor.

"The Night They Missed the Horror Show" by Joe R. Lansdale: Two racists out for a night on the town come to regret not just going to the movies like everyone else. I really don't understand why people like this author. He is a bad, bad writer, and yet he's everywhere. As a dog lover, I did find the "twist" to be rather funny, but I think I was just grasping for something to like.

"Lady Madonna" by Nancy Holder: A woman will do anything not to be separated from her child, even in death. I didn't care for the writing in this one, either, but what the woman does at the end is sufficiently disturbing to make it worth a read.

"The Box" by Jack Ketchum: A father's young son begins behaving oddly after he peers into the gift box of a stranger his family encounters on the train. A subtle, quiet horror story about helplessness in the face of the unknowable, and probably my favorite here.

"Stephen" by Elizabeth Massie: An unusual patient in a youth rehabilitation facility drives a new social worker to confront her own horrific past. I've read this one a few times (it appears five times in my library!)

"The Red Tower" by Thomas Ligotti: This is a hard story to describe as it isn't in any way conventional. The narrator tells about a strange factory, which may or may not exist, which produces bizarre novelties and sends them out into the world. It is a Weird Tale. Ligotti is a true original, and one of the best.

"The Boy Who Came Back from the Dead" by Alan Rodgers: A boy comes back from the dead.

"The Night We Buried Road Dog" by Jack Cady: A long, strangely poetic story of superstitious car enthusiasts, an auto graveyard, haunted roads and a mysterious traveler known only as "Road Dog."

"Metalica" by P.D. Cacek: A woman enjoys her gynecological exams a little bit too much. I'm not sure how this is even a horror story.

"Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity" by David Morrell: An art historian is convinced that there's an undiscovered secret to a nineteenth-century painter's controversial work. This story is the main reason I purchased this collection. I read it years ago in a paperback anthology that I no longer have (it was the only story in it that I really liked) and I wanted to own a nice copy of it. One fictional trope I have always loved is that of images with something hidden in them. Another is words or images that can cause madness, and while that isn't exactly what happens here, it veers close enough that this story ticks all the right boxes for me.

Overall, a very strong collection with only a few duds. Also a pricey one if you're getting the edition with Joe Lansdale's lazy scrawl in the front. Wait for a sale or get the trade edition if it's available. I just wish they'd updated it by adding the stories that have won since this anthology was first conceived. Maybe there will be a volume two. ( )

Great collection of stories t hat have earned their place of honor in the horror genre. Every one a winner. ( )