As part of my ongoing research into what’s new in the fantasy and horror genres, I’ve been digging through a lot of websites, ‘zines, etc. I’ve got to say that I’ve been really underwhelmed by what I’ve seen. I guess my tastes may be a bit too high brow, but there seems to be a real drought of what I’d describe as literary fantasy and horror. No offense to the great people out there publishing fiction, but most of what I’ve read is subpar.

The strongest writing I’ve found is on Scifi.com’s now dead Scifiction site edited by the great Ellen Datlow (who you may also know from The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror annual anthology). You can still read all the back content on the site, and there’s a lot of good stuff there.

So I’ve been playing around with the idea of putting together my own online anthology, or perhaps even publishing a small ‘zine or chapbook. I’m not sure I actually want to read random submissions, or spend the time I’d need to commit as an editor, but I feel like there’s a real hole out there that needs to be filled.

Sigh. Decisions, decisions …