The variety of this top-flight annual never fails to appeal, in part because it covers so much material, including, along with the best stories, obituaries of writers whose files have closed, a review of the year's best fantasy in film, television, and comic books, and summations of the year's activities in horror and fantasy. The tales here encompass works both by such accomplished writers as Gabriel Garc°a-M†rquez (``Caribe Magico''), Ron Hansen (``Wilderness''), Robert Olen Butler (with his absolutely classic, immensely moving ``JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction''), Angela Carter (``The Snow Pavilion''), Robert Silverberg (``Diana of the Hundred Breasts''), and by stylish standbys like Thomas Ligotti (``Teatro Grottesco'') and Graham Masterton (``The Secret of Shih Tan''). Among the most inspired and offbeat entries is a film script in iambic verse by Neil Gaiman, ``Eaten (Scenes from a Moving Picture),'' a raw, deeply erotic work not for the faint of heart. There are over 40 entries here, in a collection not to be missed by anyone seriously interested in fantasy or horror.
