Lotería’s tiny nightmares hinge on these details, barely glimpsed before they’re gone, but coming together to form a dark celebration of otherworldly Otherness.An Air Force Loadmaster is menaced by strange sounds within his cargo a man is asked to track down a childhood friend. A pink quinceañera dress, a crow’s feather, the scratching from the walls of a little boy’s bedroom:

Indeed, as a Puerto Rican born writer, Pelayo creates tiny pocket worlds that are both culturally specific and imaginatively universal. At times, her prose is pared back enough to make Hemingway applaud, but the stories themselves do not lack for atmosphere or unsettling detail. Pelayo is an award-winning poet, and it shows in her ability to present a startling image without wasting a word. Not all are horrific, but the collection tends in that direction, with plenty of ghosts and monsters, vengeful murders and sinister rituals.

Lotería uses the conceit of the Mexican card game to deliver over fifty miniature tales, each drawn from the deep well of Latin American folklore and beliefs. Sometimes you want a short, sharp hit of horror and magic. We’ll be here throughout the year to update the list of horror titles you mustn’t miss. It’s scary out there alone though, so let us be your guide. Whether you’re looking for a story that will chill your blood, darken your soul, or turn your stomach, this year’s macabre offerings will provide. There are major titles from huge names, nasty little gems from literary darlings, and, as ever, the small presses continue to push the genre in new, outrageous directions. That upward trajectory looks to reach new heights throughout the year, with horror creeping in to dominate the literary landscape from several directions at once.

Whatever the reason, the genre is now more expansive, more inclusive, and more innovative than at any point in its history. Or maybe a whole generation raised on Stephen King has finally come of age and taken the reins. Maybe it’s because of the pandemic, as authors have had more time than ever to sit and mull over their darkest fantasies.

(There, that’s the obligatorily gruesome metaphor checked off.) 2023 has already served up a fresh platter of bloody morsels and sweet, sickly delights to suit every morbid appetite. Straight from a 2022 that featured some of the best horror fiction in recent memory, we’ve hurtled into another banner year.

The best horror of the year volume 11