Short Fiction Friday: The Devil and the Deep edited by Ellen Datlow

Did you know there are multiple phobias related to water? For example, I love the water. I find it relaxing. In fact, I'd spend every waking minute in a swimming pool if that was an option!

But I have a major fear of open water. Specifically, in searching, thalassophobia seems to be the culprit—a fear of deep water and the things in it. Paired with a teeny bit of claustrophobia this guarantees you'll never find me in a dive suit. Never. (Which is funny because my parents both loved diving!)

But this fear is the thing that makes me reach for movies like Black Water and the upcoming Crawl. It also makes books like The Devil and the Deep a must read for me!

This book features everything from ghosts and sea monsters to viruses and everything else you can imagine in between.

It's hard to play favorites with such an honestly excellent collection, but a few stand outs for me were: Alyssa Wong's "What My Mother Left Me," a chilling tale of loss and desire; Siobhan Carroll's "Haunt,"a historical horror set on a doomed ship; Michael Marshall Smith's "Shit Happens," which is amazingly comical and gross; and Seanan McGuire's dark and twisty take on The Little Mermaid, "Sister, Dearest Sister, Let Me Show You the Sea."

The book also features quite a few of my go to authors in this genre including, McGuire, Stephen Graham Jones, Christopher Golden, and Brian Hodge. There were quite a few new-to-me authors featured as well, such as the aforementioned Carroll, Lee Thomas, Terry Dowling, Ray Cluley.

Here’s the full TOC:

Deadwater by Simon Bestwick
Fodder’s Jig by Lee Thomas
The Curious Allure of the Sea by Christopher Golden
The Tryal Attract by Terry Dowling
The Whalers Song by Ray Cluley
A Ship of the South Wind by Bradley Denton
What My Mother Left Me by Alyssa Wong
Broken Record by Stephen Graham Jones
Saudade by Steve Rasnic Tem
A Moment Before Breaking by A.C. Wise
Sister, Dearest Sister, Let Me Show You to the Sea by Seanan McGuire
The Deep Sea Swell by John Langan
He Sings Of Salt and Wormwood by Brian Hodge
Shit Happens by Michael Marshall Smith
Haunt by Siobhan Carroll

Whether you're terrified of the sea or entranced by it, you're absolutely sure to love this horrific collection of water based terrors!