Favourite Short Stories: 2019

This is the seventh year I've posted my annual favourite short story list (you can find links to my previous lists here) and I still really enjoy doing so. It's always been meant to be a celebration of short story writing, and to that end I've relaxed one of the self-imposed rules that have governed previous year's lists. Specifically, if I've liked a story I've included it no matter how old it is, rather than be constrained by a nebulously-defined concept of 'contemporary'. Otherwise, all is the same. I read many stories this year, and the ones below stood out as being outstanding in one way or another. For each, I've linked to the publication where I read the story, which isn't always where they were first published.

I hope readers of this blog will sample at least a few of the stories below. Happy new year all.

G.V. Anderson: Maid Of Many Skins (Syntax And Salt)
G.V. Anderon: Whistles After Dark (Great British Horror #4: Dark And Stormy Nights, Black Shuck Books)
Anon.: The Dark Inside (Maps Of The Lost)
Simon Avery: All The Secret Colours Of The World (Great British Horror #4: Dark And Stormy Nights, Black Shuck Books
Stephen Bacon: Pain Has A Voice (Black Room Manuscripts IV, The Sinister Horror Company)

Ruth E.J. Booth: Telling Stories (The Dark #43)

Borges: The Duel (Doctor Brodie's Report, Penguin)
Tom Breen: Amorica, 116 Roane Street (Orford Parish Murder Houses, Orford Parish Books)
Georgina Bruce: Cat World (This House Of Wounds, Undertow)
Georgina Bruce: The Lady Of Situations (This House Of Wounds, Undertow)
Georgina Bruce: Wake Up Phil (This House Of Wounds, Undertow)
Ramsey Campbell: Dragged Down (Black Room Manuscripts IV, The Sinister Horror Company)

Eliza Chan: Knowing Your Type (Three Crows #4)

Ted Chiang: It's 2059, And The Rich Kids Are Still Winning (New York Times)
Chloe N. Clark: Like The Absence... (Supernatural Tales #39)
Chloe N. Clark: They Are Coming For You, So You Better Run, You Better Run, So You Can Hide (Jellyfish Review)
Ray Cluley: Painted Wolves (In Dog We Trust, Black Shuck Books)
Ray Cluley: 6/6 (Black Shuck Books)
Kath Deakin & Tim Lebbon: Faith Leaps (Great British Horror #4: Dark And Stormy Nights, Black Shuck Books)
Claire Dean: Bremen (Nightjar Press Chapbook)
Claire Dean: Lichen Storey (An Invite To Eternity, Calque Press) 
Theresa DeLucci: Cavity (Strange Horizons #8)
Malcolm Devlin: My Uncle Eff (An Invite To Eternity, Calque Press) 
Steve Duffy: The God Of Storage Options (Supernatural Tales #42)
Chikodili Emelumadu: What To Do When Your Child Brings Home A Mama Wata (Tales From The Shadow Booth #2)
Tracy Fahey: Dark It Was Inside (New Music For Old Rituals, Black Shuck Books)
Tracy Fahey: The Green Road (New Music For Old Rituals, Black Shuck Books)
Tracy Fahey: Playing In Their Own Time (New Music For Old Rituals, Black Shuck Books)
Mike Fox: The Violet Eye (Nightjar Press Chapbook)
Gary Fry: Checking Out (author's website)
Cate Gardner: The Iron Curve Of Thorns (The Woods, Hersham Horror)
J.L. George: Mam's Girl (Black Room Manuscripts IV, The Sinister Horror Company)
J.L. George: Parsley, Pennyroyal, Paracetamol (Constellary Tales #3)
Kerry Hadley-Pryce: What Do You Mean? (The Incubator)
Kerry Hadley-Pryce: When I Say (author's website)
Carly Holmes: Perspectives (The Open Press)
Kaely Horton: Things That Could Go Wrong In Idaho (Flash Fiction Online)
S.L. Hwang: At The Last I May Know (Tor.Com)
Carole Johnstone: Skinner Box (Tor Original)
Daisy Johnson: How To Win (New Statesman)
Penny Jones: The Changeling (Suffer Little Children, Black Shuck Books)
Jess Koch: Fur And Feathers (Metaphorosis Nov 2019)
V.H. Leslie: Tide Will Tell (Black Room Manuscripts IV, The Sinister Horror Company)

Eliza Lynn Linton: The Fate Of Madam Cabarel (Vampires, Faber)

Usman T. Malik: Laal Andhi (An Invite To Eternity, Calque Press) 
Amelia Mangan: I Love You Mary-Grace (In Dog We Trust, Black Shuck Books)
Sophia McDougall: The Beasts In The Arena (Gollancz)
Mark Morris: The Scariest Place In The World (Hauntings, NewCon Press)
Joanna Parypinski: Dead Worms Dangling (Nightmare #87)
J.R. Park: The Last Horror Story (Black Room Manuscripts IV, The Sinister Horror Company)

Sarah Pinsker: The Blur In The Corner Of Your Eye (Uncanny#29)
Marian Pitman: Forward And Back, Changing Places (Hauntings, NewCon Press)

John Llewellyn Probert: Author! Author? (Darker Companions, PS Publishing)
Tiina Raevaara: The Birds Always Return (An Invite To Eternity, Calque Press) 
Kristen Roupenian: The Rainbow (An Invite To Eternity, Calque Press) 
Gareth E. Rees: Tyrannosaurs Bask In The Warmth Of The Asteroid (An Invite To Eternity, Calque Press) 
Gareth E. Rees: We Are The Disease (Tales From The Shadow Booth #2)
Lynda E. Rucker: The Dublin Horror (Darker Companions, PS Publishing)
Lynda E. Rucker: So Much Wine (Supernatural Tales #42)
George Sandison: Keel (Tales From The Shadow Booth #2)
Erika L. Satifka: You Have Contracted A Deadly Song Virus (Daily Science Fiction)
Priya Sharma: My Mother's Ghosts (Great British Horror #4: Dark And Stormy Nights, Black Shuck Books)
Robert Shearman: Simon Harries (Hauntings, NewCon Press)
Eloise C.C. Shepherd: A Tiny Mirror (Supernatural Tales #39)
Ana María Shua: Authentic Zombies Of The Caribbean (The Dark #53)
Christopher Slatsky: Obsidian Capra Aegagrus (The Lovecraft eZine #19)
Phil Sloman: A Dog Is For Death (In Dog We Trust, Black Shuck Books)
Carlie St. George: You Were Once Wild Here (The Dark #53)
Florence Sunnen: The Mermaid (author's website)
Rachel Swirsky: Your Face (Clarkesworld #155)
Jeffery Thomas: Uncanny Valley (Darker Companions, PS Publishing)
Alexis Tolstoy: The Family Of The Vourdolak (Vampires, Faber)
Stephen Volk: Certain Faces (The Parts We Play, PS Publishing)
Stephen Volk: Matilda Of The Night (The Parts We Play, PS Publishing)
Damien Angelica Walters: A Perfect Replica (Darker Companions, PS Publishing)
D.P. Watt: We Are The Clay (An Invite To Eternity, Calque Press) 
Mark West: The Goblin Glass (Darker Worlds)
Edith Wharton: The Eyes (To Be Read By Candlelight, Parsimony Press)
Edith Wharton: The Triumph Of Night (To Be Read By Candlelight, Parsimony Press)
Aliya Whiteley: Ear To Ear (Tales From The Shadow Booth #2)
A.C. Wise: Juliet And Juliet(te) (Curious Worlds)
A.C. Wise: Mathew, Waiting (Curious Fictions)
Marian Womack: Frozen Planet (Lost Objects, Luna Press)
Marian Womack: Kingfisher (Lost Objects, Luna Press)
'X.L.' A Kiss Of Judas (Vampires, Faber)
E. Lily Yu: The Time Invariance Of Snow (Tor.Com)