Unnatural Creatures collects four previously uncollected Kyle Murchison Booth short stories, "The Replacement", "The World Without Sleep, "White Charles" and "The Yellow Dressing Gown".

Kyle Murchison Booth, archivist at the Parrington Museum, has heard of Thirdhop Scarp. Everyone has. The house has been notorious ever since the night that homeowner J.A. Cathcart murdered his entire family, and was found cupping the heart of his eldest daughter in his hands as tenderly as he would a wounded bird. It is not the first time the house has experienced unsettling events. And it will not be the last. Now the new owner of Thirdhop Scarp, one Marcus Oleander, is gathering an esoteric order at the house, including Miss Griselda Parrington, daughter of the museum's founder. The museum director demands that Mr Booth discredit Oleander's occult teachings and end his influence over the credulous Miss Parrington. Reluctantly, Mr Booth joins the weekend séance. In the beautiful but eerie surrounds of the house and gardens, Mr Booth is drawn into an investigation that spans years - and reveals the house to be much, much more than it seems...

Darkness surrounds us. We can find darkness anywhere: in a strange green stone etched with mysterious symbols; at a small town's annual picnic; in a ghostly house that is easy to enter but not so easy to leave; behind the dumpster in the alley where a harpy lives; in The Nowhere, a place where car keys, toys, people disappear to; among Polar explorers; and, most definitely, within ourselves. Darkness flies from mysterious crates; surrounds children whose nightlights have vanished; and flickers between us at the movie theater. Darkness crawls from the past and is waiting in our future; and there's always a chance that Halloween really is a door opening directly into endless shadow. Welcome to the dark. You may never want to leave. This inaugural volume of the year's best dark fantasy and horror features more than 500 pages of dark tales from some of today's finest writers of the fantastique. Chosen from a variety of sources, these stories are as eclectic and varied as the genre itself. Contents 9 • What the Hell Do You Mean By "Dark Fantasy and Horror?" • essay by Paula Guran 13 • The Horrid Glory of Its Wings • (2009) • shortstory by Elizabeth Bear 23 • Lowland Sea • (2009) • novelette by Suzy McKee Charnas 41 • Copping Squid • (2009) • novelette by Michael Shea 56 • Monsters • (2009) • novelette by Stewart O'Nan 73 • The Brink of Eternity • (2009) • shortstory by Barbara Roden 85 • Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre • (2009) • shortstory by Seth Fried 95 • Sea-Hearts • (2009) • novella by Margo Lanagan 138 • A Haunted House of Her Own • (2009) • shortfiction by Kelley Armstrong 153 • Headstone in Your Pocket • (2009) • shortstory by Paul G. Tremblay \[as by Paul Tremblay \] 166 • The Coldest Girl in Coldtown • (2009) • novelette by Holly Black 182 • Strange Scenes from an Unfinished Film • (2009) • shortstory by Gary McMahon 190 • A Delicate Architecture • (2009) • shortstory by Catherynne M. Valente 196 • The Mystery • (2009) • shortfiction by Peter Atkins 205 • Variations on a Theme from Seinfeld • (2009) • shortstory by Peter Straub 211 • The Wide, Carnivorous Sky • (2009) • shortfiction by John Langan 251 • Certain Death for a Known Person • (2009) • novelette by Steve Duffy 267 • The Ones Who Got Away • (2009) • shortfiction by Stephen Graham Jones 274 • Leng • (2009) • shortfiction by Marc Laidlaw 292 • Torn Away • (2009) • shortfiction by Joe R. Lansdale 301 • The Nowhere Man • (2009) • shortfiction by Sarah Pinborough 314 • The Bone's Prayer • (2009) • shortstory by Caitlín R. Kiernan 327 • The Water Tower • (2009) • shortstory by John Mantooth 337 • In the Porches of My Ears • (2009) • shortstory by Norman Prentiss 348 • The Cinderella Game • (2009) • shortstory by Kelly Link 355 • The Jacaranda Smile • (2009) • shortstory by Gemma Files 366 • The Other Box • (2009) • shortfiction by Gerard Houarner 388 • White Charles • \[Kyle Murchison Booth\] • (2009) • novelette by Sarah Monette 406 • Everything Dies, Baby • (2009) • shortstory by Nadia Bulkin 414 • Bruise for Bruise • (2009) • shortstory by Robert Davies 422 • Respects • (2009) • shortstory by Ramsey Campbell 433 • Diamond Shell • (2009) • shortstory by Deborah Biancotti 446 • Nub Hut • (2009) • shortstory by Kurt Dinan 452 • The Cabinet Child • (2009) • shortfiction by Steve Rasnic Tem 458 • Cherrystone & Shards of Ice • (2009) • shortstory by Ekaterina Sedia 469 • The Crevasse • (2009) • shortstory by Nathan Ballingrud and Dale Bailey 482 • Vic • (2009) • shortfiction by Maura McHugh 490 • Halloween Town • (2009) • novella by Lucius Shepard 543 • The Long, Cold Goodbye • (2009) • novelette by Holly Phillips 562 • What Happens When You Wake Up in the Night • (2009) • shortstory by Michael Marshall Smith