Richard Christian Matheson Reading Order

47 books (1977–2023)

Richard Christian Matheson edited 46 anthology collections between 1977 and 2023, spanning fantasy, mystery, thriller, and horror genres. These collections feature short fiction from various authors and should be read in publication order, beginning with Whispers. Notable entries include Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror, Splatter-Punks: The Definitive Anthology, The Mammoth Book of Vampires, and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Fourth Annual Collection. The series appears to be complete as of 2023.

Start with Whispers, the first of 46 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Whispers 1977Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Shadows 2 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Death 1982Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Hot Blood Tales of Erotic Horror 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Razored Saddles 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Splatter-Punks: The Definitive Anthology 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Fourth Annual Collection 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Bradbury Chronicles 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Fourth Annual Collection 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Little Book of Horrors: Tiny Tales of Terror 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Mammoth Book of Vampires 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Best New Horror 6 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Dark Terrors 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Dark of the Night 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Millenium 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Robert Bloch's Psychos 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 8 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Dark Terrors 4 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Dark Terrors 5 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Dark Masques 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Dark Terrors 6 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Shrouded by Darkness: Tales of Terror 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Best New Horror 18 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Dark Delicacies II: Fear 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Hellbound Hearts 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Visitants 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Werewolves and Shape Shifters: Encounters with the Beasts Within 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	A Book of Horrors 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Mammoth Books presents That Haunted Feeling 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	The Devil's Coattails 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	The Mammoth Book of Body Horror 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	Flotsam Fantastique: The Souvenir Book of World Fantasy Convention 2013 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	Four For Fantasy 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	Hell Comes To Hollywood, Volume II 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	Cemetery Riots 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Darker Terrors 7 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Corruption at the Crossroad 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	Best New Horror 28 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	A Time For Violence 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	Freedom of Screech 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	Best New Horror #31 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Body Shocks 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	Horrible Little Stories: Horror Fiction They Don’t Want You To Read 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	Little Deaths 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

19 books (2009–2026)

The Best Horror of the Year is an ongoing anthology series edited by Richard Christian Matheson, spanning 18 volumes published from 2009 to 2025. Each volume collects the year's most notable horror short fiction from various authors and publications. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Volume One, though individual volumes can be enjoyed independently as standalone collections. A retrospective compilation, The Best of the Best Horror of the Year, was included to celebrate the series' first decade.

Start with The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One, the first of 18 books in the Best Horror of the Year series.

#	Title
1	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Two 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eight 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Nine 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Ten 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eleven 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Twelve 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fourteen 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fifteen 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Sixteen 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Seventeen 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Best Horror of the Year, Volume Eighteen 2026Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (1988–2013)

Richard Christian Matheson's three-book collection of short stories and novellas spans from 1988 to 2013 and is now complete. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Holiday, followed by Pride (a collaboration with Richard Matheson), and concluding with The Ritual of Illusion. These darkly imaginative tales blend fantasy, mystery, thriller, and horror elements across the author's distinctive short-form works.

Start with Holiday and read in order.

#	Title
1	Holiday 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Pride(With: Richard Matheson) 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Ritual of Illusion 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (1987–2017)

Richard Christian Matheson's Short Story Collections series comprises four books of horror, fantasy, and thriller short stories published between 1987 and 2017. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks, followed by Dystopia and Zoopraxis. Each collection gathers standalone stories that showcase Matheson's work across multiple genres within the speculative fiction and mystery thriller categories.

Start with Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks, the first of 4 books in the Short Story Collections series.

#	Title
1	Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Dystopia 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Zoopraxis 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (1993–1993)

#	Title
1	Created By 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible