The Year's Best Horror Stories

With an essay by editor Gerald W. Page

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Oct 13, 2024

The following text written by Gerald W. Page served as introduction to the horror chapter of Wonderworks. Page was Michael’s editor on The Year’s Best Horror Stories early in the series from 1976-1979.

Horror

One of the major problems in publishing fantasy has been illustration, particularly cover illustration. When the science fiction magazines came along, artists like Frank R. Paul were able to find elements to include in their paintings and drawings that exactly pinpointed what SF was all about: Paul’s painting for the first issue of Amazing might be one of the most crudely painted covers he ever did, but it could not be mistaken for anything but science fiction with that gigantic image of Saturn right above the heads of those ice skaters. It was the work Paul did for the first issues of Amazing that set the pace for the style.

*Amazing Stories,* April 1926 and November 1928, with cover art by Frank R. Paul

Fantasy presented greater problems. You can identify a scene as science fiction by featuring a spaceship, for example, but the elements that make a story fantasy are more subtle. Horror is a phase of fantasy that seems to present the artist with even greater problems than other types.

For starters, it’s just as hard to isolate an identifiable element for the cover of a book of horror stories as it is for any book of straight fantasies. But other problems enter in. Problem one is taste. It's very easy for the element of horror to give way to one of sadism, an element that usually has very little to do with horror.

**VISIONS OF CASSANDRA** (1975), Acrylic on Canvas - 24" x 20". Cover illustration for **The Year’s Best Horror Stories Series III**, with pencil sketch

The second problem is originality. When I want an illustration for a good vampire story, nothing makes me angrier than to have an artist give me a drawing of Bela Lugosi. Movie monsters belong in the movies. Artists who base their concepts of horror illustration on movies aren’t using their imaginations.

An artist who does use his imagination is Michael Whelan. The first three volumes in DAW Books’ series The Year’s Best Horror Stories were edited by Richard Davis. I started with number four. It was the first effort of mine to have a Whelan illustration. He gave us a nice serene blue cover with an almost surrealistic gathering of traditional horror elements such as the spider, that demon in the window, a lizard monster, bats—lots of bats—and something wormy thawing out nicely on that fellow’s shoulder. Traditional elements, yes, but hardly a traditional arrangement.

Left: In an arresting montage, horrific elements are set against a serene blue background. Portrayed from the chest up, the figure of a man emerges from water. His torso floats like an island in a calm sea, but his expression is disturbed. Set in amber, one pupil contracts to a dot as his mouth is frozen, gaping in surprise. The top of his head is like a jar shattered. Bats emerge from the hollow of one eye. Half of his torso is covered by a plain beige shirt, the fabric punctured by a thin line of spikes. Encased in ice, a twisting worm rests high on that same shoulder. A fat drop of meltwater trickles down the shirt to where torn fabric drapes into the water. A cinder block wall can be seen half submerged. Cast in shadow, a demonic figure peers out the window set there. The other half of the torso-island is petrified. A succubus reclines on a stone clavicle. A red spider descends down the cratered surface of his chest. Beneath the stone, roots form at water's edge, a creepy substitution of rib bones where a green lizard makes its nest. Right: Preliminary pencil sketch of BLUE FEAR — **BLUE FEAR** (1976), Acrylic on Illustration Board - 22" x 16". Cover illustration for **The Year’s Best Horror Stories Series IV**, with pencil sketch

For Series V, Michael Whelan went from peaceful blue to a bright and almost cheerful orange. And appropriate it is, because what looks more cheerful than the inescapable grin of a skull? Especially as demonstrated here by one of Michael's favorite models. Whelan's incredible eye for detail is shown once again, in such touches as the bracelet on our subject‘s wrist, and the bookmark protruding from the pages of his journal. And don't overlook the intricate design on the back of that chair.

The trick in doing a series—writing one, editing it, or doing the illustrations—is to come up with something each outing that's better than what you did previously. It’s not easy. Year after year, few people can manage it.

LEFT: With a feathered quill in hand, Death pauses to glance up while inscribing a name in his ancient tome. His robes are faded, and beneath the folds of his hood, his skull is bleached and missing a single tooth. Blank orbitals stare flat black at the audience. His book along with a fat rat rest on splintered boards; the perspective lines create an illusion of a tabletop in front of him that really isn't there. Orange ground beneath the boards blends smoothly into the barren landscape of the background. His wooden throne—decorated with a goat head set within an inverted pentagram trimmed in gold—is decaying with holes are chewed through it. Many eyes, rendered white on black, can be seen peeking out of burrows atop the throne. Two uneven crescent moons hang tinted yellow against the orange sky. RIGHT: Pen and Ink drawing for a bookplate with the same design. — **EREBUS** (1977), Acrylic on Illustration Board - 32" x 20". Cover illustration for **The Year’s Best Horror Stories Series V**, with pen and ink bookplate design.

Whelan always seems to come up with something for The Year’s Best Horror Stories that tops what’s gone before. Once again, his relish for this type of work is very evident, as is the relish of the subject for whatever work it is he’s about. In fact, this is a first-rate character painting—though I wouldn‘t want to meet this character—especially in isolated circumstances!

Again, note the detailing, but pay special attention to the professionalism with which that detailing is displayed. This is a very simple, direct painting, and the details were carefully selected for effect, and used sparingly so that they don’t overwhelm the painting. Good taste, you see, applies not only to subject, but also to every facet of a painting, and how these facets are presented.

Since I became the editor of The Year’s Best Horror Stories series. I’ve been very lucky in having covers by Michael Whelan. His work has been eye-catching, product-identifying, tasteful, and original. His highly developed technique, his color sense, and especially his attention to detail conjure a spell that must have accounted for a lot of bookstand sales.

-Gerald W. Page

Share The Art of Michael Whelan

LEFT: A skeletal intruder brandishes a long knife with curving blade as it props open a door to peer inside. Its hand appears desiccated—decomposing flesh not bone—as it extends slender fingers against the well-worn wood to widen the gap. A bright red handkerchief is tucked into the neckline of its brown overcoat, concealing chest and throat. A wide brimmed hat completes its disguise. Perhaps from behind it could pass as human, but leering through the door its murderous intent is clear. Blue light gleams from a dark sphere set in one bony socket, and it's jaw hangs open in a grim toothy smile. The view out reveals tall buildings beyond—somewhere urban—and the cool glow of streetlights reduced to hazy saucers runs in a diagonal along a dark street unseen. CENTER: Surrounded by gravestones, a pack of ghouls hold down a man whose head is craned back to look at the viewer as he screams in horror. All of the undead creatures look back too and one points at the audience as if that's who is next. The sky is blue with a full moon partially covered by clouds. RIGHT: In a rundown alley between brick buildings, a figure wrapped from head to toe in a white sheet confronts the viewer. Beneath, the contour of the face seems skeletal. The sheet is bound tightly with twine, but one hand is slightly extended, struggling to reach out. Although fleshy and human, the hand reaching out has long untrimmed nails. It's not clear from the splayed fingers whether it reaches out in desperation or threat. — Left: SMILER (1978), Acrylic on Masonite - 24" x 16". Center: GHOULS (1979), Acrylic. Right: DEAD END (1980), Acrylic on Illustration Board - 30" x 20"

Beyond the Numbers

In total Michael illustrated 12 covers for The Year’s Best Horror Stories anthologies, and these paintings represent a meaningful arc in his career. Between 1975 and 1987, he missed only one book, making this his most regular assignment as an illustrator.

Curious, I asked what happened in 1984 and apparently it came down to a conflict in schedules. This was the same year he went to Los Angeles to paint the cover for the Jacksons’ Victory album, so that would be my guess as to which project took priority

Context is crucial to understand his long attachment to the series. Every year he looked forward to the assignment because it was a break from the science fiction and fantasy that dominated his calendar. Being able to shift to the darker side of his imagination helped keep him fresh creatively.

Anthologies came with a kind of creative freedom that felt different. He could pursue ideas uniquely his own when working without the constraint of a manuscript. As the years progressed, I believe those creative opportunities prompted an evolution in Michael’s work that would ultimately lead to artistic pursuits beyond illustration.

LEFT: In a ring much like Stonehenge, a werewolf crouches panting with an unconscious human slung over its shoulder. Frosty breath wafts from its open maw. The ground is covered with snow. Dormant vegetation sticks through in places. Overhead, the sky is gray with cloud cover. CENTER: In a field of poppies, a skeletal figure wearing a black and red silk cloak holds a smiling mask set on the end of a thin staff. Sweeping the cloak aside in a welcoming gesture, it reveals an antique key hanging from a ring about its emaciated forearm. The other arm is tied off with rubber tubing. Pronounced veins run the length of necrotic flesh. Beneath the cloak, chains wraps the torso, criss-crossing, secured by a padlock. The green tunic beneath is torn to expose yellowing rib bones. Atop its tilted skull rests a crown of mushrooms and a single bird wing. Its orbitals are dead black, and many teeth are missing. A syringe dangles from a loose chain around its neck. Another needle hangs from its belt with longer cord weighed down by a spoon. A long opium pipe with a bulbous end is tucked through through the belt. A winding tree rises behind the angel of death, bare limbs branching like veins, blue against the purple haze of the misty backdrop. RIGHT: A doll wearing a tattered pink dress with frilly collar hangs from a jump rope tied into a noose. It's head is skewed to one side and its hair is slightly disheveled. One eye is missing and a fly craws on the other. Rusty barbed wire wraps around the torso as arms are tied behind. One shoe black shoe is missing. The doll is framed by broken boards. In the opening behind it, two children peer out. Their faces are rendered plastic and doll-like, disturbing in their deranged stares. — Left: SNOWFALL (1981), Mixed Media. Center: DESTROYING ANGEL (1982), Acrylic on Canvas - 34" x 24". Right: DOLL (1983), Acrylic on Illustration Board - 30" x 15".

In DESTROYING ANGEL, we see Michael’s facility with symbolism in full bloom. From purple haze to the field of poppies, each element is a master stroke that builds on the next. Notice the subtlety he took in costuming the angel of death with pipe tucked into belt, spoon and syringe dangling from cords, and crown of Destroying Angel mushrooms to represent a state of living death. Michael’s embrace of abstraction in the trees branching like blood vessels brings it all together concisely.

Then we see Michael’s consciousness bubble up in TWO WORLDS. The painting was inspired by a magazine photo of a desert filled with burial mounds, the tragic result of famines in Ethiopia. Michael channels the horrors of the real world to make a statement about our comfortable position in the West. When confronted with conditions in the Third World, so many of us feel powerless to affect change—or worse remain apathetic towards the suffering of our fellow humans. This was a painting he wanted to do that fit the assignment for a horror cover.

There’s a maturation of thought here that feels like a precursor to his gallery work. It’s no accident that he seized on the freedom of assignments like these to exercise creative muscles that would serve him later in the leap to fine art.

Left: TWO WORLDS (1985), Oils on canvas - 36" x 22", Center: BOOGEYMAN (1986), Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 28" X 17", Right: COLD CUTS (1987), Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 30" x 22"

Weekly Art Recap

Grid of images as detailed below — Art featured October 7-12

Descent - cover for the Ray Bradbury classic The Martian Chronicles
Apotheosis of War - a timeless exploration of the horrors of war
Empire’s Horizon - cover illustration for John Brizzolara
The End of Nature V - a personal visions that requires looking beyond the obvious
Narrow Way - cover illustration for Death’s Master by Tanith Lee
Neither a Boy Nor a Boy-Sized Spider - a nonconventional take on Mordred from The Dark Tower by Stephen King

Coming Soon…Leftovers & Palette Gremlins

We have another small painting in the L&PG series coming on Wednesday (10/16) at 11am EST. This will be the fourth in the 2024 gallery.

As always, there will be a special preview for paid subscribers leading up to that.

Brad Stanton

Oct 13

Great article about you Michael. It was always fun working with you.

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Thomas Miller

Thomas’s Substack

Oct 15

Loved all the covers but seeing Series IX with the Snowfall art is a little bittersweet. I had bid on and won the corresponding sketch at Balticon several years ago but when I went to get it the people running the art show said they had made an error and had already handed it off to someone that said they were there to collect it. Still not sure how that worked without proper badge ID and all.

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