by Ray Garton
First published 2017
This collection opens with Edith Miniter's 1921 parody of Lovecraft, then plunges readers into Donald Wandrei's "The Red Brain," where cosmic terror defies human comprehension. Clark Ashton Smith echoes "The Dunwich Horror" in "The Beast of Averoigne," while C. Hall Thompson adapts "The Thing on the Doorstep" in "The Will of Claude Ashur." Ramsey Campbell explores time's destructive power in "The Pattern." Thomas Ligotti draws from Lovecraft's early work in "The Sect of the Idiot." Brian McNaughton uncovers the sexual undercurrents of ghouls in "Meryphillia." Caitlín R. Kiernan ventures into dreamlands with "The Peddler's Tale." Jonathan Thomas sets his alien encounter in Lovecraft's Providence. Previously unpublished stories by W. H. Pugmire, Mark Samuels, and Ray Garton complete this dozen tales. Each author channels Lovecraft's motifs through their own vision of darkness, creating stories that span from playful homage to genuine terror.
Genres: science-fiction, anthologies, 20th-century, fantasy, horror, 21st-century, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: cosmic-horror, found-family, homage
Setting: Averoigne, Providence
Period: 1921, Early Work
268 pages · Paperback · Dark Regions Press, LLC
Content warnings: body-horror, gore, graphic-violence