The Book of Cthulhu: Tales Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft

Description

Tales of tentacles, terror, and madness from the publisher who brought you Wastelands, The Living Dead, and Brave New Worlds First described by visionary author H. P. Lovecraft, the Cthulhu mythos encompass a pantheon of truly existential cosmic horror: Eldritch, uncaring, alien god-things, beyond mankind's deepest imaginings, drawing ever nearer, insatiably hungry, until one day, when the stars are right.... As that dread day, hinted at within the moldering pages of the fabled Necronomicon, draws nigh, tales of the Great Old Ones-Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Hastur, Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, and the weird cults that worship them-have cross-pollinated, drawing authors and other dreamers to imagine the strange dark aeons ahead, when the dead-but-dreaming gods return. Now, intrepid anthologist Ross E. Lockhart has delved deep into the Cthulhu canon, selecting from myriad mind-wracking tomes twenty-seven sanity-shattering stories of cosmic terror. Featuring fiction by many of today's masters of the menacing, macabre, and monstrous, including Laird Barron, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and Thomas Ligotti, The Book of Cthulhu goes where no collection of Cthulhu mythos tales has gone before: to the very edge of madness... and beyond! Do you dare open The Book of Cthulhu? Do you dare heed the call?

Ross E. Lockhart is an author, anthologist, and freelance editor. A lifelong fan of supernatural, fantastic, speculative, and weird fiction, Lockhart is a veteran of small-press publishing, having edited scores of well-regarded novels of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Lockhart edited the acclaimed Lovecraftian anthologies The Book of Cthulhu I and II and Tales of Jack the Ripper (Word Horde). He is the author of the rock-and-roll novel Chick Bassist (Lazy Fascist Press). Lockhart lives in an old church in Petaluma, California, with his wife Jennifer, hundreds of books, and Elinor Phantom, a Shih Tzu moonlighting as his editorial assistant.

"Gathering Cthulhu-inspired stories from both 20th and 21st century authors, this collection provides such a huge scope of styles and takes on the mythology that there are sure to be a handful that surprise and inspire horror in even the most jaded reader." -Josh Vogt, Examiner.com "There are no weak stories here-every single one of the 27 entries is a potential standout reading experience. The Book of Cthulhu is nothing short of pure Lovecraftian gold. If fans of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos don't seek out and read this anthology, they're not really fans-it's that simple." -Paul Goat Allen, Explorations: The BN SciFi and Fantasy Blog "...thanks to the wide variety of contributing authors, as well as Lockhart's keen understanding of horror fiction and Lovecraft in particular, [The Book of Cthulhu] is the best of such anthologies out there." -Alan Cranis, Bookgasm.com "The Book of Cthulhu is one hell of a tome." -Brian Sammons, HorrorWorld.org "...an impressive tribute to the enduring fascination writers have with Lovecraft's creation. [...] Editor Ross E. Lockhart has done an excellent job of ferreting out estimable stories from a variety of professional, semi-professional, and fan venues [...] to establish a sense of continuity and tradition." -Stefan Dziemianowicz, Locus "For anyone who has been a life-long fan of Cthulhu, or anyone looking to start into this universe, The Book of Cthulhu is a wonderful collection." -Andrew Keyser, Portland Book Review "The enduring allure of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, now nearly a century old, is evident in this representative anthology of modern tales, most of which were written in the last decade. [...] To the book's credit, none of the twenty-seven stories read like slavish Lovecraft pastiche, which makes this volume all the more enjoyable." -Publishers Weekly, starred review "This smorgasbord of Lovecraftian horror should gratify the author's many fans." -Library Journal