Strange Shadows opens a window into the dark, visionary worlds of Clark Ashton Smith, whose verbal black magic was a significant force in the American science fiction and fantasy movement of the 1930s. This annotated collection of his previously unpublished works provides a unique opportunity to savor the full range of Smith's literary contribution. Featuring fantasies and ironic short stories, prose-poems, plays, unfinished stories, and more than 100 story synopses, it offers valuable documentation and commentary on the work of one of the most distinctive and consistently interesting modern masters of the fantasy genre. An introduction by Robert Bloch (the author of Psycho) examines Smith's work and places it in historical perspective. Among the highlights of the collection are the satirical title story; variant drafts of two of Smith's most famous stories--The Coming of the White Worm and The Beast of Averoigne--and a play entitled The Dead Will Cuckold You, which has been hailed as a masterpiece. The editor's annotations include extensive quotations from Smith's correspondence to H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and other important fantasy authors, together with textual commentary and discussion of connections between published and unpublished works. Information on lost writings and lists of published story titles, characters, and place names are supplied. An important resource for fantasy readers and scholars, this book will appeal to those with an interest in dark fantasy, science fiction, and the history of American science fiction.

Valdar is a city of swordslingers and necromancers, witch cults and halfhuman races. Its a city in a world of darkness, black magic and creatures of the night . . . a city where demonic entities serve the needs of any witch or magicman who can open a doorway into their domain. This is my city. This is my world. With a special dowsing rod, I can detect the ectoplasmic residue of any supernatural presence or demonic entity and sense the vestiges of odylic power and vile sorcery used in the commission of crimes. I hunt anyone and anything that poses a threat to the people of my city. My names Dorgo. Folks call me the Dowser. From infernal depths where lost souls mutate into hell-spawned devils, from the other side of the veil that separates the earthly from the unearthly, from an ancient land whose borders cross into other dimensions, Mad ShadowsThe Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser, will transport you to a world where sentient shadows, vengeful vampires, malevolent puppets, and raging werewolves haunt the night . . . a world where life is cheap and souls are always up for sale.

Strange Shadows opens a window into the dark, visionary worlds of Clark Ashton Smith, whose verbal black magic was a significant force in the American science fiction and fantasy movement of the 1930s. This annotated collection of his previously unpublished works provides a unique opportunity to savor the full range of Smith's literary contribution. Featuring fantasies and ironic short stories, prose-poems, plays, unfinished stories, and more than 100 story synopses, it offers valuable documentation and commentary on the work of one of the most distinctive and consistently interesting modern masters of the fantasy genre. An introduction by Robert Bloch (the author of Psycho) examines Smith's work and places it in historical perspective. Among the highlights of the collection are the satirical title story; variant drafts of two of Smith's most famous stories--The Coming of the White Worm and The Beast of Averoigne--and a play entitled The Dead Will Cuckold You, which has been hailed as a masterpiece. The editor's annotations include extensive quotations from Smith's correspondence to H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and other important fantasy authors, together with textual commentary and discussion of connections between published and unpublished works. Information on lost writings and lists of published story titles, characters, and place names are supplied. An important resource for fantasy readers and scholars, this book will appeal to those with an interest in dark fantasy, science fiction, and the history of American science fiction.

Respected horror anthologist Stephen Jones edits this collection of 17 stories inspired by the 20th century's master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," in which a young man goes to an isolated, desolate fishing village in Massachusetts, and finds that the entire village has interbred with strange creatures that live beneath the sea, and worship ancient gods.

The story of one of the world’s strangest psychic phenomena: a St. Louis housewife dictated seven books and thousands of poems purporting to come from the spirit of a 17th century Englishwoman. Literary critics and historians praised the work as the product of genius.

This series of critical pieces is variously structured, with conventional essays, extended meditations, and short analytic notes appealing to differing tastes. Indeed, the diverse format constitutes a secondary thesis: like the artists about whom they write, literary critics are obliged to discover (and execute, of course) the form best suited to convey the content. The material in this case consists of meticulous close readings of authors almost spanning the alphabetical spectrum: from Akhmatova to Yeats; from Blake and Borges to Williams and Wittgenstein – and likewise, ranging over centuries: the sixteenth through the twentieth. Shakespeare and the Modernists largely figure in these musings, which illuminate, entertain, and genuinely engage. As T.S. Eliot remarked, “Our talking about poetry is an extension of our experience of it; and as a good deal of thinking has gone to the making of poetry, so a good deal may go to the study of it.”

Enjoy some “good, slimy fun” with this horror anthology that pays tribute to H.P. Lovecraft’s eeriest creation—featuring 16 “genuinely frightening” stories from Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell, and more (San Francisco Chronicle). Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s classic, today’s masters of horror take up their pens and turn once more to that decayed, forsaken New England fishing village with its sparkling treasure, loathsome denizens, and unspeakable evil . . . In addition to the Lovecraft’s original novella, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, this anthology features 16 chilling stories by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell and Kim Newman—all exploring and deepening the Cthulhu Mythos. "Introduction: Spawn of the Deep Ones" by Stephen Jones "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft "Beyond the Reef" by Basil Copper "The Big Fish" by Jack Yeovil "Return to Innsmouth" by Guy N. Smith "The Crossing" by Adrian Cole "Down to the Boots" by D. F. Lewis "The Church in High Street" by Ramsey Campbell "Innsmouth Gold" by David Sutton "Daoine Domhain" by Peter Tremayne "A Quarter to Three" by Kim Newman "The Tomb of Priscus" by Brian Mooney "The Innsmouth Heritage" by Brian Stableford "The Homecoming" by Nicholas Royle "Deepnet" by David Langford "To See the Sea" by Michael Marshall Smith "Dagon's Bell" by Brian Lumley "Only the End of the World Again" by Neil Gaiman

High school senior Ben takes his younger brother Noah and three friends to their family's abandoned cabin, where Noah is frightened by the legendary mothman but the others do not believe him.

As shadows stretch across the land, Her light becomes our hope. Thomaras lives by a strict set of rules: Get paid up front, never use your real name, and never be a hero. Little does he know that his next job will tear his rules, and his life, apart. Ashea is only safe when she’s on the move. Pursued by nightmares and the consequences of her own growing power, one small mistake traps her in a cell that could be her end. To escape, she is forced to trust a man that can’t be trusted. Half Granite Ogre, half Human, Torin travelled south into Haven to live among his mother’s people. Quiet and unassuming despite his size, Torin is about to be thrust into a conflict that threatens Humans and Granite Ogres alike. Watching it all from another plane of existence, a dark entity slowly exerts its power. Influencing. Manipulating. Waiting.