"When you open this collection, you're headed down a dark alley within the precincts of the Twilight Zone. It's the kind of place where the wrong people get hurt; hazard is everywhere and it doesn't play favorites. The complacent won't find refuge here on the threshold of the void. Nobody is safe and nothing is sacred. Enjoy the ride."
– from the introduction by Laird Barron
***
BEHOLD THE VOID is nine stories of terror that huddle in the dark space between cosmic horror and the modern weird, between old-school hard-edged horror of the 1980's and the stylistic prose of today's literary giants.
***
Praise for Behold the Void:
SHORT STORY COLLECTION OF THE YEAR – This Is Horror
 “Fracassi…builds his horrific tales slowly and carefully…his powers of description are formidable; and he’s especially skillful at creating, and sustaining, suspense.” – The New York Times
“…think vintage King at his best.” – Rue Morgue Magazine (“Dante’s Pick”)
 “…recalls the work of writers such as McCammon, King, and Bradbury.” – John Langan, LOCUS Magazine“With carefully drawn characters, vividly constructed situations, and deft description, Behold the Void offers the perfect blend of honest-to-goodness human nastiness and true supernatural creepiness. This is horror fiction at its best.” – Brian Evenson, author of A Collapse of Horses
“Everything here is damned near perfect… a first-rate collection.” Black Static
“Philip Fracassi is the next big horror writer to blow your mind. If you’re a fan of the horror genre at all, then this guy is a must-read.” – Lit Reactor
“These stories are scary, yes, but more than that, they’re haunting– they get inside you and they don’t go away.” – Ben Loory, author of Tales of Falling and Flying
“Fracassi’s Behold the Void is the perfect read for horror fans who expect authors to raise the bar and redefine what horror fiction means.” – Ronald Malfi, author of Bone White
“Fracassi is quickly building a reputation as a superior storyteller of incredible talent…. an author we must surely now hail as a leading light in the dark field of horror fiction.” – This Is Horror

Behold the Void

Literature & Fiction

Fracassi, Philip

Genre Fiction

Lovecraft eZine Press

For decades, dedicated fans of H.P. Lovecraft have looked to his works and from them constructed chronologies and timelines of the stories and their events, with the most ambitious of these being Peter Cannon’s The Chronology Out of Time (Necronomicon Press, 1986). Now, author Pete Rawlik (Reanimators, The Weird Company) presents the culmination of years of research. The Lurking Chronology is a detailed examination of the Cthulhu Mythos tales of August Derleth. Although based on Lovecraft’s mythos, the fictitious universe derived by Derleth is distinctly different, interpreting the core events of Lovecraft’s fiction in entirely different ways and engendering a wholly unique chronology. Fans of both authors will find this to be an indispensable volume in understanding and comparing the artificial universes these masters of the weird have created, and role playing enthusiasts will find it an incomparable resource for games in this distinct and dramatic setting.

The Lurking Chronology: A Timeline of the Derleth Mythos

Reference

Rawlik, Pete

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award! H.P. Lovecraft, the American master of horror, understood with horrible clarity that all things must die. After summer is winter, and life inevitably gives way to frozen sterility. In our modern world, we live cushioned existences, and congratulate ourselves on our supposed escape from the old dangers. We think ourselves caught out of nature’s reach by our technological wizardry. Safely cocooned. This foolishness blinds us to the truth that our elder forebears could not avoid. Engulfed by the rhythms of the world, they understood... Autumn means death. There are far worse fates than mere death, of course. As blight spreads, the leaves wither and fall — as do the most important foundations of life. There is nothing more horrible than watching the sources of meaning in your world unravel before you. But these things we cherish are just pretty lies. In autumn’s cold grasp, the bright petals of our reality shrivel and die. Beneath them, there is nothing but the insanity of the howling void. Faced with inevitable, agonizing corruption, death is a gentle blessing. The stories collected in Autumn Cthulhu reflect the darkest, most ancient truths of the season. Inside, you’ll find nineteen beautiful, terrifying glimpses of decay and loss inspired by Lovecraft’s work. Be sure that you want the burden of understanding before venturing further, though. The dissolving strands of mind, of love, of legacy within leave no room for merciful doubt. The true meaning of life is that there is no meaning. "From Nadia Bulkin's sharp, politically savvy creeper to John Langan's stunning epic novella, Mike Davis's anthology is a compelling, eclectic collection of stories from some of today's best and brightest. Autumn Cthulhu does more than find its place within the Lovecraftian/weird fiction universe, it expands it." -- Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil's Rock (NOTE: The print edition of Autumn Cthulhu contains four story illustrations that were used for promotional purposes. You'll find them near the end of the book.)

Autumn Cthulhu

Wagner, Wendy

Langan,John

Files, Gemma

Barron, Laird

Gavin, Richard

Levy, Robert

Dicken, Evan

Kollodge, Trent

Grey, Orrin

Pulver, Sr. Joseph S.

“Joe Pulver is what you get when you cross one of Plato's Muse-maddened poets with a Lovecraftian lunatic..." ~ Matt Cardin, author of Dark Awakenings Schenectady, New York. Winter. The mutilated bodies of dead women are showing up everywhere and Detective Christopher Stewart hasn’t got a clue, until he discovers the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. He also discovers that H.P. Lovecraft was a prophet… and that the stars are right for murder. Nightmare’s Disciple is a richly-detailed, modern day Cthulhu Mythos novel of the terror a serial killer leaves in his wake and the hunt to foil his special plan for the world. This new edition includes afterwards and introductions by Robert M. Price and Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (all three are located at the end of this book): * Unpublished Introduction to the Original 1999 Edition, by Robert M. Price * Afterword, 10 plus Years Later, by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. * Afterword: Fifteen Years of Dark Discipleship, by Robert M. Price

Nightmare's Disciple: A Lovecraftian Crime Novel

Price, Robert M.

The Yith Are Eternal, Patient, Methodical, Monstrous, Cold Minds From Beyond Time and Space... They were there when the Saurians were cast aside, and the ancestors of men were little more than pets for the things that once walked the Earth. They witnessed the wrathful judgment of gods and the terrible punishment inflicted on those who defy them. They are there when Rome begins to crumble, manipulating the long course of Human thought, Human evolution, and Human history. They have tampered with things that should not have been, creating monsters of men. They play the Long Game, the purpose of which is hidden, perhaps even from themselves. They shall be as saviors, manipulating forces we do not and cannot understand. We shall succumb to their benevolent rule, and they shall fall to the monsters we become to resist them, sacrificing Humanity itself, embracing our destiny to become so much more. But even this is only part of the Long Game, a game in which the universe itself is the prize. The Yith Have Always Been With Us... and So Have the Peaslees. Twenty-two tales of cosmic horror detailing the further exploits of H.P. Lovecraft’s Peaslee family, their ancestors, and descendants. *** "Rawlik’s The Peaslee Papers transcends mere Lovecraftian homage into an area all its own, spanning time and space, slipstreaming historical characters into the mix while diving deep into occult conspiracies that linger on the mind long after the last page is turned." -- Bob Pastorella, This Is Horror "Pete Rawlik, more than any other working with the Mythos today, brings a gleeful joy to his work. The Peaslee Papers sees Rawlik turning his fiendishly clever imagination towards one of the founding blocks of weird fiction as set out by Lovecraft himself. Good googly moogly it is fun. I want to have cocktails with this cat." -- Acep Hale, book reviewer

The Peaslee Papers: A Lovecraftian Chronicle

Rawlik, Peter

For two days in the year 1862, the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War held theatre in southern Tennessee – a patch of land called Shiloh. Thousands of soldiers on both sides of the conflict lost their lives, and tens of thousands more were badly injured. For twin brothers Henry and William, infantry soldiers in the Confederate Army, the battle held more than the horrors of war. It was a portal to something beyond mankind, where demons tread and angels fly, where the spilling of blood brings not only death, but eternal damnation. "In Shiloh, Fracassi's powerful, precise writing immerses the reader in the savage brutality of a Civil War battle – an exquisitely harrowing precursor to the strange horror of the tale. A masterful, mad charge into the weird." – Jeffrey Ford This edition also includes the bonus tale Soda Jerk - A Sabbath Story!

Shiloh

A weary coach struggles across a merciless landscape, fighting the relentless bitterness of the wind. It is a land of endless grey bogs, of mud-sucked hills, of twisted and impenetrable forest. A land of sin. A land of death. This is where Odalric and Clithanus and the Graue Blutengel, the Grey Leech, hold sway. Battered and wind-whipped and coated in dust, the men of God inside the laboring coach are every bit as grim as the country that seeks to engulf them. They endure. They must. Shadowed at all times by the Other Wolves, haunted by the Way Home, defended by purity and American Winchester rifles, their resolve is their greatest strength in the nightmare that surrounds them. For their mission is paramount, and it must not be permitted to falter. Joe Pulver's latest masterpiece is as uncomfortable as it is oneiric, a hypnagogic trek through a blasted piece of world, surrounded at all times by hatred and bitterness and evil. As claustrophobic as it is relentless, A Long, Dark, Grim Road will cling to you, and you will never escape its clutches.

A Long, Dark, Grim Road

Seven Stories of Weird Fiction and Cosmic Horror! "Discarded" - A young woman is followed by a strange man who is more - or less - than he appears. "Floater" - Shortly after receiving eye surgery, a man becomes haunted by his supposedly harmless eye floater. "The Library of Leng" - A student's devotion to his strange ex-teacher's studies leads him to Antarctica and beyond. "Elder Gods in the Machine" - A detective investigates a murder where the only witness is an intelligent robot. "The Innsmouth Run" - Two rum runners find themselves in the town of Innsmouth while running from the law. "Jonas Bell Presents the King in Yellow" - Jonas Bell goes to great lengths to obtain, and put on, a play that is not just a play. "Prisoners of an Invisible Labyrinth" - A small town becomes obsessed with a stranger and the labyrinth he walks.

Lovecraftian Tales: Stories of Weird Fiction and Cosmic Horror

Byers, Richard Lee

Walker, Sarah

Pratt, James

McNamee, Paul

Kreitner, Alex

Dobson, Joshua

Normandin, Sebastian

Shultz, D. F.

“I love getting lost in the world (Jeffrey Thomas) creates, and can empathize with the difficulties his characters face, because they are just so real. I envy those of you making your first acquaintance with this author.” – From the introduction by Matthew Carpenter Respected as one of today’s leading figures of weird fiction for his striking imagination, versatility, and deeply emotional stories, Jeffrey Thomas here offers up fourteen searing tales. Included are the haunting and surreal "Ghosts in Amber," in which a man is compelled to visit a mysterious derelict factory that harbors chilling secrets; "Jar of Mist," which focuses on a father who, in seeking to understand his daughter’s suicide, encounters a dream-like other realm; "Those Above," which imagines an alternate Victorian society controlled by vast monstrous entities from beyond; and the title novelette "The Endless Fall," which concerns an astronaut who crash-lands on an unknown forested world where time seems to work in an alien way, and where he finds he is unfortunately not alone. “With brutal elegance and chilling subtlety, Thomas pulls his readers into his dark visions immediately from every opening line.” – Paul Di Filippo, in ASIMOV’S “Jeffrey Thomas’ imagination is as twisted as it is relentless.” – F. Paul Wilson “In time he will, in this reviewer’s opinion, be listed alongside King, Barker, Koontz, and McCammon.” – Brian Keene

The Endless Fall and Other Weird Fictions

Thomas, Jeffrey

A tale inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness... Hurricane Irene tore through the dark, wood-choked Vermont hills. In its passing, the rivers bled thick with fallen trees, wildlife carcasses, and, if you looked closely, stranger things. Sarah Sorrell made the mistake of looking very closely indeed. Even so, it all might still have been all right—if she hadn’t felt the need to dig further. One afternoon in late fall, she finds a girl out in the driving rain, running from brutality. The wise choice is to leave the girl to chance. But Sarah knows the secrets that the forests hide, and why so many hitch-hikers vanish around here. She decides to give the girl a lift. As the two of them drive off into the storm, they have no idea of the journey they’re starting out on... A chilling novel of the deep Vermont night, Whispers draws on the rich traditions of H. P. Lovecraft to weave the darkest of spells. ***** "Another winner from Kristin Dearborn, Whispers is full of monsters and mayhem, madness and paranoia, but also boldly realized characters who live and breathe and feel like flesh-and blood. Highly recommended . . . now bring on Dearborn's next one!" --James Newman, author of Odd Man Out, Animosity, Ugly as Sin "Dripping with dread, charged with suspicion and betrayal, terrifying in its otherworldly loss of human agency and control—Whispers ranks among horror maven Dearborn's best and most unsettling works to date. It's always cause for celebration when Kristin Dearborn unleashes a fresh nightmare and this is no exception." --Ed Kurtz, author of The Rib From Which I remake The World, Nausea

Whispers: Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's "The Whisperer in Darkness"

Dearborn, Kristin

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