Black Wings [1-4] by S. T. Joshi (ePUB+)

From the depths of R'lyeh come twenty-one brand-new, utterly terrifying, and thoroughly entertaining short stories of horror and the macabre!

Taking their inspiration from works by Lovecraft himself, prominent writers such as Caitlin R. Kiernan, Brian Stableford, Ramsey Campbell, Michael Shea, Darrell Schweitzer, Donald R. Burleson, and David J. Schow delve deep into the psyche, expanding on concepts H.P. Lovecraft created and taking them in new directions.

The result is stories that are wholly original, some even featuring Lovecraft himself as a character. Black Wings editor S.T. Joshi is the recognized authority on all things Lovecraftian, and is famous for his restorations of Lovecraft's original works. He has assembled a star-studded line-up in a book that is essential for every horror library.

Including:
Pickman's Other Model - Caitlín R. Kiernan
Desert Dreams - Donald R. Burleson
Engravings - Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
Copping Squid - Michael Shea
Passing Spirits - Sam Gafford
The Broadsword - Laird Barron
Usurped - William Browning Spencer
Denker's Book - Davd J. Schow
Inhabitants of Wraithwood - W.H Pugmire
The Dome - Mollie L. Burleson
Rotterdam - Nicholas Royle
Tempting Providence - Jonathan Thomas
Howling in the Dark - Darrell Schweitzer
The Truth About Pickman - Brian Stableford
Tunnells - Philip Haldeman
The Correspondence of Cameron Thaddeus Nash - Annotated by Ramsey Campbell
Violence, Child of Trust - Michael Cisco
Lesser Demons - Norman Partridge
An Eldritch Matter - Adam Niswander
Substitutions - Michael Marshall Smith
Susie - Jason Van Hollander



Editor S.T. Joshi has assembled 18 brand-new stories of cosmic mayhem and terror, by Jason V. Brock, Rick Dakan, Jason C. Eckhardt, Brian Evenson, Tom Fletcher, Richard Gavin, Caitlín R. Kiernan, John Langan, Nick Mamatas, Nicholas Royle, Darrell Schweitzer, John Shirley, Melanie Tem, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jonathan Thomas, Donald Tyson, Don Webb, and Chet Williamson.

When Death Wakes Me to Myself by John Shirley
View by Tom Fletcher
Houndwife by Caitlín R. Kiernan
King of Cat Swamp by Jonathan Thomas
Dead Media by Nick Mamatas
The Abject by Richard Gavin
Dahlias by Melanie Tem
Bloom by John Langan
And the Sea Gave Up the Dead by Jason C. Eckhardt
Casting Call by Don Webb
The Clockwork King, the Queen of Glass, and the Man with the Hundred Knives by Darrell Schweitzer
The Other Man by Nicholas Royle
Waiting at the Crossroads Motel by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Wilcox Remainder by Brian Evenson
Correlated Discontents by Rick Dakan
The Skinless Face by Donald Tyson
The History of a Letter by Jason V Brock
Appointed by Chet Williamson



This third installment of S. T. Joshi’s critically acclaimed Black Wings series contains seventeen stories by some of the foremost writers in contemporary weird fiction, using the ideas, imagery, and atmosphere of H. P. Lovecraft’s tales as springboards. Jonathan Thomas opens the book with a chilling tale of biological horror set in Lovecraft’s native Providence, Rhode Island. Caitlín R. Kiernan melds brooding melancholy with Lovecraftian cosmicism in her tale, while Simon Strantzas weaves an ingenious variant on Lovecraft’s concept of the ghoul. Darrell Schweitzer and Donald Tyson probe the notion of alternate worlds in their tales.

This volume takes the reader on imaginative journeys around the world. Don Webb finds Lovecraftian horror in the wilds of Texas; Peter Cannon’s characters encounter the denizens of Innsmouth on a trip to China; Mollie L. Burleson enlivens the American Southwest with terrors out of history. Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., revivifies Lovecraft’s ancient New England seaport of Kingsport, Massachusetts, while in their collaborative tale W. H. Pugmire and Jessica Amanda Salmonson do the same with Lovecraft’s iconic Arkham. The volume concludes with a searching rumination on Lovecraft’s early tale “From Beyond” by Brian Stableford.



This fourth instalment of S. T. Joshi's acclaimed Black Wings series features seventeen stories that continue to elaborate upon the conceptions, motifs, and imagery of H. P. Lovecraft, the most influential writer of weird fiction of the past hundred years. One of Lovecraft's favourite themes was the tale of archaeological horror, where venturesome explorers unearth hideous secrets of the ancient past that cast a baleful light on the fragility of our own existence. In this volume, a major new novella by the award-winning novelist and poet Fred Chappell, "Artifact," treats this theme with his customary panache and subtlety, while other writers such as Richard Gavin, Lois H. Gresh, Ann K. Schwader, and Donald Tyson broach the same theme in their own distinctive and diverse ways.

The cosmicism that was at the core of Lovecraft's vision finds vivid realisation in stories by Caitlín R. Kiernan, Cody Goodfellow, and Melanie Tem. John Pelan and Stephen Mark Rainey have co-written a vivid novelette fusing horror and science fiction, while Will Murray’s tale of governmental espionage leads to a conclusion that bodes ill for the fate of the human race.

Lovecraft was skilled at evoking the terrors inherent in the history and topography of his native New England, and several writers in this volume—notably W. H. Pugmire and Jonathan Thomas—do the same. Jason V Brock finds Lovecraftian terror in Prague, just as Gary Fry locates it in the British countryside.

Lovecraft’s patented motif of the "forbidden book" that reveals secrets too horrible to contemplate is the focus of Darrell Schweitzer's story of what can be found in an out-of-the-way bookstore, while stories by Simon Strantzas and Stephen Woodworth elaborate on the Lovecraftian themes of immortal "gods" and of dreams that reveal unwelcome truths about ourselves. The book’s final contribution, by Charles Lovecraft, is nothing less than a recasting of Lovecraft’s early tale "The Lurking Fear" in a cycle of twelve sonnets.

Black Wings IV shows that H. P. Lovecraft continues to inspire some of today's leading writers of weird fiction.