''That is Not Dead: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Through the Centuries'' is an anthology of original horror short stories edited by
Darrell Schweitzer
Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror fiction, horror, although he does also work in science fictio ...
. It was first published in hardcover by
PS Publishing
PS Publishing is an independent book publisher based in Hornsea, UK.
Background
PS Publishing was founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther. It shares a title with ''That is Not Dead: The Black Magic & Occult Stories'', a short story collection by
August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and th ...
published in 2009. In both instances, the title is derived from a couplet by H. P. Lovecraft attributed to his fictional "mad poet"
Abdul Alhazred
The ', also referred to as the ''Book of the Dead'', or under a purported original Arabic title of ', is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in stories by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first menti ...
: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, / And with strange aeons even death may die."
Summary
The book collects fourteen short stories by various authors, with an introduction by the editor. All share the Cthulhu Mythos setting originated by H. P. Lovecraft, but unlike his stories, which generally take place in modern times, they are set in previous historical eras. The effect is to take the Mythos from the realm of contemporary horror into that of historical fiction. The stories are presented in chronological order from the 2nd millennium BC to the late 19th century, with the last set in the present but looking back to medieval events.
Contents
*"Introduction: Horror of the Carnivàle" (
Darrell Schweitzer
Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror fiction, horror, although he does also work in science fictio ...
)
*"Egypt, 1200 BC: Herald of Chaos" ( Keith Taylor)
*"Mesopotamia, second millennium BC: What a Girl Needs" (
Esther Friesner
Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner (born July 16, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themsel ...
)
*"Judaea, second century AD: The Horn of the World’s Ending" ( John Langan)
*"Central Asia, second century AD: Monsters in the Mountains at the Edge of the World" (
Jay Lake
Joseph Edward "Jay" Lake, Jr. (June 6, 1964 – June 1, 2014) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. In 2003 he was a quarterly first-place winner in the Writers of the Future contest. In 2004 he won the John W. Campbell Award for B ...
)
*"Palestine, Asia Minor, and Central Asia; late eleventh and mid twelfth centuries AD: Come, Follow Me" (
Darrell Schweitzer
Darrell Charles Schweitzer (born August 27, 1952) is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror fiction, horror, although he does also work in science fictio ...
)
*"England, 1605: Ophiuchus" ( Don Webb)
*"Russia, late seventeenth century: Of Queens and Pawns" ( Lois H. Gresh)
*"Mexico, 1753: Smoking Mirror" ( Will Murray)
*"France, 1762: Incident at Ferney" ( S. T. Joshi)
*"Arizona Territory, 1781: Anno Domini Azathoth" ( John R. Fultz)
*"Massachusetts, USA, early twentieth century. Italy, early nineteenth century: Slowness" ( Don Webb)
*"Massachusetts, USA, and Spain, late nineteenth century: The Salamanca Encounter" ( Richard A. Lupoff)
*"Seattle, Washington, USA, 1889: Old Time Entombed" (
W. H. Pugmire
Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire (born William Harry Pugmire; May 3, 1951 – March 26, 2019), was a writer of weird fiction and horror fiction based in Seattle, Washington. His works typically were published as W. H. Pugmire (his adopted middle name deriv ...
)
*"England, twenty-first century and the Middle Ages: Nine Drowned Churches" (
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...
)
Reception
The anthology was reviewed by Peter Tennant in ''Black Static'', May-June 2015.