''Cthulhu's Reign'' is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

of original

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

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, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy. ...

. It was first published in paperback by

DAW Books DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...

in April 2010.

Summary

The book collects fifteen short stories by various authors, with an introduction by the editor. All share the

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...

setting originated by

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

, with the twist that the dreaded revival of the fearsome "Great Old Ones" who once ruled the Earth is not a future possibility but an event that has actually come to pass, taking the Mythos from the realm of contemporary horror into that of

apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

*"Introduction" (

) *"The Walker in the Cemetery" ( Ian Watson) *"Sanctuary" ( Don Webb) *"Her Acres of Pastoral Playground" ( Mike Allen) *"Spherical Trigonometry" ( Ken Asamatsu) *"What Brings the Void" (

Will Murray William Murray (born 1953) is an American novelist, journalist, short story, and comic book writer. Much of his fiction has been published under pseudonyms. With artist Steve Ditko, he co-created the superhero Squirrel Girl. Biography Early ...

) *"The New Pauline Corpus" ( Matt Cardin) *"Ghost Dancing" (

) *"This is How the World Ends" ( John R. Fultz) *"The Shallows" (

John Langan John Langan (born July 6, 1969) is an American author and writer of contemporary horror. Langan has been a finalist for International Horror Guild Award. In 2008, he was a Bram Stoker Award nominee for Best Collection, and in 2016, a Bram Stoker ...

) *"Such Bright and Risen Madness in Our Names" (

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 ...

) *"The Seals of New R'lyeh" (

Gregory Frost Gregory Frost (born May 13, 1951) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy, and directs a fiction writing workshop at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa. A g ...

) *"The Holocaust of Ecstasy" (

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (25 July 1948 – 24 February 2024) was a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who published a hundred novels and over a hundred volumes of translations. His earlier books were published under the name Br ...

) *"Vastation" (

Laird Barron Laird Samuel Barron (born March 5, 1970) is an American author and poet, much of whose work falls within the horror, noir, or horror noir and dark fantasy genres. He has also been the managing editor of the online literary magazine ''Melic Re ...

) *"Nothing Personal" (

Richard A. Lupoff Richard Allen Lupoff (February 21, 1935 – October 22, 2020) was an American science-fiction and mystery author, who also wrote humor, satire, nonfiction and reviews. In addition to his two dozen novels and more than 40 short stories, he ...

) *"Remnants" (

Fred Chappell Fred Davis Chappell (May 28, 1936 – January 4, 2024) was an author and poet. He was an English professor for 40 years (1964–2004) at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997 to 20 ...

)

Reception

The anthology was reviewed by Martin Andersson in ''Dead Reckonings'' no. 8, Fall 2010, and Chris Braak in ''Black Gate'', Spring 2011.

Notes

2010 anthologies Cthulhu Mythos anthologies Darrell Schweitzer anthologies DAW Books books {{2010s-horror-story-collection-stub

Summary

Contents

Reception

Notes