P. Lovecraft's compelling character, Abdul Alhazred, is brought to life in this epic tale detailing the mad sorcerer's tragic history and magical adventures. Alhazred tells his own life story, beginning with himself as a poor, handsome boy in Yemen who attracts the attention of the king for his divine skill in poetry. As the court poet, young Abdul lives a luxurious life at the palace, where he studies necromancy and magic. But falling in love with the king's daughter leads to a foolish tryst, which is ultimately discovered. As punishment, Abdul is tortured, brutally mutilated, and cast into the desert, known as the Empty Space. Battling insanity, he joins a tribe of ghouls and learns forbidden secrets from a stranger called Nyarlathotep. Thus begins his downward spiral into wickedness. Renamed Alhazred, he escapes the desert and embarks on a quest to restore his body and reunite with his true love. Traveling across the ancient world and fantastic realms, he is hounded by foes and tormented by the demands of his dark lord.

    In these pages are glimpses of the most terrible beings ever to exist, whose very names are spoken of in whispers, if at all: Mighty Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth the Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep and He Who Shall Not Be Named. Strange and alien races swarm here: the Fungi From Yuggoth, the star-headed Elder Things, the slithering Formless Spawn and awful chthonians. The Art of H.P. Lovecraft's The Cthulhu Mythos contains hundreds of full-color pieces of art, from fan favorites such as Patrick McEnvoy, Michael Komarck, Jean Tay, Thomas Denmark, John Gravato, Aaron Acevedo, James Ryman, Felicia Cano, Linda Bergkvist and dozens more. Once you see these blasphemous visions, you will never forget them.

    Many and multiform are the pleasures of this volume to Lovecraftians, including a hotly anticipated novelette set in Pugmire's trademark locality, Sesqua Valley; a lengthy prose poem sequence; decadent, dreamlike vignettes in the style of Oscar Wilde, and much other new material.The themes of the book, as the author explains it, are "Lovecraftian dreams as thresholds to alien emotion, dimension, salvation, damnation." Cross the threshold with one of the shining stars of Mythos fiction.

    London is the capital of an empire covering a quarter of the globe and governing one quarter of the human race. The people busy themselves with concerns of politics and government, finance and production, work and recreation. How fragile things are. What ignorance there is. There are those who engage in different pursuits who would see an inhuman power come to Earth such that it would make mundane activity seem like a last twitch before dying. Over this winter its taint emerges: the sensitive and the weak feel it first. Few know the source, but some welcome it unconsciously finding in it an enexamined thrill. Artists work is strangely influenced, and they mine this vein of creativity. Many exhibitions this season feature similar images: a social gathering gripped by repressed panic; a lake or marsh cloaked in mist; a presence just off-canvas. New fiction and theatrical releases offer scenes of upheaval and confusion that never reach a climax. Seances and mediumistic exhibitions bring untoward results and end in disruption. Others feel new lines of communication opening; some claim God is talking to them. All feel the lure of the stars. TATTERS OF THE KING is a Call of Cthulhu campaign suitable for four to six investigators: ideally one should be a psychoanalyst or alienist and published in this field, and one or more of the others should be involved in the creative arts. It is convenient if the investigators live in or near London, but one or all can be foreign-based if they are prepared to travel to Britain to address events. Detailed advice on options for involving the player characters is provided.