Best of
Weird-Fiction

1936

The Shadow over Innsmouth


H.P. Lovecraft - 1936
    P. Lovecraft. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using its motif of a malign undersea civilization. It references several shared elements of the Mythos, including place-names, mythical creatures and invocations.

The Shadow Out of Time


H.P. Lovecraft - 1936
    P. Lovecraft's last major story. It was first published in Astounding Stories for June 1936. And yet, this text has never been published as Lovecraft wrote it--until now. The recent discovery of Lovecraft's handwritten manuscript allows readers to appreciate this magnificently cosmic story exactly as originally written.All previous editions of the story contain hundreds of serious errors, including errors in paragraphing, omissions and mistranscriptions of many words and passages, and erroneous punctuation. Leading Lovecraft scholars S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz have provided an exhaustive introduction and commentary on the story, elucidating names, places and other elements in this richly evocative story. A must for all devotees of Lovecraft and weird fiction!

N


Arthur Machen - 1936
    Borrowing from the writings of William Law the Non-Juror (1686-1761), Machen places a fragment of Paradise, created from a ruined part of primordial creation, in the London suburb of Stoke Newington. In his story those who try to understand what they have seen experience rapture, horror, or both, and they have trouble convincing others of their sanity. For Machen the mystical is so powerful that it cannot be properly comprehended. 2010 is the 75th anniversary of "N" by Arthur Machen. To celebrate this the comedian Stewart Lee will be discussing Machen's short story at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival in June. In conjunction with the Literary Festival and the Friends of Arthur Machen, Tartarus Press is publishing a short run paperback of "N" with illustrations by Stephen J. Clark.