Dark Wisdom
By Gary Myers
Dark Wisdom is a collection of horror fiction inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, first published by Arkham House in 1975 in the classic collection The House of the Worm. This new collection of tales has been long-awaited by fans of H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.
"The 12 simply narrated tales of terror in Myers's second collection (after 1975's The House of the Worm) perfectly accommodate their stripped-down Lovecraftian themes. In 'The Web' two Web-surfing teens get more than they bargained for when they hack into an online edition of the Necronomicon and activate one of its spells. 'The Big Picture' tells of an ordinary guy whose fascination with stereoscopic games and picture puzzles sensitizes him to horrors that lurk behind the facade of the visible world. In 'Understudy' a Hollywood special effects artist who sculpts lifelike rubber monster outfits saves the day on an underwater monster flick when he brings in his living model to body-double for the movie s star. 'What Rough Beast' chronicles a terrified hitchhiker s flight from the eerie cult leader who arranged her impregnation. Myers often leavens the horror with wry humor, avoiding the cardinal horror sin of overdramatization. Fans of the Cthulhu mythos will welcome this new compilation from one of horror s most able contemporary practitioners." --Publishers Weekly
Author Gary Myers fell under the shadow of H. P. Lovecraft at the tender age of sixteen and never completely left it. His first story was purchased by Lovecraft’s friend and publisher, August Derleth, in 1969. His first collection, The House of the Worm, was published by Derleth’s Arkham House in 1975. His other books include: The Country of the Worm, a cycle of dream fantasies in the manner of Lovecraft, Lord Dunsany and Clark Ashton Smith; Dark Wisdom, a cycle of Lovecraftian horrors in a more modern vein; Gray Magic, a novel-length episode in the magical career of Smith’s Hyperborean sorcerer, Eibon of Mhu Thulan; and, with wife Jennifer McIlwee Myers, Lovecraft’s Syndrome, an informal Asperger’s appraisal of the writer’s life.