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Home , Ann VanderMeer, Brian Lumley, Darrell Schweitzer, Jane Yolen, Jill Bauman, John Gregory Betancourt

Sample file VOL. 66, NO. 4 • ISSUE 360 Table of Contents

Weird Tales was the The Eyrie 3 first storytelling magazine The Den 5 devoted explicitly to the Lost in Lovecraft 87 realm of the dark and fantastic. THE ELDER GODS The Long Last Night by 8 Founded in 1923, Weird Momma Durtt by 25 Tales provided a literary The Darkness at Table Rock Road by Michael Reyes 36 home for such diverse The Runners Beyond the Wall by 45 wielders of the imagination Drain by Matthew Jackson 55 as H. P. Lovecraft (creator The Thing in the Cellar by -Smith 63 of Cthulhu), Robert E. Howard (creator of FoundSample in a Bus Shelter file at 3:00 am, ), Under a Mostly Empty Sky by Stephen Gracia 67 Margaret Brundage (artistic godmother of goth UNTHEMED FICTION fetishism), and To Be a Star by 69 (author of The Illustrated The Empty City by 75 Man and Something Wicked Abbey at the Edge of the Earth by Collin B. Greenwood 83 This Way Comes). Alien Abduction by M. E. Brines 85

Today, O wondrous reader POETRY of the 21st century, we Mummified by 7 continue to seek out that In Shadowy Innsmouth by Darrell Schweitzer 24 which is most weird and The Country of Fear by Russell Brickey 54 unsettling, for your own Country Midnight by Carole Buggé 62 edification and alarm.

by Danielle Tunstall All writers Cover Photo of such stories are prophets SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.WEIRDTALESMAGAZINE.COM

1 VOL. 66, NO. 4 • ISSUE 360

Publisher Creative Director John Harlacher Editor Managing Editor James Aquilone Contributing Editor Kenneth Hite Design Director Jeff Wong Consulting Art Director Dave Buchwald Public Relations Terry Kaye Editorial Consultant Eugene D. Goodwin Contributing Artists Mark Bilgrey Sample file Fabian David Hartman Danielle Tunstall

WEIRD TALES ® is published by Nth Dimension Media, Inc. Postmaster and others: send all changes of address and other subscription matters to 105 West 86th Street, Ste. 307, , NY 10024-3412. Single copies, $7.95 in U.S.A. & possessions; $10 by first class mail elsewhere. Subscriptions: 4 issues $20 in U.S.A. & possessions; $40 elsewhere, in U.S. funds. Single-copy orders should be addressed to WEIRD TALES at the address above. Copyright © 2012 by Nth Dimension Media, Inc. All rights reserved; reproduction prohibited without prior permission. Typeset & printed in the United States of America. WEIRD TALES ® is a registered trademark owned Photo: Danielle Tunstall Model: Andy Rose by Viacom International Inc.

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mportant Note—As this issue was being readied evolution, its most recent incarnation has both dramatically Ifor press, we were saddened to learn of the death increased its readership and won both Hugo nominations on June 5th of Ray Bradbury, one of America’s greatest and awards. fantasists. From 1942 to 1983, he contributed 26 short So what’s next? stories to Weird Tales. While our intent has been to We must be Janus-faced. Some of the classic look and honour the memory of H. P. Lovecraft in this edition content of the 1930s-’40s-and ’50s will be brought back of Weird Tales, we believe that it is also appropriate as an important part of the mix, for Weird Tales’s greatest to dedicate this issue to the memory of Ray Bradbury. years still capture the imagination of readers of all ages, We have secured, with the permission of his literary thanks to the macabre power of such great contributors agent, three examples of Ray’s writing: a movingly as , Ray Bradbury, Robert E. Howard, personal poem, a fascinating, little-known essay, and , H. P. Lovecraft, , etc. an extremely à propos short story. But we are also keenly interested in continuing and expanding the splendid work of Stephen Segal and Ann —John Harlacher VanderMeer. Publisher When Nth Dimension Media, Inc., purchased Weird SampleTales file from , LLC, it also acquired H. P. —Marvin Kaye Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror, which ran from 2004 Editor through 2009 in six issues edited by Marvin Kaye. Weird Tales’s new publisher points out that there are no plans to bring back Lovecraft as a separate magazine, Weird Tales is an American trust. but it will remain an ongoing portion of Weird Tales. In Ever since 1923, for nearly four hundred issues Weird fact, the current issue (# 360) pays special homage to Tales has offered outstanding , mystery, science Lovecraft by featuring new stories about the Elder Gods. fiction, and unclassifiable and fact, guided The editor, who still has a fairly large inventory of by a series of distinguished editors including (chronologically) fiction intended for publication in H. P. Lovecraft’s Edwin Baird, , Dorothy McIlwraith, Magazine of Horror, plans to secure rights to as many Sam Moskowitz, Lin Carter, Gordon M. D. Darb, George of these stories and poems as possible for inclusion in H. Scithers, Darrell Schweitzer, , future issues of Weird Tales. Stephen H. Segal, Ann VanderMeer, and now genre The new Weird Tales will be open to nearly all sorts anthologist-editor-novelist Marvin Kaye, who, with John of genre fiction and poetry, including, but not limited Harlacher, cofounded Nth Dimension Media, Inc., to to absurdist humor, conte cruelles, fantasy, horror, new continue Tales legacy. riffs on fairy and folk tales, as well as nonsense, terror, Over its long life, the style of Weird Tales’s contents and surrealism, possibly even . The only kind of story appearance has evolved to reflect the expectations of its that probably won’t fit would be neo-realism, though readers, as well as the taste and judgment of its editors, even here the editor is willing to be convinced otherwise. especially in the past few years. While some of its long-time The editorial approach to the Nth Dimension readers have perhaps lamented the magazine’s latter incarnation of Weird Tales will be similar to the way

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Mr. Kaye balanced content in his thirty-plus anthologies writing Parke is convalescent; I am waiting for word edited for the Book Club and other from his friend and agent Connor Cochran (“Freff”) as publishers: to the condition of Parke’s health. Our next issue of Weird Tales—# 361—will feature • Stories by well-known authors, some of whom fairy tales/folk tales, with new stories by Dick Baldwin, have already expressed interest in appearing Marc Bilgrey, , and a new tale (or reappearing) in Weird Tales, among them from the great fantasist Peter S. Beagle. (though not limited to) Peter S. Beagle, Carole —THE EDITOR Buggé, Parke Godwin, Ron Goulart, , Tanith Lee, Brian Lumley, William F. P. S. I just saw the new movie, The Cabin in the Woods, Nolan, Roberta Rogow, Jessica Amanda and highly recommend it. I was fortunate in not knowing Salmonson, Darrell Schweitzer, Michael Shea, anything about it beforehand, except that The Onion Jay Sheckley, Jane Yolen, and many more. gave it an A- … which is an unusually high rating for • Contributions by “midlist authors,” which that publication. means excellent writers who deserve to become I don’t want to commit a spoiler, but there’s a strong better known. reason why I felt I HAD to mention The Cabin in the • Newer writers culled from online submissions, Woods in Weird Tales #360! as well as those discovered and developed by —mk the editor during twenty-plus years of teaching fantasy and science fiction writing at New York Marvin Kaye, author of sixteen novels and editor of University. Among the authors discovered and over 30 genre fiction anthologies, has had a long personal encouraged by the editor are Carole Buggé, history with Weird Tales. Fascinated by the “creepy- Shannon Cork, Rachel Mann, Jean Paiva, looking” magazine that his sister Dorothy (now Dot Roberta Rogow, C. H. Sherman, Kathleen Miller—of Florida) brought into their Snow, Kathleen C. Szaj, Carolyn Wheat, etc. home, he was an avid fan by the age of nine. He edited • A small number of reprints of classic stories two anthologies celebrating the magazine’s distinctive from back issues of Weird Tales, as well as world brand of fiction: Weird Tales - the Magazine that Never literature. Dies, in 1988, and The Best of Weird Tales: 1923, in 1997. He also edited H.P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Each new issue of Weird Tales will feature a presiding Horror, which will become integrated into Weird Tales. theme, although other stories and poetry will be included along with tales that fit the governing idea. SampleNo novice file to the world of fantasy and horror, publisher Our current issue is devoted to the Elder Gods and John Harlacher is director of “Nightmare,” an interactive begins with a new novella by the great British fantasist theatre experience widely recognized as New York’s Brian Lumley, followed by Cthulhu-ish stories from most horrifying haunted house. Last year’s motif, a veteran authors Darrell Schweitzer and Michael Shea, creepy rendition of familiar fairy tales, was described and newer author William Blake Smith. by Fangoria as “entirely spooky and full of nasty, nasty Also in this issue is a non-themed story by renowned fun … imaginative, and yes, hilarious and repulsive.” fantasist Parke Godwin, who is my personal friend and Harlacher also wrote, produced and directed the urban often collaborator. I am grieved to report that at this horror film, Urchin.

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Historical Lovecraft: Justinian, and Enheduanna, the first named author in Tales of Horror Through Time human history—but equally compelling are stories Edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia written about Japanese peasants, Texas oil workers, or and Paula R. Stiles an African child. Innsmouth Free Press 2011 This collection is the first full-length anthology offered ISBN: 978-0-9866864-0-5 by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles, the dynamic $14.99 USD/$16.99 CAN editorial team at Innsmouth Magazine. Predictably, the good taste and hard work that they have poured into here are many who believe that you cannot teach every issue of their Mythos fiction journal continue to Tan Elder God new tricks, and that Mythos fiction shine through in their first published anthology. Historical has nothing new to offer; this anthology is elegant proof Lovecraft stands head and shoulders above many that they are mistaken. Spanning the globe and competing publications for the consistent quality of its penetrating layers from the 20th century to the Late content. Although this almost completely new material Neolithic, Historical Lovecraft is a highly original is written by relative unknowns, each story is well-crafted literary exercise, an archaeological excavation of the and offers something new in its choice of viewpoint and Abyss. The collection offers twenty-six tales Samplein a variety historical file moment. Some tales are translated into English of exotic settings, and each story gives the reader a vivid for the first time from Spanish and French, a frequent glimpse of cosmic horror through the eyes of a different grace note of Innsmouth publications. Beautifully culture. The cumulative effect is extraordinary, and designed and well-printed on crème paper, the trade represents an important leap forward in weird fiction. paperback as an object also upholds a welcome standard What strikes me most about this collection is the way of quality at a reasonable price. it exposes and probes the greatest weakness of Lovecraft’s In short, this is one of the most interesting forays into literary corpus: the original author’s relentlessly white, Lovecraft Country of 2011. The international influence middle-class, Anglo-Saxon and male worldview. The of Lovecraft’s work, so easily visible in the Lovecraft contributors to this volume, both male and female, come film festivals of the last decade, is at last rebounding from many nations and professions; a field archaeologist back to American shores in print. The ideas and images in Jerusalem writes one story, a legal advisor for the that Lovecraft introduced to the literature of the 20th European Space Agency and an officer worker from century were designed to grapple with the existential Indonesia write others. The viewpoint characters of the crisis of the modern age, and that crisis was not confined fiction are even more widely scattered. A priestess of to the English-speaking west. Lovecraft strikes a chord the Moche culture stands beside Hilde Ansgardóttir, that rings true around the world, and authors from one of the early Norse settlers of Greenland. The Europe, Asia and Malaysia, Mexico and South America mysterious deaths of Antarctic explorer Roald Amundsen are all turning to confront a very modern horror of the and Bolshevik leader Sergei Kirov both become entwined same eternal, universal and implacable forces: God and with cosmic horror. There are stories featuring the Death, the Stars and the Sea. female pharaoh Hatshepsut, the Byzantine emperor —Arinn Dembo

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