Gathered Dust and Others

With his first collection from Dark Regions Press, W. H. Pugmire continues his radical and obsessive reinterpretations of H. P. Lovecraft's brilliant fiction. Among the book's original pieces is the title story, "Gathered Dust," a sequel to J. Vernon Shea's "The Haunter of the Graveyard."

Set in Arkham, this tale of utter strangeness concerns the legacy of Randolph Carter and a monstrous burying ground where the phantoms of the past linger so as to feed upon the living.

In "Depths of Dreams and Madness" we journey to Pugmire's Sesqua Valley, wherein we find Lovecraft's artist, Richard Upton Pickman and Robert E. Howard's mad poet, Justin Geoffrey, tainted by the valley's supernatural lunacy. With "These Deities of Rarest Air," Pugmire continues his exploration of the prose-poem/vignette sequence, in a work that deliciously evokes the mystic aura of not only Lovecraft but Clark Ashton Smith as well. With artful decadence and a pen dipped into the dark fin-de-siècle poetry of Oscar Wilde and Charles Baudelaire, Pugmire celebrates his beloved genre of fantastic fiction with works that only his cracked skull could conceive. Jeffrey Thomas has provided a provocative Introduction.

"Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire is the prose-poet of the horror/fantasy field; he may be the best prose-poet we have." – S. T. Joshi

"In my opinion, he's the best living writer of Lovecraftiana." – Toren Atkinson, of the band Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

"Sometimes subtle, sometimes as blunt as a rosewood coffin, Pugmire's stories are always emotional.  Drawing from his own rather bizarre life, it's often difficult to separate the facts from the fiction, even for those who presume to know him." – Ken Abner, editor of Terminal Frights

"Amazing and vastly underappreciated (but that is quickly changing!!!) Wilum H. Pugmire's unique Lovecraftian fiction has graced the pages of many(!!!) magazines and anthologies. This new release by Pugmire WILL taint the hearts of Lovecraftian fans with all manner of eldritch joys!" - Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., author of SIN & ashes and Blood Will Have Its Season

Contents:

• Introduction by Jeffrey Thomas
• Gathered Dust
• Your Kiss of Corruption
• Yon Baleful God
• Time of Twilight
• These Deities of Rarest Air
• The Boy with the Bloodstained Mouth
• The Woven Offspring
• The Tangled Muse
• Let Us Wash This Thing
• Bloom of Sacrifice
• He Who Made Me Dream
• Cool Mist
• Descent into Shadow and Light
• Serenade of Starligh
• Graffito Flow
• Depths of Dreams and Madness
• Host of Haunted Air
• A Vestige of Mirth