H.P. Lovecraft was the inventor of cosmic horror, of weird fiction and the Cthulhu mythology. His stories, incubated by a lonely and febrile childhood, found purchase in the fertile earth of pulp fiction where he inspired many other writers, from Robert E. Howard, to Robert Bloch and Clark Ashton Smith, many of whom also collaborated on the several short stories, some of which are also included here, in this special deluxe edition. This title, alongside H.G. Wells Short Stories, is a companion volume to our hugely successful Gothic Fantasy series of classic and modern writers.

Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition For the seventieth anniversary of Penguin Classics, the Penguin Orange Collection celebrates the heritage of Penguin's iconic book design with twelve influential American literary classics representing the breadth and diversity of the Penguin Classics library. These collectible editions are dressed in the iconic orange and white tri-band cover design, first created in 1935, while french flaps, high-quality paper, and striking cover illustrations provide the cutting-edge design treatment that is the signature of Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions today. The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Phillips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the twentieth century, discarding ghosts and witches and instead envisioning mankind as a tiny outpost of dwindling sanity in a chaotic and malevolent universe. This definitive collection reveals the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style and establishes him as a canonical-and visionary-American writer.

Sixteen stories inspired by the 20th century's great master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft, and his acknowledged masterpiece, 'At the Mountains of Madness', in which an expedition to the desolation of Antarctica discovers evidence of an ancient ruin built by horrific creatures at first thought long-dead, until death strikes the group. All but two of the stories are original to this edition, and those reprints are long-lost works by science fiction masters Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Silverberg.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft's unique contribution to American literature was a melding of traditional supernaturalism (derived chiefly from Edgar Allan Poe) with the genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1920s. This new Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition brings together a dozen of the master's tales-from his early short stories "Under the Pyramids" (originally ghostwritten for Harry Houdini) and "The Music of Erich Zann" (which Lovecraft ranked second among his own favorites) through his more fully developed works, "The Dunwich Horror," The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and At the Mountains of Madness.

The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories presents the definitive corrected texts of these works, along with Lovecraft critic and biographer S. T. Joshi's illuminating introduction and notes to each story.

In the second volume of the crticially acclaimed Black Wings series, S.T. Joshi - the world's foremost Lovecraft scholar - has assembled eighteen more brand-new and imaginative horror tales, inspired by the greatest writer of the supernatural H.P. Lovecraft.

Leading contemporary horror authors, including John Shirley, Richard Gsin, Brian Evenson, Rick Dakan, Jason V. Brock, Rick Dakan, Jason C. Eckhardt, Brian Evenson, Tom Fletcher, Richard Gavin, Caitlín R. Kiernan, John Langan, Nick Mamatas, Nicholas Royle, Darrell Schweitzer, John Shirley, Melanie Tem, Steve Rasnic Tem, Jonathan Thomas, Donald Tyson, Don Webb, and Chet Williamson, will draw upon themes, images, and ideas from the life work of the master of the genre to deliver a rich feast of terror.

Some of H. P. Lovecraft's most fascinating work came from a time in his life that he was forced, by economic survival, to ghostwrite, collaborate and revise the work of others in the field. Here Lovecraft Scholar S. T. Joshi collects the best of these revisions and collaborations in a two volume set to be published this year from Arcane Wisdom Press The Crawling Chaos and Others is the first of these two volumes. This edition is painstakingly annotated, and includes an introduction and bibliography by S. T. Joshi. The book is a must for the Lovecraft enthusiast and scholar alike.

Some of H. P. Lovecraft's most fascinating work came from a time in his life that he was forced, by economic survival, to ghostwrite, collaborate and revise the work of others in the field. Here Lovecraft Scholar S. T. Joshi collects the best of these revisions and collaborations in a two volume set to be published this year from Arcane Wisdom Press. Medusa's Coil and Others is the second of these two volumes. This edition is painstakingly annotated, and includes an introduction and bibliography by S. T. Joshi. The book is a must for the Lovecraft enthusiast and scholar alike.

Through his collaborations with today's most talented and acclaimed practitioners of Lovecraftian fiction, editor S. T. Joshi has made the Black Wings of Cthulhu series essential for every library of horror and the macabre. Volume four offers up seventeen new masterpieces, each exploring the roots of fear employed so famously by the master himself, H. P. Lovecraft.Between these covers there lies a who's who of the supernatural, including Fred Chappell, Jason V Brock, Gary Fry, Richard Gavin, Cody Goodfellow, Lois H. Gresh, Caitli n R. Kiernan, Charles Lovecraft, Will Murray, John Pelan and Stephen Mark Rainey, W. H. Pugmire, Ann K. Schwader, Darrell Schweitzer, Simon Strantzas, Melanie Tem, Jonathan Thomas, Donald Tyson, and Stephen Woodworth.

From the depths of R'lyeh come twenty-one brand-new, utterly terrifying, and thoroughly entertaining short stories of horror and the macabre!

Taking their inspiration from works by Lovecraft himself, prominent writers such as Caitlin R. Kiernan, Brian Stableford, Ramsey Campbell, Michael Shea, Darrell Schweitzer, Donald R. Burleson, and David J. Schow delve deep into the psyche, expanding on concepts H.P. Lovecraft created and taking them in new directions.

The result is stories that are wholly original, some even featuring Lovecraft himself as a character. Black Wings editor S.T. Joshi is the recognized authority on all things Lovecraftian, and is famous for his restorations of Lovecraft's original works. He has assembled a star-studded line-up in a book that is essential for every horror library.

Following the great success of the early Gothic Fantasy, deluxe edition short story compilations, Ghosts, Horror and Science Fiction, this exciting title in the series is packed with swashbuckling and steam-punking up to your eyeballs. Adventures and alt-historical tales from classic authors are cast with previously unpublished stories by exciting budding contemporary writers.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born to a well-to-do family in Providence, Rhode Island. As a child, he revealed remarkable precocity in his early interests in literature and science. Ill-health dogged him in youth, rendering his school attendance sporadic; and in 1908 he experienced a nervous breakdown that rendered him a virtual recluse for several years. In 1914 he discovered the world of amateur journalism and began slowly emerging from his hermitry. He wrote tremendous amounts of essays, poetry, and other work; in 1917, under the encouragement from W. Paul Cook and others, he resumed the writing of horror fiction, and his career as a dream-weaver began anew. In 1921 Lovecraft met his future wife, Sonia H. Greene, at an amateur journalism convention. It was at this time that he began expanding his horizons, both geographical and intellectual: he traveled widely, from New England to New York to Cleveland; and he absorbed such literary and intellectual influences as Lord Dunsany, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Arthur Machen. In 1924 he and Sonia decided to marry, and Lovecraft moved to New York to pursue his literary fortune. But, as the first volume of this biography concludes, his metropolitan adventure would be bittersweet at best. S. T. Joshi's award-winning biography H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (1996) provided the most detailed portrait of the life, work, and thought of the dreamer from Providence ever published. But that edition was in fact abridged from Joshi's original manuscript, and this expanded and updated two-volume edition restores the 150,000 words that Joshi omitted and, in addition, updates the texts with new findings.

As the second volume of S. T. Joshi's comprehensive biography of H. P. Lovecraft begins, we find Lovecraft dwelling in misery in a one-room apartment in Brooklyn Heights: his wife, Sonia, has had to move to the Midwest for work, and he must rely on the companionship of the Kalem Club, the informal band of friends in the New York area. In 1926, in part through the intervention of his close friend Frank Belknap Long, Lovecraft finally decided to return to his native Providence, Rhode Island, effectively ending his marriage. That return spurred the greatest spurt of literary creativity he would ever experience: in less than a year, such works as "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," and "The Colour out of Space" would emerge from his pen, establishing Lovecraft as the leading weird fictionist of his generation. In spite of his increasing poverty, antiquarian travel occupied much of Lovecraft's time, and he gained an impressive knowledge of such oases of antiquity as Charleston, Quebec, St. Augustine, and Richmond. These voyages both renewed his connection with the past and infused his literary work, as such later tales as "The Whisperer in Darkness" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth" drew ever more profoundly upon his far-flung travels. Intellectually, Lovecraft evolved as well. Recent developments in science confirmed his materialism and his atheism, and the onset of the Great Depression gradually caused him to reassess his political and economic theory; he emerged as a moderate socialist and advocate of the New Deal. Late in life he became a giant in the world of fantasy fandom--a development that foreshadowed his worldwide fame in the decades following his early death.

From the masters of the genre, 14 spellbinding tales written between 1880 and 1940, including "The Sin Eater," by Fiona McLeod, a wild Celtic fantasy about a grotesque ritual; "The Eye Above the Mantel," by Frank Belknap Long, a sonorous prose-poem demonstrating the effects of verbal witchery; as well as renowned works by Ambrose Bierce, R. H. Barlow, Lord Dunsany, Ralph Adams Cram, William Hope Hodgson, Arthur Machen, W. C. Morrow and five other writers skilled in transporting devotees of the supernatural to terrifying realms of the unknown.

From a master storyteller of supernatural tales come six horror stories that launched the career of "psychic doctor" John Silence. Ghost story fans will delight in "A Psychical Invasion," in which a house is apparently haunted by former tenants; "Ancient Sorceries," which tells of strange experiences in a small French town; as well as "Secret Worship," "The Nemesis of Fire," "The Camp of God," and "A Victim of Higher Space." Edited and with an introduction by occult fiction authority S. T. Joshi.

By turns bizarre, unsettling, spooky, and sublime, Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories showcases nine incomparable stories from master conjuror Algernon Blackwood. Evoking the uncanny spiritual forces of Nature, Blackwood's writings all tread the nebulous borderland between fantasy, awe, wonder, and horror. Here Blackwood displays his best and most disturbing work—including the title story, the inspiration for Val Lewton's classic film Cat People; "The Willows," which Lovecraft singled out as "the single finest weird tale in literature"; "The Wendingo"; "The Insanity of Jones"; and "Sand."

This original Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition includes a fascinating Introduction and invaluable notes by S.T. Joshi.

No one ever argued more forcefully or with such acerbic wit against the foolish aspects of religion as H. L. Mencken (1880-1956). As a journalist, he gained national prominence through his newspaper columns describing the now-famous 1925 Scopes trial, which pitted Fundamentalists against a public school teacher who dared to teach evolution. But both before and after the Scopes trial, Mencken spent much of his career as a columnist and book reviewer lampooning the ignorant piety of gullible Americans.
S. T. Joshi has brought together and organized many of Mencken's writings on religion in this provocative and entertaining collection. The articles here presented demonstrate that Mencken canvassed the entire range of religious phenomena of his time, from evangelists Billy Sunday and Aime Semple McPherson, to Christian Scientists, and theosophists and spiritualists. On a more serious note are his discussions of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and the scientific worldview as a rival to religious belief. Also included are poignant autobiographical accounts of Mencken's own upbringing and his core beliefs on religion, ethics, and politics.
If anything was sacred to Mencken, it was the right to speak one's mind freely, and many of his attacks are directed against those true believers who he felt tried to foist their beliefs on others to stifle independent thinking. For everyone who values freethought and sharp intelligence, this collection of articles by America's premier iconoclast is a must.