»There was no wind to move the eerie matter, and with growing horror Connor realized that it must be alive itself. There was no other explanation for the way it could otherwise wriggle forward and coil around the coat rack like a black snake until it threatened to swallow O’Reilly’s arms.

Blind white eyes erupted like boils on the black surface, rolling back and forth madly.

O’Reilly’s mouth contorted, his jaw drawing almost silently.

He looked helpless, but continued to hold the coat rack tightly in his hands.

But it wasn’t the thing that resembled a black snake that made him scream.

It was something else that flowed through the portal like slime; a murky mass that flooded the attic, boiling and bubbling like sulfuric acid.«

Michael Minnis has subordinated many of his stories and novellas entirely to the cosmos of H. P. Lovecraft, and he succeeds in doing so in a workmanlike manner.

The novellas and stories included in this volume reflect the author’s interest in Lovecraft’s spaces, times, and places, whether they come across as dark fantasy or as tales of the early days of the Wild West.

Kadath, Leng, Arkham or Innsmouth — Michael Minnis takes the reader by the hand and leads him to the settings of his great role model.