"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." So begins H. P. Lovecraft’s essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” arguably the most important analysis of horror ever written. Yet while hordes of writers have created works based on Lovecraft’s fiction, never before has an anthology taken its inspiration directly from the literary manifesto behind his entire mythos . . . until now. Like cultists poring over a forbidden tome, 18 modern masters of horror have gathered here to engage with Lovecraft’s treatise. Rather than responding with articles of their own, these authors have written new short stories inspired by intriguing quotes from the essay, offering their own whispers to the darkness. They tell of monsters and madmen, of our strange past and our weirder future, of terrors stalking the winter woods, the broiling desert, and eeriest of all, our bustling cities and our family homes. This collection is a unique contribution to the booming Lovecraft/Cthulhu craze that will stand out from the pack due to its one-of-a-kind premise.

Jesse Bullington wears the influence of Lovecraft on the pages of his three award-nominated novels: The Enterprise of Death, The Folly of the World, and The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart. He has published numerous short stories, some of them Mythos-themed, as well as various articles and reviews. He lives in Denver, Colorado. Brian Evenson is the author of more than a dozen books, including Immobility and Windeye. He has been a finalist for a Shirley Jackson Award three times, and he is the recipient of an International Horror Guild Award for his collection The Wavering Knife. His novel Last Days won the American Library Association’s award for best horror novel of 2009. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Jeffrey Ford is a professor of literature and writing. He is the author of the novels The Beyond, The Cosmology of the Wider World, The Girl in the Glass, Memoranda, The Physiognomy, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, and The Shadow Year. His story collections are Crackpot Palace, The Drowned Life, The Empire of Ice Cream, and The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant. He has published more than 120 short stories, and is the recipient of the World Fantasy Award, Nebula Award, Shirley Jackson Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award, Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (France) and Hayakawa Award (Japan). His fiction has been translated into more than 20 languages. He lives in Ohio. Robin D. Laws is best known for his groundbreaking roleplaying game design work. His most recent works of fiction are Blood of the City and New Tales of the Yellow Sign. Other novels include Pierced Heart and The Worldwound Gambit. He is the editor of The Lion and the Aardvark and Shotguns v. Cthulhu. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. Tim Lebbon is a New York Times-bestselling horror and fantasy writer. He  is the author of nearly 30 novels, as well as dozens of novellas and hundreds of short stories. His most recent releases include The Cabin in the Woods novelization, Coldbrook, Into the Void: Dawn of the Jedi, the official Alien tie-in novel Out of the Shadows, and the Toxic City trilogy, a TV series from which is in development. He has won four British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Scribe Award, and has been a finalist for World Fantasy, International Horror Guild, and Shirley Jackson Awards. He lives in Goytre, Monmouthshire (UK).