The Starry Wisdom

A Tribute to H.P Lovecraft

D.M. Mitchell

Creation Books 1995

Tower Books is the Australian Distributor

H.P Lovecraft was a controversial author offering strange visions of an alien world which intruded into our reality through nightmares and untold horrors. In his day he pushed the envelope of fiction and gave birth to a mythos which has cherished a generation of horror writers.

That being said many modern “ Lovecraftian” novels seem to contain themselves within the constraints of his original mythos and way of thinking. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing and it has given birth to a whole spectrum of fiction, however, most are not what you could consider to be “at the edge” of horror writing.

The Starry Wisdom attempts to explore the spirit of the Lovecraftian vision without the normal limits and constraints. So while Lovecraft may not have written much about sex, this modern exploration of his visions certainly does, to the extent that many have been offended or at least challenged by its overtly explicit content.

However if we wish to explore the darker reaches of the imagination as Lovecraft heralded we need to do so appreciating the nature and social mores of the world we now live in. Nostalgic horror fiction is fine, but to truly challenge the mind is far more significant. While this compilation of tales vary greatly in quality and its success or failure depends on the individual reader, it at least attempts to explore the outer limits of the Lovecraft’s dark Vision and perhaps even expand the mythos into new arenas.

There are over twenty such tales presenting dark fantasies and nightmares of social collapse, genetic engineering, and some bleak portrayals of our future. These unpublished works include some challenging and graphic pieces from a wide range of authors including such well known writers as Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, William S. Burroughs and J. B. Ballard.

Contributors include: J G Ballard, John Beal, William S Burroughs, Ramsey Campbell, David Conway, John Coulthart, Michael Gira, Adle Olivia Gladwell, Rick Grimes, James Havoc, Dan Kellett, D F Lewis, Brian Lumley, D M Mitchell, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Mike Philbin, Robert M Price, Stephen Sennitt, Peter Smith, Don Webb, Henry Wessels, Simon Whitechapel.