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For more than 80 years H. P. Lovecraft has inspired writers of horror and supernatural fiction with his dark vision of humankind's insignificant place in a vast, uncaring cosmos. At the time of his death in 1937, Lovecraft was virtually unknown, but from early cult status his readership expanded exponentially; his nightmarish visions laying down roots in the collective imagination of his readers. Now this master of the macabre is accepted as part of the literary mainstream, as an American author of note, and the impact of his work on modern popular culture - in literature, film, television, music, the graphic arts, gaming and theatre - has been profound. As Stephen King wrote in Danse Macabre, the shadow of H. P. Lovecraft 'underlies almost all of the important horror fiction that has come since.'

Today, Lovecraft's themes of cosmic indifference, the utter insignificance of humankind, minds invaded by the alien, and the horrors of history remain not only viable motifs for modern speculative fiction, but are more relevant than ever as we explore the mysteries of a universe in which our planet is infinitesimal.

This outstanding anthology of original stories - from both established award-winning authors and exciting new voices - collects tales of cosmic horror inspired by Lovecraft from authors who do not merely imitate, but reimagine, re-energize, and renew the best of his concepts in ways relevant to today's readers, to create fresh new fiction that explores our modern fears and nightmares. From the depths of R'lyeh to the heights of the Mountains of Madness, some of today's best weird fiction writers traverse terrain created by Lovecraft and create new eldritch geographies to explore...

Table of Contents:

• A Clutch - (2016) - novelette by Laird Barron
• I Believe That We Will Win - (2016) - short story by Nadia Bulkin
• The Sea Inside - (2016) - short story by Amanda Downum
• Those Who Watch - (2016) - short story by Ruthanna Emrys
• Deep Eden - (2016) - short story by Richard Gavin
• In the Sacred Cave - (2016) - short story by Lois H. Gresh
• In Syllables of Elder Seas - (2016) - short story by Lisa L. Hannett
• It's All the Same Road in the End - (2016) - novelette by Brian Hodge
• The Peddler's Tale, or, Isobel's Revenge - (2013) - short fiction by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Outside the House, Watching for the Crows - (2016) - novelette by John Langan
• Falcon-and-Sparrows - (2016) - short story by Yoon Ha Lee
• In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro - (2016) - novelette by Usman T. Malik
• The Cthulhu Navy Wife - (2016) - short story by Sandra McDonald
• Caro in Carno - (2016) - short story by Helen Marshall
• Legacy of Salt - (2016) - short story by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Backbite - (2016) - novelette by Norman Partridge
• A Shadow of Thine Own Design - (2016) - short story by W. H. Pugmire
• Variations on Lovecraftian Themes - (2016) - short story by Veronica Schanoes
• An Open Letter to Mr. Edgar Allan Poe, from a Fervent Admirer - (2016) - short story by Michael Shea
• Just Beyond the Trailer Park - (2016) - novelette by John Shirley
• Alexandra Lost - (2016) - short story by Simon Strantzas
• Umbilicus - (2016) - short story by Damien Angelica Walters
• The Future Eats Everything - (2016) - short story by Don Webb
• I Do Not Count the Hours - (2016) - novelette by Michael Wehunt
• I Dress My Lover in Yellow - (2016) - short story by A. C. Wise

The Cthulhu Mythos is one of the 20th century''s most singularly recognizable literary creations. Initially created by H. P. Lovecraft and a group of his amorphous contemporaries (the so-called "Lovecraft Circle"), The Cthulhu Mythos story cycle has taken on a convoluted, cyclopean life of its own. Some of the most prodigious writers of the 20th century, and some of the most astounding writers of the 21st century have planted their seeds in this fertile soil. The Book of Cthulhu harvests the weirdest and most corpulent crop of these modern mythos tales. From weird fiction masters to enigmatic rising stars, The Book of Cthulhu demonstrates how Mythos fiction has been a major cultural meme throughout the 20th century, and how this type of story is still salient, and terribly powerful today.

Contents:

• Introduction (The Book of Cthulhu) - essay by Ross E. Lockhart
• Andromeda Among the Stones - [Dandridge Cycle] - (2002) - novelette by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• The Tugging - (1976) - novelette by Ramsey Campbell
• A Colder War - (2000) - novelette by Charles Stross
• The Unthinkable - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1991) - shortstory by Bruce Sterling
• Flash Frame - (2011) - shortstory by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Some Buried Memory - shortfiction by W. H. Pugmire
• The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins - (2011) - shortstory by Molly Tanzer
• Fat Face - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1987) - novelette by Michael Shea
• Shoggoths in Bloom - (2008) - shortstory by Elizabeth Bear
• Black Man with a Horn - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1980) - novelette by T. E. D. Klein
• Than Curse the Darkness - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1980) - novelette by David Drake
• Jeroboam Henley's Debt - (1982) - shortstory by Charles R. Saunders
• Nethescurial - (1991) - shortstory by Thomas Ligotti
• Calamari Curls - (2006) - shortstory by Kage Baker
• Jihad Over Innsmouth - (2007) - shortstory by Edward R. Morris [as by Edward Morris ]
• Bad Sushi - (2007) - novelette by Cherie Priest
• The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife - shortfiction by John Hornor Jacobs
• The Doom That Came to Innsmouth - (1999) - shortstory by Brian McNaughton
• Lost Stars - (2003) - shortstory by Ann K. Schwader
• The Oram County Whoosit - (2008) - novelette by Steve Duffy
• The Crawling Sky - [Reverend Jedidiah Mercer] - (2009) - novelette by Joe R. Lansdale
• The Fairground Horror - (1976) - novelette by Brian Lumley
• Cinderlands - (2010) - shortstory by Tim Pratt
• Lord of the Land - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1990) - novelette by Gene Wolfe
• To Live and Die in Arkham - (2010) - shortfiction by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
• The Shallows - (2010) - novelette by John Langan
• The Men from Porlock - shortfiction by Laird Barron

When Night Shade Books unleashed The Book of Cthulhu onto an unsuspecting world, it was critically acclaimed as "the ultimate Cthulhu anthology" and "a 'must read' for fans of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos," The Book of Cthulhu went where no collection of mythos tales had gone before: to the very edge of madness... and beyond.

For nearly a century, H. P. Lovecraft's tales of malevolent Great Old Ones existing beyond the dimensions of this world, beyond the borders of sanity, have captured and held the imaginations of writers and aficionados of the dark, the macabre, the fantastic, and the horrible. Now, because you demanded more, anthologist Ross E. Lockhart has risked all to dive back into the Cthulhu canon, combing through mind-shattering manuscripts and moldering tomes to bring you The Book of Cthulhu II, with even more tales of tentacles, terror, and madness.

Featuring monstrous stories by many of weird fiction's brightest lights, The Book of Cthulhu II brings you even more tales inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's greatest creation: The Cthulhu mythos.

This year, the stars are right...

Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Ross E. Lockhart
• Shoggoth's Old Peculiar - (1998) - shortstory by Neil Gaiman
• Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea (1957) - (2002) - shortfiction by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• This Is How the World Ends - (2010) - shortstory by John R. Fultz
• The Drowning at Lake Henpin - shortfiction by Paul Tobin
• The Ocean and All Its Devices - (1994) - novelette by William Browning Spencer
• Take Your Daughters to Work - (2007) - shortstory by Livia Llewellyn
• The Big Fish - (1993) - novelette by Kim Newman
• Rapture of the Deep - (2009) - shortstory by Cody Goodfellow
• Once More, from the Top - (2001) - shortstory by Adam Scott Glancy
• The Hour of the Tortoise - shortfiction by Molly Tanzer
• I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee - shortstory by Christopher Reynaga
• Objects from the Gilman-Waite Collection - (2003) - shortstory by Ann K. Schwader
• Of Melei, of Ulthar - (2009) - shortstory by Gord Sellar
• A Gentleman from Mexico - (2007) - shortstory by Mark Samuels
• The Hands That Reek and Smoke - (2008) - shortfiction by W. H. Pugmire
• Akropolis - (2007) - shortstory by Matt Wallace
• Boojum - (2008) - shortstory by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette
• The Nyarlathotep Event - (2011) - shortfiction by Jonathan Wood
• The Black Brat of Dunwich - (1997) - shortstory by Stanley C. Sargent
• The Terror from the Depths - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1976) - novelette by Fritz Leiber
• Black Hill - (2011) - shortstory by Orrin Grey
• The God of Dark Laughter - (2001) - shortstory by Michael Chabon
• Sticks - (1974) - novelette by Karl Edward Wagner
• Hand of Glory - shortfiction by Laird Barron