Occult Detective Magazine Mythos Special #1

This is a somewhat unusual event for Occult Detective Magazine. Over the years we have, on the whole, avoided the Mythosian and Lovecraftian zones. There are, after all, plenty of other outlets for such stories, even though there are undoubted crossovers with investigators of the unusual and abnatural. However, we finally decided on an indulgence – two ‘specials’ (alongside our regular issues) which would focus unashamedly on such areas. Being ODM, we also chose to blur the lines by including tales related to Robert W. Chambers’ ‘King in Yellow’ sequence, a brooding sandpit in which a number of Mythos writers have also played.

What the above terms mean in practice is, well, open to debate. H.P. Lovecraft never chose to lay down a clearly mapped-out or cohesive ‘Cthulhu’ Mythos, and despite August Derleth’s somewhat questionable later attempts to impose order, so many other creators have visited the area since that it can be hard to work out whose footprints are whose. HPL himself wrote both Mythosian stories which contained what people often call ‘cosmic horror’, and cosmic or speculative horror stories which weren’t Mythosian.

Later writers have added everything from straight Lovecraft pastiches, new Mythos monstrosities, and playful re-interpretations of his ideas, to serious examinations of Lovecraft’s concepts, shorn of their original fictional baggage. In addition, more recent times have seen many stories which directly (and rightly) challenge some of HPL’s attitudes, or which rework the tropes in his fiction.

We have tried to reflect such variations within, and so are pleased to present a brand new unpublished novelette by James Bennett, a twisting and twisted tale which is totally Mythosian but which involves protagonists you would certainly not find in HPL. Alongside this, we have a wide selection of reprints from recent years. Paula Ashe provides a dark, epistolary-style glimpse into cadaverous horror, whilst Will Murray gives us something closer to a Lovecraftian version of The Men in Black; Nick Mamatas has a very different and highly inventive take on the Mythos’s Mi-go, and Pete Rawlik offers smart, futuristic noir in his story of shoggoths and much more.

Denise Dumars explores moving, contemporary echoes of Lost Carcosa, and supernatural horror dwells in Michael Keyton’s story of a mirror with a dreadful secret. Added to this we have an unusual tale by DJ Tyrer set in the era of early post-war atomic tests in the Australian desert. For those who appreciate classic period settings, we have William Meikle’s recounting of a brush with cosmic horror for William Hope Hodgson’s archetypal occult detective, Thomas Carnacki, plus I.A. Watson’s story of another Miskatonic expedition which did not go well – accompanied by wry derring-do and Shub-Niggurath from Tim Mendees, and an appearance of that old ‘devil’ Aleister Crowley dealing with the result of dubious pacts, by Bob Freeman.

We hope that such a range intrigues, shivers, or amuses you, and that we will see you again in our second Mythos special, due in a few months. Oh, and at the time of writing, Occult Detective Magazine #10, with our usual eclectic mix of damn fine stories and four longer novelettes, is also on its way...