Cthulhu Unbound is a two-volume collection of genre-blending tales from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Myhtos, edited by John Sunseri and Thom Brannan, brought to you by Permuted Press. Volume One is up for order at Amazon and Barnes and Noble now!
Meet John Sunseri:
Check the blog for John's Market Scoop (as interviewed by DL Snell) and read his August '07 HorrorScope interview here . He's published over forty short stories and has a shared-world novel, The Spiraling Worm, with David Conyers . Find it here on Amazon. (From Chaosium)
Meet Thom Brannan:
Thom says: "I'm just really excited to be here. Something like this, it has the potential to make a big impact. It also sends a message to the literary world, in my opinion: the form doesn't limit you." His short story "Electric Crown" will be available in Permuted Press' Robots Beyond anthology (available here ) and is working feverishly on a shared-world novel, World of Trouble with Doug Wojtowicz . See his serial fiction at Dark Tomorrow .
Author Bios:
LINDA DONAHUE has numerous short stories in a dozen or so anthologies, such as History is Dead, Loving the Undead, Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy, High Seas Cthulhu, and later this year look for Magic & Mechanica and Martin Greenberg’s anthology Future Americas in which she co-authored a story with Mike Resnick. She is also known as “War†of The 4 Redheads of the Apocalypse, which will soon spawn a sequel, collaborative novel, The 4 Redheads in: Apocalypse Now! She’s also been published in Rabbits USA. An Air Force brat, Linda grew up traveling and developed diverse interests which possibly explains why she enjoys writing across a broad genre spectrum—or as close friends and family put it—Linda lives in her own world. She will possibly admit to being a tad OCD. When not writing, hopefully for money, Linda teaches tai chi and belly dance and performs with the troupe Ravenar. Before all this, she taught C++ OOP programming. In her “diversity†she was a certified pilot before a licensed driver. Meaning, with her Commercial Instrument Pilot’s Certification, SCUBA certification, and Texas drivers license, she has been at one time or another a threat by land, air and sea.
KEVIN LAUDERDALE has written essays and articles for the Los Angeles Times, The Dictionary of American Biography, The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, fps (Frames Per Second), Animato, Pulse!, mcsweeneys.net, and teevee.org. He's also a "real" poet, having appeared in Andrei Codrescu's The Exquisite Corpse. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he is graduate of UCLA, holder of two master's degrees, and survivor of the dot com bust. His fiction has appeared in four of Pocket Books' Star Trek anthologies, including Constellations, which marked the 40th anniversary of the original series. This year will see the publication of his first original fiction: "James and the Dark Grimoire" in Cthulhu Unbound and "The Laughing C'rell" in Neo-opsis magazine. He is a member of SFWA and regularly reviews books for AuthorMagazine.org .
BEN THOMAS is the author of dozens of short stories, four screenplays,and a forthcoming novel. He has been dreaming up tales since his infancy; he spent much of his childhood narrating his stories to anyone who would listen. While his work tends to fall within the horror genre, his primary influence is Algernon Blackwood, and he adores themes of awe and wonder. When he isn't writing, Ben can often be found in his library, poring over his collection of antiquarian books, or listening to his encyclopedic music collection. He lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend.
PETER CLINES grew up in the Stephen King fallout zone of Maine and started writing science fiction and dark fantasy stories when he was eight with the epic tale Lizard Men From the Center of the Earth. He made his first writing sale at age seventeen to a local newspaper. In the years between he’s ghostwritten two books, published a handful of short stories, and the first screenplay he wrote got him an open door to pitch story ideas at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager. After working in the film industry for almost fifteen years, he currently writes articles and reviews for Creative Screenwriting Magazine and its free CS Weekly online newsletter, where he has interviewed dozens of Hollywood’s biggest screenwriters and upcoming stars. His MySpace page is here , and his novel Ex-Heroes will be available from Permuted Press in 2009.
JOSHUA REYNOLDS has been previously published in such magazines as Not One of Us, Black Ink Horror and Wicked Karnival, and such anthologies as Read By Dawn II. He drinks less than is good for him, lives on caffeine and pancakes and has a very understanding wife. His life is better than it should be. He can be contacted at argus33 at hotmail.com if you've a mind to do so. Or visit him at his Blog or his new website .
C.J. HENDERSON is the creator of the Teddy London supernatural detective series, as well as the author of some fifty other books, including titles as diverse as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies to Baby's First Mythos. He is also the creator of the Brooklyn Knight series, soon to be released from Tor. As well as his novels, he has written hundreds and hundreds of short stories and comics as well as thousands of non-fiction pieces. One would think an award-winning author of this caliber, one translated into twelve languages to date, would have found the serenity which comes from having accomplished all one can in their field. Sadly, however, he and his wife still find it necessary to pay bills, and so when not typing away, he is busy searching the streets for returnable soda bottles and loose change. To take pity on this sad soul, visit his website at C.J. Henderson dot com where there are always short stories to read, and a mail center where you can send him politely crafted messages telling him to get over himself.
TEASERS! Here's What You Have to Look Forward To:
Volume One
Volume Two
1-01: NOIR-LATHOTEP
Linda Donahue
Nyarlathotep, the Outer God of 1000 aspects, known as the Crawling Chaos, the Black Man, or sometimes just Devil. Woken from his slumbers in the chaotic ether that surrounds Azathoth the Idiot God, Nyarlathotep feels the death of one of his aspects. In Film Noir style, complete with black & white setting, he solves his own murder...
2-01: PASSING DOWN
Inez Schaechterle
Nick Mahoney, top trigger man for a Denver whiskey gang, learned cool at his daddy’s knee. Twenty years after fleeing his father’s violent madness, he learns it's his mother's past that will twist his mind, body, and future beyond all recognition.
1-02: THE INVASION OUT OF TIME
Trent Roman
In the distant future,fighter pilots wage an unceasing battle against ancient and powerful alien creatures for the fate of the planet. Now, a risky stratagem could finally see the elder things defeated... or spell disaster for humanity's defendors.
2-02: THE TENANTS OF LADYWELL MANOR
Willie Meikle
1-03: JAMES AND THE DARK GRIMOIRE
Kevin Lauderdale
Think H.P. Lovecraft by way of P.G. Wodehouse. Young man-about-town Reggie Brubaker is spending the weekend at a country estate when his aunt dragoons him into stealing a rare and ancient book...it's up to his trusty valet James to save the day.
2-03: THE HUNTERS WITHIN THE CORNERS
Douglas P. Wojtowicz
A mad sorcerer has drawn the attention of the Hound of Tindalos. Now, the only thing keeping an innocent nun and a dozen homeless men from being destroyed in the crossfire is a faceless avenger named Skaramine...
1-04: HELLSTONE AND BRIMFIRE
Doug Goodman
There's a saying in Texas: One riot, one ranger. But if your problem's with Mi-Go, you need a different kind of Ranger. And you might want something extra. Like Hellstones and Brimfire.
2-04: SURELY YOU JOUST
Patrick Thomas
In the days of Camelot, Sir Dagonet and Merlin's twin sister are sent to investigate whispers of dark magic on a neighboring island kingdom. The local king dismisses the pair as a fool and a woman, forgetting that even a jester must earn his place as a knight of the Round Table. Dagonet assumes the worst of his problems will be surviving an aerial joust on the back of a winged byakhee, unaware the king is preparing human sacrifices and that Father Dagon isn't a priest...
1-05: STAR-CROSSED
Bennet Reilly
Shub-Niggurath, Outer Goddess and estranged wife of the Not-to-be-Named-One, is feeling her biological clock starting to tick. After eons of waiting the stars are finally right for her and Hastur to try to work out their marital troubles. Can these two former lovers reignite the flames of their lost love, or will Shub-Niggurath be forever unfulfilled in her role as the Dark Mother?
2-05: REFERENCES IN CTHONIC, ELDRITCH, ROILING CREATIONS ARE RECONDITE
Warren Tusk
On a lonely barren cliff, in a world ravaged by its ordained cosmic doom, two old friends meet to discuss philosophy. Reality is an Eternal Ghoulish Braid.
1-06: THE COVENANT
DR. Kim Paffenroth
Presented here for the first time is a lost chapter of Herman Melville's classic novel Moby-Dick. The piece offers shocking substantiation of Melville's claim that he had "written a wicked book."
2-06: NEW FISH
Kiwi Courters
If I'da told you life on the Rock was all about the screws breathin down your neck and cons in the yard lookin to shiv you, you mighta thought it couldn't get no worse. But a new con with damp skin, fishy eyes and big lips woulda proved you wrong.
1-07: THE HINDENBURG MANIFESTO
Lee Clark Zumpe
An opponent of Hitler’s Nazi regime abandons his homeland carrying crucial information only to be mortally wounded upon his arrival in America. Led by an American cryptologist, a ragtag organization must face German agents and homegrown dissidents in an effort to recover and unravel the mystery of the Hindenburg manifesto.
2-07: TOMB ON A DEAD MOON
Tim Curran
1-08: IN OUR DARKEST HOUR
Stephen Graham
2-08: THE LONG, DEEP DREAM
Peter Clines
In the Depression years of Los Angeles, second-rate gumshoe Bill Barnett is pleased to get a missing-persons case, but he's about to discover that some things in the city should stay missing...
1-09: BLOOD BAGS AND TENTACLES
DL Snell
Strange creatures have overrun Earth, and in Portland, Oregon, the survivors have holed up in a hotel. When Shaun Adams banishes himself, his brother Ryan must brave Portland's Shanghai Tunnels to bring him back. But something prowls the underground passageways, something with tentacles, and now Shaun's life isn't the only one at stake.
2-09: SANTIAGO CONTRA EL CULTO CTHULHU
Mark Zirbel
The greatest masked wrestler in all of Mexico goes toe to toe with the Tentacled Terror himself. Get ready for a match for the eons!
1-10: BUBBA CTHULHU'S LAST STAND
Lisa Hilton
A bitter unicorn must face his own darkness in order to defeat the beer-swilling Bubba Cthulhu and his clan.
2-10: STOMACH ACID
David Conyers & Brian M Sammons
In the heart of the Amazonian rainforests Major Peel is blackmailed when a human agent of an alien species compromises his life expectancy. The only way that Peel can live beyond a single day is to turn against the American agent who hired him (code-named JORDAN) to act against the very menace that now controls Peel.
1-11: TURF
Rick Moore
"On the surface Turf seems to fit the mold of any other London gangland thriller - until things turn weird that is.... Think the Mythos meets Get Carter, The Long Good Friday, Sexy Beast, and you'll have an idea of where I went with the story."
2-11: SLEEPING MONSTER FUTURES
Brandon Alspaugh
In his financial markets man has finally created something incomprehensible, ineffable, and as indifferent to his whims as the oldest of the Old Ones. Caitlin Rice is only the latest to be slaved to their peculiar appetites.
1-12: THE MENAGERIE
Ben Thomas
2-12: NEMO AT RY'LEH
Joshua Reynolds
It is 1888 and the Nautilus surfaces in a spray of steam and dead fish. Before it lies an island that should not exist. Strange-angled structures scrape the starry sky and the croaking of inhuman throats echoes even in the steel-walled chambers of Captain Nemo's amazing vessel. Now the man with no country save the sea must confront one of the most hideous secrets his beloved oceans hold and try to retain what remains of his sanity in the process.
1-13: THE PATRIOT
John Goodrich
A dying soldier receives a macabre history lesson in the corpse-strewn trenches of World War One.
2-13: WHAT'S A FEW TENTACLES AMONG FRIENDS?
Sheila Crosby
When the mighty Cthulhu fancies a cruise, you have to pity the poor monster sent to organize the ship. He's got no money, no connections and precious little time. Oh, and he hasn't got a clue how to get along with these humans. They're weird!
1-14: THE SHADOW OVER LAS VEGAS
John Claude Smith
A savage journey into the heart of Lovecraftian terror; a drug-fueled, gonzo journalistic joyride into the blackened soul of Las Vegas...
2-14: AN INCIDENT OCCURING IN THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS, WEST OF TOMBSTONE
Gary Vehar
Before the OK Corral made them famous, Wyatt Earp and his brothers learn that the Wild West holds far worse terrors than outlaws and Apache warriors. An ancient magic calls down a force far beyond the abilities of Tombstone's most famous gunslinger, and he must bring in the U.S. Army to restore order. But the Army seems to have had some experience in the matter already...
1-15: LOCKED ROOM
CJ Henderson
Supernatural sleuth Anton Zarnak goes into his office and locks the door behind him. When his servant checks on him later, he finds that Zarnak has vanished without a trace. Can the bizarre and inexplicable machinations of a man of magic be solved by ordinary constables? Join New York City police lieutenant Mark Thorner and New Orleans inspector of police John Raymond Legrasse as they attempt to solve this impossible conundrum.
2-15: ABOMINATION WITH RICE
Rhys Hughes
During WW2 the neutral city of Lisbon was a hotbed of intrigues, conspiracies, espionage, spying and counter-spying. An ancient book has been discovered that can unleash a power that might allow the Nazis to win the war quickly. But conjuring up a cosmic octopus monster and fitting it with pulse jet engines is a risky business at the best of times!
