This volume assembles no less than 40 stories set in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Ranging from Lovecraft's own tales (including classics such as the novel At the Mountains of Madness, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," and "The Colour Out of Space") to works by his friends and contemporaries (Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, and Robert Bloch), to later followers (Henry Kuttner, Lin Carter, Brian McNaughton), and contemporary afficianados (Brian Stableford, Mark McLau...

SIX WEEKS AGO: A series of horrific events rock the town of Aiken Mill, Virginia. A weirdly mutilated body vanishes from the town morgue. Numerous individuals go missing without a trace. The local sheriff's department, as well as the FBI, are stymied. And a creeping madness settles over the town.Now, Celeste Muir, a former FBI agent with extensive experience in paranormal phenomena, allies herself with Sheriff Bryce Parrott to face the unknown forces that have terrorized Aiken Mill...

The story began with pro basketball player Brock Lane ordering a couple of drinks at Chili’s Grill and Bar in Calumet City, Illinois; and he was on a mission to get completely wasted in the shortest time humanly possible. He felt betrayed, and he also felt completely helpless about his current situation. He had just received a contract extension, so it could’ve been any number of past acquaintances who may have double-crossed him. And to make matters worse, he may have offended the waitres...

Brock Lane needed a wind down after getting his stepfather, Brent Jones, back safely and giving his captors the one million dollars in ransom money for his freedom. He decided to go to Chili’s and have a few shots at the bar to calm his nerves, and that’s when he got reacquainted with his college crush, Naomi Hill, who was a waitress there. They exchanged numbers and hooked up for their first date a few days later.Meanwhile, Brent contacted his old friend from the military, Detecti...

Brock Lane and his family were able to breathe a sigh of relief when Will and his cohorts were apprehended for the kidnapping of Brent Jones Sr., Brock’s stepfather. However, Brock didn’t want certain things to come to light when he elected to give an impromptu press conference about his ordeal. The team’s media relations expert was able to prep him on what to say, but the press was able to skillfully ask crucial questions that would ultimately back him into a corner.Meanwhile, new...

Mitch Black had it all―he’d married his college sweetheart Sandra and purchased a beautiful home in the south suburbs of Chicago, he was gainfully employed as a financial analyst, and he co-owned a nightclub with his cousin, Wesley Hunter. He also became a millionaire before the age of thirty by skillfully playing the stock market with his economic expertise.The story starts off with Mitch running into his college roommate and teammate, Gary Maxwell. Gary was booted off the basketb...

Greg O’Brien was a third-year college student at Clark Atlanta University, a HBCU located in the historic heart of Atlanta, Georgia. He was experiencing some of the typical growing pains that young men his age go through―pressure from work as well as school, and he had been physically and emotionally drained from his long-term relationship with his high school sweetheart, Rosalyn Coleman. He decided that they needed a break from each other so that he could regroup, but she wanted a clean s...

This is a urban fiction short story about a man named Red who tried to make due once he had gotten laid off from his job in the banking industry after sixteen years of service. He'd also broken up with his girlfriend who he dated for three years around the same time, and he attempted to find employment in his field before his severance package ran out but came up short. Eventually, Red found a lifeline in driving for Uber and made a good living doing so. He had many stories to tell, some g...

Jake West had just experienced a life changing event when his girlfriend of three years broke up with him, and he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since. The story began on a Sunday morning when Jake had awakened in a cold sweat from a very lucid dream where he was walking for miles on end in total desolation. He then decided to go shopping at a nearby grocery store, and that was when he saw his ex-girlfriend with another guy for the first time since the breakup. Opting not to confront them...

The story begins with a fight between two young men over drug money―Deon’s brother Hassan had buried 500K in his grandmother’s house before he was murdered six months prior, and Jahlil was pressing Deon to tell him exactly where the money was stashed. Deon’s constant resistance had ultimately sent Jahlil over the edge, and Jahlil proceeded to knock Deon out with a right cross. Jahlil then told his cohort Stacy that he remembered Hassan telling him the money was buried in his bedroom floor,...

Julian Brown hasn’t been able to catch a break in the last two years. He was laid off from his job as an accountant after eighteen years of service, and his wife of nearly twenty years divorced him around the same time. He had gone to a job fair downtown that proved to be a colossal waste of his time, and someone had broken into his car and stole his radio and CDs. Fortunately, his cut-rate insurance company covered his loss, and he was able to get a rental car for his trouble.Late...

The story takes place one summer evening in Chicago, when Darius Carter comes up empty once again while searching for his missing fiancé, Ashley Johnson. She disappeared a week before their wedding was supposed to take place, and the police had no new leads. The trail went cold even though the case remained open. Not one to idly stand by, he began to pound the pavement every day since then.Darius grabbed a bottle of whiskey out of frustration and drank until he almost passed out on...