Showing results by author "David Hambling" in All Categories

Hastur was not a creation of H.P. Lovecraft but an adaptation of concepts created by Ambrose Bierce and Robert W. Chambers. Nevertheless, Hastur, AKA The King in Yellow, has since gone on to become one of the most iconic Great Old Ones. Whether the mysterious Lord of Leng in the Dreamlands or Cthulhu’s alleged half-brother, he is a figure who haunts the dreams of those mortals who touch upon even the barest knowledge of his existence.

The Necronomicon was not the first book by H.P. Lovecraft to terrify readers with tales of dark and twisted horrors from beyond. No, the Al-Azif, or Book of the Insect, is the first work that told mankind of Cthulhu, Azathoth, and other terrors. Indeed, it was the book that inspired "The Mad Arab" Abdul Al-Hazred to write its more famous successor.

TALES OF NYARLATHOTEP is the fourth book of the Books of Cthulhu series by Crossroad Press (Tales of the Al-Azif, Tales of Yog-Sothoth, The Book of Yig). It is an anthology featuring pulpy tales of horror starring Outer God and his myriad plots as well as games. Nyarlathotep is functionally omnipotent and treats humanity like ants underneath a magnifying glass. He is impossible to kill but perhaps capable of being thwarted. Or maybe that's just what he wants you to think.

Earth is home to us, but to others it is a prison planet, where alien convicts are imprisoned in human bodies. Four tales by veteran Cthulhu Mythos authors explore the collisions between humans and unwilling visitors among us.

Yog-Sothoth, known as the Key and the Gate and a host of other names, is H.P. Lovecraft's most enduring creation after the Necromnomicon and Great Cthulhu itself. An eldritch god that occupies all time and space, Yog-Sothoth is most known for his role as the antagonist in The Dunwich Horror but has played a role in many other Cthulhu Mythos stories. Tales of Yog-Sothoth features several stories centered around the creepy deity and its monstrous intelligence.

Get rich. Wield incredible power. Get revenge. But avoid paradox, or get erased from the timestream so you never existed. Time travel offer endless possibilities and limitless dangers. What would you do if you could go back and relive your past? What if others could too? Who polices time? How do you win a time war?

Ghouls have a special place in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, as the monstrous eaters of the dead are the only creatures from traditional folklore to stalk through his Mythos. Lovecraft’s universe was science fictional rather than fantastic, and his nightmare creations were alien rather than supernatural. While his ghouls were inspired by a fascination with the Arabian Nights, they have an added dimension of horror: they were once human.

In this novella set in 1924 London, ex-boxer Harry Stubbs is on the trail of a mysterious legacy. A polar explorer has died, leaving huge debts and hints of a priceless find. His informants seem to be talking in riddles, and Harry soon finds he isn't the only one on the trail - and what he's looking for is as lethal as it is valuable. The key to the enigma lies in an ancient Arabian book and it leads to something stranger and more horrifying than Harry could ever imagine.

Yig, known as the Serpent God, is older than humanity, and Yig’s reptilian children once ruled the Earth. Now they are stirring in their caves, walking the Earth in forms not quite human, slowly and patiently preparing their plans. Those who stumble on their secrets are in deadly danger...but only they can prevent the return of our darkest fears.

London 1925: Ex-boxer Harry Stubbs goes undercover, working in a mental institution to investigate an epidemic of madness. Bizarre deaths occur at the asylum, seemingly linked to an occult power. As he starts to unravel the mystery, Harry’s grip on his own sanity becomes increasingly precarious. Who is behind the killings? What are the strange new treatments doing to the patients? Why can Harry not get any reply from his handlers? To get answers, Harry must to venture into the borderland between magic and science, sanity and madness, and face the Master of Chaos....

London 1925: after a grisly discovery in a ladies' rooming house, ex-boxer Harry Stubbs finds himself on a mission that takes him from the lowest dives to high society, searching for occult mysteries buried in the Horniman Musem, wrestling with enigmas - and bare-knuckle battling with deadly opponents. An insidious alien is at large, the time to stop it is running out - and that may not even be the worst of Harry's problems.

Weird things lurk in the dark streets of London in 1925. After a bizarre shooting incident, Harry Stubbs, former heavyweight boxer and sometime debt collector, is coerced into helping a visitor from Shanghai. Mr Yang, an agent of the feared Si Fan Society with unusual powers, is seeking information about a dead man.

In 1919 South London, Harry Stubbs is freshly out of the army and dreams of glory as an up-and-coming heavyweight boxer. Afraid of nothing, after a few drinks Harry carelessly takes on a dare to explore a disused amusement park attraction. The fake mine is said to be haunted by something with a craving for human blood, but Harry doesn't believe a word of it. What follows is stranger and more dangerous than Harry could ever have dreamed, but the full horrifying truth does not emerge until a chance encounter years later in a waxwork museum...