Whether set in the urban decay and horror of the world we know, in Lovecrafts Arkham, in Pugmires own Sesqua Valley, or in places and locales somewhere in between the mundane and decadent world of Pugmires visions, this collection of 14 Lovecraftian tales selected by the author seek to evoke similar strains (albeit in a bit more melancholic melody) of cosmic dread, terror and isolation as contained in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. This collection includes the following stories: Beyond the Realm of Dream, Graffito Flow, The Hour of Their Appetite, Cool Mist, Dust to Dust, Necronomicon, Gates Closed by Darkness, The Baleful God, Drink the Moon, The Thing in the Glen, The Audient Void, The Hungry Place, A Piece of Stone and The Totem Pole. This is the authors first trade paperback collection, and the stories have been revised by the author for this publication. Cover and 15 interior illustrations by Stanley C. Sargent, inspired by the art of the Maya and Moche (pre-Incan) civilizations.

Cult figure Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire is back with his first major short story collection. Includes all his major Sesqua Valley stories as well as "Songs of Sesqua Valley," the complete sonnet cycle.

With The Strange Dark One, W. H. Pugmire collects all of his best weird fiction concerning H. P. Lovecraft's dark god, Nyarlathotep. This avatar of the Great Old Ones is Lovecraft's most enigmatic creation, a being of many masks and multitudinous personae. Often called The Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep heralds the end of mortal time, and serves as avatar of Azathoth, the Idiot Chaos who will blew earth's dust away. Many writers have been enchanted by this dark being, in particular Robert Bloch, the man who, through correspondence, inspired Wilum Pugmire to try his hand at Lovecraftian fiction. This new book is a testimonial of Nyarlathotep's hold on Pugmire's withered brain, and these tales serve as aspects of a haunted mind. Along with stories that have not been reprinted since their initial magazine appearances, The Strange Dark One includes "To See Beyond," a sequel-of-sorts to Robert Bloch's groovy tale, "The Cheaters;" and the book's title story is a 14,000 word novelette set in Pugmire's Sesqua Valley. The Strange Dark One is a collection of Lovecraftian fiction by W. H. Pugmire. Each tale is beautifully illustrated by the remarkable Jeffrey Thomas, who is himself one of today's finest horror authors.