''Dagon and Other Macabre Tales'' is a collection of stories by American author
H. P. Lovecraft, which also includes his essay on
weird fiction
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Weird fiction either eschews or radically reinterprets ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other traditional antagonists of supernatural horr ...
, "
Supernatural Horror in Literature
"Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a 28,000 word essay by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, surveying the development and achievements of horror fiction as the field stood in the 1920s and 30s. The essay was researched and written between Nove ...
". It was originally published in 1965 by
Arkham House
Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had pr ...
in an edition of 3,471 copies. The true first edition, unlike some other first editions of Lovecraft collections issued by Arkham House in the mid-sixties, is bound with head- and tailbands.
The collection was revised in 1986 by
S.T. Joshi replacing the introduction by
August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the ...
for one by Joshi and another by
T. E. D. Klein
Theodore "Eibon" Donald Klein (born July 15, 1947) is an American horror writer and editor.
Klein has published very few works, but they have all achieved positive notice for their meticulous construction and subtle use of horror: critic S. T. ...
. The bulk of the tales were also reordered chronologically, while some tales were moved to appendices. It was released in an edition of 4,023 copies, designated a 'corrected 5th printing'. This revised edition was read by Gordon Gould for the
American Foundation for the Blind
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is an American non-profit organization for people with vision loss. AFB's objectives include conducting research to advance change, promoting knowledge and understanding, and shaping policies and practice ...
in 1987.
Contents
''Dagon and Other Macabre Tales'' contains the following tales:
# Introduction by
August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the ...
# "
Dagon
Dagon ( he, דָּגוֹן, ''Dāgōn'') or Dagan ( sux, 2= dda-gan, ; phn, 𐤃𐤂𐤍, Dāgān) was a god worshipped in ancient Syria across the middle of the Euphrates, with primary temples located in Tuttul and Terqa, though many attes ...
"
# "
The Tomb"
# "
Polaris
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...
"
# "
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
"Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is a science fiction short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in 1919 and first published in the amateur publication ''Pine Cones'' in October 1919.
Plot
A former intern and a worker of a mental hos ...
"
# "
The Doom That Came to Sarnath
"The Doom That Came to Sarnath" (1920) is a fantasy short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It is written in a mythic/fantasy style and is associated with his Dream Cycle. It was first published in ''The Scot'', a Scottish amateur ficti ...
"
# "
The White Ship"
# "
Arthur Jermyn"
# "
The Cats of Ulthar
"The Cats of Ulthar" is a short story written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft in June 1920. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a town called Ulthar. As the nar ...
"
# "
Celephaïs
"Celephaïs" () is a fantasy story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in early November 1920 and first published in the May 1922 issue of the ''Rainbow''. The title refers to a fictional city that later appears in Lovecr ...
"
# "
From Beyond"
# "
The Temple"
# "
The Tree"
# "
The Moon-Bog
"The Moon-Bog" is a short story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in or before March 1921. The story was first published in the June 1926 issue of the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales''.
Plot summary
In the story, the unnam ...
"
# "
The Nameless City
"The Nameless City" is a short horror story written by American writer H. P. Lovecraft in January 1921 and first published in the November 1921 issue of the amateur press journal ''The Wolverine''. It is often considered the first story set in ...
"
# "
The Other Gods
"The Other Gods" is a fantasy short story written by American author H. P. Lovecraft, on August 14, 1921. It was first published in the November 1933 issue of ''The Fantasy Fan''.
Plot
Barzai the Wise, a high priest and prophet greatly learned ...
"
# "
The Quest of Iranon
"The Quest of Iranon" is a fantasy short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written on February 28, 1921, and was first published in the July/August 1935 issue of the magazine ''Galleon''. It was later reprinted in ''Weird Tales'' ...
"
# "
Herbert West--Reanimator"
# "
The Hound
"The Hound" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft in September 1922 and published in the February 1924 issue of ''Weird Tales''. It contains the first mention of Lovecraft's fictional text the ''Necronomicon.''
Plot
The story opens with ...
"
# "
Hypnos
In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: means 'sleep') also spelled Hypnus is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was a dearest fr ...
"
# "
The Lurking Fear
"The Lurking Fear" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November 1922, it was first published in the January through April 1923 issues of ''Home Brew''.
Plot I. The Shadow on the Chimney
In 1921, an unnamed ...
"
# "
The Festival"
# "
The Unnamable"
# "
Imprisoned with the Pharaohs
"Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" (called "Under the Pyramids" in draft form, also published as "Entombed with the Pharaohs") is a short story written by American fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft in collaboration with Harry Houdini in February 1924. ...
"
# "
He"
# "
The Horror at Red Hook
"The Horror at Red Hook" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, written on August 1–2, 1925. "Red Hook" is a transitional tale, situated between the author's earlier work and the later Cthulhu Mythos. Although the story depicts a ...
"
# "
The Strange High House in the Mist
"The Strange High House in the Mist" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written on November 9, 1926, it was first published in the October 1931 issue of ''Weird Tales''. It concerns a character traveling to the titular house which is perched o ...
"
# "
In the Walls of Eryx"
# "
The Evil Clergyman"
# "
The Beast in the Cave
"The Beast in the Cave" is a short story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. The first draft was written in the Spring of 1904, with the final draft finished in April 1905, when Lovecraft was age fourteen.
It was first published i ...
"
# "
The Alchemist
An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy.
Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to:
Books and stories
* ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho
* ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Ben ...
"
# "
Poetry and the Gods"
# "
The Street The Street may refer to:
Geographical
*Wall Street in New York City's Financial District
* The Street, Lawshall, Suffolk, England
* The Street (Heath Charnock), a building and bridleway in Rivington, Lancashire, England
Film and television
* ''The ...
"
# "
The Transition of Juan Romero"
# "
Azathoth
Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of writer H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. He is the ruler of the Outer Gods, and may be seen as a symbol for primordial chaos.
H. P. Lovecraft
Inspiration
The first reco ...
"
# "
The Descendant
The Descendant ''(Simplified Chinese: 香火) (Literally: Incense, a word play of inscent)'' is a Malaysian 2012 mega blockbuster Mandarin drama series produced by Juita Entertainment for ntv7. It is scheduled to air every Monday to Thursday, ...
"
# "
The Book"
# "
The Thing in the Moonlight "The Thing in the Moonlight" is a short story by J. Chapman Miske. The story is based on a letter dated November 24, 1927 from H. P. Lovecraft to Donald WandreifroBerkley/ref> describing one of Lovecraft's dreams. The story was prepared for publica ...
"
# "
Supernatural Horror in Literature
"Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a 28,000 word essay by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, surveying the development and achievements of horror fiction as the field stood in the 1920s and 30s. The essay was researched and written between Nove ...
"
Sources
*
*
*
*{{cite book , last=Nielsen , first=Leon , title=Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide , location=Jefferson, NC and London , publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., pages=95–96,132–133 , year=2004 , isbn=0-7864-1785-4
1965 short story collections
Short story collections by H. P. Lovecraft