Gary Clayton Myers (born August 15, 1952) is an American writer of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and horror. He is a resident of Fullerton, California. Myers's first story, "The House of the Worm," appeared in a 1970 issue of '' The Arkham Collector'', edited by H. P. Lovecraft’s friend and publisher

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 ...

, when Myers was 17. Two further stories appeared in the same magazine. Later in the '70s, Myers's work appeared in a series of anthologies edited by

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

. These included one volume of the

Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...

and two volumes of ''

The Year's Best Fantasy Stories ''The Year's Best Fantasy Stories'' is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by American writer Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in 1975. Despite the anthology's title, it actually gathers together pieces originall ...

''. In the ’80s and ’90s, Myers’ work appeared mainly in little magazines like

Crypt of Cthulhu ''Crypt of Cthulhu'' is an American fanzine devoted to the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. It was published as part of the Esoteric Order of Dagon amateur press association for a short time, and was formally established in 1 ...

, and in a number of Lovecraft-themed anthologies, usually edited by

Robert M. Price Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar. His most notable stance is arguing in favor of the Christ myth theorythe claim that a historical Jesus did not exist. Price is the author of a number of books on bi ...

. Myers's first book, ''

The House of the Worm ''The House of the Worm'' is a collection of stories by American writer Gary Myers. It was published in 1975 by Arkham House in an edition of 4,144 copies and was the author's first book. The book is a close stylistic pastiche of H. P. Lovecra ...

'', was a collection of Cthulhu Mythos stories in the fantasy manner of Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany; it was published 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 1975 with illustrations by

Allan Servoss Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

. It is now out of print. His second book, ''Dark Wisdom: New Tales of the Old Ones'', was a collection of Cthulhu Mythos stories in a more contemporary horror mode; it was published by Mythos Books in 2007 with illustrations by the author. It was reprinted as ''Dark Wisdom: Tales of the Old Ones'', without the illustrations, through

CreateSpace On-Demand Publishing, LLC, doing business as CreateSpace, is a self-publishing service owned by Amazon. The company was founded in 2000 in South Carolina as BookSurge and was acquired by Amazon in 2005. History CreateSpace publishes books cont ...

in 2013 His third book, ''The Country of the Worm: Excursions Beyond the Wall of Sleep'', was an expansion of his first, adding thirteen stories to the original ten of ''The House of the Worm''; it was self-published through CreateSpace in 2013. Myers has continued to expand this collection at the rate of better than a story a year. At the start of 2019 the story count stood at thirty-one. His fourth book, ''Gray Magic: An Episode of Eibon'', was his first and only novel, a fantasy adventure of

Eibon The Hyperborean cycle is a series of short stories by Clark Ashton Smith that take place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea. Smith's cycle takes cues from his friends, H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard and their works. Lovecr ...

of Mhu Thulan, a character and milieu invented by

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Algernon Charles Swinburne ...

; it was self-published through CreateSpace in 2013. His fifth book, ''Lovecraft's Syndrome: An Asperger's Appraisal of the Writer's Life'', co-authored with Jennifer McIlwee Myers, was his first non-fiction work; it was self-published through CreateSpace in 2015. Myers is the illustrator for most of his books. He contributed ten black-and-white interior illustrations to the Mythos Books edition of ''Dark Wisdom''. He also contributed color cover illustrations to the CreateSpace editions of ''The Country of the Worm'', ''Dark Wisdom'', ''Gray Magic'' and ''Lovecraft's Syndrome''.

References

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External links

Spawn of Dark Dreams: An Interview with Gary Myers, by Jason Thompson
at Lovecraft eZine
Lovecraftian Writer Gary Myers Chats About "From Inner Egypt" Short Story
at Michele's Musings on Mummies * {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Gary 1952 births 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American horror writers American male novelists American short story writers Cthulhu Mythos writers Living people American male short story writers 21st-century American male writers