"Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places. For them are the catacombs of Ptolemais, and the carven mausolea of the nightmare countries. They climb to the moonlit towers of ruined Rhine castles, and falter down black cobwebbed steps beneath the scattered stones of forgotten cities in Asia. The haunted wood and the desolate mountain are their shrines, and they linger around the sinister monoliths on uninhabited islands. But the true epicure in the terrible, to whom a new thrill of unutterable ghastliness is the chief end and justification of existence, esteems most of all the ancient, lonely farmhouses of backwoods New England; for there the dark elements of strength, solitude, grotesqueness, and ignorance combine to form the perfection of the hideous." --- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Picture in the House"
This has always been one of my favourite quotes. Being something of a searcher after horror myself, I feel that HPL here encapsulates that deep love certain individuals have for the Gothic, the eerie, the Eldritch.
Imagine my delight when S.T. Joshi accepted my latest story for his forthcoming anthology Searchers After Horror.
While the anthology is not specifically Lovecraftian, its title and basic theme are derived from the above quote. My story is entitled "The Patter of Tiny Feet" and is rather creepy if I do say so myself. Fans of "A Picture in the House" may be pleased to know that my tale does involve one of those farmhouses that Lovecraft felt, and I think rightly,"form the perfection of the hideous."
Searchers After Horror will be published by the excellent Fedogan & Bremer. The Table of Contents is still being compiled as of this entry, but I do know that I'll be appearing alongside W.H. Pugmire, Gary Fry, and Ramsey Campbell.
