Creating a Mythos
One of the mainstays of Lovecraft's legacy has long been the Mythos he created. Many authors, both before and after Lovecraft, have created a Mythos of their own: Pugmire's Sesqua Valley, Chambers's King in Yellow stories, Barron's Old Leech universe, Dunsany's Pegana, Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborea. Some have outgrown their creators and have opened their doors to many authors to contribute. What is the allure of a Mythos? What are the benefits of writing in one? What are the pitfalls?
Leslie S. Klinger is the editor of the highly-acclaimed New Annotated Dracula, New Annotated Frankenstein, and the two-volume New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft. He also edited the anthologies In the Shadow of Dracula and In the Shadow of Edgar Allen Poe, featuring 19th- century supernatural fiction. Together with Lisa Morton, he’s also edited the anthologies Ghost Stories and Weird Women, both with extensive selections of Victorian horror. Klinger’s annotated editions include the four-volume Annotated Sandman (with Neil Gaiman), Watchmen Annotated (with Dave Gibbons), and Annotated American Gods (again with Neil Gaiman). He serves as Treasurer of the Horror Writers Association and lives in Malibu with his wife Sharon, dog Jenny Calendar, and cat Rupert Giles.
ROSS E. LOCKHART is an author, anthologist, editor, and publisher. A lifelong fan of supernatural, fantastic, speculative, and weird fiction, Lockhart is a veteran of small-press publishing, having edited scores of well-regarded novels of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. He edited the anthologies The Book of Cthulhu I and II, Tales of Jack the Ripper, The Children of Old Leech (with Justin Steele), Giallo Fantastique, Cthulhu Fhtagn!, Eternal Frankenstein, and the forthcoming Tales from a Talking Board (October 2017). He is the author of Chick Bassist. Lockhart lives in Petaluma, California, with his wife Jennifer, hundreds of books, and Elinor Phantom, a Shih Tzu moonlighting as his editorial assistant.
Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire has been writing Lovecraftian weird fiction since his days as a Mormon missionary in Omagh, Northern Ireland (1973). He has written for a number of anthologies (Black Wings, The Children Of Cthulhu) and last year had tales reprinted in such anthologies as The Book Of Cthuhlu and New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird. These past few years has seen him writing like an obsessed lunatic, and his many books include The Tangled Muse, Some Unknown Gulf Of Night, Gathered Dust And Others, and Uncommon Places, The Strange Dark One: Tales Of Nyarlathotep, and Encounters With Enoch Coffin (written in collaboration with Jeffrey Thomas).
Justin Steele runs The Arkham Digest review blog, where he shares his love of weird fiction. This love has transitioned into editing, and he recently co-edited his first anthology, The Children of Old Leech with Ross E. Lockhart.
Sean Hoade is a fiction coach and the author of 17 books. He has written thrillers, literary novels, horror, and Penny Dreadful novelettes. He taught creative writing at the university level for almost a decade before he even realized what was going on. He lives in Las Vegas. Sean is always eager to hear from readers and other writers, or just people who want to talk about cool stuff. He is easily locatable and friend-able as hoadewriter on Facebook; always saying strange things on Twitter (@SeanHoade); On Instagram, he’s seanhoadewriter; and on Pinterest, somewhat lazily, he’s once again seanhoadewriter.
K. M. Alexander is a Pacific Northwest native and novelist living and working in Seattle with his wife and two dogs. He is an avid hiker, wannabe cyclist, and self-proclaimed beer snob. His work explores non-traditional settings within speculative fiction, bending and blending genres to create rich worlds and unique approachable characters.