Miskatonic Nightmares
Page 20
The Awareness spoke with hushed tones through Zack’s lips... “Yog-Sothoth knows where the Old Ones sleep and where some still tread. Yog-Sothoth is the key, opened for the Old Ones once again to break through. Behold, let Them tread upon the earth again! The Old Ones shall return.”
The Awareness knew the Old Ones had found the gate opened, and as long the gate so remained, the earth would be available for Them. The Old Ones were soon to the gate. Their hunger for the fruit of earth raged.
The Awareness left Zack and returned through the gate.
Zack blinked.
A force of cosmic magnitude tossed him into a temporal imploding spiral twist. In an instant his blood splattered the slime covered display case and artifacts therein, providing the necessary sacrifice for the utmost vigor of the gate. Zack was brusquely reduced to the space of a small red dot, and then sucked insatiably into the swarming bowl of boiling slime. Concurrently, he experienced what appeared only a brief moment, but which was infinitely divided into multiple expressions of unbearable agony, alternating with searing nonexistence in at least eleven dimensions. As abruptly as it seemed it should have been over, his nonexistence inverted, bursting forth into reintegrated myriad multiversal incarnations manifested in millions of forms, only to all be immediately devoured by enormous extra-dimensional multi-tentacle monstrosities. They were insatiable, and repeated this devouring scenario in a multi-temporal loop, with so many iterations that by the time They decided to cease this activity, the shattered remnants of poor Zack’s prior soul contained no more vital essence. He was utterly destroyed.
Outside the whippoorwills screamed with both anguish and ecstasy. The soul was extinguished, but had escaped them. Many fell to the ground, dead from overexertion. Those who remained waited. There would be more souls for the taking. Some could still be theirs to capture.
A sick radiant glow grew in the form of the sigil as the green slime fused to all of the arcane artifacts of the collection. The connection welded complete. Yog-Sothoth raised wide for the whims of any who knew the gate. The Old Ones were ready. The realm of innumerable doors from universe to universe flung opened wide, one after another, slamming with thunderous claps. The display case exploded into a massive multi-colored orbal mass of pure quantum energy.
The Yog-Sothoth gate stood in full manifestation, opened, fully aligned, prepared, accessible to the outer multiverse of restless Old Ones. With no further hesitation they came forth. Pouring through the orb of energy they came, creatures of unspeakable horror. With shocking abruptness, they filled the archives. A monstrous claw came crashing down upon the locked bookcase, containing the foul Necronomicon.
Urgently the Old Ones consulted the spells of old, and chanted the summoning calls. Their crackling inhuman voices echoed improbably through the halls of the library. A host of ancient gods, and lesser monstrosities were called forth that night; Cthulu of R’lyeh; Hastur the unspeakable; Byakhee and his throngs of servants; Nyarlathotep, the crawling chaos; Mi-Go, the crustaceanoid Fungi from Yuggoth; Shoggoth, the lurkers in long-deserted places; and the spawn of Sub-Niggurath, the fountain of uncleanliness. These and many more, even including vaporous brains of the spiral nebulae, manifested there in the archives and spread throughout the halls of the library of Miskatonic University. As the night advanced, with little effort, they filled the building, but found they could progress no further.
Many years before, in 1928 after that incident known as the Dunwich horror, Dr. Henry Armitage, who had thwarted a previous attempt at a return of the Old Ones, put in place protective sigils around the entire library. While these sigils unfortunately could not preclude the gate from allowing the Old Ones coming into this reality, they were however, able to prevent any of the hordes from leaving the confines of the building; at least for the time being. Aleister’s great grandfather had been more knowledgeable about such matters than was his great grandson.
Unfortunately, these arcane sigils had a limit to their holding power, and if the creatures so held back by them should acquire enough souls to devour, the sigils would fail. It was merely a matter of time. When the new day came, and the humans returned to the halls of Miskatonic, then They could gain the necessary strength to escape these esoteric confines.
So the Old Ones waited. They had waited long before the opening of the gate. They could wait just a little longer. They could wait until dawn. They gathered into the shadowed spaces of the library. They skulked into secret hiding places. They crept into the spots where no mortal souls dared go, and in those places they waited. They waited for the coming of the next day. They waited for souls to devour, and with that devouring the potency to be free to at long last ravage the earth, and again be masters of this world.
The rosy light of dawn lifted into view. Chester and his girlfriend Sarah approached the front doors to the library. Just a few more steps and their souls could be devoured. Unseen, but near, tentacles quivered in anticipation.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
E. Dane Anderson grew up in Spokane, Washington, attended Eastern Washington University and University College London, and holds a Master's Degree in both History and Archaeology. He is currently employed as an archaeologist for an environmental consulting firm. He is also a photographer and musician, living in Seattle with, as one might expect, a slightly temperamental cat.
As with a lot of geeks his age, he came to Lovecraft through the original print of the Dungeons and Dragons rule book, Deities and Demigods that included an entire chapter devoted to the Cthulhu Mythos. It was the otherworldliness that hooked him at the age of 12. But it’s only within the last few years that he has been writing within that genre.
He has been previously published in the Ghostwoods Press Anthologies Cthulhu Lives and Cthulhu Lies Dreaming, as well as the Alban Lake Anthology Idolaters of Cthulhu. He has pending publications in Elder Sign Press’s Dark Horizons: An Anthology of Dark Fiction and in Twit Publishing’s Tales of Unseen Terror and Slumbering Horrors.
Amelia Collingwood has graduated University, and she has had dreams, but as far as she knows her University has never sucked away her dreams to feed Cthulhu. She currently lives in a dank and dingy house on a hill, where she spends her time writing because her typewriter is the only thing that can drown out the scratching and slithering in the walls. If she must be contacted, do so, on a full moon, at exactly midnight, on her blog "The Cabinet of Miss Collingwood" at Wordpress.com. Any misfortune that occurs afterwards cannot be held against Amelia. You'll have no proof. We promise.
Kris Dikeman lives and works in New York City. Her work has appeared in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Year’s Best Fantasy 9, Strange Horizons, Podcastle, Sybil’s Garage, The Best of All Flesh and Sympathy for the Devil, among other places. Read her work online at krisdikeman.com.
Jonathan Dubey's first memory of anything to do with H.P. Lovecraft was when he was nine years old and saw Re-Animator. He saw part of it actually, a really scary part. He knew he wasn't allowed to watch R rated movies, but he wasn't at home and it was on. He has since grown up (kind of) and seen the entire movie once or twice as well as reading much of Lovecraft's work. He is a writer, poet, playwright, and novelist. His published works appear in the anthologies: Canopic Jars: Tales of Mummies and Mummification by Great Old Ones Publishing, Anthocon Year 3: Distant Dying Ember by Four Horsemen, The Idolators of Cthulhu by Alban Lake Publishing, and ME Haunted Love by Macabre Maine.
G. Scott Huggins grew up in the American Midwest and has lived there all his life, except for interludes in Germany and Russia. He is responsible for securing America’s future by teaching its past to high school students, many of whom learn things before going to college. He loves to read high fantasy, space opera, and parodies of the same. He wants to be a hybrid of G.K. Chesterton and Terry Pratchett when he counteracts the effects of having grown up. You can read his ramblings and rants at 'The Logoccentric Orbit' and you can follow him on Facebook.
K.T. Katzmann lives in Florida, surrounded by Cthulhu idols
and crazy people. He blogs about cheesy movies, monster tropes, and the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books at www.iwritemonsters.com. Last Halloween he released Murder with Monsters, the first book in a series about a Jewish vampire and a Bigfoot who fall in love while working for the NYPD. Despite all this, he is somehow still allowed to teach children. Florida’s like that.
He discovered the Cthulhu Mythos while reading “The Horror in the Museum” within the shadows of his middle school library. Lovecraft soon joined Douglas Adams and Roger Zelazny in the trinity of his favorite authors, and K.T. is thankful for years of boring public school classes which provided him plenty of time to read them all.
He is not part of the Smithsonian’s conspiracy to cover up Bigfoot archaeology, and his Swiss bank account is his own business, thank you very much. His wife somehow shares his interests, and helps him keep their toddlers away from the monster models.
Previous publications:
"Sam, Sam, and the Demoness," anthologized in Ain't Superstitious by Third Flatiron Press, 2015
Murder with Monsters, novel, 2015
"The Bread-Thing in the Basket" - Upcoming Anthology Hidden Youth, by Crossed Genres Publications
Robert J. Krog is author of the collection, The Stone Maiden and Other Tales, the Darrell Award winning novella, A Bag Full of Eyes, and numerous short stories from Sam’s Dot publishing, Kerlak/Dark Oak Publishing, Alban Lake publishing, and Ink Monkey Press. He edited the anthologies A Tall Ship, a Star, and Plunder from Dark Oak Press and Media and Potter’s Field Five for Alban Lake. His story 'Eat Your Peas', about yard care workers hunting down a werewolf, won the Darrell Award for best short story 2015. It appears in Luna’s Children: Full Moon Mayhem, also available from Dark Oak Press (http://www.darkoakpress.com/lunafmm.html ).
His most-recently published works are 'The Ones Who Remember' which appears in Idolaters of Cthulhu, available from Alban Lake Publishing (http://store.albanlake.com/product/the-idolaters-of-cthulhu ) and 'The Pauper’s Reaper' which appeared in Potter’s Field 5.
He is working on a screenplay and a few novels. He attends several scifi and fantasy conventions every year as an author/editor guest. He lives with his wife and children in Memphis, TN.
His website is www.krogfiction.yolasite.com . You may also find him on Facebook.
Ethan Nahté is an author, journalist, screenwriter, photographer and musician. He has also worked in TV/Film and Radio. He has nearly two-dozen stories and poems published
in various anthologies and e-zines. His work spans horror, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi and young adult. He recently finished his first novel and will be releasing his first collection, Of Monsters & Madmen, containing eight previously published stories along with two new stories, complete with art and introductions for each tale.
Despite being an avid horror fan, Brenna Nordeng spends her time being a completely non-threatening college student. She spends her time learning the ins and outs of the human body, playing with sharp objects as a knitter, and making ominous music on the ear piercing piccolo (as well as the flute and piano). She one day hopes to make a living putting people to sleep with more than just her voice and bringing them back to life as a modern day voodoo priestess, commonly called an anesthesiologist. When she was in high school she wrote two one-minute plays as a part of the Gone in 60 Seconds competition that were just as dark as her current writings this time focused on dying a mile above the ground and in a bathroom.
Christopher Peruzzi has spent hours working on his evil diabolical laugh in his homemade dungeon. He spends his days as a mild-mannered IT professional and nights as a blogger, superhero historian, and swimsuit model for the ipecac syrups. His first short story, The Undead Rose was published within the Once Upon an Apocalypse anthology by Chaosium. As a regular contributor to Hubpages (http://hubpages.com/@cperuzzi ), he's looking to educate people on comic book mythology and writes articles on zombies and Sherlock Holmes. He is currently working on his first novel set in New Jersey. He lives in Freehold with his wife, Sharon.
Emma Tonkin lives in the south-west of England. She is a computer scientist with a background in physics and, curiously, classical studies. She has recently had short stories accepted in Mad Scientist Journal, Between Worlds and in the anthologies Visions IV: Deep Space and Singular Irregularity.
In addition to being a writer, Bill M Tracer is also an artist. The following lists previously published works and available artwork:
Futurist speculative nonfiction work exploring the possibility that the Internet might spontaneously acquire consciousness? WC: 23,459. Self-published by BMT Studio Creations, at Amazon: Will the Internet Achieve Sentience? http://www.amazon.com/dp/149736065X
Science fiction novella, To Mars to Stay: To Mars To Die, plus bonus short story, “Hello I, This is H”, 2014 Darrel Awards finalist. WC: 22,861. Cosmographic Publishing, at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500281824
From the Questers’ Documents: 'Seeking the Kindness Gene', first in a series of interviews with Dr. Ezekiel Ulster Zamar, PhD. WC: 6,937. Cosmographic Publishing, at Amazon, as e-book short:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LLLN6SK
Western / science fiction genre mash-up. Revival WC: 6,452. Self-published by BMT Studio Creations as e-book short, at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M6YJ0ZY
Science fiction “To Forge an Unlikely Alliance”, first in the No Humans Allowed series. WC: 6,534. Cosmographic Publishing, e-book short at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MTORP5S
Science fiction short, “Splintering Permutations”, second in the No Humans Allowed series. WC: 12,666. Cosmographic Publishing, at Amazon as e-book short:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z288AP2
Tripping on Woodstock: Time traveling romp back to Woodstock 1969. WC: 24,304. BMT Studio Creations, at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1515397076
My Creative Blog: http://acreativesquest.weebly.com
Online Store: http://www.zazzle.com/billmtracer
VIDA Collection:
http://shopvida.com/collections/voices/bill-m-tracer
Author at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bill-M.-Tracer/e/B00KU5ATZ6
RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/billmtracer/portfolio?asc=u
Lee Clark Zumpe has been writing and publishing horror, dark fantasy and speculative fiction since the late 1990s. His short stories and poetry have appeared in a variety of publications such as Weird Tales, Space and Time and Dark Wisdom; and in anthologies such as Corpse Blossoms, Best New Zombie Tales Vol. 3, Steampunk Cthulhu and World War Cthulhu. His work has earned several honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror collections.
An entertainment columnist with Tampa Bay Newspapers, Lee has penned hundreds of film, theater and book reviews and has interviewed novelists as well as music industry icons such as Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains and Alan Parsons. His work for TBN has been recognized repeatedly by the Florida Press Association, including a first place award for criticism in the 2013 Better Weekly Newspaper Contest.
Lee lives on the west coast of Florida with his wife and daughter. Visit http://www.leeclarkzumpe.com
Table of Contents
Room 411
The Judgment Chair
Acquired Through Deaccession
Beyond the Angles
A Breath of Cold Air
The Bard Visits Arkham
The Vitruvian Man
When You Wish Upon a Star
The Miskatonic Cafeteria
Miskatonic Darkness
The Rat in the Library Walls
She Who Walks in Darkness
Cauldron at the Gate
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