Looky looky! The latest issue of Lovecraft eZine is on the loose, featuring my story, "Ecstasy of the Gold." It's a futuristic tale of intrigue, with subtle ties to a few of my other works of Lovecraftian fiction. The story is quite new, and this is its first publication.
Here's an excerpt, just to warp your mind a little....
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An iron rail fence surrounded a well of pure blackness. He shoved the gate open, which made a sound like his old uncle drawing his last breath. Nothing to see within. A rustle of leaves and brush. His tecmate was all kinds of fouled here; just a gyrating compass needle in his field of vision that made him dizzy. But he knew was close.
Something touched his shoulder, and he spun wildly. A pair of luminous eyes was glaring at him, inches from his—wide and way too bright.
Jesus God.
“What?” he growled, switching on his most menacing voice. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Dollars,” came a deep voice, so full of bass he felt the vibrations. “You’re looking for dollars.” The voice rose and became sharper, mimicking the sound of his brain voice. “‘Locate dollars.’”
Was this character his target? He couldn’t make out any features in the darkness, nothing beyond the horrible gleaming eyes. Typical Fusion accent. Somehow, the man knew about him, his quest.
He knew.
Something in his field of vision moved, and he realized the figure had lifted an arm to point into the darkness. As his eyes adjusted, he realized the man was big—very big—and wearing fine clothes. Stylish sweater, a scarf, and a fedora. Nothing beneath the brim but those luminous eyes.
As he gazed after the pointing finger, he saw something glittering in the murky, ambient light from the street. Something big and gnarled-looking, gleaming oddly in the darkness. Unable to help himself he took a few steps toward it.
It was gold.
It was gold.
Nothing else looked like that.
“Illuminate.”
His failing tecmate refused to respond but for a brief flicker, which highlighted the shape long enough for his eyes to absorb the sight of it.
Twelve feet tall, it had to be. Stylized, even abstract. A caricature of a human—maybe—but with an oversized, grotesque head, with strange, tendril-like protrusions where the face should be; a pair of broad fins, or wings maybe, running lengthwise down the back of its elongated torso. All gold, its burnished surfaces reflecting the distant, hazy city lights. It looked alive.
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The rest of the tale is available at Lovecraft eZine, and it's absolutely free. As a bonus, you can get an audio file of the tale, read by Justin Zimmer.
Ecstasy of the Gold
by Stephen Mark Rainey
Scale Hall
by Simon Kurt Unsworth
The Dog Who Wished He’d Never Heard of Lovecraft
by Anna Tambour
The Ourorboros Apocrypha
by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Over the Hills
by Victor Takac
This Inscrutable Light: A Response to Thomas Ligotti’s
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race”
an essay by Brandon H. Bell
Lovecraftian Art
Eric Lofgren & Jonny Christopher Ledford
Co-editor: A.J. Frenchby Stephen Mark Rainey
Scale Hall
by Simon Kurt Unsworth
The Dog Who Wished He’d Never Heard of Lovecraft
by Anna Tambour
The Ourorboros Apocrypha
by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
Over the Hills
by Victor Takac
This Inscrutable Light: A Response to Thomas Ligotti’s
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race”
an essay by Brandon H. Bell
Lovecraftian Art
Eric Lofgren & Jonny Christopher Ledford
Kindle version: Kenneth W. Cain
Issue cover: Ronnie Tucker (text: Stjepan Lukac)
Story illustrations: Nick Gucker, Robert Elrod, Galen Dara, Steve Santiago
Story readers: Justin Zimmer, Morgan Scorpion, Bruce L. Priddy, David Binks
Publisher & Editor: Mike Davis
Visit Lovecraft eZine here.
