Mark's Mythosphere

During the forty-some years I've been writing and publishing fiction, I have developed what amounts to a unique mythos, largely consistent with (if not necessarily part of) H.P. Lovecraft's so-called "Cthulhu Mythos." Like many writers from my generation—not to mention generations before and after—I came up as a fan of Lovecraft's works and many of my earliest stories qualified as little more than pastiches. None of them were publishable, but I consider them valuable practice runs for the works that would come after.

I've been asked on more than one occasion if I've made a definitive list of my stories and novels that fit into what I call the "Mythosphere," and the answer is no—until now! While some of my works definitely meet its (rather loose) criteria, others are harder to categorize; many might be called outliers, in that they share some common elements with my more overt Lovecraftian tales but don't fit neatly into any particular niche.

 

So, what is this Mythosphere? One of my earliest stories, titled "Threnody," latched onto the concept of sound—specifically music—as a means of bridging dimensions, inspired largely by HPL's "The Music of Erich Zann." In this story, I introduced a "music grimoire" titled The Spheres Beyond Sound, authored by one Maurice Zann. This volume served as a backdrop for a number of my early tales, and even some of my later ones. I never explored the character of Maurice Zann beyond describing him as an unspecified relative of HPL's character and stating that he vanished while experimenting with the musical formulae he devised.

 

The name Maurice Zann had what I'd call rather odd roots. When I was a youngster, I had a record album called A Child's Introduction to Music, and it was produced/narrated by one Maurice Zam. However, because this name was printed in a flowing script on the album cover, for many years, I read his name as "Zann." Thus was born Erich Zann's lesser-known relative.

 

I've written many stories over the years specifically for Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos publications, though my preference has always been to shy away from specific Lovecraftian entities/settings/characters whenever possible. In any event, these overt Cthulhu Mythos stories comprise the earliest building blocks of my personal Mythosphere. As I continued to create fiction, I developed a few settings and characters that have appeared in numerous works. With my long history in the Piedmont and Appalachian regions of Virginia, I naturally gravitated toward them as atmospheric settings. The fictional Sylvan County and town of Aiken Mill are loosely based on the Martinsville/Henry County area where I grew up (and to which I've retired). Beckham College is based on Ferrum College in nearby Franklin County (Benjamin Beckham was Ferrum's first president). Barren Creek is based on Henry, Virginia, located between here and Ferrum. Also, since I lived in Chicago for several years, it has served as the setting of numerous stories and books.

 

In short, those works that I include in the Mythosphere are always rooted in cosmic horror to some degree or another, and most of them fit neatly into a fictional history of the regions in which they're set, occasionally with shared characters. One example of an outlier might be my second novel, The Lebo Coven (1994), which is set in Aiken Mill, though I consider it more an occult-based mystery than a true example of cosmic horror. The town sheriff in this novel is named George Parrott; in my recent novel, The House at Black Tooth Pond (2025), which is a distinct blend of folk and cosmic horror, the sheriff is Bryce Parrott, George's son (and he also appears in my new sequel to The House at Black Tooth Pond, titled Broken Barriers, to be released later this year by Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink).

 

And so, with no further ado, I will present here my list of stories and novels that I consider bona fide entries in Mark's Mythosphere. The year shown is when the works were written, and the bulleted entries denote the places/years of publication. Make of this what you will.

Mark's Mythosphere:
1985

“Smiert Galgalith”
   • The Haunted Journal (magazine, 1987)

“The Grey House” (short story)

   • Crypt of Cthulhu (magazine, 1992)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)

1986
“The Arms of Doom” (short story)
   • Deathrealm (magazine, 1987)

1987
“Threnody” (short story)
   • Deathrealm (magazine, 1987)
   • The New Lovecraft Circle (anthology; published under the title "The Spheres Beyond
         Sound"; Fedogan & Bremer, 1996)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

“The Red Depths” (short story)
   • Revelations From Yuggoth (magazine, 1987)

“The Spheres Beyond Sound” (short story)
   • Tales of Lovecraftian Horror (magazine, 1987)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)

“Rapture in Black” (short story)
   • Crypt of Cthulhu (magazine,1987)
   • The Innsmouth Cycle (anthology; Chaosium, 1998)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)

1988
“God of Byzantium” (short story)
   • Aberations (magazine, 1991)

“Symphonia Maledictus” (short story)
   • Dagger of the Mind (magazine, 1990)

“Chameleon” (short story)
   • Eldritch Tales (magazine, 1990)

1989
“Spiritual Radio” (short story)
   • Chills (magazine, 1992)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)

“Misfits” (short story)
   • Midnight Zoo (magazine, 1991)
   • Quick Chills (anthology; Scream Factory Books, 1992)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)

“The Last Trumpet” (short story)
   • Limited Infinity (magazine, 1991)

“Return of the Navigator” (short story)
   • Fugue Devil & Other Weird Horrors (collection; Macabre Ink, 1992)

1990
“Fugue Devil” (novelette)
   • Fugue Devil & Other Weird Horrors (collection; Macabre Ink, 1992)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

1991
“The Last Show at Verdi’s Supper Club” (short story)
   • After Hours (magazine, 1992)
   • Song of Cthulhu (anthology; Chaosium, 2001)

“The Herald at Midnight” (short story)
   • Not One of Us (magazine, 1992)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)

1992
Balak (novel)
   • Wildside Press (paperback/ebook, 2000)
   • Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink (audiobook, 2010)
   • Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink (revised edition; paperback/ebook, 2026)

1993
“Stalker of the Wild Wind” (short story)
   • Terminal Fright (magazine, 1993)
   • The Ithaqua Cycle (anthology; Chaosium, 1999)
   • Legends of the Night (collection; Wildside Press, 2001)

“Sabbath of the Black Goat” (short story)
   • The Shub-Niggurath Cycle (anthology; Chaosium, 1994)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)

1994
The Lebo Coven (novel)
   • Thomson Gale/Five Star Books (hardback, 2004)
   • Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink (paperback/ebook/audiobook, 2010)

“S” (short story)
   • The Azathoth Cycle (anthology; published under the title “The Pit of Shoggoths,”
         Chaosium, 1996)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)

1995
“To Be as They” (short story)
   • Miskatonic University (anthology; DAW, 1996)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000

“The Devil’s Eye” (short story)
   • Midnight Shambler (magazine, 1997)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

1996
“Shudder Wyrm” (short story)
   • Singers of Strange Songs (anthology; Chaosium,1997)

“The Fire Dogs of Balustrade” (short story)
   • New Mythos Legends (anthology; Marietta Publishing, 1999)
   • The Last Trumpet (collection; Wildside Press, 2000)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)

1997
“Orchestra” (short story)
   • October Dreams (anthology; CD Books, 2000)
   • Legends of the Night (collection; Wildside Press, 2001)

“Pachacutec” (short story)
   • Deathrealm (magazine 1997)

1999
“The Children of Burma” (short story)
   • The Spook (magazine, 2001)
   • Legends of the Night (collection; Wildside Press, 2001)
   • The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack: 40 Modern & Classic Lovecraftian Stories
     (mega-anthology; Wildside Press, 2013)

2001
“Epiphany: A Flying Tiger’s Story” (short story)
   • Dead But Dreaming (anthology; DarkTales Books, 2001)
   • Dark Homage (series; Delirium Books, 2004)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)

2002
Blue Devil Island (novel)
   • Thomson Gale/Five Star Books (hardback, 2007)
   • Marietta Press (paperback, 2012)
   • Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink (paperback/ebook/audiobook, 2015)

2003
“The Violet Princess” (short story)
   • Eldritch Blue (anthology; Lindisfarne Press, 2004)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)

2004
“The Transformer of Worlds” (short story)
   • Daikaiju (anthology; Agog Press, 2005)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)

2005
“Other Gods” (short story)
   • Cemetery Dance (magazine, 2006)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions, 2008)

2006
“Contact” (short story, with John Pelan)
   • Black Wings of Cthulhu IV (anthology; PS Publishing, 2016)

“The Ghost Lens” (short story)
   • Horrors Beyond II (anthology; Elder Signs Press, 2007)
   • The Gaki & Other Hungry Spirits (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2011)

“Messages From a Dark Deity” (short story)
   • Return of the Old Ones (anthology; Dark Regions Press, 2016)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

2007
“Signals” (short story)
   • High Seas Cthulhu (anthology; Elder Signs Press, 2007)
   • Other Gods (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2008)

“Abroyel” (short story)
   • The Gaki & Other Hungry Spirits (collection; Dark Regions Press, 2011)

2010
“Beneath the Pier” (short story)
   • Lovecraft eZine (webzine, 2013)

“The Warlords of Leng” (short story)
   • Secret Asia’s Blackest Heart (anthology; Timaios Press, 2021)

“The End of Henry Switch Road” (short story)
   • Dark Discoveries (magazine, 2012)

2011
“The Danforth Project” (short story)
   • The Mountains of Madness (anthology; Celaeno Press, 2015)

“The Gods of Moab” (novelette)
   • Damned Rodan Publishing (ebook, 2012; paperback, 2024)

“Ecstasy of the Gold” (short story)
   • Lovecraft eZine (webzine, 2012)

2013
“The Game Changers” (short story)
   • World War Cthulhu (anthology; Dark Regions Press, 2014)

“When Jarly Calls” (short story)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

2014
“Masque of the Queen” (short story)
   • In the Court of the Yellow King (anthology, Celaeno Press, 2014)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

“Short Wave” (short story)
   • The Summer of Lovecraft (anthology; Chaosium, 2019)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

2016
“The Diaries of Henry P. Linklatter” (short story)
   • Through a Mythos Darkly (anthology; PS Publishing, 2017)

2017
“The Veil of Dreams” (short story)
   • Tails of Terror (anthology; Golden Goblin Press, 2018)

“Clicks” (short story)
   • Tales From Arkham Sanitarium (anthology; Dark Regions Press, 2022)

2018
“Pons Devana” (short story)
   • Fugue Devil Resurgence (collection; Black Raven Books, 2022; reissued by Damned
         Rodan Publishing, 2026)

2022
“Nimbus” (short story)
   • The Weird Cat (anthology; WordCrafts Press, 2023)

2023
“The House at Black Tooth Pond” (short story)
   • Shunned Houses (anthology; WordCrafts Press, 2024)

2024
The House at Black Tooth Pond (novel)
  • Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink (paperback/ebook/audiobook, 2025)

“Throatwarbler Meets the Vampire” (short story)
   • Eldritch Force (anthology; Weird House Publishing, publication TBA)

“Foragers” (short story)
   • Witches and Witchcraft (anthology; Hippocampus Press, 2025)

2025
“Trial Phase” (short story)
  • Shoggoths (anthology; Crossroad Press, publication TBA)

2026
Broken Barriers (novel)
   • Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink (publication TBA)

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WIP Excerpt: The House at Black Tooth Pond

Not very long ago, I wrote a haunted house story, titled "The House at Black Tooth Pond," for an upcoming anthology, which will be appearing later this year. I've made blog posts about the place I call Black Tooth Pond, which is inspired by an honest-to-God location here in Martinsville (the most recent blog being "Black Friday at Black Tooth Pond," Friday, November 25, 2023). For the story, I combined that real-life setting with another: an ancient, crumbling house my brother and I discovered not far from Martinsville in the early 1990s. I called it the House of Cabiness because, inside the place, I discovered a massive cache of old mail, all addressed to members of a certain Cabiness family. I suspect that place is long gone, since so little of it remained intact even then, but the memory of it has haunted me ever since.

The drawing above is one I did back when Brother Phred and I found the place.

I believe the story makes for a fine stand-alone tale, but the more I contemplated the idea, it felt like one that could be expanded into a full-length novel. So, quite recently, I set about scheming and plotting and plotting and scheming, and I came up with a workable novel project. At the moment, I'm roughly 30k words into the writing, so I thought I'd offer a little excerpt. Here she be:

#

As Martin sauntered along the walkway, mostly looking at his feet, he heard a deep, booming voice rising above the soft student babble around him. The voice was shouting, “Sinners, take heed! The end times are near! Take heed, all of ye!”

Oh, hell. One of the endless supply of proselytizers that seemed to target the campus more and more lately. They’d always been around, maybe even more so back in his university days, but there recently seemed to have been a resurgence.

The voice came from a huge, black-suited man, with wide, glittering eyes beneath a heavy brow. He stood on the walkway just shy of the stairs to Reynolds Hall. Unless Martin diverted around to the side door, he couldn't avoid walking directly in front of the fellow. In one hand, the man held a thick sheaf of papers—flyers or tracts, no doubt. None of the students passing nearby appeared to take even the vaguest notice of him.

Good for them.

As he approached, he kept his eyes down and walked by without the fellow taking any special notice of him.

Until he reached the stairs of Reynolds Hall. And then the deep voice bellowed, “Beware, Dr. Pritchett, the doom that came to Eden, the country of the snake!”

Martin whirled around, incredulous, and saw the figure standing on the walkway with one arm outstretched, pointing directly toward him.

“Do you not know what you have disturbed, Dr. Pritchett?"

He took a few steps back toward the towering figure. He’d never seen the man before in his life. How could he know his name? Maybe a former student? No. He didn't think so.

But those words. Martin knew them. They came from the pages he’d taken from the House of Cabiness. But no one besides his brother could be privy to what he’d done. No one else could have been out there to see him. Who could possibly know what was written on those ancient sheets?

No one.

No one alive.

#