If you’re an H. P. Lovecraft fan, you’ll find plenty to like in Sam Gafford’s collection, The Dreamer in the Fire and Other Stories (2017). The book gets its title from “The Dreamer in the Fire: Notes on Robert Winslow’s ‘Sutters Corners.'” Like some of Lovecraft stories, “The Dreamer in the Fire” begins innocently enough with a scholar trying to track down documents of another, older, scholar for a publishing enterprise. And, like all Lovecraft stories, “The Dreamer in the Fire” veers into the nightmarish secret world of the Mythos.
My favorite story is “Good Morning, Innsmouth!” where an ambitious reporter for a morning news TV show finds more than she bargained for when she visits Innsmouth to film a routine feature.
The Dreamer in the Fire and Other Stories is an uneven collection, but there’s enough Good Stuff here to engage most readers. GRADE: B
Table of Contents
“Casting Fractals,” first published in Black Wings V, edited by S. T. Joshi (PS Publishing, 2016). — 7
“Showtime,” first published in Dark Corridor No. 1 (2007). — 25
“The Adventure of the Prometheus Calculation” is previously unpublished. — 31
“Homecoming,” first published in New Tales of the Old Ones, edited by Michael C. Dick (KnightWatch Press, 2013). — 39
“The Gathering Daemonica,” first published in Dark Corridor #3 (2009). — 59
“Static,” first published in Machina Mortis: Steampunk’d Tales of Terror, Volume 1, edited by Sam Gafford (KnightWatch Press, 2013). — 75
“Sunspots” is previously unpublished. — 89
“My Brother’s Keeper,” first published in Wicked Tales: The Journal of the New England Horror Writers, Volume 3 (2015). — 95
“‘How Does That Make You Feel?’” is previously unpublished. –105
“What Was That?” is previously unpublished. — 117
“‘The Dreamer in Fire’: Notes on Robert Winslow’s ‘Sutter’s Corners,’” first published in Grimoire No. 1 (1993). — 125
“He Whose Feet Trod the Lost Aeons” is previously unpublished. — 159
“‘Good Morning, Innsmouth!’” is previously unpublished. — 165
“Weltschmerz,” first published in Black Wings III, edited by S. T. Joshi (PS Publishing, 2014). — 183
“Hellhounds on the Trail,” first published in Shadows of the Past: Arkham Horror Book Club Anthology, Volume I, edited by Frederic Norton (NEHW Press, 2014). — 203
“The Land of Lonesomeness,” first published in the Weird Fiction Review No. 5 (November 2014). — 217
“Passing Spirits,” first published in Black Wings, edited by S. T. Joshi (PS Publishing, 2010). — 225
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 241
I guess Rick won’t be reading this one. I finally started (again) Seabury Quinn’s collection of Jules de Grandin stories with the first, “The Horror on the Links.” Some of De Grandin’s “French” comments are risible, and the story is not exactly scary, but I will continue with these for a while.
Isn’t it amazing how Lovecraft has become an industry these days?
Jeff, I read Seabury Quinn in small doses. You’re right about Lovecraft becoming a publishing industry with new pastiches seemingly being published every month.
Jeff is absolutely correct! (I hate the cover, too)
Rick, the cover is appropriate to the type of stories in Gafford’s book.
I’ve never heard of Gafford but this does look interesting. Nice cover.
Michael, I try to support new writers from small presses.
Gafford, who died in 2019 following a massive heart attack, was a major influence in the horror genre. He tirelessly promoted the work of William Hope Hodgson and was a major WHH scholar, he published a number of fanzines and chapbooks beginning in the 1980s, he founded small publishing company Ulthar Press to bring good weird fiction to a greater audience (and often dug into his own pocket to pay writers what he thought they deserved whenever their books did not sell as well as first thought), he co-founded OCCULT DETECTIVE QUARTERLY, and was himself a greatly talented writer. For a very perceptive person, he was self-effacing about his own writing. He did not feel comfortable about his own work and would rather discuss the works of others perhaps this was the main reason he was not as well-known to the reading public as he should have been. His legacy, however, is impressive, and he helped hundreds of writers see print along the way.
Jerry, thanks for all the detail about Sam Gafford. I knew he was involved in small press publishing, but I had no idea he was such a force in supporting new writers. I’m saddened that he’s gone.
I have never heard of him until now. I think horror fits in all too well with our times.
Patti, many of these stories capture the tenor of our Dark Times. Our hospitals are filling up…fast!
I haven’t read any Lovecraft, but my husband has and I may sample some of Lovecraft’s stories. I have a mixed reaction to the cover,
Tracy, Lovecraft was an underrated writer. You might want to try “Pickman’s Model” and “The Music of Erich Zann.” Those two stories will give you a flavor of what Lovecraft is all about.
Haven’t read anything there but had to laugh at “Weltschmerz” – how would you translate this into English?
Wolf, can’t help translate “Welschmerz” since I took Spanish in school instead of German.
Totally OT:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/no-kill-lab-grown-meat-to-go-on-sale-for-first-time
Reading this brought back memories – the famous Space Merchants by Pohl and Kornbluth was the first book afaik where this idea appeared – as Chicken Little
Wolf, SPACE MERCHANTS by Pohl & Kornbluth contained several far-reaching ideas. A true Science Fiction classic!