I admit it, I’m currently on a real kick for Horror fiction in general and HP Lovecraft in particular. Maybe it’s the time of year; the evenings draw in, there’s a catch in your breath from the cold air, it’s Halloween season, and your thoughts turn to cosmic horror and undying gods beyond the stars and under the sea…

I love that there’s such a rich HPL vein to mine these days; I remember having to order a copy of HPL’s collected works from another library, upon first discovering him as a teenager; I’m happy that his genius is more widely recognised now, and there’s a plethora of books, websites, artwork, (see the top picture for a great example from Mike Dubisch) graphic novels and podcasts, as well as a few interesting films based on his stories in the pipeline.

I recently discovered a great podcast that discusses Lovecraft’s literary output, it’s really worth a listen: The HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast; Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer have some great readers and special guests and I can really recommend it; most of the HPL podcasts are on iTunes for free.

I also tracked down (in the US) a yellowed and battered paperback copy of a collection of short stories called “The Shuttered Room”, supposedly completed from unfinished HPL notes and ideas, but in reality probably wholly written by Lovecraft’s literary champion, August Derleth. I’m enjoying the stories so far, adding as they do to the Lovecraftian mythos. There’s even a 1967 creepy British film based on the title story featuring the late great Oliver Reed!

All this cosmic otherworldliness got me thinking,and my submission to the 101fiction’s Halloween edition had to be an HPL tribute – I plumped on an homage to “From Beyond“, an unsettling tale of a mad scientist’s (mad in both senses of the word, the guy has a grudge!) quest to see and interact with the unseeable things that inhabit the air, unbeknownst to mankind.

I’m really pleased to announce that this 100-word story, “Between“, is featured in the special Halloween edition 13 of 101fiction; please do have a read of it and the other great short fiction published by John Xero.

I hope you like the story! You don’t need to have read Lovecraft to (hopefully) enjoy it, but if you have, I hope it adds a small extra frisson to your reading experience…