THROUGH THE MISTS OF . . . WHAT?

Just recently, I've had another fiction piece accepted, this time from LOVECRAFTIANA, THE MAGAZINE OF ELDRITCH HORROR, a quarterly publication of Rogue Planet Press featuring stories, articles, poetry and artwork on Cthulhu Mythos/H.P. Lovecraft themes and available as a print magazine and Kindle from Amazon. It won't see print until 2027, but it was previously published and it's currently hard to find paying markets that will accept these types of manuscripts.

"Through the Mists of Xzigtarph" started life many years ago as "The Demon-Thing" in a first draft. I have had major periods of inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and his circle of weird fiction writers several times over the years and this was during the first.

Some years later I revised it and included it in the anthology, MORE FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH, published in 2000 by my small press imprint, L'Image Studios/Pentagram Publications. Again, recently I revised it still again and it was accepted in its present form.

My sister, who is a multi-media artist, would sometimes supply illustrations for my 'zine LOVECRAFT'S WEIRD MYSTERIES. The image below was inspired by "Xzigtarph".

Here are the opening paragraphs of "Through the Mists of Xzigtarph":

ONLY AN OPIUM DEN could reveal such astonishing visions and only a lotus-eater could dream of such unspeakable delusions; but I have seen them and was neither drugged nor hallucinating. They were real, I tell you, and I have the soul-haunted memories to prove it. A warning to all: beware of lands beyond the realm of earthly consciousness.

Trust in me, these words are not from the pen of some delirious lunatic; I am completely sane, and you must believe me—if you do, then you must also believe the incredible story I am about to relate and take heed. If you do not, then call me just one more madman in the universe.

The demon-thing came through my open window on a warm, balmy summer evening just a few short months ago. I had had a particularly strenuous day at work in the employ of the Occult Research Institute in Moonridge Heights; a small, insular town protectively nestled in a dense woodland well off the main interstate highway just a few miles outside of Arkham proper. My job was to examine heaps of dusty, archaic manuscripts and locate any references to a certain Da'agu, who ostensibly held the loftiest position in the pantheon of a group of—so I thought at the time—extinct, god-like beings allegedly existing in a mist-hidden realm outside earth's time and space called Xzigtarph.

After an exceptionally demanding day, I returned home exhausted. I prepared a meager bachelor’s dinner for myself of Friend’s baked beans and Crown Pilot crackers then went to my study for a brandy, after which I quickly dozed off. I awoke and found the brandy glass only half-empty and my pipe long burned out. I summoned the wherewithal to rise from my chair and retire for the evening.

I slept fitfully, tossing and turning in my small bed. It was unseasonably warm that night and I had opened my window to allow fresh air to circulate in the room. Suddenly, I felt a slight, almost unnoticeable breeze pass over my perspiring brow, followed by a foetid odor akin to rotten meat permeating my surroundings. I opened my eyes it was then that I saw the demon-thing hovering before me in a form that was only vaguely human. . .

To read the original version of this story as it appeared in MORE FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH, go HERE.