People's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos

Chapter

Author

Description

The Wood of the Dead

Algernon Blackwood

A traveler encounters a mysterious old man who invites him into a lonely wood said to receive those who are about to die. A quiet, dreamlike ghost story about death, compassion, and the thin boundary between the living and the dead.

The Night-Doings at “Deadman’s”

Ambrose Bierce

On a freezing night in an abandoned mining camp, a lonely man welcomes a strange visitor and begins recounting the unsettling history of Deadman’s Gulch. Bierce mixes ghost-story dread with his characteristic grim humor and irony. 

Shadow – A Parable

Edgar Allan Poe

Seven men hide from a terrible plague, drinking beside the body of a dead companion, when an impossible shadow appears among them. A brief, intensely atmospheric meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death. 

Kerfol

Edith Wharton

A visitor to an old estate in Brittany encounters a silent pack of mysterious dogs and discovers the tragic history of the house. Wharton’s gothic tale combines an abusive marriage, murder, and supernatural revenge. 

In the Dark

Ronal Kayser

Alone in his chemical plant, Asa Gregg records a confession concerning a murder he thought he had successfully concealed. Something inside the factory, however, appears determined to undo both the crime and the laws of nature. Originally published in Weird Tales in 1936.

The Last Revel in Printz Hall

Charles M. Skinner

A young fiddler accepts a job as caretaker of the lonely and reputedly haunted Printz Hall near Chester, Pennsylvania. His night in the abandoned mansion becomes considerably stranger once the music begins.

Edward Randolph’s Portrait

Charles M. Skinner

An ominous portrait hangs in Boston’s old Province House and is said to reveal its dreadful face before disasters. The figure is Edward Randolph, remembered by colonial legend as a betrayer of Massachusetts’ liberties. 

The Headless Skeleton of Swamptown

Charles M. Skinner

Strange lights, witches, apparitions, and a headless figure haunt the folklore surrounding Swamptown, Rhode Island. Skinner collects several grisly local legends centered on a particularly unsettling human skull. 

Were-Wolves of Detroit

Charles M. Skinner

Old Detroit legends tell of witches, forbidden bargains, and men transformed into loups-garous. One tale follows a rejected suitor who turns to witchcraft in an attempt to carry away the woman he desires.