Misplaced Pages

#514485

57-832: The story was published posthumously by Arkham House in 1943 . Currently, it is published by Ballantine Books in an anthology that also includes " The Silver Key " and " Through the Gates of the Silver Key ". The definitive version, with corrected text by S. T. Joshi , is published by Arkham House in At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels and by Penguin Classics in The Dreams in the Witch-House and Other Weird Stories . In his dreams, Randolph Carter sees

114-506: A Thousand Tales by Milt Thomas (a biography of pulp writer Hugh B. Cave , 2004); Other Worlds Than Ours , another collection by Nelson Bond (2005); and Evermore (a collection of tales in tribute to Edgar Allan Poe , ed. James Robert Smith & Stephen Mark Rainey, 2006). In 2005 Arkham House was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Small Press Achievements—the trophy at that time was a bust of H. P. Lovecraft . In early 2009 it

171-465: A chance with the collection. Derleth and Wandrei then decided to form their own company, Arkham House with the express purpose of publishing all of Lovecraft's writings in hardcover. The omnibus volume was scheduled as the first offering from Arkham House and priced at $ 5.00, although advance orders were accepted at $ 3.50. Even at that bargain price, only 150 advance orders were received for The Outsider and Others before its release in 1939. The Outsider

228-437: A classic action hero, outstanding warrior and rescuer of princesses, and Randolph Carter, a melancholy figure, quiet and contemplative, who never actually fights any of his enemies, is captured several times, and needs his friends to rescue him again and again. Elsewhere, Price maintains that L. Frank Baum 's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) was also a significant influence on The Dream-Quest , pointing out that in both books

285-477: A five volume edition of Lovecraft's Selected Letters which had been planned from the very start of the company, and which gives an overview of Lovecraft's correspondence to peers, friends and family. Among his correspondents were Arkham House founders, Derleth and Wandrei. (Arkham House's volumes of Lovecraft's letters are highly abridged; unabridged volumes of Lovecraft's letters to individual correspondents have been issued progressively by Hippocampus Press ). After

342-615: A letter to a friend who jokingly claimed descent from Jupiter, Lovecraft drew up a detailed genealogy charting his and fellow writer Clark Ashton Smith's shared descent from Azathoth, through Lovecraft's creation Nyarlathotep and Clark-Smith's Tsathoggua , respectively. As nowhere stated in Lovecraft's published work, primordial Azathoth here is made ancestor, through his children Nyarlathotep, "The Nameless Mist," and "Darkness," of Yog-Sothoth , Shub-Niggurath , Nug and Yeb , Cthulhu , Tsathoggua , several deities and monsters unmentioned outside

399-511: A long slow period, Arkham House entered the 1970s with ambitious publishing plans. Arkham House also published fiction by many of Lovecraft's contemporaries, including Ray Bradbury , Robert E. Howard , Frank Belknap Long , Clark Ashton Smith , Robert Bloch , and Derleth himself; classic genre fiction by authors such as William Hope Hodgson (under the prompting of Herman Charles Koenig ), Algernon Blackwood , H. Russell Wakefield , Seabury Quinn , and Sheridan Le Fanu ; and later writers in

456-501: A majestic city, but is unable to approach it. After the third time the city appears in his dreams, he prays to the gods of dream to reveal the city's whereabouts, but then the city vanishes from his dreams altogether. Undaunted, Carter resolves to beseech the gods in person at Kadath , the mountain above which the gods of dream live. In dream, Carter consults priests in a temple that borders the Dreamlands . They tell Carter that nobody knows

513-652: A number of Arkham House titles for 2011 and after (the last being Evermore ), none of which had appeared as of January 2017 due to April Derleth's death on March 21, 2011. The publisher's website announced in April 2011 that her children would take over the running of the firm. Danielle Jacobs was named president, and her brother Damon Derleth as vice president; they are also the current owners. George Vanderburgh would continue as house editor, as would Robert Weinberg until his death in September 2016. No books have been issued under

570-411: A port city. After a long journey, Carter finds the carving, recognizing the visage of the gods in traders who dock at Celephaïs . Before he can act on his knowledge, faceless, winged creatures called nightgaunts capture him and leave him to die in the underworld. Friendly ghouls , including Carter's friend Richard Pickman , assist him in returning to the surface by sneaking through the terrible city of

627-591: A quick profit. A second Lovecraft omnibus, Beyond the Wall of Sleep , appeared in 1943 as sales on all Arkham House books continued to advance. By 1944, Arkham House was established as a successful small press, with four titles appearing (collections of works by Donald Wandrei, Henry S. Whitehead, Clark Ashton Smith, and a final Lovecraft omnibus). In 1945, Arkham House widened its range by publishing two novels, neither of which had seen print in any form before. These were Witch House by Evangeline Walton and The Lurker at

SECTION 10

#1733104751515

684-496: A story: "A terrible pilgrimage to seek the nighted throne of the far daemon-sultan Azathoth." In a letter to Frank Belknap Long , Lovecraft ties this plot germ to Vathek , a supernatural novel by William Beckford about a wicked caliph . Lovecraft's attempts to work this idea into a novel floundered (a 500-word fragment survives, first published under the title " Azathoth " in the journal Leaves in 1938), although Lovecraftian scholar Will Murray suggests that Lovecraft recycled

741-676: A stroke and his editorial duties at Arkham House lapsed due to this. The house's publishing schedule slowed considerably between 2000 and 2006, with only nine books issued— In the Stone House by Barry N. Malzberg (2000); Book of the Dead by E. Hoffmann Price (a collection of memoirs of writers known by Price, 2001); Arkham House's Masters of Horror (ed. Peter Ruber, 2000); The Far Side of Nowhere by Nelson Bond (2002); The Cleansing by John D. Harvey (a horror novel, 2002); Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith (ed. Scott Connors, 2003); Cave of

798-504: A vast tableland populated by Pan -like horned humanoid beings. Carter is brought to a monastery inhabited by the dreaded High Priest Not to Be Described. There, Carter learns that the Men of Leng are the slavers who captured him, and had worn turbans to conceal their horns. He also learns that the nightgaunts do not serve Nyarlathotep, as is commonly supposed, but Nodens , and that even Earth's gods fear them. Carter recoils in horror as he realizes

855-508: Is a clear prototype for Azathoth, Price argues. Other than the fragmentary draft described above, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath was the first fiction by Lovecraft to mention Azathoth: [O]utside the ordered universe [is] that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst

912-478: Is called Azathoth and Other Horrors . The last major reference in Lovecraft's fiction to Azathoth was in 1935's " The Haunter of the Dark ", which tells of "the ancient legends of Ultimate Chaos, at whose center sprawls the blind idiot god Azathoth, Lord of All Things, encircled by his flopping horde of mindless and amorphous dancers, and lulled by the thin monotonous piping of a demonic flute held in nameless paws". In

969-439: Is in effect a second attempt at completing the abandoned novel Azathoth . While the influence of the fantasies of Lord Dunsany on Lovecraft's Dream Cycle is often mentioned, Robert M. Price argues that a more direct model for The Dream-Quest is provided by the six Mars (" Barsoom ") novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs that had been published by 1927. It's been noted, however, that there is little in common between John Carter,

1026-620: Is later stated to be where the archetypes reside, the true and unimaginable forms of the Outer Gods, though as facets of the Supreme Archetype. Lovecraft referred to Azathoth again in " The Whisperer in Darkness " (1931), where the narrator relates that he "started with loathing when told of the monstrous nuclear chaos beyond angled space which the Necronomicon had mercifully cloaked under

1083-552: Is no longer in business, and they have not replied to several attempts at contact. As of March 2024, a pending new trademark application has been filed by Arkham House LLC of Minnesota with the USPTO office. Arkham House published under two additional imprints during its history. In 1945 the Mycroft & Moran imprint was launched for the publication of weird detective and mystery stories, including Derleth's Solar Pons series. The title of

1140-546: The Necronomicon about the mindless entity Azathoth, which rules all time and space from a curiously environed black throne at the centre of Chaos". He later fears finding himself "in the spiral black vortices of that ultimate void of Chaos wherein reigns the mindless daemon-sultan Azathoth". The poet Edward Pickman Derby, the protagonist of Lovecraft's " The Thing on the Doorstep ", is a poet whose collection of "nightmare lyrics"

1197-535: The novel form." He expressed concern while writing it that "Randolph Carter's adventures may have reached the point of palling on the reader; or that the very plethora of weird imagery may have destroyed the power of any one image to produce the desired impression of strangeness." In 1948, Arthur C. Clarke sent Lord Dunsany a copy of The Arkham Sampler containing part of The Dream-Quest . Dunsany responded: "I see Lovecraft borrowed my style, & I don't grudge it to him". Arkham House Arkham House

SECTION 20

#1733104751515

1254-516: The 1970s and 1980s, Turner expanded the company's range of authors to include such prominent science fiction and fantasy writers as Michael Bishop , Lucius Shepard , Bruce Sterling , James Tiptree, Jr. , Michael Shea and J. G. Ballard , often publishing hardcover collections of shorter works. Turner's acquisitions took the publisher away from its roots in weird and horror fiction, and he was eventually dismissed by April Derleth in 1997; he went on to found Golden Gryphon Press . In 1997 Peter Ruber

1311-584: The Arkham House imprint in the 2020s; the press has reprinted some backlist titles. Books had previously been published almost every year from 1939 to 2010 (except for 1940, 1955/56, and 2006). As of June 7, 2023, the Arkham House web site, arkhamhouse.com, has been down for several months. Arkham House has not made an announcement about the status of the company. It was stated on the August Derleth/Arkham House Facebook page that Arkham House

1368-616: The Arkham House imprint, Keller to advance Derleth a loan against the cost of the book. Derleth revealed to Keller and Moskowitz that he owed his printer $ 2500 and had exhausted every possible source of help. Upon Keller's return to his home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, he wrote a check for the needed sum and sent it to Derleth as a loan at 35% interest on Derleth's personal note. Reporting the transaction in Thirty Years of Arkham House , Derleth adds: "I had not asked for it; he had offered it with

1425-648: The Cthulhu Mythos and the ruler of the Outer Gods , and may also be seen as a symbol for primordial chaos , therefore being the most powerful entity in the entirety of the Cthulhu Mythos. Azathoth is referred to as the "daemon-sultan" and "Lord of All Things", whose throne is at the center of "Ultimate Chaos". The first recorded mention of the name Azathoth was in a note Lovecraft wrote to himself in 1919 that read simply, "AZATHOTH—hideous name". Mythos editor Robert M. Price argues that Lovecraft could have combined

1482-526: The Lovecraft school, such as Ramsey Campbell and Brian Lumley to whom Derleth gave their earliest publication in hardcover. Despite the wealth of talented writers who appeared under the Arkham House imprint, it was not a financial success. Derleth wrote in 1970, "[T]he fact is that in no single year since its founding have the earnings of Arkham House met the expenses, so that it has been necessary for my personal earnings to shore up Arkham House finances." Robert Weinberg has stated "Arkham House's greatest flop

1539-462: The SF (science fiction) small presses as well as slow sales of certain titles put August Derleth in a precarious bind. Only a generous loan from Dr David H. Keller prevented Arkham from going bankrupt during a period of cash flow problems in 1948. Keller visited Derleth's home, "The Place of Hawks" in the company of Sam Moskowitz , the object of the visit being Derleth agreeing to publish a Keller book under

1596-569: The Threshold by August Derleth (based on an outline by H. P. Lovecraft). Derleth also widened Arkham's range by publishing collections of stories by well-known fantasy authors, the first being Green Tea and Other Ghost Stories by the Irish author J. Sheridan Le Fanu . Collections by Englishmen A.E. Coppard , H. Russell Wakefield , William Hope Hodgson and Algernon Blackwood followed in 1947. Also in 1947 were books by three American writers, including

1653-399: The biblical names Anathoth ( Jeremiah 's home town) and Azazel —mentioned by Lovecraft in " The Dunwich Horror ". Price also points to the alchemical term " Azoth ", which was used in the title of a book by Arthur Edward Waite , the model for the wizard Ephraim Waite in Lovecraft's " The Thing on the Doorstep ". Another note Lovecraft made to himself later in 1919 refers to an idea for

1710-529: The centre of ultimate Chaos.... He must sign in his own blood the book of Azathoth and take a new secret name.... What kept him from going with her...to the throne of Chaos where the thin flutes pipe mindlessly was the fact that he had seen the name 'Azathoth' in the Necronomicon , and knew it stood for a primal horror too horrible for description." Gilman wakes from another dream remembering "the thin, monotonous piping of an unseen flute", and decides that "he had picked up that last conception from what he had read in

1767-422: The city to recall the gods of earth, but Carter realizes too late that the mocking Nyarlathotep has tricked him, and he is being taken to the court of Azathoth at the center of the universe. At first believing he is doomed, Carter suddenly remembers that he is in a dream and wakes. Nyarlathotep broods over his defeat within the halls of Kadath, mocking in anger the "mild gods of earth" whom he has snatched back from

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-662: The comment, 'I pride myself on my judgment of character.' No greater compliment could have been paid me or Arkham House. ' " In the late 1960s, Arkham House seemed again on the verge of going bankrupt, but suddenly found a whole new market for its books when the surge in interest in Robert E. Howard (capitalized upon by Donald M. Grant ) coincided with a surge in interest in the work of H. P. Lovecraft. All of Lovecraft's works were reprinted in three newly edited omnibus volumes, which were kept continually in print. In addition to volumes of H. P. Lovecraft's fiction, Arkham House began to publish

1881-604: The core Lovecraft collections issued in the 1960s— Dagon and Other Macabre Tales , At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels , The Horror in the Museum and The Dunwich Horror and Others ). Rights were occasionally sold during the 1960s and 1970s to other publishers who issued paperback editions of Arkham House titles. However, this changed in the 1980s. There are now multiple printings and/or alternate editions of over 20 individual Arkham House titles. August Derleth's children April (Rose) and Walden (Wally) Derleth now co-owned

1938-461: The daemon said, As in contempt he struck his Master’s head. The "daemon" that claims to be Azathoth's messenger is identified by later authors as Nyarlathotep , another of Lovecraft's deities. In a 1930 letter, Lovecraft describes Azathoth as "the mindless Lord of Nighted Chaos who is the father of all other horrors & is coeval with the Ultimate Abyss itself", in which the Ultimate Abyss

1995-508: The ghouls to the gods' castle on Kadath. After a long flight, Carter arrives at Kadath but finds it empty. A great procession led by a pharaoh -like man arrives. The pharaoh reveals himself as Nyarlathotep and tells Carter that the city of his dreams is the childhood memories of his home city of Boston. The gods of earth have seen the city of Carter's dreams and made it their home, abandoning Kadath and their responsibilities. Impressed with Carter's resolve, Nyarlathotep grants Carter passage to

2052-626: The idea into his Dream Cycle novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath , written in 1926. Price sees another inspiration for Azathoth in Lord Dunsany 's Mana-Yood-Sushai , from The Gods of Pegana , a creator deity "who made the gods and thereafter rested." In Dunsany's conception, MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI sleeps eternally, lulled by the music of a lesser deity who must drum forever, "for if he cease for an instant then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI will start awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more." This oblivious creator god accompanied by supernatural musicians

2109-561: The imprint was inspired by characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories: Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, and the villain Colonel Sebastian Moran. Some Mycroft and Moran titles since 1993 have also been issued by Battered Silicon Dispatch Box . Arkham also introduced Stanton & Lee Publishers in 1945 with the intention of publishing cartoons by Clare Victor Dwiggins. Stanton & Lee Publishers went on to publish poetry and

2166-419: The location of Kadath, and warn him of great danger should he continue with his quest to reach the city and suggest that the gods purposefully stopped his visions. Carter's knowledge of Dreamlands customs and languages makes his quest comparatively less risky than if done by an amateur, but he must consult entities with a dangerous reputation. The Zoogs, a race of predatory rodents, direct him to Ulthar to find

2223-681: The main character chooses in the end to return "home" as the best place to be. An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia cites Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Marble Faun and " The Great Stone Face " as influences. The Dream-Quest has evoked a broad range of reactions, "some HPL enthusiasts finding it almost unreadable and others... comparing it to the Alice books and the fantasies of George MacDonald ." Joanna Russ referred to The Dream-Quest as "charming... but alas, never rewritten or polished". Lovecraft himself declared that "it isn't much good; but forms useful practice for later and more authentic attempts in

2280-508: The man-eating Gugs. After assisting the cats in repelling a Zoog sneak attack, Carter buys passage to Celephaïs and learns from the sailors that the traders come from Inganok, a cold and dark land devoid of cats. Carter meets Celephaïs' king, his friend Kuranes, who became a permanent resident of the Dreamlands upon his death in the waking world. Longing for home, he has dreamed parts of his kingdom to resemble his native Cornwall . Kuranes knows

2337-406: The masked high-priest's true identity. Carter flees through maze-like corridors, wandering through the monastery in pitch-black darkness until he chances on the exit. After rescuing several ghouls from the Men of Leng, Carter and the ghoul reinforcements attack a moon-beast outpost on the nameless rock. In a nearby city, Carter obtains the services of a flock of nightgaunts to transport himself and

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-410: The muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes. Verse 22 of Lovecraft's 1929 poetry cycle Fungi from Yuggoth is entitled "Azathoth" and consists of the following: Out in the mindless void the daemon bore me Past the bright clusters of dimensioned space, Till neither time nor matter stretched before me, But only Chaos, without form or place. Here

2451-527: The name of Azathoth". Here "nuclear" most likely refers to Azathoth's central location at the nucleus of the cosmos and not to nuclear energy , which did not truly come of age until after Lovecraft's death. In " The Dreams in the Witch House " (1932), the protagonist Walter Gilman dreams that he is told by the witch Keziah Mason that "He must meet the Black Man , and go with them all to the throne of Azathoth at

2508-466: The pitfalls of the Dreamlands well but fails to dissuade Carter from his quest. Under the pretense of wishing to work in its quarries, Carter boards a ship bound for Inganok. As they draw near, Carter spots a nameless island from which he hears strange howls. At a breathtaking summit near a quarry, Carter is captured by a merchant he had previously encountered. Monstrous birds fly them over the Plateau of Leng,

2565-467: The priest Atal . In the cat-laden city of Ulthar, Atal mentions a huge mountainside carving of the gods' features. Carter realizes the gods' mortal descendants will share those features and presumably be near Kadath. While seeking passage there, Carter is kidnapped by turbaned slavers, who take him to the moon and deliver him to horrible moon-beasts, the servants of malevolent god Nyarlathotep . The cats of Ulthar, Carter's allies, rescue him and return him to

2622-513: The publisher, April running the business while Wally had no direct involvement in its day-to-day operations. April earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977. She became majority stockholder, President, and CEO of Arkham House in 1994, in which capacity she remained until her death. Wandrei was succeeded as editorial director by James Turner . Throughout

2679-431: The quality of their printing and binding. The printer's mark for Arkham House was designed by Frank Utpatel . In late 1937, after Lovecraft's death, Derleth and Wandrei sought to produce a collection of their friend's best weird fiction from the pulp magazines into a memorial volume. After several failed attempts to interest major publishers in the omnibus volume, the two men realized no publisher would be willing to take

2736-470: The regional writings of August Derleth . August Derleth also sub-contracted certain books which were nominally published by Arkham House to other publishers, including Pellegrini & Cudahy of New York, and Villiers Publications of England. Azathoth Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of writer H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. He is the supreme deity of

2793-418: The science fiction novel Slan by A.E. Van Vogt . Derleth must have felt he was in the wrong field as Slan , with a print run of over 4,000 copies proved to be the fastest and best selling Arkham House of the 1940s. Arkham House published many books in the fantasy and horror field including a small but steady number throughout the 1950s. Robert Weinberg has written that: "However, intense competition from

2850-625: The sunset city. Lovecraft included elements and characters from previous stories, many of which had been influenced by Lord Dunsany , in Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath , though they are not always depicted consistently. Like Lovecraft's novel fragment " Azathoth " (1922, published 1938), The Dream-Quest appears to have been influenced by Vathek , a 1786 novel by William Thomas Beckford that "is similarly an exotic fantasy written without chapter divisions". Critics such as Will Murray and David E. Schultz, in fact, have suggested that The Dream-Quest

2907-417: The vast Lord of All in darkness muttered Things he had dreamed but could not understand, While near him shapeless bat-things flopped and fluttered In idiot vortices that ray-streams fanned. They danced insanely to the high, thin whining Of a cracked flute clutched in a monstrous paw, Whence flow the aimless waves whose chance combining Gives each frail cosmos its eternal law. "I am His Messenger,"

SECTION 50

#1733104751515

2964-408: Was Witch House , an excellent novel that took nearly two decades to go out of print." After Derleth's death in 1971 Donald Wandrei briefly acted as editorial director but declined to resume his interest in the firm permanently. Prior to the 1980s Arkham House did not reprint its books (with some exceptions such as Someone in the Dark and Night's Yawning Peal: A Ghostly Company and four of

3021-473: Was an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction . It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin , in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft 's best works, which had previously been published only in pulp magazines . The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham , Massachusetts. Arkham House editions are noted for

3078-435: Was announced that George Vanderburgh of Battered Silicon Dispatch Box , and Robert Weinberg , would jointly take over the editorial duties at Arkham House. That year Battered Silicon Dispatch Box issued four new volumes of stories by August Derleth under the umbrella title "The Macabre Quarto" under a joint imprint with Arkham House, which constituted the latter's only output since 2006. In 2010 The Arkham Sampler (1948–49)

3135-479: Was appointed as her consulting editor and successor to James Turner. April became president of Arkham House in 2002. She made the house's mission a return to classic weird fiction, which Ruber sought to do. Ruber drew criticism for the hostile opinions of various authors he expressed in his story introductions within Arkham's Masters of Horror (2000). Rumors of his ill-health circulated for some time; he eventually suffered

3192-469: Was printed by the George Banta Co. of Wisconsin in an edition of 1,268 copies. The book was over 550 pages long with small print and featured a dustjacket by fantasy artist Virgil Finlay . The omnibus sold slowly but steadily. Derleth was a successful writer and had a good deal of revenue coming in from his writing work, which allowed him to subsidize Arkham House's operations without it needing to realize

3249-545: Was reissued in a limited edition (250 sets) two-volume facsimile reprint of the now-rare magazine issued by Arkham House that ran four issues a year 1948–1949. This work was issued by Arkham House co-published with the August Derleth Society . In the same year Jon Lellenberg's novel Baker Street Irregular was issued under the Mycroft and Moran imprint. George Vanderburgh's blog at Battered Silicon Dispatch Box announced

#514485