The House of the Worm is a collection of stories by author Gary Myers

Gary Myers (writer)

Gary Myers is an American writer of fantasy and horror. He is a resident of Fullerton, California. His first book, The House of the Worm, was a collection of Cthulhu Mythos stories in the fantasy manner of H. P. Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany; it was published by Arkham House in 1975 and is now out...

. It was published in 1975

1975 in literature

The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* August 12 — with the 20-year time limit stipulated by Thomas Mann at his death having expired, sealed packets containing 32 of the author's notebooks were opened in Zurich, Switzerland.* Writing under the...

 by Arkham House

Arkham House

Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...

 in an edition of 4,144 copies and was the author's first book. The book is a stylistic pastiche

Pastiche

A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...

 of H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

 and Lord Dunsany, and may be seen as an expansion of Lovecraft's Dream Cycle

Dream Cycle

The Dream Cycle refers to a series of stories by author H. P. Lovecraft. These stories concern themselves with "The Dreamlands": a vast, alternate dimension that can be entered via dreams.-Geography:The Dreamlands is apparently divided into four regions:...

. While presented as a novel of the Cthulhu Mythos

Cthulhu Mythos

The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...

, it is, in fact, a collection of linked stories.

The first of these stories, "The House of the Worm," was included (as "The Feast in the House of the Worm") in Lin Carter

Lin Carter

Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...

's anthology New Worlds for Old

New Worlds for Old

New Worlds for Old is an anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in September 1971 as the thirty-fifth volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series...

 (1971), the thirty-fifth volume in the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series

The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 , the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature, which were out of print or dispersed in back issues of pulp magazines , in cheap paperback form—including works...

.

Contents

• "Introduction"
• I "The House of the Worm"
• II "Yohk the Necromancer"
• III "Xiurhn"
• IV "Passing of a Dreamer"
• V "The Return of Zhosph"
• VI "The Three Enchantments"
• VII "Hazuth-Kleg"
• VIII "The Loot of Golthoth"
• IX "The Four Sealed Jars"
• X "The Maker of Gods"