I really enjoy Mr. Pugmire's work and I loved this book. His Sesqua Valley tales are my favorite. If you enjoy dark fantasy you will love this book. ( )

This was my first hardcover collection, and at the time of its publication I was proud of its contents; but now I find much of the writing extremely flawed. I was then unprofessional enough to allow Lovecraftian eccentricities of spelling and grammar, which I echoed in my personal correspondence, to color my prose in my weird fiction writing. It was a stupid and unprofessional practice, and I keenly regret it now.

The trade paperback edition of this edition, published by Mythos Books, includes additional stories that were not in the hardcover. The book remains my most popular book among readers new to my work, and it does showcase my absolute and eternal preoccupation with writing works that are homage to H. P. Lovecraft. If you want to glean my beginnings as a writer, this book may amuse you. If you want to then compare my early work to the work I have written since growing up, I suggest you purchase UNCOMMON PLACES or SOME UNKNOWN GULF OF NIGHT.