Short Story Saturday: World War Cthulhu and Dreaming in Darkness

Yesterday (8 November) was Bram Stoker's birthday. Stoker's most infamous creation is surely the vampire count Dracula, but amongst his other works is The Lair of the White Worm which takes its inspiration from the Legend of the Lambton Worm.

Vampires have cropped up one or two times in my own work (Shadows Over Sylvania and Blood Royal to name but two), but the Legend of the Lambton Worm has directly influenced my work in print four times so far.

First there was the Wodewitch's Devilworm in my first published book Spellbreaker. Then there was the Pax Britannia novella Conqueror Worm. More recently the legend inspired my new novella The Serpent's Egg that appears in Dreaming in Darkness. And now there's The Scottish Patient, published recently in World War Cthulhu by Cubicle 7 Entertainment.

Interestingly, for readers of Dreaming in Darkness, The Scottish Patient is a sort-of-prequel to The Serpent's Egg. Although it's come out second, it was actually written more than a year before The Serpent's Egg.

Edited by British Fantasy Society Award winner Jonathan Oliver, World War Cthulhu contains short stories by such luminaries as James Lovegrove, Weston Ochse, Rebecca Levene, Robin D. Laws, Simon Bestwick, Gaie Sebold, T.P. Pike, Sarah Newton, Greg Stolze, Paul Finch, John Llewellyn Probert, Yours Truly, Archie Black and World Fantasy Award winner Lavie Tidhar.

As the shadows of war gather over Europe something is stirring within the darkness; something far older than humankind. Those with evil intent will seek to harness these terrible powers, while those fighting to turn the tide of war will find themselves up against far more than bullets and bombs. In forgotten R’lyeh, Cthulhu stirs as the mighty armies of the Third Reich march.

You can download World War Cthulhu as an ebook here.

And while we're on the subject of Dreaming in Darkness here's another awesome review.