Penumbra No. 2 (2021) · A Journal of Weird Fiction and Criticism

Cover art by George C. Cotronis. Cover design by Daniel V. Sauer.

The second issue of Penumbra is highlighted by “Lost for Words,” a new story by Ramsey Campbell, the leading writer of weird and supernatural literature of our time. In addition, veteran writers Darrell Schweitzer and Mark Samuels contribute original tales. Among younger writers, Curtis M. Lawson presents a science fiction/horror hybrid; Katherine Kerestman pens a skillful tale of vampirism; Scott J. Couturier, Geoffrey Reiter, Scott Bradfield, and Shawn Phelps offer glimpses of terror and strangeness; and Manuel Arenas contributes a moving prose poem. The issue also includes, as its classic reprint, Algernon Blackwood’s first published weird tale.

Among the articles in this issue, Martin Wangsgaard Jürgensen examines religiosity in the early tales of Lord Dunsany; James Goho analyzes the roots of terror in the work of Caitlín R. Kiernan; John C. Tibbetts studies weird elements in the oeuvre of acclaimed science fiction writer Greg Bear; S. T. Joshi presents a comprehensive account of the weird work of Guy de Maupassant; and other essays discuss William Hope Hodgson, vampire poetry, Clark Ashton Smith’s Hyperborea cycle, John Collier, and other subjects.

Adam Bolivar, Wade German, Ann K. Schwader, Leigh Blackmore, Maxwell I. Gold, and Frank Coffman are among the poets included in this issue.

In all, Penumbra No. 2 is a cornucopia of the bizarre in fiction, essays, and verse.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial

Fiction

Lost for Words / Ramsey Campbell

A Green Shade / Geoffrey Reiter

The Interminable Abomination / Mark Samuels

The Dream of a Dead Poet / Manuel Arenas

Quiet / Shawn Phelps

Markovia / Katherine Kerestman

All Kings and Princes Bow Down unto Me / Darrell Schweitzer

A Grave at the End of the World / Curtis M. Lawson

Like Vultures / Scott J. Couturier

The Holiday Transmission / Scott Bradfield

Nonfiction

Spooky Action across Time: Caitlín R. Kiernan’s Fiction Disturbs Noël Carroll’s Philosophy of Horror / James Goho

The Almost-Nonhuman: Life and Death in Kelly Link, Carmen Maria Machado, and George Saunders / Mairead Drake

“Music in the Blood”: Greg Bear and the Gothic Imagination / John C. Tibbetts

Vampire Poetry / Kyla Lee Ward

Guy de Maupassant: Women, Madness, and the Horla / S. T. Joshi

The Fantastic / Guy de Maupassant

Free Will vs. Love: John Collier and Brian McNaughton / David Rose

A Matter of Belief: Further Thoughts on Lord Dunsany and Religion / Martin Wangsgaard Jürgensen

“The Quest of Iranon” and Don Rodriguez: Two Exercises in the Picaresque / Cecelia Hopkins-Drewer

Icy Portents of Doom: Clark Ashton Smith’s Hyperborean Cycle and the Polar Myth / Ian Fetters

Hodgson, The Night Land, and William Morris / Lee Weinstein

Classic Reprint

A Mysterious House / Algernon Blackwood

Poetry

Borrowed Time / Ngo Binh Anh Khoa

When Old Gods Rattle Chains / Adam Bolivar

Night Hags / Wade German

The Absence / Geoffrey Reiter

Waiting in Carcosa / Ann K. Schwader

Summa Oblivia / Maxwell I. Gold

Basilisk Eye / Leigh Blackmore

Sad Steps Beneath the Silent Moon / Frank Coffman