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Twice Upon an Apocalypse: Lovecraftian Fairy Tales Kindle Edition
These aren't your mother's fairy tales.
Throughout history parents have told their children stories to help them sleep, to keep them entertained. But we're pretty sure none of those parents had this in mind. These are the fairy tales that will give you and your children nightmares. From the darkest depths of Grimm and Anderson come the immortal mash-ups with the creations of HP Lovecraft.
These stories will scare and delight 'children' of all ages!
- Introduction by Gary A Braunbeck
- “The Pied Piper of Providence” by William Meikle
- “The Three Billy Goats Sothoth” by Peter N Dudar
- “Little Maiden of the Sea” by David Bernard
- “The Great Old One and the Beanstalk” by Armand Rosamilia
- “In the Shade of the Juniper Tree” by JP Hutsell
- “The Horror at Hatchet Point” by Zach Shephard
- “The Most Incredible Thing” by Bracken MacLeod
- “Let Me Come In!” by Simon Yee
- “The Fishman and His Wife” by Inanna Arthen
- “Little Match Mi-Go” by Michael Kamp
- “Follow the Yellow Glyph Road” by Scott T Goudsward
- “Gumdrop Apocalypse” by Pete Rawlik
- “Curiosity” by Winifred Burniston
- “The Ice Queen” by Mae Empson
- “Once Upon a Dream” by Matthew Baugh
- “Cinderella and Her Outer Godfather” by CT Phipps
- “Donkeyskin” by KH Vaughan
- “Sweet Dreams in the Witch-House” by Sean Logan
- “Fee Fi Old One” by Thom Brannan
- “The King on the Golden Mountain” by Morgan Sylvia
- “The Legend of Creepy Hollow” by Don D’Ammassa
Brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths
So what makes this Lovecraftian Fairy Tales anthology special?
William Meikle: Lovecraft was working on stirring some base emotions in the reader, asking us to reflect on the depth and wonder of the Universe around us. Fairy tales, whether from the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen or from the oral tradition are a similar means of tapping into something old and primal, and a fusion of both gives us added insight into how archetypes and myth might evolve in an age where the most frightening thing is ourselves.
Armand Rosamilia: The mashup of Lovecraft and fairy tales blended together way too easy. It makes you wonder... Reading through these stories you can see how the two parallel and fit nicely together, especially since the base for Cthulhu mythos and fairy tales are so dark and have that underlying gloom to them.
Tell us more about your horror short story.
William Meikle: I have a fascination with the power of music to affect changes in our mental, and physical, picture of how the world works at a basic level. THE PIED PIPER OF PROVIDENCE is one of my explorations of just that. Plus, it was a load of fun exploring how a modern city might respond to an age old menace.
Armand Rosamilia: What would happen if Jack's magic beans took him not to giants but to an infinitely worse creature? I tried to stay true to the fairy tale, which I hadn't read in many years. I was at once fascinated by how dark it was reading it as an adult. As a kid you miss the subtle darkness in this tale and I wanted to bring it to the forefront with my story. The readers will let me know if I've succeeded.
Why should readers give this horror anthology a try?
Armand Rosamilia: If you love fairy tales or Lovecraft or horror or reading or... There are so many levels to this anthology. So many stories you'll read and then go back to read the original fairy tale to gain a new perspective on what you remember (or thought you remember) as a child. I went back and read all of the original tales and was a bit creeped out. Adding Lovecraft to the mix only makes it better!
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMay 30, 2017
- File size4412 KB
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From the Publisher

Our anthologies include the likes of Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Josh Malerman, Damien Angelica Walters, Orrin Grey , Brian Keene, Graham Masterton , Kathe Koja, Gemma Files, Lee Murray, Christopher Golden, Kevin J. Anderson, Jonathan Maberry, Gary A. Braunbeck, Rick Hautala, Tim Curran, Elizabeth Massie, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Kevin Lucia, John Skipp, Mary SanGiovanni, Jonathan Janz, Glenn Rolfe, Jeff Strand, Rachel Autumn Deering, Patrick Lacey, Bev Vincent, John Palisano, Tim Waggoner, Lisa Morton, Rena Mason, Tim Lebbon, Aaron Dries, Richard Chizmar, Mark Allan Gunnells, Kenneth W. Cain, Kealan Patrick Burke, Gene O'Neill, Maria Alexander, Michael Bailey, Lucy A. Snyder, Jason Sizemore, Laird Barron, S.P. Miskowski, Gwendolyn Kiste, Seanan McGuire, Richard Thomas, Taylor Grant, Armand Rosamilia, Todd Keisling, John Boden, Chad Lutzke, Gary McMahon, Jasper Bark, Jeremy C. Shipp, John Claude Smith, Scott Nicholson, William Meikle, and many more.

Editorial Reviews
Review
"Twice Upon an Apocalypse is one of the most refreshingly inventive, entertaining, thoughtful (and thought-provoking), not to mention unnerving anthologies I've read in years." - Gary A. Braunbeck
Product details
- ASIN : B071ZLM9P7
- Publisher : Crystal Lake Publishing (May 30, 2017)
- Publication date : May 30, 2017
- Language : English
- File size : 4412 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 200 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,663,070 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,289 in Horror Anthologies (Kindle Store)
- #3,652 in Horror Short Stories
- #3,658 in Horror Anthologies (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
A Jersey Girl trapped without good diners or boardwalks in New England, Rachel Kenley, is the author of eight romance novels, most recently the Melusine’s Daughters trilogy.
She started reading romances at 14 and credits them with her lifelong fascination with relationships and how they contribute to our ability to live emotionally empowered.
When she is not writing she is homeschooling her sons, trying unsuccessfully to keep up with laundry, and laughing as much as possible. She believes in shameless flirting, never missing the chance to watch The Wizard of Oz and the emotional and economic power of retail therapy.
In addition to finding her (a little too much) on Facebook and Instagram (rona.writes.as.rachel) You can follow her exploits on her blog, sign up for her newsletter and find free downloads at http://www.rachelkenley.net
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life...
He's written over 200 stories that are currently available, including crime thrillers, supernatural thrillers, horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, nonfiction and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.
He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool. Maybe.
You can find him at https://armandrosamilia.com for all of his information as well as random things he enjoys
and e-mail him to talk about books, baseball and Metal:
armandrosamilia@gmail.com
Thom Brannan (est.1976) has been a submariner, a nuclear operator, an electrician, offshore oilfield trash, a semiconductor industry bystander, and now works on automatic machinery for whoever will let him.
He's a freelance editor for hire, and has been published in several anthologies, in several genres. Thom finds his inspiration equally from Robert B. Parker and H.P. Lovecraft. He is the author of SAD WINGS OF DESTINY, the collaborative works PAVLOV'S DOGS and THE OMEGA DOG (with D.L. Snell) and SURVIVORS (with Z.A. Recht), as well as the Urban Fantasy series Tales of the Century.
Thom lives in or around Austin, Texas with his lovely wife, Kitty, a boy, a girl, a cat, and a dog.
Find him at the usual places online, he don't bite much.
Five years ago when my wife shamed me into picking up my pen again, one of the first things I started writing was a mash up novel of Lovecraftian characters, and I really wanted Herbert West to be part of that team. Unfortunately, I'm a stickler for established chronologies, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't tell the story I wanted to tell with West in it.
Enter Dr. Stuart Hartwell.
He was the perfect solution, he had all of West's skills, but his timeline was mine to play with. But, I didn't know who he was, or what motivated him. So I wrote a story about him, and another, and then another. Quickly the mash up novel was set aside and all my time was spent focused on Hartwell. Those stories became the novel Reanimators.
Now, just a year later that mash up novel I wanted to work on. The one that was called at various times The League of Lovecraftian Gentlemen, The Miskatonic Club, The Miskatonic Men's Aide Society, The Arkham Oddfellowes - well that became The Weird Company and that hits the streets in September.
Hartwell is back, but this time he's not alone, he and his cohort have been recruited by . . .
Well you'll just have to read the book now won't you.
This is the book I wanted to write from the start, and if you liked Reanimators, you will adore The Weird Company.
Peter N. Dudar has been writing and publishing horror fiction for over a decade now. Born and raised in Albany, New York, Peter is an alumnus of Christian Brothers Academy, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English at the State University of New York at Albany. He currently resides in Lisbon Falls, Maine and is a proud member of the New England Horror Writers.
"MacLeod’s fiction is full of traps – some physical, some psychological, none easy to wriggle free of."
~ Terrence Rafferty, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Bracken MacLeod is the Bram Stoker, Splatterpunk, and Shirley Jackson Award nominated author of the novels, is the author of the novels, MOUNTAIN HOME, STRANDED, COME TO DUST, and CLOSING COSTS (available in hardcover and paperback from William Morrow).
His short fiction has been collected in WHITE KNIGHT AND OTHER PAWNS and 13 VIEWS OF THE SUICIDE WOODS, which the New York Times Book Review called, "Superb."
Before devoting himself to full time writing, he worked as a civil and criminal litigator, a university philosophy instructor, and a martial arts teacher. He lives outside of Boston with his wife and son, where he is at work on his next novel.
Michael Kamp was born and raised in the frozen wasteland of Denmark.
Choosing the path of the storyteller he prefers chilling tales of horror and went on to write
45 titles in Danish exploring the macabre in all its wretched glory.
Many years and several awards later, the time has come to go beyond his native tongue and
take a shot at the English markets.
He is co-founder of the Danish Horror Society – a society of Danish horror authors
dedicated to promote the genre as literature for adults.
Working the nightshift in an institution for the mentally ill he spends the long nights
honing his craft.
He lives in Kirke Hyllinge with his wife, sons, and a pet troll.
K. H. Vaughan is a refugee from academia with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. In his other life he taught, published, and practiced in various settings, with particular interest in decision theory, forensic psychology, psychopathology, and methodology. He lives with his wife and three children in New England. He writes and edits dark speculative fiction including horror, science fiction, and fantasy.
Morgan Sylvia is an Aquarius, a metalhead, a coffee addict, a beer snob, and a work in progress. A former obituarist, she is now a full-time freelance writer. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in several places, including Pseudopod, Wicked Weird, Wicked Witches, Wicked Haunted, Northern Frights, Twice Upon An Apocalypse, Endless Apocalypse, Haunted House Short Stories, and The Final Summons. In 2013, she released Whispers From The Apocalypse, a horror poetry collection. Her first novel, Abode, which was released from Bloodshot Books in July 2017, was recommended by the Library Journal. Her second novel, Dawn, is the first book of a fantasy trilogy. Her most recent book, As The Seas Turn Red, an ocean-themed poetry collection, was nominated for an Elgin Award. She is an active member of the HWA and the SFWA. Sylvia currently lives in Maine with her boyfriend, two cats, the best dog ever, and a chubby goldfish.
Since its founding in August 2012, Crystal Lake Publishing has quickly become one of the world’s leading publishers of Dark Fiction and Horror books in print, eBook, and audio formats.
While we strive to present only the highest quality fiction and entertainment, we also endeavour to support authors along their writing journey. We offer our time and experience in non-fiction projects, as well as author mentoring and services, at competitive prices.
With several Bram Stoker Award wins and many other wins and nominations, Crystal Lake Publishing puts integrity, honor, and respect at the forefront of our publishing operations.
We strive for each book and outreach program we spearhead to not only entertain and touch or comment on issues that affect our readers, but also to strengthen and support the Dark Fiction field and its authors.
Not only do we find and publish authors we believe are destined for greatness, but we strive to work with men and woman who endeavour to be decent human beings who care more for others than themselves, while still being hard working, driven, and passionate artists and storytellers.
Crystal Lake Publishing is and will always be a beacon of what passion and dedication, combined with overwhelming teamwork and respect, can accomplish. We endeavour to know each and every one of our readers, while building personal relationships with our authors, reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, bookstores, and libraries.
We will be as trustworthy, forthright, and transparent as any business can be, while also keeping most of the headaches away from our authors, since it’s our job to solve the problems so they can stay in a creative mind. Which of course also means paying our authors.
We do not just publish books, we present to you worlds within your world, doors within your mind, from talented authors who sacrifice so much for a moment of your time.
There are some amazing small presses out there, and through collaboration and open forums we will continue to support other presses in the goal of helping authors and showing the world what quality small presses are capable of accomplishing. No one wins when a small press goes down, so we will always be there to support hardworking, legitimate presses and their authors. We don’t see Crystal Lake as the best press out there, but we will always strive to be the best, strive to be the most interactive and grateful, and even blessed press around. No matter what happens over time, we will also take our mission very seriously while appreciating where we are and enjoying the journey.
What do we offer our authors that they can’t do for themselves through self-publishing?
We are big supporters of self-publishing (especially hybrid publishing), if done with care, patience, and planning. However, not every author has the time or inclination to do market research, advertise, and set up book launch strategies. Although a lot of authors are successful in doing it all, strong small presses will always be there for the authors who just want to do what they do best: write.
What we offer is experience, industry knowledge, contacts and trust built up over years. And due to our strong brand and trusting fanbase, every Crystal Lake Publishing book comes with weight of respect. In time our fans begin to trust our judgment and will try a new author purely based on our support of said author.
To date we’ve published around 100 books, and with each launch we strive to fine-tune our approach, learn from our mistakes, and increase our reach. We continue to assure our authors that we’re here for them and that we’ll carry the weight of the launch and dealing with third parties while they focus on their strengths—be it writing, interviews, blogs, signings, etc.
We also offer several mentoring packages to authors that include knowledge and skills they can use in both traditional and self-publishing endeavours.
We look forward to launching many new careers.
This is what we believe in. What we stand for. This will be our legacy.
Welcome to Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
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The book was very good except some stories didn't really make sense to me. Like the Juniper Tree story. Why did the wife eat the baby? I think my favorite story was The Three Little Pigs. I like how the story sort of turned and the pigs tried to eat the wolf. I think the worst part was that the authors built up a story but the last part was sort of underwhelming. We don't really know what happened to the world. Who these bad people were.
I can't say that I was disappointed at all. The stories are generally good and range from deadly serious to tongue firmly in cheek. There were a few stand-outs but none that made me roll my eyes in disbelief or bored me to tears. Each story, despite having common themes, was it's own creation and unique. I also enjoyed the fact that along with the more well-known fairy tales some were used which are rarely seen. I have to admit that I fully expected to see many stories by the Brothers Grimm. The Grimm Brothers are amply represented but so also is Charles Perrault and Hans Christian Anderson. There are also a couple well-known stories, even if the authors are not widely known. Even though I partly expected to see at least 'The Little Mermaid' show up in an Innsmouth story, indeed how could she not? I was also pleased to see a few of the lesser known tales. I'm slightly biased towards Hans Christian Anderson's tales, I'll admit that right now.
The stories are well-written but with such a narrow framework to write a story within (Lovecraftian fairy tales leading up to an apocalypse) constrains the creativity to a degree. You know pretty much how things will end (or begin) so the only mystery is how it's going to get there or be described. Some of the better stories made very good use of atmosphere. I'm also unsure of the submission process for the stories but with the wealth of both fairy tale and Lovecraft mythos there seems to be quite a bit of repetition in view. For instance, there are two separate stories about 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.They each go in their own directions but there should really be no need for two of the same story in the anthology. Also, with the amount of different locations mentioned in Lovecraft and the fairy tales themselves seem to limit themselves to fairly confined areas. Innsmouth and Dunwich are particular favorites.
Since there are too many stories to go into them as deeply as I'd like I will sort them from best to least liked.
Madness-Inducing (Best):
The Pied Piper of Providence - William Meikle
The Three Billy Goats Sothoth - Peter N. Dudar
In the Shade of the Juniper Tree - J.P. Hutshell
The Most Incredible Thing - Bracken MacLeod
Let Me Come In! - Simon Yee
The Fishman and His Wife - Inanna Arthen
The Gumdrop Apocalypse - Pete Rawlik
Curiosity - Winifred Burniston
Sweet Dreams in the Witch House - Sean Logan
The Legend of Creepy Hollow - DonD'Ammassa
Mind-bending Angles (Good):
The Horror at Hatchet Point - Zach Shephard
Follow the Yellow Glyph Road - Scott T. Goudsward
The Ice Queen - Mae Empson
Once Upon a Dream - Matthew Baugh
Donkeyskin - K.H. Vaughn
The Great Old One and the Beanstalk - Armand Rosamilia
Slightly Skewed (Meh):
Little Maiden of the Sea - David Barnard
The Little Match Mi-Go - Michael Kamp
Cinderella and Her Outer Godfather - C.T. Phipps
Fee Fie Old One - Thom Brannan
The King of the Golden Mountain - Morgan Sylvia
Even the stories that didn't thrill me were still pretty good. Oddly, I just noticed that despite my love for Hans Christian Anderson, those seem to be the ones that I rated lowest. Perhaps I couldn't separate the originals from the mixture. Because they were mixed well, I just couldn't get into them. Others may like them more so I would not discourage anyone from reading them. For those interested in Lovecraft or fairy tale mash-ups there is a lot to be liked here. So kick back and get ready for some familiar and comfortable cosmic horror. Although that may be an oxymoron.
Received from the author at scifiandscary.com for review consideration
With 21 stories to capture your imagination, you be hard pressed to find a story that you don’t like. For this review, I am going to pick my favourites.
Little Maiden of the Sea by David Bernard: Using the story of The Little Mermaid, the author tells the story of a female Deep one, who wants to live with humans. Reading this story, I had the feeling that both main characters used each other to get what they wanted in life. The added twist at the end left me wondering if the plan worked.
The Horror of Hatchet Point by Zach Shephard: Based on Rumpelstiltskin and sticking very close to the original this story tells how Rumpelstiltskin uses the Queen to enable him to call forth Father Dagon. Whilst the character of Rumpelstiltskin is a hated child abductor, the author puts a spin on this character and explains the reasons behind his plan.
Let Me Come In by Simon Yee: If you have read The Three Little Pigs, the wolf is the bad guy, however in this story, the wolf has just survived The Great War against the humans and is looking for food. His meeting with the three little pigs and a mysterious white symbol tells the story in a whole new light. It was different to read it from the point of view of the wolf and I did find it funny to hear the pigs swearing, as I am used to the original fairy tale. I liked how the wolf did not use his breath to destroy the houses.
The Little Match Mi-Go by Michael Kamp: After the Old ones were released and destroyed the earth, it was left to the smallest of the Mi-Go to save the earth. This story follows this creature whilst it tries and find Ghatanothoa. Throughout this story I felt sorry for the little Mi-Go as I sensed the quest was hopeless, and I was willing it to survive.
Writing this review, I found it hard to pick my favourites as every story was good. Not having read any of these authors previous works, I did not know what to expect but I have now added more authors to my list to read. I have not read any of HP Lovecraft, but this did not stop me enjoying this book. Lovecraft’s characters suited these fairy tales and returned them to the dark tales before Disney got hold of them. If you like your fairy tales dark or just a fan of Lovecraft then this is a great book to buy.
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With 21 stories to capture your imagination, you be hard pressed to find a story that you don’t like. For this review, I am going to pick my favourites.
Little Maiden of the Sea by David Bernard: Using the story of The Little Mermaid, the author tells the story of a female Deep one, who wants to live with humans. Reading this story, I had the feeling that both main characters used each other to get what they wanted in life. The added twist at the end left me wondering if the plan worked.
The Horror of Hatchet Point by Zach Shephard: Based on Rumpelstiltskin and sticking very close to the original this story tells how Rumpelstiltskin uses the Queen to enable him to call forth Father Dagon. Whilst the character of Rumpelstiltskin is a hated child abductor, the author puts a spin on this character and explains the reasons behind his plan.
Let Me Come In by Simon Yee: If you have read The Three Little Pigs, the wolf is the bad guy, however in this story, the wolf has just survived The Great War against the humans and is looking for food. His meeting with the three little pigs and a mysterious white symbol tells the story in a whole new light. It was different to read it from the point of view of the wolf and I did find it funny to hear the pigs swearing, as I am used to the original fairy tale. I liked how the wolf did not use his breath to destroy the houses.
The Little Match Mi-Go by Michael Kamp: After the Old ones were released and destroyed the earth, it was left to the smallest of the Mi-Go to save the earth. This story follows this creature whilst it tries and find Ghatanothoa. Throughout this story I felt sorry for the little Mi-Go as I sensed the quest was hopeless, and I was willing it to survive.
Writing this review, I found it hard to pick my favourites as every story was good. Not having read any of these authors previous works, I did not know what to expect but I have now added more authors to my list to read. I have not read any of HP Lovecraft, but this did not stop me enjoying this book. Lovecraft’s characters suited these fairy tales and returned them to the dark tales before Disney got hold of them. If you like your fairy tales dark or just a fan of Lovecraft then this is a great book to buy.