At Fear's Altar

Book excerpt: Richard Gavin's new collection has some of the finest weird fiction I have ever read, tales that are unique and effective. His sequel to H. P. Lovecraft's 'The Hound' is especially delicious. This is a wonderful book, highly recommended! W. H. Pugmire Richard Gavin is one of the bright new stars in contemporary weird fiction. His richly textured style, deft character portrayal, and powerful horrific conceptions make every one of his tales a pleasure to read. S. T. Joshi If you hear some in Kadath saying, Numinous, Terrifying, or Beautiful, they are either talking about the Northern Lights or the work of Richard Gavin. Canada? They re calling it Canada now? Whatever. Don Webb Canadian author Richard Gavin has established himself as a leading contemporary writer of weird fiction. His richly nuanced prose style, his imaginative range, and his shrewdness in the portrayal of character and domestic conflict make his tales far more than mere shudder-coining. In this fourth collection of short stories and novelettes, Gavin again casts a wide imaginative net, from haunted Canadian woodlands to the carnivorous mesas of the American frontier, from Lovecraft s New England to the spirit traditions of Japan. Of the dozen stories included in this book, eight are previously unpublished a rich new feast of terror for devotees of a writer who works in the tradition of Poe, Machen, Blackwood, and Ligotti. Richard Gavin is the author of three previous short story collections, Charnel Wine (2004), Omens (2007), and The Darkly Splendid Realm (2009). Gavin lives in Ontario, Canada, with his beloved wife and their brood.