Dark Tales Of Lost Civilizations

“As a boy, some of my favorite stories were those of lost lands and civilizations, made popular by such writers as H. Rider Haggard, A. Merritt, and Talbot Mundy. I daydreamed of falling through some hidden cave entrance into a lost and forgotten world (sans injury of course) and if asked about my career ambitions I would have answered that I wanted to be one of those specially lucky explorers. As I gradually became aware that such civilizations weren’t terribly likely in our closely-examined world, that fantasy became a bit bruised. But now Eric J. Guignard brings back a bit of that magic with Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations, an anthology mixing the values of pulp fiction (returning us to a milieu where such stories seem more possible) with contemporary standards of fresh description. Here we have lost islands, civilizations on the brink, and uncharted lands imaginatively described with new mythologies. David Tallerman, Mark Lee Pearson, Jamie Lackey, Folly Blaine, Jonathan Vos Post, and JC Hemphill—to mention just a few—all shine, and the new Joe Lansdale piece with a unique slant on a western railroad story is a special treat.”

—
Steve Rasnic Tem
, Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Award-winning author of several novels (including his latest,
Deadfall Hotel
) and numerous collections of short fiction.

“Bright new voices offer chilling glimpses of the darkness beyond mere night.”

—
David Brin
, author of
Earth
,
The Postman
, and
Otherness
.

DARK MOON BOOKS

an imprint of Stony Meadow Publishing

Largo, Florida

www.StonyMeadowPublishing.com

www.DarkMoonBooks.com

Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations

Cover art and design by Eric J. Guignard

www.ericjguignard.com

E-mail: [email protected]

Interior Illustration by Ron Perovich

All works used by permission

(Individual stories are copyrighted by their respective authors)

First edition published in March, 2012

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012931548

ISBN-13: 978-0-9834335-9-0

Made in the United States of America

The stories included in this publication are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is for all of you who helped make

my first anthologist venture a success.

And this is for my wife, Jeannette,

and son, Julian,

who helped make my life a success.