Darker Than Weird: Fourteen Tales of Horror

PRAISE FOR JOHN R. FULTZ

“John R. Fultz is a powerful and creative writer very much in the Weird Tales tradition. He is well worth your attention.” —Darrell Schweitzer, former editor of Weird Tales

“…a master of his craft.” —Don Webb, Author of Building Strange Temples

“Fultz delivers the goods.” —Howard Andrew Jones, Author of The Ring-Sworn Trilogy

“…an author with an exceptional talent for characterization and world building.” —The Library Journal

“Fultz has rapidly matured into a major fantasist.” —Laird Barron, Author of Black Mountain

“His world-building is in a class by itself.” —RT Book Reviews

“This is fantasy of the Dunsany, Smith and Vance school, where breathless wonders spill off the page in spendthrift profusion.” —John Hocking, Author of Conan and the Emerald Lotus

Also by John R. Fultz

Seven Princes (2012)

Seven Kings (2013)

Seven Sorcerers (2013)

The Revelations of Zang (2013)

The Testament of Tall Eagle (2015)

Son of Tall Eagle (2017)

Worlds Beyond Worlds (2021)

Darker Than Weird

Fourteen Tales of Horror

John R. Fultz

Illustrations by Dan Sauer

Copyright © 2023 Jackanapes Press

www.JackanapesPress.com

Darker Than Weird: Fourteen Tales of Horror

All stories copyright © 2023 by John R. Fultz

Foreword copyright © 2023 by Don Webb

Cover and interior art and design © 2023 by Daniel V. Sauer

www.DanSauerDesign.com

First Electronic Edition

ISBN 978-1-956702-13-2

All characters and other entities appearing in this work are fictitious or are used in a fictitious way. Any resemblance to real persons, dead or alive, or other real-life entities, past or present, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

For my lovely Aunt Deb, who introduced me to horror with Night Gallery, Chiller Theatre, and tales of Ol’ Bloody Bones…

Contents

Darker Than Weird

Copyright

Dedication

A Need for Newer Boxes

THE WEIRDNESS

The River Flows To Nowhere

Behind the Eyes

The Man Who Murders Happiness

Love in the Time of Dracula

I Do the Work of the Bone Queen

The Taste of Starlight

WELCOME TO THE URBILLE

The Key to Your Heart Is Made of Brass

Flesh of the City, Bones of the World

The Rude Mechanicals and the Highwayman

SHADES OF LOVECRAFT

Anno Domini Azathoth

The Thing in the Pond

The Lord of Endings

This Is How the World Ends

The Embrace of Elder Things

About the Contributors

Also from Jackanapes Press

A Need for Newer Boxes

Foreword by Don Webb

People outside of the book biz are (blissfully) unaware of its truths. So, on the off chance you’ve bought a small press volume (this one) and are not a writer/publisher/artist I am going to lay Truth upon you. First Truth. Nobody reads introductions and forwards first. At best after you have read the contents of the book and picked it up off the bathroom floor you will read the introduction as you sit and — er — meditate. Hey, it doesn’t bother me. I have (by now) cashed my large check for introduction writing and spent it all on gold futures, champagne, and cocaine. But there you sit wanting to read something until you can stand and go buy a copy of my Building Strange Temples because you’re enchanted with my wit and deft prose. Your expectation is that I’ll talk about the stories in this volume and in my remaining time speak about… what’s his name?

Oh yes, John R. Fultz.