Michael Shea

Welcome to our weekly list of Lovecraftian short story favorites.  Note this is not a “Top Five” list, just a list of five favorites by Lovecraftian authors, editors, reviewers, etc.

This week, author Laird Barron gives us his list:

• Children of the Kingdom, by T.E.D. Klein.  (In Dark Gods.)  Exactly what was the cause of the 1977 New York City blackout?
• Black Man With a Horn, by T.E.D. Klein.  (In Dark Gods, The Book of Cthulhu.)   An author becomes involved in a mystery after a chance encounter with a missionary while traveling.
• Riding the White Bull, by Caitlin R. Kiernan.  (In A is for Alien.)  A chilling tale of first contact.
• Fat Face, by Michael Shea.  (In The Book of Cthulhu, The Autopsy and Other Tales.)  A classic and probably the most well known of Shea’s short stories.
• The Autopsy, by Michael Shea.  (In The Autopsy and Other Tales.)  In Laird’s words: “The first horror story to really scare the hell out of me.”

Next week: Rick Lai‘s list!

Speaking of Michael Shea: Most of you probably know that he died recently.  This Sunday’s Lovecraft eZine video chat (watch here at 6:00pm Eastern time) will be devoted to him.