Book Review: In The Gulfs of Dream By David Barker and W.H.Pugmire

The Gulfs of Dream and other Lovecraftian Tales by David Barker and W.H. Pugmire

Hardcover, SIGNED AND Numbered Hardcover Edition,Trade paperback 274 pages PUBLISHED June 2015 by Dark Renaissance Books

Hailing from the American northwest far far away from the northeastern lands where Lovecraft lived and worked these two authors certainly carry his flag. I have read very little work before from either but I have enjoyed several Pugmire live readings in Portland at the H.P. Lovecraft film fest. David Barker I knew less about other than he was a writer also from Oregon.

This collection has novellas co-written by the two authors and collects solo stories by each other. I can see why these two were drawn to each other. I doubt I could have told you who wrote each story with a blind taste test. Having their names before the stories did help to give little clues to make makes each tick.

Pugmire as an author looks very modern but his style and often his stories feel as though they are pulled straight out of 1935. The same could be said of Barker. I have to admit that this is not my favorite style of horror, but if you like the grand old style of H.P Lovecraft you can't go wrong here.

The opening and title novellas were fantastic with meta moments of the authors inserting commentary about the form and style they were using. In one meta moment a character talks about his own writing owing too much to Poe. In the title story characters have asides talking about what a weird tale is or is not. It talks about a actual Museum of Weird Tales.

This book is not exactly my cup of tea but I am really impressed by it. Barker and Pugmire make a natural team and create atmosphere of dread that feels like it comes from a dusty old book in the library.