The Eyes of Azathoth: A Cosmic Horror Sonnet Cycle after H. P. Lovecraft

Jackanapes Press presents a mind-shattering sonnet cycle inspired by Lovecraft's Fungi from Yuggoth and Clark Ashton Smith's The Hashish Eater!

A jaded sorcerer’s enigmatic desire to unmask the visage of the “dark universe” unleashes a phantasmagorical menagerie of cosmic wonders and horrors as he plunges through all space and time towards the ultimate confrontation, revelation and transformation in his willed and fated rendezvous with the demon-sultan Azathoth. Monstrous Creation and casual Apocalypse are ironically paired in the course of a black gnostic quest for knowledge and power beyond the limits of human perception. This Lovecraftian odyssey into a new and vaster heart of darkness travels, as Joseph Conrad said of his tale, to “the farthest point of navigation and the culminating point of…experience”, aspiring to the sweep of vision and fecundity of invention found in works such as Lovecraft’s Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, Clark Ashton Smith’s The Hashish-Eater and Stapledon’s Star Maker—but darker, as befits our ever-darkening universe.

A frequent contributor to Spectral Realms and other journals, weird poet Simon MacCulloch set out to write a sequel of sorts to H. P. Lovecraft’s Fungi from Yuggoth. Taking inspiration from that sonnet cycle and from Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book, he has created a powerful narrative that is sustained through 155 sonnets. With this work, MacCulloch has achieved something truly special: an erudite yet entertaining story, compulsively readable, riddled with an irony and dark humor that illuminates the genius of Lovecraft’s vision while blazing new paths of cosmic terror. The Eyes of Azathoth is a tour de force of dark imagination.

“Within The Eyes of Azathoth we discover a poetic cycle, sparked in part by Lovecraft’s Fungi from Yuggoth but with gripping, witty narrative and deeps of its own. Deftly crafted, and transporting us with classic weird themes without stooping to triteness, MacCulloch holds up a dark mirror reflecting the irony of existence itself, a wry mockery of human vanity, all the while evoking the peculiar thrill of cosmic horror.” —John Shirley, author of Ghost Confessions

“Simon MacCulloch’s The Eyes of Azathoth is one of the most remarkable volumes of weird poetry in recent years. There is a certain boldness in MacCulloch’s quest to write a ‘sequel of sorts’ to Lovecraft’s sonnet cycle Fungi from Yuggoth; but the author has pulled off the feat, writing a series of 155 sonnets that variously convey the essence of Lovecraftian terror: cosmicism, the call of history and heredity, the realm of fantasy, and the dangers of scientific advance. Along the way there is grim humor and poignant terror, all expressed in poetry of exquisite polish. Kudos to Simon MacCulloch!” —S. T. Joshi, Editor of Spectral Realms

“The sonnets in Simon MacCulloch’s The Eyes of Azathoth glow like alien ciphers on black, glistening stone. True to the eldritch spirit of Lovecraft’s Fungi from Yuggoth, and spanning extra-terrestrial vistas of horror and the uncanny comparable to those described in Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Hashish Eater,” these poems—wrought by a highly skilled sonneteer—act as keys that open gates to untold mysteries. Like the Necronomicon, this grimoire ought to remain forbidden; open it if you dare.” —K. A. Opperman, author of The Crimson Tome and The Laughter of Ghouls

“Simon MacCulloch is a rare contemporary poet who has truly mastered metrical verse, and employs his craft with the grace of a Keats or a Tennyson. His scintillating language and innovative synthesis of Lovecraftian themes will surely delight any devotee of the Gentleman from Providence.” —Adam Bolivar, Author of Told by Firelight in Timbered Halls