A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror

By John Hornor Jacobs and Chuck Wendig

A World Fantasy Award Nominee!

The award-winning and critically-acclaimed master of horror returns with a pair of chilling tales that examine the violence and depravity of the human condition.

Bringing together his acclaimed novella The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky and an all-new short novel My Heart Struck Sorrow, John Hornor Jacobs turns his fertile imagination to the evil that breeds within the human soul.

A brilliant mix of the psychological and supernatural, blending the acute insight of Roberto Bolaño and the eerie imagination of H. P. Lovecraft, The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky examines life in a South American dictatorship. Centered on the journal of a poet-in-exile and his failed attempts at translating a maddening text, it is told by a young woman trying to come to grips with a country that nearly devoured itself.

In My Heart Struck Sorrow, a librarian discovers a recording from the Deep South—which may be the musical stylings of the Devil himself.

Breathtaking and haunting, A Lush and Seething Hell is a terrifying and exhilarating journey into the darkness, an odyssey into the deepest reaches of ourselves that compels us to confront secrets best left hidden.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9780062880840

John Hornor Jacobs

John Hornor Jacobs' first novel, Southern Gods, was shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel. His young adult series, The Incarcerado Trilogy comprised of The Twelve-Fingered Boy, The Shibboleth, and The Conformity, was described by Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing as "amazing" and received a starred Booklist review. His Fisk & Shoe fantasy series composed of The Incorruptibles, Foreign Devils, and Infernal Machines has thrice been shortlisted for the David Gemmell Award and was described by Patrick Rothfuss like so: "One part ancient Rome, two parts wild west, one part Faust. A pinch of Tolkien, of Lovecraft, of Dante. This is strange alchemy, a recipe I’ve never seen before. I wish more books were as fresh and brave as this." His fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Apex Magazine. Follow him on Twitter at @johnhornor.

Reviews for A Lush and Seething Hell

[adzebill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Showing that there is plenty of mileage to be had from Lovecraftian cosmic horror, stripped of its period racism and insularity. Two disturbing novellas, in marvellously fertile settings: a lightly-anonymised version of post-coup Chile, and the Library of Congresse's folk music project in the '30s and today. Both felt just a little over-researched, with the sources or advisors showing – something Lovecraft was guilty of too. But great stuff.

[over.the.edge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horrorby John Honor Jacob'sdue 10-8-2019Harper Voyage 4.0 /5.0#netgalley #ALushAndSeethingHellThis pair is chilling tales have never been published. They explore the darker side of human nature. Exceptionally well written, this is top-notch haunting horror.'The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky'A once famous poet, Avedano, and his young student Isobel Certa, both exiles from the dictatorship of Magera, South America, are living in Spain. Isobel finds a journal kept by Avedano whose entries are so disturbing she begins to spiral into a world of corruption.'My Heart Struck Sorrow'A librarian discovers journals and acetate recordings of a man who recorded blues music in the Deep South, and begins to go mad as he uncovers the origins and roots of a popular blues song.Thanks to netgalley for sending this e-book ARC for review.

[Anne Hatchaway · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The rich emotions displayed this writer’s amazing ability to tell a story. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to [e-mail] or [e-mail]