Synopsis "Lost Souls"
Lost Souls, a collection of short stories, was first published in 1990 by Peter Smith and Sarcophagus Press, of South Yorkshire, England, as a project of the Esoteric Order of Dagon (E.O.D.) They are reprinted here, along with two stories published in London in SKOOB Occult Review, edited by Christopher Johnson and Caroline Wise, and two tales not published elsewhere.The Callanish Stones, originally published in London, in SKOOB Occult Review, is a fantasy with more than a grain of truth. A word to the wise: Be careful out there!The Eater of Lost Souls was published as part of the original collection, Lost Souls. This tale was inspired by a camping trip to Duck, North Carolina on the Outer Banks, an anchor- point of the Bermuda Triangle far out into the Atlantic Ocean. I witnessed this phenomenon myself and obviously lived to tell this tale.Great Dismal, while not strictly "true", does reflect a truth about the world, my own strange attitudes toward trees and a fascination with the Great Dismal Swamp, experienced in all its moss-hung strangeness on our many long drives between Pittsburgh and the Outer Banks. Published in both in SKOOB Occult Review and as part of the original collection, Lost Souls.Requiem is a complex "demon" of a tale, published as part of the original collection, Lost Souls. The bones of the story were inspired by a friend who "dropped out" to join the Hare Krishna's and subsequently disappeared and the veterans I know who suffered nerve and damage due to the use of "Agent Orange" in Vietnam.The Hunted turns the tables on the many deer-hunters we have in Southwestern Pennsylvania. This tale could and did happen. Published as part of the original collection, Lost Souls.From a Dream, first published here, recounts what at first appeared to have been a dream, but upon reflection contains an eerie sense of being an strange omen from the future. Was this a dream, a past-life memory, time-travel to alien dimensions, or a vision of unspeakable events yet to come?Agent B.U.Z.Z. is essentially a satire seeing its first and only publication here, bringing together many threads that were prescient in 1982 when the story was originally written and presents a chilling reality in the current age of devastating chemical warfare, deadly railroad accidents, organ printing, the resurgence of psychedelics and fears of an Extinction Level Event in the near term human future.
