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W. H. Pugmire
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The Fungal Stain and Other Dreams Paperback – October 31, 2006

by W. H. Pugmire (Author), Robert H. Knox (Illustrator)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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Many and multiform are the pleasures of this volume to Lovecraftians, including a hotly anticipated novelette set in Pugmire's trademark locality, Sesqua Valley; a lengthy prose poem sequence; decadent, dreamlike vignettes in the style of Oscar Wilde, and much other new material.

The themes of the book, as the author explains it, are "Lovecraftian dreams as thresholds to alien emotion, dimension, salvation, damnation." Cross the threshold with one of the shining stars of Mythos fiction.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    184 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hippocampus Pr
  4. Publication date
    October 31, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0977173437
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0977173433
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hippocampus Pr; First Edition (October 31, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0977173437
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0977173433
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

About the author

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W. H. Pugmire

W. H. Pugmire

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Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, Esq., is the author of many books of weird fiction in the Poe/Lovecraft tradition. He is seen in the current author's photo with S. T. Joshi at the Lovecraft plaque at Brown University--both Pugmire and Joshi contributed to the fund that helped to pay for the placement of this memorial to the genius of H. P. Lovecraft. Joshi has served as editor for many of Pugmire's collections of weird fiction, including the hardcover omnibus from Centipede Press, THE TANGLED MUSE, and the 2015 collection from Hippocampus Press, MONSTROUS AFTERMATH.

Wilum's work has been publish'd in a number of anthologies, such as INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES, THAT IS NOT DEAD, CTHULHU FHTAGN!,and the superb series from S. T. Joshi, BLACK WINGS, publish'd by PS Publishing in England. He is almoft finish'd writing one last story, "Pickman's Lazruas", for his forthcoming second collection from Centipede Press, AN ECSTASY OF FEAR AND OTHERS.

Future projects include a second collection of Enoch Coffin stories, written in collaboration with Jeffrey Thomas, and a book of tales and poems inspir'd by ye weird fiction of Clark Ashton Smith, to be written in collaboration with Henry J. Vester

Wilum is the Queen of Eldritch Horror.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

V. Carlo
5.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to a great writer
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2012
Verified Purchase
This book, together with "Inhabitants of Sesqua Valley", is essential to appreciate this author's classics in the Lovecraftian tradition. My advice is to buy all his collections from Hippocampus Press and other publishers, you won't regret it.
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P. Worthy
4.0 out of 5 stars Dark. Poetic.
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2007
From all the material I've read since I began editing and reviewing in 1997, I have found few contemporary writers who can successfully create pieces of dark, poetic prose. W. H. Pugmire is one of them and he does it in a mesmerizing style all of his own.

Whether set in the beguiling landscape of his Sesqua Valley locale or in the shadows of more urban surroundings, Pugmire crafts his tales into enchanting threnodies of prose. This book is no exception. You can feel the sinister overtones in the background, the narrative is lyrical and guides you deeper into each piece. Pugmire easily handles themes from punk, gothic, and the everyday world. He handles the transition between these radically different cultures easily and invisibly.

For the Pugmire afficionado, I'm not saying anything they don't already know. However, if you're new to dark literature then I heartily offer that this book (and other Pugmire books) are must have items for your collection. His work is unique--it resonates in the mind long after you've read it. This book should be placed on your bookshelf next to Blackwood, Dunsany, Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith.
4 people found this helpful
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John Goodrich
5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark and Lush Collection
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2007
I think it took me two good examinations of the cover to realize that the subtitle is "and Other Dreams". Nothing could be more appropriate for this delightful collection of Wilum's work. No other writer synthesizes the two aspects of Lovecraft's writings-his horror and his dream sequences, as interestingly and as thoroughly as Wilum Pugmire does. Which is not to say that this is a book of stories that are familiar to someone who has read Lovecraftian. They are not. These stories, although they owe a great debt to Lovecraft, are not imitations of his plots or tropes. Each of these stories is uniquely and originally Pugmirian.

Wilum has imagination to spare, and he brings it to bear with the a sharp intensity that makes his stories, whether a short piece of flash fiction like "His Splintered Kiss", or a longer piece such as "An Eidolon of Nothing", come alive. His imagery is lush and alive, neither smothering nor too light-just the right amount to establish the (usually decadent) atmosphere of the story.

The Fungal Stain-only two hundred pages or so-is remarkable in the time it takes to read and digest. Pugmire's prose doesn't slide away from the reader, allowing the pages slip by unnoticed. Something is always going on below the surface, like sharks under calm water, and this reader wanted to make sure he didn't miss any of it. His prose has a profundity and a complexity that is a welcome change from many of the facile, shallow books I have been reading.

Wilum is at his best in the Sesqua Valley. He is clearly comfortable there, and has a well-established dreaming, brooding atmosphere that soaks into his words. The difficulty in reviewing these stories is that they are so unique that the reviewer is tempted to summarize and explain them, a task that is nearly impossible.

The collection begins with "An Eidolon of Nothing," which therefore introduces the reader not only to the Sesqua Valley, but also some of Pugmire's recurring characters,

"Hour of their Appetite" is a dream sequence, strange and misty in its logic, and yet there is a curious sense of closure when the story is done. Of all of Pugmire's stories, this dream-logic story fascinates me the most. I do not dream as much as many writers seem to, and the ability to create a narrative, especially when it is not what one ordinarily thinks of as a story, out of the shattered fragments of sensation and vision that fill our minds as we sleep is something remarkable to me.

Long or short, there is always a poignance to Pugmire's work. "Jigsaw Boy" draws a brilliant, bitter portrait of an unnamed narrator who is in the last stages of metaphorically devouring himself, distanced from his humanity, sadly searching for the missing pieces of his life. "Blam of Nepthene" is as gently nihilistic a story as can be imagined, about a yearning for the peace of the grave. Unlike so many post-Poe stories with the same theme, Pugmire's story has some sense of aching weariness to it, rather than boredom. "Stupor Mundi" is an ekphrastic piece, writing about art, which has occasionally been compared to dancing about architecture. Yet Pugmire seems familiar enough, or able to fake it extremely well, that the reader can visualize the art described in the story.

Strangely, it is the last story, "Your Metamorphic Moan" that explores the Sesqua Valley to the fullest. Perhaps because several of the previous stories have been set in the Valley, it seems most familiar and realized in the "Metamorphic Moan." What I enjoy about Pugmire's plotting is the lack of conventional morality which dictates the ending of so many horror stories, rendering them predictable. In other hands, the story of a goth girl who finds a kindred spirituality with the Sesqua Vallery might come out to a happy ending in which she tries hard and earns herself place among the strange folk of the Valley. Pugmire is not so... predictable.

Some authors acknowledge their debt to Lovecraft with a simple "Cthulhu" or a "Yog-Sothoth" and merrily ignore Lovecraft's major themes. Wilum Pugmire, shows a deeper, more studied appreciation of Lovecraft, incorporating certain of his literary idol's themes and mixing them in with his own writer's voice. It's a combination that works; these stories are truly unique. Pugmire's prose rewards careful reading, and his stories stayed with this reader. Although he states that he wishes to always remain in Lovecraft's titanic literary shadow, Wilum Pugmire is clearly original and skilled enough that he casts his own.
11 people found this helpful
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Wellington07
3.0 out of 5 stars Not your "typical" Cthulhu mythos...
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2007
Verified Purchase
I have to be honest that I didn't like this book.
I guess I'm used to HPL & others like Cody Goodfellow
(Radiant Dawn). The writing style & narrative was
very confusing to me.
Not trying to criticize the author just a warning
that author has a very unique style that everybody
may not enjoy.
4 people found this helpful
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Robert M. Price
5.0 out of 5 stars Dreams You Can't Escape
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2007
I have had occcasion to read and to reread a great deal of Lovecraftian prose and poetry and prose-poetry in my many years of Mythos editing. Many writers can be fit without hesitation into certain ready categories, and this is in no way bad. I like to know there is another like So-and-so in mood or approach, etc, so I can enjoy him or her, too. But there are a few who are a classification unto themselves. Wilum Pugmire is certainly one of those. Reading him, as I have for many years, makes me realize at once that I am entering directly into the interior zone of his spirit. The tone of joyful sadness, or precious terror, of friendship with death and decay is powerful, and the distance separating the text on the page and the experience of the author is very, very short--much like Lovecraft's occasonal stories that were little more than dream transcripts written at bedside in the middle of the night. Pugmire himself is an event, and any collection of his wonderful work is therfore an event. This one sure is. You are lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of it!
17 people found this helpful
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R. Benardes
5.0 out of 5 stars Decadent weird fiction of a very special kind
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2008
Pugmire's short and flash fiction is one of the most atmospheric, poetic and literate being published today. His highly sensitive stories are
"mystical" journeys through emotional, psychological and spirituals landscapes that leaves a deep and lasting impression on readers. Expertly
mixing elements of 18th century decadent literature, classic horror authors like Henry James, vintage lovecratean weird fiction, goth/punk
subculture and modern angst, Pugmire's work is one of the more idiosyncratic and original of the last fifteen years. Pieces like The Hour of Their Appetite, Jigsaw Boy and The Sign That Sets the Darkness Free are beautiful poetical short-shorts of existencial anguish and gentle nihilism, while the femme fatale short story The Fungal Stain is an accomplished and wholly original mix of aesthetic decadence with elements of classic, traditional weird fiction.
If you like your weird fiction with a poetical bent, gentle obfuscation, sly humour and a decadent sensibiliby, do yourself a favor and read Mr. Pugmire.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Greg James
5.0 out of 5 stars Delights both dismal and profane
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2011
Verified Purchase
A collection that follows on from Sesqua Valley and Other Haunts which is as thoroughly enjoyable as the former tome. This volume contains some of W.H. Pugmire's longest and most complex tales in An Eidolon of Nothing, The Fungal Stain and Your Metamorphic Moan. We also have some beautiful meditations on lost love in Jigsaw Boy, religious faith in His Splintered Kiss and a loose series of poetry, vignettes and commentary in the Saprophytic Fungi. As with his other tales, intimacy, tenderness and sexuality blend here with the cosmic concepts of Lovecraft to create unique and emotionally-charged weird fiction, a field that is often reserved, cerebral and intellectual in its concerns. Great stuff to be savoured with a sugared glass of the very best absinthe.
3 people found this helpful
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