What do you think?
Rate this book
Return of the Old Ones
Featuring all new stories of cosmic and Lovecraftian horror based pre, during and post the apocalypse by authors Jeffrey Thomas, Lucy A. Snyder, Tim Curran, Pete Rawlik, Sam Gafford, Christine Morgan, Cody Goodfellow and many more, Return of the Old Ones: Apocalyptic Lovecraftian Horror continues the Dark Regions Weird Fiction line with 19 original stories from some of the best authors in Lovecraftian horror and weird fiction today.
306 pages, ebook
First published January 25, 2017
172 people are currently reading
275 people want to read
About the author
Brian M. Sammons
78 books73 followersBrian M. Sammons lives in Michigan, loves horror films and books, writes stories and reviews, edits various books, and is described by his neighbors as “such a nice, quiet man.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 13, 2022
I guess I should have learnt by now - when it comes to horror anthologies you sure do get a mixed bag. Throw in to the mix Lovecraftian connections and you have just up the stakes to a whole new level.
I guess - and to totally steal someone else's quote - it really is a bit like a box of chocolates - some poor soul always ends up with the coffee or the coconut (or what ever your least favourite flavour is) and sadly someone has to eat it before you can call the box finished.
What I am poorly trying to say is that there are some great stories here - to be honest I cannot remember reading so much so fast - but there were also some real drags here too - stories where for me it felt like the author was trying too hard to be the cool kid in the club - but I guess that is the case of any genre anthology - just in this case it slowed things down a bit. So as a random selection to try something new - great but I have to say there were a few here I would not think about going for more over.
I guess - and to totally steal someone else's quote - it really is a bit like a box of chocolates - some poor soul always ends up with the coffee or the coconut (or what ever your least favourite flavour is) and sadly someone has to eat it before you can call the box finished.
What I am poorly trying to say is that there are some great stories here - to be honest I cannot remember reading so much so fast - but there were also some real drags here too - stories where for me it felt like the author was trying too hard to be the cool kid in the club - but I guess that is the case of any genre anthology - just in this case it slowed things down a bit. So as a random selection to try something new - great but I have to say there were a few here I would not think about going for more over.
July 20, 2017
This book was not as great as I had hoped. Many of the stories were bland, but some were good. My favourite stories in it were "Chimera" by Sam Gafford and "Messages from a Dark Deity" by Stephen Mark Rainey, with honourable mentions to "Scratching from the Outer Darkness" by Tim Curran.
August 4, 2019
I am always intrigued by post apocalyptic Lovecraftian horror because there is so much a writer can do with it. There are often some really good gems in collections like these, but there is also the chance that the writers try too hard or don't really grasp Lovecraftian horror as they lose themselves in their imagined hellscapes.
Sammons has collected a fairly good batch of stories for this anthology, and wrapped it in a beautiful cover that is an instant eye catcher. There were definitely far more good stories to uninteresting ones in this anthology, the good ones capturing the cosmic horror of Lovecraftian horror extremely well. There are also a number of stories that fall back on the old tropes of unspeakable monsters and don't really try anything new. Though somewhat entertaining, they don't do as good of a job as the authors who take Lovecraft's creations and push further with them.
Shout/Kill/Revel/Repeat by Scott R Jones was a story that I didn't like when I started reading it. The multiple explanations/actions/thoughts from the protagonist was distracting at first and took some getting used to. But as the story went on I started to really enjoy just what it was trying to do. By the end of the story, I thought the sense of madness of a Lovecraftian universe was really handled well and the way things played out worked extremely well. Easily one of the best stories in this collection.
The Call Of The Deep by William Meikle is one of the stories where the author didn't seem to try anything new with the Lovecraft mythos. The story reads like a zombie apocalypse with deep ones rather than zombies. Humans holed up behind military strong points waiting as the horde of creatures slowly surround them. The ending wasn't that climactic, nor was the story very engaging. Normally I like Meikle's work, but not this story unfortunately.
The Allclear by Edward M. Erdelac was a pretty good story and did a good job showing how a shelter would slowly evolve over time to form their own religion and how titles and words would evolve over time. Yet I couldn't shake the feel that it was just a Fallout copy, with elements of the story eerily close to elements found in the game, which took away a lot of the originality of the story and left it feeling more like a fanfiction than anything else. Still, the story itself was a good one and unique when it came to the other stories in this anthology.
Chimera by Sam Gafford took an interesting route with their story, using elements to show the end of the world quite differently than the other writers did in this anthology. There is a far more human element to the story, and the reader gets a perfect payoff because of it. You feel for the characters, especially the protagonist, which helps to make the payoff even better. I enjoyed this story, and though normally I am not a fan of human conflicts like the one in this story, it worked extremely well and made the ending that much more satisfying.
In the end, this is a fairly good collection of Lovecraftian stories. Sammons' choice to group them in three sections (before the fall, during the fall, after the fall) was a really smart way of handling them, and I am glad that each section had a good amount of stories in each. Even though there are the odd story that falls short, that is to be expected for an anthology, and honestly, you may enjoy them where I didn't. And ti you are into post apocalyptic stories, or Lovecraftian stories, this is a good collection of stories for you that I am sure you will find a few favorites of your own!
Sammons has collected a fairly good batch of stories for this anthology, and wrapped it in a beautiful cover that is an instant eye catcher. There were definitely far more good stories to uninteresting ones in this anthology, the good ones capturing the cosmic horror of Lovecraftian horror extremely well. There are also a number of stories that fall back on the old tropes of unspeakable monsters and don't really try anything new. Though somewhat entertaining, they don't do as good of a job as the authors who take Lovecraft's creations and push further with them.
Shout/Kill/Revel/Repeat by Scott R Jones was a story that I didn't like when I started reading it. The multiple explanations/actions/thoughts from the protagonist was distracting at first and took some getting used to. But as the story went on I started to really enjoy just what it was trying to do. By the end of the story, I thought the sense of madness of a Lovecraftian universe was really handled well and the way things played out worked extremely well. Easily one of the best stories in this collection.
The Call Of The Deep by William Meikle is one of the stories where the author didn't seem to try anything new with the Lovecraft mythos. The story reads like a zombie apocalypse with deep ones rather than zombies. Humans holed up behind military strong points waiting as the horde of creatures slowly surround them. The ending wasn't that climactic, nor was the story very engaging. Normally I like Meikle's work, but not this story unfortunately.
The Allclear by Edward M. Erdelac was a pretty good story and did a good job showing how a shelter would slowly evolve over time to form their own religion and how titles and words would evolve over time. Yet I couldn't shake the feel that it was just a Fallout copy, with elements of the story eerily close to elements found in the game, which took away a lot of the originality of the story and left it feeling more like a fanfiction than anything else. Still, the story itself was a good one and unique when it came to the other stories in this anthology.
Chimera by Sam Gafford took an interesting route with their story, using elements to show the end of the world quite differently than the other writers did in this anthology. There is a far more human element to the story, and the reader gets a perfect payoff because of it. You feel for the characters, especially the protagonist, which helps to make the payoff even better. I enjoyed this story, and though normally I am not a fan of human conflicts like the one in this story, it worked extremely well and made the ending that much more satisfying.
In the end, this is a fairly good collection of Lovecraftian stories. Sammons' choice to group them in three sections (before the fall, during the fall, after the fall) was a really smart way of handling them, and I am glad that each section had a good amount of stories in each. Even though there are the odd story that falls short, that is to be expected for an anthology, and honestly, you may enjoy them where I didn't. And ti you are into post apocalyptic stories, or Lovecraftian stories, this is a good collection of stories for you that I am sure you will find a few favorites of your own!
September 24, 2017
Excellent collection of stories here. Sammons did a great job organizing it into 'pre-', 'during', and 'post-' apocalyptic sections. Pathos and terror abound, not to mention innovation, as well as the atmospheric prose so important to a lot of Lovecraft fiction, from distinct voices. I'd say there were about ten selections I really enjoyed, and the rest were all still pretty good. I also appreciated the author biographies which list off a lot more material I can check out.
June 4, 2018
excellent collection of Lovecraftiana, about the End Times. Or more correctly, the times immediately before, during, and after the Stars Become Right. Imaginative and diverse! And highly recommended.
April 5, 2020
Great Collection
These Cthulhu Mythos stories have s twist: What if the stars were right and the Old Ones di rule the planet again.
Loved all of the stories, which is rare for me, and highly recommend!!
These Cthulhu Mythos stories have s twist: What if the stars were right and the Old Ones di rule the planet again.
Loved all of the stories, which is rare for me, and highly recommend!!
August 7, 2025
“Return of the Old Ones: Apocalyptic Lovecraftian Horror” is a collection of horror fiction inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, and was edited by Brian M. Sammons. It was published in 2017. Lovecraft’s alien deities were said to return someday “…when the stars were right.” This collection of short stories imagines what that would be like. There are a variety of authors who have contributed their apocalyptic visions to the collection in three sections.
The first is titled, “In the Before Times” in which stories are set just before the return of these beings. The next is “Where Were You When the World Ended?” In these stories we see the apocalyptic return itself. The last section is “Life in the Shadow of Living Gods” which contains stories set after the end of the world.
All of these stories are pretty imaginative for Lovecraftian fiction, and have new perspectives on the well worn ideas. Several are more disturbing than expected and linger with you for hours or days after reading. I found this collection refreshing, and I’ll be looking at other similar anthologies by Dark Regions Press.
The first is titled, “In the Before Times” in which stories are set just before the return of these beings. The next is “Where Were You When the World Ended?” In these stories we see the apocalyptic return itself. The last section is “Life in the Shadow of Living Gods” which contains stories set after the end of the world.
All of these stories are pretty imaginative for Lovecraftian fiction, and have new perspectives on the well worn ideas. Several are more disturbing than expected and linger with you for hours or days after reading. I found this collection refreshing, and I’ll be looking at other similar anthologies by Dark Regions Press.
July 22, 2022
A good anthology of Lovecraftian tales. Although none stands out in particular, there are no bad ones
May 6, 2017
A FAIR BUNCH OF TALES OF THE OLD ONES IT IS..
Hello, I, honestly, have to say that this one of the most boring collections of Lovecraftian tales. There wasn't a winner in the whole bunch. Thanks.
Hello, I, honestly, have to say that this one of the most boring collections of Lovecraftian tales. There wasn't a winner in the whole bunch. Thanks.
July 22, 2019
Chock full of good apocalypse horror
Other than one story that was just too weird for my tastes, this was an enjoyable imagining of the various ways that a cosmic horror apocalypse could happen and be lived through and in.
Other than one story that was just too weird for my tastes, this was an enjoyable imagining of the various ways that a cosmic horror apocalypse could happen and be lived through and in.
February 23, 2019
Yum
Every single time I read one of these I am surprised by how much I love them. Awesome collection of stories.
Every single time I read one of these I am surprised by how much I love them. Awesome collection of stories.
March 15, 2021
Mostly effective.
I won't lie. There are some weak stories in the anthology that don't seem to fit. The majority of it though is wonderfully atmospheric and creepy.
I won't lie. There are some weak stories in the anthology that don't seem to fit. The majority of it though is wonderfully atmospheric and creepy.
May 23, 2023
This Anthology is separated into three timelines:
1. In the Before Times:
•"Around the Corner," Jeffrey Thomas, OK.
•"Tick Tock," Don Webb, OK.
•"Causality Revelation," Glynn Owen Barrass, I like it more than the rest. It has more weirdness in it!
•"The Hidden," Scott T. Goudsward, OK.
•"The Gentleman Caller," Lucy A. Snyder, Amazing idea and execution. One of the stories that really hooked me into it.
•"Scratching from the Outer Darkness," Tim Curran, Surprisingly, just ok.
•"Message from a Dark Deity," Stephen Mark Rainey. OK.
The bigger names here were Curran and Thomas, but I must admit that I liked more those two stories than the others. Still, a good effort overall!
2. Where Were You When the World Ended?
• "Time Flies," Pete Rawlik, Original ideea. I really like this one.
• "Sorrow Road," Tim Waggoner, Tremendous stuff. Visceral happening all over. The creepiness hits the fan!! Another favourite!
• "The Call of the Deep," William Meikle OK, nice ideea and as usually at the execution Meikle doesn`t dissappoints.
• "Howling Synchronicities," Konstantine Paradias, Mhm.
• "Chimera," Sam Gafford, Not bad. At least it wasn`t a choir reading it.
• "The Last Night on Earth," Edward Morris, Mhm.
• "The Incessant Drone," Neil Baker, Reminded me of a recent movie in which different soldiers are transported in a different dimension and they need to fight monstrous creatures. Nicely done!
Rawlik, Waggoner and Meikle were the famous names here and they all deliver with texts (almost) better than the rest. Baker gets a fairly mention.
3. Life in the Shadow of Living Gods:
• "Breaking Point," Sam Stone, HAHA! This was another creepy one!! It reminded me of some of the atmosphere from the volume Other Americas by Norman Spinrad (1988) translated in romanian, also. Great stuff!
• "The Allclear," Edward M. Erdelac, Mhm, Hard to follow and get into it! And it`s quite the long one!
• "The Keeper of Memory," Christine Morgan, Mhm.
• "Shout / Kill / Revel / Repeat," Scott R. Jones, Mhm.
• "Strangers Die Every Day," Cody Goodfellow, One of the longest story here. Not bad, but, sometimes, if you`re stretching too much it could damage the story. Still better than the others!
Overall Jones and Goodfellow were the popular names, and only Goodfellow & Stone confirmed.
This third part felt the weakest from my point of view, it has a nice diversity of ideas, but I really didn`t care at all for them.
Still, on the whole, the percentage it`s not so bad, I enjoyed a lot reading eight (8) stories, while the other eleven (11), were just ok or I didn`t care for them.
Almost there, for half a book, so, not a bad effort! I must admit that I was more into the second and third chapters because of the creepiness and all the more weirdness that we have there.
And, overral, the stories that I liked, were so good & satisfying that it made my day when I`ved read them and even if there were some cold showers, from time to time, and it tooked almost a year to end it, my fault naturally, still, I felt that this Anthology deserves FIVE Stars!
AND FIVE IT IS!
1. In the Before Times:
•"Around the Corner," Jeffrey Thomas, OK.
•"Tick Tock," Don Webb, OK.
•"Causality Revelation," Glynn Owen Barrass, I like it more than the rest. It has more weirdness in it!
•"The Hidden," Scott T. Goudsward, OK.
•"The Gentleman Caller," Lucy A. Snyder, Amazing idea and execution. One of the stories that really hooked me into it.
•"Scratching from the Outer Darkness," Tim Curran, Surprisingly, just ok.
•"Message from a Dark Deity," Stephen Mark Rainey. OK.
The bigger names here were Curran and Thomas, but I must admit that I liked more those two stories than the others. Still, a good effort overall!
2. Where Were You When the World Ended?
• "Time Flies," Pete Rawlik, Original ideea. I really like this one.
• "Sorrow Road," Tim Waggoner, Tremendous stuff. Visceral happening all over. The creepiness hits the fan!! Another favourite!
• "The Call of the Deep," William Meikle OK, nice ideea and as usually at the execution Meikle doesn`t dissappoints.
• "Howling Synchronicities," Konstantine Paradias, Mhm.
• "Chimera," Sam Gafford, Not bad. At least it wasn`t a choir reading it.
• "The Last Night on Earth," Edward Morris, Mhm.
• "The Incessant Drone," Neil Baker, Reminded me of a recent movie in which different soldiers are transported in a different dimension and they need to fight monstrous creatures. Nicely done!
Rawlik, Waggoner and Meikle were the famous names here and they all deliver with texts (almost) better than the rest. Baker gets a fairly mention.
3. Life in the Shadow of Living Gods:
• "Breaking Point," Sam Stone, HAHA! This was another creepy one!! It reminded me of some of the atmosphere from the volume Other Americas by Norman Spinrad (1988) translated in romanian, also. Great stuff!
• "The Allclear," Edward M. Erdelac, Mhm, Hard to follow and get into it! And it`s quite the long one!
• "The Keeper of Memory," Christine Morgan, Mhm.
• "Shout / Kill / Revel / Repeat," Scott R. Jones, Mhm.
• "Strangers Die Every Day," Cody Goodfellow, One of the longest story here. Not bad, but, sometimes, if you`re stretching too much it could damage the story. Still better than the others!
Overall Jones and Goodfellow were the popular names, and only Goodfellow & Stone confirmed.
This third part felt the weakest from my point of view, it has a nice diversity of ideas, but I really didn`t care at all for them.
Still, on the whole, the percentage it`s not so bad, I enjoyed a lot reading eight (8) stories, while the other eleven (11), were just ok or I didn`t care for them.
Almost there, for half a book, so, not a bad effort! I must admit that I was more into the second and third chapters because of the creepiness and all the more weirdness that we have there.
And, overral, the stories that I liked, were so good & satisfying that it made my day when I`ved read them and even if there were some cold showers, from time to time, and it tooked almost a year to end it, my fault naturally, still, I felt that this Anthology deserves FIVE Stars!
AND FIVE IT IS!
March 31, 2025
I gained this book as a part of a Lovecraft download package which was well worth the money as a package, but this title alone, well, I'm glad that I didn't pay for it solely.
The cover art is excellent and draws you in instantly if you're a Lovecraft fan. The stories are standalone original stories by a wide range of authors with a common theme of Lovecraft's Old/Ancient Ones.
There are quite a range of styles and genres here including some that were very quirky to the point of comedy, ironically I found these to be some of the better ones in the book.
The cons are that some of the stories within I found quite boring, others I found written in such a strange style that they were unreadable and I skipped them. There are certainly some interesting takes on the themes like the X rated hotline girl who begins to capture the souls of her callers through the phone line stands out amongst some others that had genuinely unique twists and characterisation.
Despite the few entertaining stories in this collection I actually wouldn't recommend it due to the amount of unmemorable ones. It's a shame because most stories were well written, some were written with particular skill involving Lovecraftian devices and vocabulary that upheld their narrative to produce an exciting hybrid. The book is also presented well with images relating to each individual story, but the selection process for this collection is questionable for me.
The cover art is excellent and draws you in instantly if you're a Lovecraft fan. The stories are standalone original stories by a wide range of authors with a common theme of Lovecraft's Old/Ancient Ones.
There are quite a range of styles and genres here including some that were very quirky to the point of comedy, ironically I found these to be some of the better ones in the book.
The cons are that some of the stories within I found quite boring, others I found written in such a strange style that they were unreadable and I skipped them. There are certainly some interesting takes on the themes like the X rated hotline girl who begins to capture the souls of her callers through the phone line stands out amongst some others that had genuinely unique twists and characterisation.
Despite the few entertaining stories in this collection I actually wouldn't recommend it due to the amount of unmemorable ones. It's a shame because most stories were well written, some were written with particular skill involving Lovecraftian devices and vocabulary that upheld their narrative to produce an exciting hybrid. The book is also presented well with images relating to each individual story, but the selection process for this collection is questionable for me.
September 8, 2022
I thought having the book cut into three sections (first stores are pre-Cthulhu, second set when it is happening and last group the afterward of it already happened) was great. I enjoyed most of the stories. As with any anthology, there are always a few great and a couple that aren't so great. I am a reader of most of these authors and have found a couple of new ones to read now, too.
September 8, 2024
Whilst some of these stories were a bit unusual to follow, I'm super glad I stuck with them because, omg, they were amazing! I was particularly grossed out and interested in Breaking Point by Sam Stone. This isn't my first dive into Lovecraftian horror and cosmic monstrosities, but god, I loved it so much
June 10, 2022
As with all anthologies, there’s some good and some bad, but overall the good outweighs the bad. It’s also nice to get some post-apocalyptic Lovecraftian horror for a change, as it’s something that the genre seems to lack overall.
August 14, 2022
Fun read
Excellent collection of dark stories of what happens if the Old Ones have their way. Lots of interesting takes on the madness that Lovecraft introduced us to back in his stories. I really enjoyed this collection.
Excellent collection of dark stories of what happens if the Old Ones have their way. Lots of interesting takes on the madness that Lovecraft introduced us to back in his stories. I really enjoyed this collection.
March 8, 2024
On a Lovecraft inspired kick after reading 'The Fisherman' and gave this one a go. There's some good stories spread throughout, and the layout of the book is very clever, but the vast majority are just okay timewasters.
December 16, 2021
I continue to be a sucker for Lovecraft pastiches told through the lens of a newer generation of authors.
October 15, 2022
Really enjoyed this anthology. Some really interesting ides strewn about.
If you like Lovecraft it is worth the read.
If you like Lovecraft it is worth the read.
January 27, 2024
The only really good story is - The keeper of memories. "The Allclear" was good. All others are meh.
Currently reading
May 23, 2024"Time Flies" by Pete Rawlik - The Yith are time-travelling aliens that occupy the bodies of the recent dead. Pandora becomes the bodyguard of one named Ys and learns the immortal creatures are only there to observe the extinction of the world of men due to a large earthquake and tsunami. Ys also informs Pandora when the Yith depart their dead hosts it will create a zombie plague.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2024
A single rating isn't really fair for this, and for some, one bad apple will spoil the batch. Most of the stories here trend above average and a few really satisfied the Lovecraftian itch. There was only 1 story that I skipped after struggling through the first page. Not only do I recommend this anthology, but I also recommend knowing when to cut your losses to skip what you don't like.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews