The Engines of Sacrifice

In hidden places, they sleep and dream, and through their dreams they touch humanity--but their touch brings only the stains of horror, death, and madness...until the day the Old Ones return.

In The Engines of Sacrifice, acclaimed writer James Chambers delivers four nightmare novellas inspired by the Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.

Investigation 37: In the late years of the Vietnam War, Lavender May runs away from home to search for freedom and peace in New York City, but instead, she finds only a world of magic, witchcraft, and lies.

The Ugly Birds: Only one thing could save Carmine Darabont's comics magazine from going under: publishing the next chapter of the hit series "The Otherworlders." But what dark secret drives its creator--Carmine's ex-fiancé--to refuse to deliver it?

The Hidden Room: At the height of the Cold War, Doctor Calvin Lenox is a member of the Nuclear Emergency Search Team. With his life spiraling into despair, he confronts the mystery of a runaway Soviet defector and the death of three men, only to find himself at the mercy of...the Faceless God.

The Engines of Sacrifice: What is the power of words? Can they control the fabric of reality? In a horrifying new world, underground author Rowley Cray struggles against a totalitarian government gone insane and the possibility that he can control the souls of the dead.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: Chambers (Resurrection House) draws readers deep into H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos with chillingly evocative writing and the clever integration of real-world events. Four interlocking stories take place at least in part in the Long Island town of Knicksport, where portals open into the uncanny dimensions inhabited by the elder gods. Could the emergence into our world of Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, and Nyarlathotep be tied to the Wiccan enthusiasm of the 1970s, the strong presence of horror themes in 1980s indie comics, or the "accident" at Chernobyl? Can Cthulhu be reached through the transformative powers of fiction? Chambers's damaged characters cling to hope even as the world comes apart at the seams, making the insanity and despair of their circumstances poignant as well as deliciously creepy.