Michael Minnis

Anencephalous and Other Poisoned Dreams is a story collection by Michael Minnis. It is a great book and a real find; I am indebted to an anonymous benefactor who sent me a copy; before that I had never heard of it. Its obscurity is due to the fact that it was published in Germany by Bärenklau and mg Verlag. I have never seen a book like this but maybe I’m not very cosmopolitan. The seven stories, epilogue and publication history are printed in German. But if you flip the book over and upside down, they are also included in the original English. I am so grateful because Mr. Minnis deserves to have a collection of his own, and I can’t read a lick of German! Each half of the book is about 189 pages so I can’t imagine this was inexpensive to print. I believe Mr. Minnis provided the atmospheric art on the cover and interior.

Michael Minnis is an outstanding Lovecraftian author. Here is a partial listing of his stories that I have enjoyed:

Small Ghost in Arkham Tales, the best story in the anthology
Salt Air in Dead But Dreaming, a rather bleak Yellow Sign story
Innsmouth Wood available in the chapbook Inhabitants of Innsmouth from Rainfall Books
A Little Color in Your Cheeks from Horrors Beyond, a sort of sequel to The Colour Out of Space
The Circumstances of Ghostly Cats
The Butcher of Vyones – both of these stories appeared in Lost Words of Space and Time from Rainfall Books
The Prodigies of Monkfield Cabot in Eldritch Blue is maybe the weakest thing I’ve ever read by Mr. Minnis, sort of a prequel to The Thing on the Doorstep

Back in the early part of the millennium, Lindisfarne Press had promised a two volume collection of Mr. Minnis’ fiction called Apocalypse Rhythm. Alas, for financial reasons Lindisfarne closed up shop before this ever happened. Their website reappeared in 2007 but there has been no activity since. This makes me doubly glad for the current anthology because the only way to see his stories otherwise was to scour websites for free online stories. I have not been able to find a web page or blog by Mr. Minnis; in fact I am concerned that he has stopped producing much mythos fiction. Any information about the author and his background would be welcome.

Here is a link to an interview with Mike Minnis by Peter Worthy, dating back about 10 years: http://www.geocities.com/athens/forum/4162/minnis.html

Here are the contents of Anencephalous and Other Poisoned Dreams. Some of these I read online before and Chartreuse appeared in Rehearsals for Oblivion by Elder Signs Press. Many of these stories are set in and around the desolation of war and take full advantage of the sense of alienation so much at the core of Lovecraftian fiction. The first three stories in particular must strike a chord with a German horror fiction fan.

No. 29 Stumpergrasse – A pre WWI art student in Vienna finds that some…thing has big plans a nondescript wimp he used to push around.

Knuckerhole – During the Blitz, some English boys investigate rumors of a monster that supposedly ate a German parachuting into the countryside.

Chartreuse – This is a brilliant Yellow Sign story involving German soldiers in the long retreat on the Eastern front.

Al Azif – A Marsh, related to the Innsmouth clan, tracks down the infamous book in Beirut imploding during its civil war.

Snuff Movie – Also brilliant, the main character has a friend who has always wanted to see a snuff movie and tracks down a tape of a supposed sacrifice in Bangkok. I was extremely creeped out by the tense ending.

Nyarlathotep – Tonight and Only! – A hitchhiker in the American west catches a ride with a preacher of sorts, who takes him to a seminar given by Nyarlathotep in Phoenix, AZ. What happens there is a surprise.

Anencephalous – This is a more humorous mythos story about the terrors awaiting Lovecraftian characters in suburbia.

Epilogue (author bio)

“Source” (publication history)

What can I say? Mr. Minnis is a marvelous writer. All of the stories are excellent and a few are flat out brilliant. I can only wish that he is still writing mythos fiction and that either some other publisher gives him the single author collection he deserves, or Lindisfarne Press gets its act together. Bravo. More, please.… (lisätietoja)