The stories in this collection (first published between 1841 to 1913) represent seven decades of development in weird fiction. They established cosmic horror as one of literature's most distinctive and disturbing genres. Together, they form an essential library of horror fiction, documenting humanity's growing awareness of its cosmic insignificance and the terrible price of that knowledge.

These tales were all highly influential, and they shaped H.P. Lovecraft's view of horror. They are the roots of his philosophy for the Cthulhu Mythos and much of his classic fiction.

Included are:

THE WILLOWS, by Algernon Blackwood AN INHABITANT OF CARCOSA, by Ambrose Bierce SREDNI VASHTAR, by Saki OH, WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD, by M. R. James THE NOVEL OF THE WHITE POWDER, by Arthur Machen THE YELLOW SIGN, by Robert W. Chambers THE DAMNED THING, by Ambrose Bierce THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT, by William Hope Hodgson THE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTS, by Arthur Conan Doyle VAILA, by M. P. Shiel LUKUNDOO, by Edward Lucas White THE GROVE OF ASHTAROTH, by John Buchan THE WHITE WOLF OF THE HARTZ MOUNTAINS, by Frederick Marryat THE MAN WHO WENT TOO FAR, by E. F. Benson THE DEAD VALLEY, by Ralph Adams Cram MUJINA, by Lafcadio Hearn AMOUR DURE, by Vernon Lee LUELLA MILLER, by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTRÖM, by Edgar Allan Poe WHAT WAS IT? by Fitz-James O'Brien GREEN TEA, by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu