The evolution of the Cthulhu Mythos has been toward equal but opposite extremes of complexity and simplicity. Complexity, as the mythology of H. P. Lovecraft and his immediate circle was taken over by a band of enthusiastic later writers who elaborated and expanded it beyond all recognition. Simplicity, as in order to support this complicated structure, the distinctive elements of that mythology were diluted and blended into a truly amorphous whole. Dark Wisdom is a collection of modern Mythos stories that attempts to correct for both these extremes. Each of its twelve tales is written around one of the central tropes of the classic Mythos: a book like the Necronomicon, a race like the Deep Ones or a demonic god like Cthulhu himself. Each affirms the enduring power of those books, those races and those gods to leave their terrible mark on the modern world. 

Gary Myers has been a frequent contributor to the Cthulhu Mythos over a span of more than forty years. His other books include: The Country of the Worm, fantasy tales touching on the dreamlands of Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany; Gray Magic, a novel-length episode from the Book of Eibon of Clark Ashton Smith; and, with Jennifer McIlwee Myers, Lovecraft’s Syndrome, an informal Asperger’s appraisal of the writer’s life.