Beyond the Bounds of Infinity: An Anthology of Diverse Cosmic Horror

Cosmic horror is popular precisely because its terror stems from a powerful force that is indifferent to human suffering, a feeling to which people can unfortunately relate. But it also has a public-relations problem: its founder, H.P. Lovecraft, was not only virulently xenophobic but also embedded this hatred into his stories. Thankfully, a new generation of authors are taking the genre back, and editors Jackson (Up from the Deep; Touched by Shadows) and Pearre (co-chair of the Horror Writers Association Maryland Chapter) set out to share cosmic horror tales created by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers and others who have been discriminated against. The resulting anthology highlights the vibrancy and breadth of the genre, taking its audience on a journey from the attention-grabbing second-person voice, ominous static, and immersive anxiety of Timaeus Bloom’s opener, straight through to the closing terrors that emerge from L. Marie Wood’s movie director in an impossible situation, a story that leaves readers with the uneasy realization that the fear may never let up, and it may already be too late.