Splatterpunk meets Robert W. Chambers in Pulver's first collection, at least 12 of whose 41 stories and poems include explicit sex and violence. Such tales as “Chasing Shadows” and “Yvrain's Black Dancers” put a contemporary spin on the enigmatic horrors of Chambers's landmark 1895 collection, The King in Yellow
. Pulver (Nightmare's Disciple
) honors other authors with such selections as “Lovecraft's Sentence,” in which the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft, upset at fictional portrayals of himself, gets his revenge, and “a certain Mr. Hopfrog, Esq., Nightwalker,” a tribute to W.H. Pugmire (Tales of Sesqua Valley
). While some may find scholar S.T. Joshi's claim in his introduction that Pulver “can take his place with that of the masters of our genre” (including Poe and Lovecraft) a trifle hyperbolic, all will agree that Pulver is a writer to watch. (Dec.)
