One of the most interesting crowdfunding projects currently out there in dark/horrid/weird fiction is just hours away from closing – 45 hours, at the time of writing. It’s not a fundraising deadline – Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror from Dark Regions Press has already blown past its $17,000 fundraising goal on Indiegogo with currently $23,233 on the clock and counting. Rather, this is a deadline for final submissions to the collection.
“Creatures and forces unimaginable inhabited this realm for eons, long before any human navigated the surface of the earth,” explains the Indiegogo blurb. “In Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror the most intuitive dreamers have been assembled to give us glimpses into these ancient terrors and their whispered warnings. Featuring authors Joyce Carol Oates, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Lois Gresh, Gemma Files, Nancy Kilpatrick, Elizabeth Bear, Storm Constantine and others accompanied by the lavish artwork of Daniele Serra, Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror is a representation of some of the finest cosmic horror and weird fiction from female authors in the field today.”
Given the reams of criticism dedicated to proving that H.P. Lovecraft’s uniquely eldritch creations are all the products of sexual repression, and that his work is full of concealed or obvious misogyny, an anthology dedicated to women’s best reimaginings of the horror tradition he inaugurated looks likely to deliver some extra interest – and some more recognition in a genre still stalked by the dark horrors of prejudice.
“Dreams from the Witch House will have an open submissions window for the duration of the Indiegogo campaign,” explains the Indiegogo page, despite the top names already gathered for the collection. Full submission details are available on the campaign page. Also, under the campaign’s original goal, “artist Daniele Serra will create an original full page illustration for every story.” Under the next stretch goal of $22,000 – already reached – “all interior illustrations by artist Daniele Serra will be created and printed in full color in the book.” Further stretch goals up to $25,000 unlock even more benefits around Daniele Serra’s artwork.
It’ll be interesting to see if Dreams from the Witch House hits any more of its stretch goals before March 1st. And far far more interesting to see what the finished article will be like.
