History Literature / DarkGods

''Dark Gods'' is a collection of short horror stories by T.E.D Klein, first published in 1985. While the first three stories had previously published in other collections and magazines, the final story is original to the collection.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: "Nadelman's God" can be read in two ways, the second being more subtle. The most obvious meaning is that by writing his poem a dark, twisted AntiGod that is a rival of the Abrahamic God, Nadelman has brought the entity into the world, and thus it is a god created by Nadelman. [[spoiler:But since this rival god by all appearances starts to act like a servant to Nadelman and follows him around at a distance, always listing for something he says that can be interpreted as a wish or a command, the title can also be read as "Nadelman ''is'' God".]]

* "Nadelman's God": The eponymous Nadelman is a middle-aged married advertising executive living in New York City, who in his youth as college student had a rebellious phase which included a short-lived, but intense interest in the occult, the only tangible remains of which is a dark poem about an ancient god of death and decay which he wrote for a local zine. When his poem is dusted and adapted into a heavy metal song by a semi-famous rock group, Nadelman is suddenly contacted by mail by a LoonyFan, who seems convinced that it is possible to bring his "god" to life with the right kind of ritual.

* "Petey": The upper-middle class couple, George and Phyllis, host a housing warming party for their friend-group in a big, old house in rural Connecticut, which George recently brought for cheap, after the previous owner, a mysterious elderly CollectorOfTheStrange, was forcibly committed to a local mental hospital. It turns out, however, that the owner left something rather horrifying behind in the house...

* "Children of the Kingdom": Taking place in the spring and summer of 1977, the unnamed narrator and his wife are tasked with having to find a retirement community able to care for his grandfather after he suffers a stroke. As the old man settles in, he introduces the narrator to a new friend of his, a very unorthodox and somewhat eccentric "priest" going by the name "Father Pistachio", who has some rather strange theories about the origin of man. But then strange and inexplicable events starts happening, and they seem strangley connected to Pistachio's tales.

* InformedJudaism: PlayedWith in "Nadelman's God". The eponymous Nadelman very obviously comes from a Jewish background, which can be gleamed early on from stuff like him mentioning his bar mitzvah and the fact that his rebellious occult poem was overtly provoked by his college introducing a mandatory sunday services for its students, something which he, due to his Jewish roots, found especially offensive. Outside of this, Nadelman clearly isn't practising and overtly prefers to think of himself as a secular Jew, if not an outright atheist. However, as the story progresses and Nadelman finds himself increasingly stressed and disturbed by by his experiences, he ends up bringing up more and more elements of his Jewish background, starting to slip into occasional moments of YiddishAsASecondLanguage by referring to his LoonyFan, Huntoon, as a "schmuck" and a "goyim" at different points. At the end of the story, however, Nadelman is so thoroughly traumatized that he ends up seeks refuge in an Orthodox synagogue during a panic attack to ward off the evil that he fears is following him, even if it means that he will have to wear a yarmulke to be accepted inside. Basically, Nadelman, who otherwise doesn't care about religion, ends up seeking out comfort in the faith of his ancestors during a time where he feels haunted by an overtly malevolent higher power.

* InformedJudaism: PlayedWith in "Nadelman's God". The eponymous Nadelman very obviously comes from a Jewish background, which can be gleamed early on from stuff like him mentioning his bar mitzvah and the fact that his rebellious occult poem was overtly provoked by his college introducing a mandatory sunday services for its students, something which he, due to his Jewish roots, found especially offensive. Outside of this, Nadelman clearly isn't practising and overtly prefers to think of himself as a secular Jew, if not an outright atheist. However, as the story progresses and Nadelman finds himself increasingly stressed and disturbed by by his experiences, he ends up bringing up more and more elements of his Jewish background, starting to slip into occasional moments of YiddishAsASecondLanguage by referring to his LoonyFan, Huntoon, as a "schmuck" and a "goyim" at different points. At the end of the story, however, Nadelman is so thoroughly traumatized that he ends up seeks refuge in an Orthodox synagogue to ward off the evil that he fears is following him, even if it means that he will have to wear a yarmulke to be accepted inside. Basically, Nadelman, who otherwise doesn't care about religion, ends up seeking out comfort in the faith of his ancestors during a time where he feels haunted by an overtly malevolent higher power.

* InformedJudaism: PlayedWith in "Nadelman's God". The eponymous Nadelman very obviously comes from a Jewish background, which can be gleamed early on from stuff like him mentioning his bar mitzvah and the fact that his rebellious occult poem was overtly provoked by his college introducing a mandatory sunday services for its students, something which he, due to his Jewish roots, found especially offensive. Outside of this, Nadelman clearly isn't practising and overtly prefers to think of himself as a secular Jew, if not an outright atheist. However, as the story progresses and Nadelman is further disturbed by by his experiences, he ends up bringing up more and more elements of his Jewish background, starting to slipping into occasional moments of YiddishAsASecondLanguage by referring to his LoonyFan, Huntoon, as a "schmuck" and a "goyim" at different points. At the end of the story, however, Nadelman is so thoroughly traumatized that he ends up seeks refuge in an Orthodox synagogue to ward off the evil that he fears is following him, even if it means that he will have to wear a yarmulke to be accepted inside. Basically, Nadelman, who otherwise doesn't care about religion, ends up seeking out comfort in the faith of his ancestors during a time where he feels haunted by an overtly malevolent higher power.

* InformedJudaism: PlayedWith in "Nadelman's God". The eponymous Nadelman very obviously comes from a Jewish background, which can be gleamed from stuff like him mentioning his bar mitzvah and referring to Huntoon as a "schmuck" at one point. There is also the fact that his rebellious occult poem was overtly provoked by his college introducing a mandatory sunday services for its students, something which he, due to his Jewish roots, found especially offensive. Outside of this, Nadelman clearly prefers to think of himself as a secular Jew, if not an outright atheist, and clearly isn't practising. By the end of the story, however, he is so thoroughly disturbed by his experiences that he ends up seeks refuge in an Orthodox synagogue to ward off the evil that he fears is following him, even if it means that he will have to wear a yarmulke to be accepted inside. Basically, Nadelman, who otherwise doesn't care about religion, ends up seeking out comfort in the faith of his ancestors during a time where he feels haunted by an overtly malevolent higher power.

* InformedJudaism: Nadelman very obviously comes from a Jewish background, which can be gleamed from stuff like him mentioning his bar mitzvah and referring to Huntoon as a "schmuck" at one point. There is also the fact that his rebellious occult poem was overtly provoked by his college introducing a mandatory sunday services for its students, something which he, due to his Jewish roots, found especially offensive. Outside of this, Nadelman clearly prefers to think of himself as a secular Jew, if not an outright atheist, and clearly isn't practising.

* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Klein has freely admitted that he sometimes goes over his old works to change certain small details and words. The most obvious example would be this line from "Black Man with a Horn", which started out in the story original publication in 1980 as:

* FiendishFish: What the titular "Black Man with a Horn" is implied to be. "He" moves amongst groups of walking catfish, he leaves behind vaguely fin-shaped footprints, people tend to describe him as a "black man" (walking catfish have black skin) wearing a snorkel or a gasmask, implying some kind of kindship. One would think that "he" has a humanoid shape would make him a {{Fish Pe|ople}}rson, but the implication that "he" is really some kind of PuppeteerParasite means that [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope this (probably) isn't the case]].

* FiendishFish: What the titular "Black Man with a Horn" is implied to be. "He" moves amongst groups of walking catfish, he leaves behind fin-shaped footprints, people tend to describe him as a "black man" (walking catfish have black skin) wearing a snorkel or a gasmask, implying some kind of kindship.

''Dark Gods'' is a collection of short horror stories by T. E. D. Klein, first published in 1985. While the first three stories had previously published in other collections and magazines, the final story is original to the collection.

-->"If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would be out in Bantam paperback with a preface by Lin Carter."

--->"If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would probably be out in paperback with a preface by Colin Wilson."

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: "Children of the Kingdom" sets its stage with a whole three {{Epigraph}}s. The first is from Charles Maturin's ''Literature/MelmothTheWanderer'', the second is from Creator/AugustDerleth's "The House on Curwen Street". The third quote, however, comes from a anonymous real life rape victim from New York, who notes that "It taught me the foolishness of ''not'' being afraid." The contrast between the use of quotes from two overtly supernatural horror stories, contrasted with the very plausible and not-too-uncommon real life scenario of being subjected to a sexual assaulted is downright chilling.

* HellIsThatNoise: The strange white humanoids in "Children of the Kingdom" emit a strange breathing noise that sounds like snoring when they are agitated. This includes when they're hunting a victim.

* TheHellIsThatNoise: The strange white humanoids in "Children of the Kingdom" emit a strange breathing noise that sounds like snoring when they are agitated. This includes when they're hunting a victim.

* WhatTheHellIsThatNoise: The strange white humanoids in "Children of the Kingdom" emit a strange breathing noise that sounds like snoring when they are agitated. This includes when they're hunting a victim.