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.
Stories in Dark Gods:
- "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 in the neighborhood, and they seem strangley connected to Pistachio's tales.
- "Petey": A married 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 Collector of the Strange, was forcibly committed to a local mental hospital. It turns out, however, that the owner left something rather horrifying behind in the house...
- "Black Man with a Horn": The narrator, an elderly horror writer who was a friend and peer of H. P. Lovecraft back in the day, has a strange encounter with a missionary who has recently returns from a journey from the deep jungles of Malaysia and appears to be haunted by something. When the missionary soon after disappears under mysterious circumstances, the narrator decides to play at being an Amateur Sleuth, and he soon finds himself entangled in web of ancient cults and folklore that could have been taken out of a tale by Lovecraft himself.
- "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 off a couple of decades later and adapted into a heavy metal song by a semi-famous rock group, Nadelman is suddenly contacted by mail by a Loony Fan, who seems convinced that it is possible to bring his "god" to life with the right kind of ritual.
Tropes:
- Alter Kocker: Herman Lauterbach directly refers to himself as such.
- The Anti-God: The titular god of "Nadelman's God", was written by Nadelman to be a twisted mirror image of the Abrahamic God.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: "Children of the Kingdom" sets its stage with a whole three Epigraphs. The first is from Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer, the second is from August Derleth's "The House on Curwen Street". The third quote, however, comes from an 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.
- Double-Meaning Title: "Nadelman's God" can be read in two ways, the second being more subtle. The most obvious meaning is that by writing his poem about The Anti-God 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. 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".
- George Lucas Altered Version: Klein has freely admitted that every one of his old works are being republished, he goes over them to change certain small details and words that didn't sit right with him. 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:"If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would be out in Bantam paperback with a preface by Lin Carter."
- Then, in the 1986 reprint it became:"If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would probably be out in paperback with a preface by Lin Carter."
- Before finally, in every reprint since 1995, Klein seems have settled on:"If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would probably be out in paperback with a preface by Colin Wilson."
- Then, in the 1986 reprint it became:
- Grammar Correction Gag:
- "Black Man with a Horn" sees the narrator being rather embarrassed about one of his stories being referred to as "Beyond the Garve", wondering if that will a misspelled title will be his legacy.
- In "Nadelman's God", Nadelman is temporarily very annoyed to discover that the original printing of his poem rendered "Message from the Gods" as "Massage from the Gods". It provides a temporary and chilling contrast to what else he discovers from re-reading his old work.
- Informed Judaism: Played With 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 Yiddish as a Second Language by referring to his Loony Fan, 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 seeking 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 haven't been giving his own Jewishness and religion in a general a thought for decades, ends up seeking out comfort and protection in the faith of his ancestors during a time where he feels haunted by a malevolent higher power.
- Fiendish Fish: 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 Person, but the implication that "he" is really some kind of Puppeteer Parasite means that this (probably) isn't the case.
- Interclass Friendship: Herman Lauterbach comes from an upper middle-class background, but he has no problems moving amongst working class people and social outcasts and easily makes friends with them.
- Tarot Motifs: A set of tarot cards are overtly used in "Petey" to read the guests' fortunes. The deck, however, includes a card that is not found in an ordinary tarot deck.
- Hell Is That Noise: 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.
