David Conyers
Science Fiction Author
CTHULHU MYTHOS
THE HAG OF ZAIS
Eldritch Steel, Elder Signs Press, 2009
A man lost and dying in the Sahara encounters a talking cat, who promises to save the man's life if he in turn promises to undertake a quest in the dreamlands, banishing a sorceress haunting a once great city of cats.
SISTER OF THE SANDS
Cthulhu’s Dark Cults, Chaosium, 2009
In 1933 an amnesic woman walks out of the deep merciless
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
Secrets of Kenya, Chaosium 2007
The Writing Show, 2007
On the fields of the African savanna, Lord Caulfield is on safari hunting lions. Little does he know that deep underground an undiscovered breed of men are hunting him, not to kill or make him thier trophy, but to take him far beneath the earth where he will discover their world. A tale of Lovecraftian ghouls set in Colonial Kenya. This story will be available as a Pod Cast from The Writing Show as part of their Seven Days of Halloween Special 2007.
THE SWELLING
The King in Yellow, Atlantean Publishing, 2007
Cthulhu Australis Part 2, Rainfall Books, 2007
A storm rages in the Pacific Ocean. A young couple and their daughter trapped on a battered yacht find themselves as the mercy of madness and the elements. Then the wife Tracy discovers that her husband has just murdered their only child, and throws himself into the sea to drown before he really feels the pain of what he has just done. She finds herself all alone, unsure if she can face her grief.
Once more, he demonstrates his skill at blending the Mythos with the modern, delivering character-driven pieces as "literary" as they are Lovecraftian: In Conyers' stories, ancient gods and cosmic horror are symbolic stand-ins for inferiority complexes and social alienation. - Jeff Edwards, The Harrow
FROM THE SICK TREES
Cthulhu Australis Part 1, Rainfall Books, 2007
Mel cannot sleep. She dreams every night of a monstrous beast forcing her to hunt human prey. In the real world her boyfriend is uncaring, her mother is controlling, and her job is demanding. Worse, a secret history dating back to the early Australia settlers is linked to her own bizarre nightmares, and the truth may not wish to be told.
I highly recommend this chapbook and believe it is imperative that we support small press efforts such as this one, especially when they are of such high quality and offer such a unique approach to one of the more intriguing strands of horror fiction. – Robert Black, OzHorrorScope
OUTSIDE, LOOKING IN
Hardboiled Cthulhu, Elder Signs Press, 2006
In this city it always rains, it is always dark, and a private investigator often dreams of an orange disk, hanging in the sky. A dead body washes up in the docks, cut up like an anatomical drawing. The private investigator already knew this man, because he was hired by the dead man's wife to discover if he was unfaithful. Then as the investigation deepens, so to does the mystery, and perhaps the nature of their strange world will at last be revealed.
"Outside Looking In" by David Conyers is a perfect, convincing, well written mix of PI stuff and Lovecraftian horror - Mario Guslandi, SF Site
Conyers’ ‘Outside Looking In’ is an extremely nasty P.I. procedural that draws heavily and successfully upon Lovecraft’s ‘The Whisperer in Darkness’. It’s a worthy addition to this anthology, and just one more reason for every Mythos enthusiast to run out and buy a copy right now. - Chuck McKenzie, OzHorrorScope
David's work is always excellent. This was another fine effort. - Ron Shiflet, Author of Darla: Stories of Mythos Noir
There are some gems that make this collection well worth puchasing... "Outside, Looking In" by David Conyers is almost worth the price of admission on its own. - D. Nicklin, Amazon.com
Compelling to the end and I couldn’t look away. - Alisa Krasnostein, AS if!
David Conyers' 'Outside Looking In' is a terrific tale of identity (and lack of same), love and bravery. And when the Mythos gradually comes creeping in, it becomes a horrible, hollow reflection of what our world might be or might become. You Australian fellows seem to be pretty good at this kind of thing ... and it's always a treat reading a new Conyers. - John Sunseri
I have sung the praises of Mr. Conyers, another gifted Aussie, before. This story was great! ... the world is not what it seems. Do you really want to know the truth? – Matthew Carpenter, Amazon.com
REGROWTH
Arkham Tales, Chaosium Inc. 2006
Peter Kinsley, private investigator, is hired by Miskatonic University to locate one of their missing lecturers. He is told that the missing man has been behaving oddly of late, that he's been stealing laboratory animals and his research journals are nothing more than illegible scribble. None of this worries Kinsley of course. What worries him is something else entirely, the 'growth' the missing lecturer left behind in the University's laboratory.
I'm a big David Conyers fan. He is becoming well published in almost all the newer mythos anthologies... a darn good read. - Matthew Carpenter, Amazon.com
FIVE SISTERS
Temple of Dagon, 2006
Cthulhu Australis Part 1, Rainfall Books, 2007
Backpacking in Australia on his first big trip from America, Brian strikes it lucky with a strange Australian girl called Jocelyn. Instead of taking him back to her place that night, she invites him for a trip the next day into the Adelaide Hills, promising to indulge all the pleasures of the flesh, but the flesh is not always what it seems. Read the story online at the Temple of Dagon.
THE FACELESS WATCHERS
Lovecraft's Weird Mysteries. Issue 10, 2005
During the New England winter of 1929, Professor Samuel Colbridge hopes to glimpse at the Miskatonic University's copy of the Necronomicon, and thus translate his own ancient text to learn the location of a lost city buried in the Sahara. He seeks the location not for personal gain, but to be reunited with his son. But the faceless watchers, who follow Colbridge everywhere, seem to have other plans.
SOLVENT HUNGER
Book of Dark Wisdom, Issue 5, 2005
Cthulhu Australis Part 1, Rainfall Books, 2007
A serial killer is on the loose in Australia's far north, leaving a trial of mutilated bodies. Constable Kelly Brookes of the Darwin Police Force knows the outback like the back of her hand, and believes she has a handle on the killer, two facts that just might allow her to solve the case. If only the two city detectives in charge shared her sentiments. This story is part of David's connected Australian Cthulhu Mythos tales.
VANISHING CURVES
Book of Dark Wisdom, Issue 3, 2004
Temple of Dagon, 2006
Cthulhu Australis Part 2, Rainfall Books, 2007
Each night Zoe is terrified to walk home, for a street kid lurks outside her apartment, moaning like a wild animal as if possessed. She always tries to avoid him. Then one night the street kid touches her, leaving a blackness on Zoe's hands which she cannot scrub away, and then the lights begin to dim. This story is now available online at The Temple of Dagon.
Vanishing Curves by David Conyers is truly excellent and... it was very welcome indeed. Conyers story is a take on the reality and time distorting properties of the god Yog-Sothoth. This is really what Lovecraftian fiction should be about these days. Showing Lovecraft's ideas in a new light, finding a new element to "cosmic" horror. - Jonathan Oliver, The British Fantasy Society
Among the best contributions to the issue ... achieves a suitably disturbing tone. - Calum McDonald, Chaosium Inc.
A SHARED ROMANCE
Dreaming in R'lyeh, Vol 1. Issue 2, 2003
Cthulhu Express, Rage Machine Books, 2006
Cthulhu Australis Part 2, Rainfall Books, 2007
Mark Tanner loves his girlfriend Amy, but she does not seem to love him in return. On the same day two unexpected events spell the beginning of a whole new outlook on their relationship, first Mark now suspects Amy is having an affair, and second their bathroom is incubating a plague of flies.
An instant classic - James Ambuehl, Editor of The Tsathoggua Cycle and Hardboiled Cthulhu
This was the highlight of the issue ... If someone is planning a Yiggish anthology this would be an excellent addition ... an absolutely wonderful Australian Yig story, the gem of the issue and worthy of wider dissemination - Matthew Carpenter, alt.horror.cthulhu
SCREAMING CRAWLER
Dreaming in R'lyeh, Vol 1. Issue 1, 2003
In Lovecraft's Shadow, Issue 1, 2007
In the heart of the godforsaken Belgian Congo, Lady Clare Heatherington and her faithful manservant Jake Morgan befriend a tribe of pygmies. From the tribal elders they hope to learn the nature of the Spiralling Worm cultists, who are hunting them in the jungle. But the pygmies know that their hunter is not of their world, a creature which they claim is unstoppable and never tires. A revised and expanded version of this story appears in the premier issue of In Lovecraft's Shadow edited by Ron Shiflet.
