England’s Dreaming - A New Mythos
In short: A cross discipline narrative unveiling the cosmic horror scorched into Britain’s history.
In long? The England’s Dreaming Cycle is a multi-media, unfolding saga consisting of stand-alone stories which compound to create a larger mythos. While set in a contemporary Britain, the stories told will reverberate back across the island’s history – this is England through the lens of cosmic horror.
The goal of this project is to carve a story imbued with the same passion and love of the source material that makes projects such as Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu RPG and the Arkham Horror games so compelling to acolytes of weird fiction.
This cycle will introduce a roster of characters who will be developed as audiences experience and explore the world with them. This is a world where the events Lovecraft wrote about happened, and their horrific impact can still be felt decades later and miles apart. The way these characters are introduced and subsequently explored is an integral factor to the structure of England’s Dreaming, challenging the audience's expectations of archetypical characters. Those familiar with the mythos will be able to identify influences and some key characters may make an appearance.
Lurking in the shadows of these stories are unwilling investigators, ancient orders, denizens with strange heritage and a raging godhead.
This universe is to be developed through short stories, films and comics; with the potential to infect many more formats as it spreads. For example, a character appearing in a short film may seem benevolent, though a comic may reveal they had sinister, ulterior motives.
From the shipwreck of a mysterious cargo vessel at the turn of the century, to the machinations of a mysterious order working through the capital, England’s Dreaming is the story of a mysterious, strange and occasionally vile island.
Ultimately, England’s Dreaming is an engine to tell stories to delight fans of the cosmic horror genre, while exploring concepts and themes relevant for the current times. The deft combination of existentialism and other tropes linked to weird fiction with notions of national identity and cultural psyche will lead to strange tales rooted in contemporary matters.
The Cycle began with the release of the haunting overture The Sinking Solstice, a tale of a doomed cargo ship intricately illustrated by James Lasacz. January will see the release of The Wandering Eye, a short fiction in Lovecraft’s own tradition, with a performed reading to follow.
The first short film, White Magick for Beginners is set to shoot early March, pitching lead investigator Rae Armitage against a nationalist-turned-occultist with strange benefactors.
Each segment of the narrative will be posted directly to this Substack feed, available free to all subscribers.
