 It was edited by S. T. Joshi.In this anthology as editor, Joshi's goal was to assemble a collection of stories influenced by the works and core tenets of H. P. Lovecraft, while avoiding the rigid structure of the Cthulhu Mythos as defined by August Derleth and others.In his introduction, Joshi states that "It is to be noted how many stories in this anthology do not mention a single such name from the Lovecraft corpus; and yet they remain intimately Lovecraftian on a far deeper level.