Dead But Dreaming: A Lovecraftian Libation

That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.
In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.
– “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft

So, I was at a Halloween party discussing rum and elder gods, as one does, and we hit upon a new concoction for consumption when apocalypse is nigh and you can feel the earth shake as dread Cthulhu rises from his watery slumber.

In an old-fashioned glass, ritual goblet, or other suitable drinking vessel, combine:

• 2 ounces Kraken Rum
• 1 ounce traditional green absinthe

Top off with:

• 3-4 ounces of cold nonalcoholic ginger beer (not ginger ale)
  • If you are really quite sure the end is nigh and are not concerned with the fate of your liver, substitute Crabbie’s alcoholic ginger beer.
  • If you’re worried about dying of fever or delirium before the stars are right, substitute tonic water.
  • If your soul is empty and your wet bar bare, or if you’ve just got an inconvenient ginger allergy/aversion, substitute plain cold soda water.
  • If you are a gibbering cultist who expects to die any minute now and aren’t concerned with gastrointestinal distress, substitute seawater from the Cyclopean island ruins you’re currently cowering upon or bilge water from the hold of the merchant vessel whose crew you just slaughtered.

Add lime juice to taste.

Enjoy!

(Thanks to Anton Cancre for his contributions to this.)

Lucy A. Snyder is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels Spellbent, Shotgun Sorceress, Switchblade Goddess, and the collections Orchid Carousals, Sparks and Shadows, Chimeric Machines, and Installing Linux on a Dead Badger. Her latest books are Shooting Yourself in the Head For Fun and Profit: A Writer’s Survival Guide and Soft Apocalypses. You can learn more about her at www.lucysnyder.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @LucyASnyder.

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About Lucy A. Snyder

Lucy A. Snyder is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels Spellbent, Shotgun Sorceress, Switchblade Goddess, and the collections Soft Apocalypses, Orchid Carousals, Sparks and Shadows, Chimeric Machines, and Installing Linux on a Dead Badger. Her latest books are Shooting Yourself in the Head For Fun and Profit: A Writer's Survival Guide and While the Black Stars Burn. Her writing has been translated into French, Russian, and Japanese editions and has appeared in publications such as Apex Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, Jamais Vu, Pseudopod, Strange Horizons, Weird Tales, Steampunk World, In the Court of the Yellow King, Qualia Nous, Chiral Mad 2, and Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 5. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and occasional co-author Gary A. Braunbeck and is a mentor in Seton Hill University's MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction. You can learn more about her at www.lucysnyder.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @LucyASnyder.

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