Gerald Heard

Her name is Puabi-and she's an Immortal High Witch whose past is littered with dark secrets. Convinced she has eluded death for the last time, she is shocked to find herself being rescued by a mysterious stranger who fills her with a desire she thought was lost forever. His name is Matthew Fairchild-and he is a millionaire tormented by guilt over the tragic death of his wife. The last thing he expected to encounter was a beautiful woman who possessed an uncanny resemblance to the woman he loved and lost. But Puabi is like no one he's ever met before. Is it possible this enigmatic beauty can heal the bitter wounds that have nearly cost him his heart?

In modern-day London, failed artist Ed Rico is secretly in love with his brother's wife, Alice. When his brother disappears on a London Underground escalator, Ed and Alice have to put aside their personal feelings in order to find him. Their quest reveals to them terrifying glimpses of alien worlds and the far future.

Four chilling novellas blend horror and science fiction in this collection of short stories from one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century. When a man can't bear the company of others, when he runs not just from society but from something evil within himself, he'll find refuge only in the dark, deep underground, in the horrifying void of an uncharted cave. In the wilds of Mexico, a veteran spelunker hears rumors of a cave that could take him deeper than he's ever gone before. The locals whisper old Toltec legends of the devils that inhabit the darkness, spirits that have blighted the countryside for miles around, but the man doesn't listen. He'll find things within that cave that mankind isn't meant to see. And even if he manages to get out alive, he'll never escape the darkness. Drawing on his unique background as an intellectual and expert in the supernatural, author H.F. Heard echoes the pioneering horror of H.P. Lovecraft and the Victorian science fiction of H.G. Wells. In this weird world, the greatest threat to man is man himself. "The Lost Cavern" is one of Heard's best-known stories, and it remains just as eerie today as when it debuted. Along with the other three stories that make up this volume "The Cup," "The Thaw Plan," and "The Chapel of Ease" it confirms Heard's deserved status as one of the early masters of weird fiction.

Absolutely must read insight and direction for anyone wondering - what is prayer or how to or hogwash or why bother?? Page 114 is messed up though.