It's a casual mention, but this is in my opinion one of the greater sources of horror in Laird's fiction: the loss of identity. It was touched upon in "Old Virginia", and is examined more vividly in stories in the next collection, such as "The Broadsword".

Fear of losing one's mind, memories, personality, and autonomy is a great source of anxiety and horror in everyday life. It's given monstrous form in this and other stories.

In dreams I swim as I did back when the oceans were warm and empty. (25)

There I am, floating inside a vast membrane, (25)

a cigar is just a cigar (25)

The oceans have been decimated several times in the last billion years. (25)

and Homo sapiens formicating the earth. (25)

A cycle, indeed a cycle, and not a pleasant one if you are cursed with a brain and the wonder of what the cosmic gloaming shall hold for you. (25)

Like the old song, the more things change, the more I stay the same. (25)

When the lizards perished, (26)

and later wore the flesh and fur of warm-blooded creatures. (26)

When ice chilled and continents drifted together with dire results, (26)

Long ago in a cave on the side of a famous mountain in the Old World. (26)

we smoked psychedelic plants (26)



Purple dust and niveous spiral galaxy, a plain of hyaline rock broken by pyrgoidal clusters ringed in fire, temperatures sliding a groove betwixt boiling and freezing. (26)

The sweet huff of methane in my bellowing lungs (26)

They even prayed to terrible Shiva the Destroyer, who slept in his celestial palace. (27)

Nail me to a cross, burn me in a fire. A legend will rise up from the ashes. (27)

I vanished myself to the Bering Coast (27)

There is an old native ghost town on a stretch of desolate beach. (27)

Quonset huts with windows shattered or boarded. (27)

moaning through the abandoned FAA towers colored navy gray and rust. (27)



The shack waits and I light a kerosene lamp and (28)

Scratchy voice from a station in Nome recites the national news (28)

the United Nations is bombing some impoverished country into submission, (28)

war criminals from Bosnia are apprehended in Peru.(28)

A satellite orbiting Mars has gone offline, but NASA is quick to reassure the investors that all is routine (28)

in Ethiopia famine is tilling people under by the thousands, (28)

an explosion caused a plane to crash into the Atlantic, (28)

labor unions are threatening a crippling strike, (28)

a bizarre computer virus is hamstringing two major corporations (28)

I close my rheumy eyes and see a tinsel and sequined probe driving out, out beyond the cold chunk of Pluto. (28)

I see cabalists hunched over their ciphers, (28)

No monsters there, instead they lurk at school, at church, in his uncle's squamous brain. (28)

A refulgence that should not be seen begins to seep from the widening fissure. (29)

The story is my first pro sale. I wrote it in the Lovecraft vernacular as a five-finger exercise. … "Shiva..." emerged from an idea I had regarding the Old Testament God using Christ as a kind of finger puppet or sensor to interact with humanity. [ RD_38v3mp

Those are dim memories; easy to assume them to be the fabrications of loneliness or delusion. Until you recall these are human frailties. (25)



There come interludes—a month, a year, centuries or more—and I simply am, untroubled by the questions of purpose. (25)

If I desired a thought from a passing mind, I plucked it fresh as sweet fruit from a budding branch. (26)

I was a man. And for great periods that is all I was. (26)

That I am a fragment of something much larger is obvious. (27)

There is a sense of urgency building. Mine, or the Other's? (28)

Now all my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large…

(H.P. Lovecraft, Selected Letters II, p. 150)



While putting together The Imago Sequence, I envisioned a mosaic of loosely related, yet thematically reinforcing, stories that would explore humankind's insignificance when contrasted with the immensity of the cosmos. (Laird Barron, “The Laird Barron Sequence: Defining the Undefinable”, Clarkesworld Magazine) [ While putting together The Imago Sequence, I envisioned a mosaic of loosely related, yet thematically reinforcing, stories that would explore humankind's insignificance when contrasted with the immensity of the cosmos. (Laird Barron, “The Laird Barron Sequence: Defining the Undefinable”, Clarkesworld Magazine) [ CWM_21

The Earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago (bya), and the oceans formed during the first period of its eon of its history, the Hadean (4.54 bya to 4 bya). The source of Earth's water is not conclusively known, but a great deal of it is now believed to have been in the material that formed the Earth.The young Sun's output was in this period too low (approx. 70% of its current output) to account for liquid water (0 to 100 degrees C), which is explained instead by the greenhouse effect of an atmosphere heavy with CO2 and water. The temperature of the ocean varies currently from -2 to 35 degrees C at the surface. Early oceans were once posited to have been as warm as 55 to 85 degrees C, but this has been revised to temperatures closer to 40 degrees C in recent studies.Microscopic life was present as early as 3.8 bya. The first multicellular organisms arose approximately 0.8 bya, and the first large, complex multicellular organisms appeared around 0.58 bya. The first sponges, jellies, corals, and sea anemones show up around 0.55 bya. At which point the ocean ceases to be empty depends on what criteria you are using.This membrane prefigures one of the most important elements of the novellaA quote attributed to Sigmund Freud, who championed pscyhoanalytic methods which, in the popular version, interpreted anything phallic-shaped as a stand-in phallus.Jack Sepkowski and David M. Raup identified five major extinction events in a 1982 paper. More recent statistical work has indicated that, rather than outliers, these events form part of a continuum of large and small extinction events over the course of Earth's history.To formicate (from formica, latin for ant) is to crawl or swarm like an ant. The implication here is perhaps that humans will take refuge in underground tunnels to escape the environmental and/or nuclear disasters they will inevitably cause.Gloaming is dusk, or twilight, and "cosmic gloaming" here stands in for "death", to my understanding. As story-telling primates, an enduring theme of our stories is the difficulty in reconciling our short, often miserable, animal lives with our sense that there is, or at least ought to be, a grander purpose to our existence. See the discussion for more on this. Also: every religion.It's unclear whether the narrator is referring to the Cinderella song "The More Things Change" or the Bon Jovi one of the same title. Both have choruses which proclaim: "The more things change, the more they stay the same". The Cinderalla song is the older of the two, dating to 1990. The phrase is attributed to French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr ("plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"), who wrote it in 1849. If there is another, older, song to which this might be a reference, I was unable to find it.Presumably a reference to the Cretaceous-Paleogene event, formerly Cretaceous-Tertiary, which put an end to 70-75% of all species, including all non-avian dinosaurs ("terrible lizards"). It was one of the "big five" identified by Spekowski and Raup (see previous note). While most dinosaurs perished then, the name ("terrible lizards") is misleading since they were a group of reptiles distinct from lizards, many of which survived the extinction event and whose modern descendants (iguanas, monitors, geckos, etc.) are still around.Mammals and birds are the only endothermicof creatures currently extant, though there are a few species of fish who are also warm-blooded. The question of whether dinosaurs were endothermic, ectothermic, or some combination of both is still widely debated.The theory of plate tectonics is a modern one: first proposed in the early 20th century but only gaining wider acceptance in the 1950s and 1960s. The rigid outer crust of the Earth consists of interlocking plates of rock (thin oceanic lithospheres and thick continental lithospheres) lying on top of a viscous layer of molten rock. On top of these plates we find the liquid oceans and the thin dust of weathered rock which forms the soil on which human life depends.Convection currents in the mantle cause the plates to move at an imperceptible pace. The plates interact at their boundaries, in somewhat "violent" ways. Plates may move parallel to each other, creating earthquake-prone faults, or away from each other, causing the formation of new oceanic crust. When plates move towards each other, either subduction or collision occurs. In subduction, one plate is buried beneath the other, returning to the mantle. In collision, the plate edges are compressed, folded, and uplifted. Mountain chains result from either subduction (Andes, Rockies, Cascades) or collision (Himalayas, Alps). Volcanism occurs in all plate boundaries.Both volcanism and the creation of mountains have been implicated as possible causes of major extinction events, including the two largest ones: the Ordovician extinction (447-443 million years ago) and the Great Permian Extinction (252 million years ago).I was unable to determine whether the cave and monk are references to a specific location or person.Entheogenic plants (those used in religious, shamanic, or spiritual contexts which induce psychological or physiological changes) which were smoked in the "Old World" are largely limited to opium and cannabis. Other psychedelic were mostly"niveous" means "ressembling snow" (merriam-webster.com), and "hyaline rock" is rock that is transparent or nearly so. "Pyrgoidal" is "tower-shaped, or in the shape of a prism having at one end a pyramid of the same base" (wordnik.com)This is presumably a poetic description of a non-terrestrial landscape.This is presumably a reference to a planet with an atmosphere containing a large proportion of methane rather than a recreational use of the gas. Atmospheric methane on Earth is (currently) only 1800 parts per billion -- too thin to constitute much of a "huff".Planets with methane atmospheres have been used in science fiction stories, e.g. in Jack Vance's "The World Between" (1953), and Robert A. Heinlein's novel(1953). Barron grew up with Vance and Heinlein books. [ PW_100712 ] [ SCHLK_141023 ] Whether the idea is derived from these fictional sources, or from other, or non-fictional, sources is not known to me.Shiva is a major deity in Hinduism. He is an ambivalent figure, with both benevolent ("the Benefactor") and fierce aspects ("the Destroyer").Crucifixion was a method of capital punishment used principally in antiquity. Infamously, Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans in Judea, and Barron is perhaps referring to the miraculous works attributed to him.Execution by burning is another method of capital punishment, widely used. The allusion here is perhaps to witchcraft and heresy trials. The implication is that historical figures, or mythological ones, may have been the protagonist in another guise. This idea is explored at greater length in Laird's novelThe Bering Sea is the portion of ocean between Alaska and Russia, and between the Pacific and Arctic oceans. The Bering Coast is therefore the part of Alaska which borders the Bering Sea.If this refers to a specific native ghost town I was unable to find it.Quonset huts are distinctive semi-cylindrical structures (like a barrel half-buried on its side) made of prefabricated corrugated metal. They reappear in a few other stories, including "Hour of the Cyclops" andThe FAA is the Federal Aviation Administration. This recalls the "abandoned radar site near White Mountain, a tiny native village eighty miles southeast of Nome" from "Hour of the Cyclops".It may also be that abandoned aviation towers litter the Alaskan landscape.Kerosene lamps make appearances in many Barron stories.Nome is an Alaskan city on the Bering Coast. The news stories listed off are kept slightly vague, possibly to make it difficult to date the events of the story, which I've nonetheless attempted to do.The United Nations Peacekeeping operations typically have a mandate of enforcing or monitoring peace treaties in war torn regions. In the decade preceding publication of the story, UN operations were deployed to Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, Somalia, Liberia, Rwanda, Uganda, Chad, Libya, Angola, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Haiti, Guatemala, Cambodia, Tajikistan, East Timor, Kosovo, Georgia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovinia, Macedonia, Serbia, Iraq, and Kuwait.The Bosnian War (1992-1995) is the first firm date that we can attach to the story. If the apprehension described was inspired by a real news event, I was unable to find it.The Mars Climate Orbiter was a NASA probe launched in 1998. Communication with the spacecraft was lost in September 1999 as it entered Mars orbit. I could find no other suitable satellite loss in the time period preceding the date of publication and following the Bosnian War. The reference to investors is puzzling, as NASA is a publicly-funded government organization.Ethiopia suffered a series of famines in the 1980s which killed over 1 million people. Three consecutive years of drought led to a famine in 1999-2000 . Between 10,000 and 100,000 people died.EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in October 1999. The probably cause was found to be deliberate pilot action. No explosion was reported. SwissAir Flight 111 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in September 1998. The cause was an in-flight fire. No explosion was reported. I could find no report of a plane crash, with explosion, in the Atlantic for the period 1995-2000.If this is a reference to a specific news event from the period 1995-2000, I could not find it.This may be a reference to the Melissa virus, which in March 1999 caused the Microsoft corporation to stop incoming e-mail and affected other companies, including Intel. On Friday, March 26, 1999, Melissa caused the Microsoft Corporation to shut down incoming e-mail. Intel and other companies also reported being affected.The Earth is on average 150 000 000 km (92 000 000 miles) from the Sun, which is 1 AU (astronomical units). Pluto is between 30 and 50 AU from the Sun.Pioneer 10 (launched 1972) crossed Pluto's orbit in 1988. It is currently 114 AU from the Sun.Pioneer 11 (launched 1973) crossed Pluto's orbit in 1991. It is currently 91 AU from the Sun.Voyager 1 (launched in 1977) crossed Pluto's orbit in 1988. It is now 134 AU from the Sun.Voyager 2 (launched in 1977) crossed Pluto's orbit in 1991. It is now 110 AU from Sun.Laird's novelladeals with a probe sent out beyond Pluto's orbit.Cabalists are "students, interpreters, or devotees of the Jewish cabala" (Merriam-Webster). Cabalists seek to discover hidden knowledge through textual and numerological interpretations of Jewish sacred texts.The meaning of "squamous" here isn't entirely clear to me. Squamous means scaly or scale-like. It could refer here to squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer which can spread to the brain, but that doesn't seem too likely.A refulgence is a radiant light, a brilliance.DISCUSSIONIn an on-line discussion forum, in response to a question about this story, Laird wrote:Shiva provides an interesting glimpse at the hidden nucleus about which many stories in the collection, and many later stories, orbit. There is an alien intelligence on our planet; a colony of them, perhaps. Its presence here predates all Earthly life, but it comes from outside. It is hidden, occulted. It interacts with humanity mostly through human agents, or agents that take human shape. Whatever else its other goals might be, it sees humans as a source of nourishment and carnal pleasure. This is a rare story which gives us the perspective of one of these agents.As readers, we are left to piece together the dissociated knowledge presented in these stories, and this gives them a cumulative power that a similar set of disconnected stories lacks. There is a thrill that comes with recognizing that you’re holding a piece of a puzzle, and another when you see how it fits with the others, if you are predisposed to enjoy such things. This emotional charge imbues these stories with a greater sense of import, retrospectively in the case of Shiva, as it is the first published story which touches on this particular “mythos”.Without the benefit of the other stories, we are left with a slight tale. In the forum post quoted above, he acknowledges that it “is largely devoid of a plot. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction surprised the hell out of me by accepting that piece as they traditionally prize plot and action.”A reader of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, without the benefit of the other stories, could easily have read Shiva as straight crime story about a delusional serial killer. We’re given no details about the disappearance of the victims, including that of the private investigator, which ostensibly happens before our eyes. The protagonist may be exaggerating his feebleness, and his account may be otherwise unreliable. He raises the possibility himself, only to dismiss it:***The story touches on many different aspects of cognition.His comparison of humans to ants is interesting in that regard. Both are creatures with a high degree of social organization who lead frantic lives filled with repetitive tasks. The ant, however, does not question its life. It obeys the dictates of its nature. “Everyone is looking for the answer. They do not want to find the answer, trust me.” Consciousness is both a blessing and curse.There is little doubt that we primates owe our current position on the planet to our minds. Our cognitive advantage has allowed us survive, then thrive, in a wide range of environments. It allowed us to compete with other predatory animals, many of which could rend our flesh with frightening ease; it allowed us to punch above our weight. It still does.A characteristic of many of Laird's monsters is their uncanny ability anticipate other character's thoughts, and to reveal information to which they should have no access.It’s more than a little distressing to consider a predator which has unfettered access to our thoughts. No details are given as to mechanism, and I think the idea is horrifying precisely because it is incoherent. We need to understand it in order to protect ourselves against it. This predator's methods are beyond our comprehension, and so we cannot help but fall prey to it. It’s a theme that recurs with regularity in Barron’s stories.The amusement that these predators feel at our pathetic attempts to escape them is perhaps analogous to the amusement one might feel in fooling a child with a simple coin trick.***Despite the access we are given to the protagonist's thoughts, his ultimate nature remains unsettled.The protagonist has a human body, and seems to possess a human mind, at least some of the time. What remains mysterious is whether the old man is merely a mask, the latest disguise of a shape-shifting entity, or whether he truly was once human.There is a suggestion that some of the memories to which he has access may not be his. Is this a single individual who has lived through aeons of time, or is he the latest in a series of individuals whose minds have been corrupted, co-opted, and given access to shared memories belonging to the "Other"? Are we dealing with a Tom Mandibole () or a Rueben Hicks ()?***Barron’s protagonist in Shiva certainly speaks Lovecraft's language. He wastes no time in telling us that humans are merely the latest in a long line of animals eking out a living on this planet, that we are dominant because contingent events have eliminated our predecessors, and that we have no greater purpose than that of nutrient.When you consider the human lifespan and that of a being with memories that pre-date the formation of the solar system, insignificance is an understatement. The existence of this alien intelligence is hardly necessary to feel a bit of existential vertigo when confronted with the history of life on our planet, or the distances involved in the exploration of our cosmic neighbourhood.***Shiva is ultimately troubling not because it implies that monsters such as “the Mouth” may exist (it goes without saying that this is not likely), but because it implies that we would hardly notice it if they did.Midway through the story we’re presented with a list of headlines -- events just as timely in 2016 as they were in 2001 when the story was originally published. War, famine, and other disasters, man-made and natural, reinforce the idea that life is sufficiently dreadful, and that humans are sufficiently monstrous to each other, to allow any number of inhuman predators to stalk in our midst undetected. John Langan's excellent "The Wide Carnivorous Sky" makes explicit use of this idea.We may find the idea of a man-eating monster particularly worrisome, but this can only be because we have grown insensitive to the daily horrors which besiege us. The attention of divine or alien beings, even malevolent ones, would ultimately be reassuring: it would validate our sense that we are beings worthy of attention. It would confirm that we are not alone. The vast cosmic silence with which reality greets us every morning is far less comforting.