Brian Lumley is a British horror writer who, among other things, writes stories based in H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, complete with purple prose and erratic punctuation. "Earth, Air, Fire & Water" consists of four such stories, including “Lord of Worms” (originally published in 1983), “Born of the Winds” (1975), “The Changeling” (2012) and, representing fire, “The Gathering,” a long novella original to this volume. As a long-time fan of Lovecraft’s work, I really admire how well Mr. Lumley captures that style of writing and how true to the mythos his plots and prose are. I’m not sure if a reader unfamiliar with Lovecraft would “get” these stories, but for those of us who are familiar, this is a very entertaining volume in that fantasy realm; recommended! ( )