| Title | : | Atomic-Age Cthulhu: Tales of Mythos Horror in the 1950s (Chaosium Fiction) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1568823983 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781568823980 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 |
| Publication | : | First published February 4, 2013 |
...never before have we faced a global threat as dire as the atomic bomb. Humanity has always waged war, but now we can eradicate all life on the planet. Educational films promise survival of a nuclear blast. In movies, the classic monsters of the 30s and 40s are replaced by horrors spawned of the atom.
Enemies are everywhere, and there are dangers in our midst: devilish rock n'roll, morally corrupt books, and sinister comic books corrupt the minds of our youth.
The dreaded Red Menace of Communism is poised to overthrow our government and strip-away all of our personal freedoms. Their comrades are everywhere and could be anyone, including your neighbor, your friend, or a member of your family. There are godless Communists spreading across the globe, and they must be stopped by any means necessary!
So here you have the world of Atomic Age Cthulhu, bringing Lovecraftian horror to the postwar Golden Age.
Atomic-Age Cthulhu: Tales of Mythos Horror in the 1950s (Chaosium Fiction) Reviews
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Excellent Anthology of stories inspired by the Lovecraftian Mythos Universe, but with new and original ideeas, exactly the thing I was expected from this book.
True, I didn`t like all the stories, and this it`s quite a normal thing, but some of the one that I enjoyed were quite mind blasting. :)
So, if you`re in search of some good horror Anthology, with evident, or sometimes not so, Lovecraftian motives, don`t search any further... Moreover I could tell you that with the vast majority of it`s stories this peculiar volume it`s a solid contender and could blast off any of the "Best of horror of the year..." out there (especially those of the last years). And this is no joke! -
As with most indie anthologies, the quality of the stories -- corresponding to the skill of the authors -- ranges from polished and memorable to awkward and forgettable. (Attention, indie anthology editors: SOMEONE HAS TO COPY EDIT, AND IT AIN'T GONNA BE THE AUTHORS THEMSELVES. GET OUT THE FRICKIN' RED PEN.)
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Recently I went on a buying spree to finish off the Cthulhu fiction published by Chaosium started all those years ago when I first got hooked on its RPG based on the works of HP Lovecraft.
The most recent of which was this title - based in the 50s a time which (and I will admit that I have lost touch with the original RPG material) is a time that is not heavily referenced in the game.
As such you have a turbulent time and an unsettled world to base material which has up till now not been visited. As such this means that there is literally a whole world to explore out there and the authors in this anthology have certainly made the most of that.
This is a great book and I will admit really good fun - I am not sure if its the new source material or that the writing styles are so much different but the book reads so differently to previous mythos books. I have to say that it has re-aninated my interest in the series and I shall be looking for other such new ventures in to uncharted territory -
The United States in the 1950s.
The middle class expanded, GIs earned college degrees, the suburbs sprawled. Rock’n’roll and television arrived, and Hollywood continued to entertain America. But underneath the idyllic facade, there were dangers. The Cold War, atomic annihilation, red communists infiltrating the West and war in Korea.
But what of Cthulhu and sundry Mythos gods? Did they sleep through the boom years? Or were they and their disciples and their enemies actively at work furthering their unfathomable objectives?
Some of these nineteen stories play with our history. Some offer alternate worlds where history is slightly different. The entire set of stories offer a wide range of tones, ideas and Mythos elements - some are humorous, others horrific, some have a spirit of adventure and others drip with paranoia. The humans, of course, are sometimes the worst monsters of all.
Atomic-Age Cthulhu is a very solid anthology that delivers on its premise. Highly recommended for a different slant on the Cthulhu Mythos. -
Yes I put this book together and wrote a scenario for it, so I freely admit I’m biased. That said, I stand by the written content of this book. If you’re looking for some rockin’ Call of Cthulhu adventures set in the 1950s, this is the book for you.
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This is an excellent collection of Call of Cthulhu scenarios and source information for playing in the paranoid 1950's.
The majority of the scenarios have a pulpy and theatrical feel. Most of them would translate well into 1950's science fiction or horror movies.
All of the aspects of the classic 1950's are explored from the alien menace, townspeople mysteriously changing into zombie-like killers, mythos threats during the Korean war, greasers and biker gangs, movie stars and communist threats.
These all seem to be one-shot scenarios unless the keeper wants to put some work into developing and expanding each to fit into a campaign.
The information about the 1950's contains information about careers and skills unique to that time period.
My only criticism is that some of the artwork and maps turned out very dark and nearly illegible. -
Another excellent compilation from Barrass and Sammons, all of the stories are in-theme to the 50s but also retain a lot of internal diversity in how they are told, how they approach that decade, which Mythos beings they involve, or how pronounced that influence is in the telling. I don't know that I'd say every individual story was perfect, but certainly I ENJOYED every one of them, with at least a half dozen I found to be among the better Mythos stories I've ever read. Always down to check out the anthologies these two put together, rarely am I ever dissatisfied.
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A series of seven 1950s-set Call of Cthulhu scenarios. Most are based in the United States (the one exception follows a US Army tank crew in the Korean War) and tackle 1950s bugbears: - communist villains, nuclear power, juvenile delinquency, rock and/or roll and Stuff from Outer Space.
It's always hard knowing a scenario just from reading it, but these seem an interesting, if mixed, bunch. There's also a brief over-view of the 1950s (in the US) and how one might set mythos RPGs there.
If you get the chance of buying the both the book and pdf, do so - the reproduction of the (not great) artwork in the hardcopy isn't very good. -
A fun little Cthulhu anthology.
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My Favourites
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An entertaining read that suffers like most short story collections due to the hit or miss nature of the varying authors. For Mythos stories set in the 1950s, it was fun seeing the fears and tropes of the period worked into the stories (atomic bombs, communists, comic books, etc.). However, the fact that these are stories inspired by Lovecraft's (and others) Mythos creations, there becomes a certain sameness to the stories. My personal favorite was a story involving "Plan 9 from Outer Space" film director Ed Wood going toe-to-toe with The King in Yellow.
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A mix of good and so-so stories. Fans of the Cthulhu Mythos genre of fiction should give it a look, but I found it to be a mixed bag. I got a little tired of the 50's era attitudes of the characters, necessitated by the theme of the anthology. Not my favorite period of American history, so that colored my opinion somewhat.
