A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos By S.T. Joshi

Heidi Ward

One of the most consistently good neo-Lovecraftian anthologies I've read, which is not surprising, given Joshi's stature in the field. Under his deft editorial hand the reader is treated to a fine selection of tales spanning close to a century (from 1933 to the present), each of which engages with Lovecraft and his legacy of cosmic horror in a markedly different way, yet as a whole flow and ring tonally true throughout. Not a single story bored me, and I tore through all 600+ pages of A Mountain Walked in about 3 days, but of course I had favorites:

- The now-classic "Far Below," Robert Barbour Johnson's 1939 tale of the brave men who work down in the deep, sunless tunnels to shield the New York subway system and its unsuspecting passengers against an unspeakable evil.

- "The Deep Ones," by James Wade, a chilling and perverse story of telepathic experimentation gone very, very wrong. You probably won't want to swim with dolphins anytime soon.

- W.H. Pugmire's dreamy "The Phantom of Beguilement," in which a suggestive but hazy painting by a mysterious Kingsport artist first attracts, then gradually reveals its true nature to a new owner. Quite lovely, in an elegiac way.

- "Virgin's Island," by Donald Tyson, is about two climbers who dare to scale an isolated and treacherous rock island and come to rue what they find at its summit. This one deftly combines the thrill of an explorer's adventures with chthonic terror. It's archaeology for the damned.

- Mark Samuels' "A Gentleman from Mexico" considers the possible metempsychosis of H.P. Lovecraft, and what it might signify for both the literary world and a cult of fanatics planning to raise his gods.

- Gemma Files' brilliant "[Anasazi]" tracks an ageless and nihilistic race as it invades human consciousness like a poisoned meme, an infection of random violence and eventual annihilation in just one terrible symbol.

- And finally, Caitlin R. Kiernan's "John Four" is a magnificently bleak vision of service in the Temple of the conquering Black Pharaoh, and it conjures the most impressively alien, "other" world in the collection. So many writers are good at the bits where the Old Gods are raised / summoned / awakened / eating your sanity, but here Kiernan masters the infinitely more difficult problem of After.

This collection followed me into my dreams. 5 full stars.

Karl

http://www.centipedepress.com/antholo...

This is copy 126 of 500 signed numbered slip cased copies.

Arun Divakar

The relationship that I share with the Cthulhu mythos is not a very robust one. There are some stories that hold me in thrall, some that unsettle me, some that draw me in but a lot many of them bore me to tears. There are imaginative retellings which use Lovecraft’s alien entities in the most terrifying ways possible but a lot many of the mediocre retellings have the authors perambulating the same beaten paths with dismal results. The name of S.T. Joshi, one of the foremost scholars of Lovecraftian literature was testimony enough for me to give this collection a shot.

Although it is a cliché to call an anthology a mixed bag, every collection has its share of duds and it goes without saying that this trend continues here too.

There are too many stories here and here are the ones that caught my attention :

The House of the Worm by Mearle Prout

Far Below by Robert Barbour Johnson

The Franklyn Paragraphs by Ramsey Campbell

Black Man with a Horn by T.E.D Klein

The Last Feast of Harlequin by Thomas Ligotti

Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman

A Gentleman from Mexico by Mark Samuels

John Four by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Most of the rest is about people trying their best and worst ways to please the elder gods and end up spilling their marbles all over the place in the process. Loved some but most were just meh !

Paul Perry

4.5 stars

A generally high-quality collection of Mythos tales edited by master Lovecraft scholar Joshi, giving an overview of Lovecraftian fiction from outside the main circle of authors, from the 1930s to the present day.

Stand out stories: "[Anasazi]" Gemma Files, "John Four" Caitlan R. Kiernan, "A Gentleman form Mexico" Mark Samuels, "...Hungry...Rats..." Jospeph S. Pulver, "Far Below" , "The Deep Ones" James Wade, "In The Shadow of Swords" Cody Goodfellow, "Sigma Octantis" by and, of course, "Only the end of the World Again" by Neil Gaiman

David

3.5? 3.75? This was a hard one to rate. I've given it a lot of thought and am still unsure where it falls.

Anthologies, as I (and countless others on Goodreads) have noted before, are by their very nature a mixed bag, and A Mountain Walked is no exception. I'm reminded of the old nursery rhyme:

There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good,
She was very, very good.
And when she was bad she was horrid.

For the most part AMW succeeds admirably: most of the stories were new to me (a pleasantly surprising situation!) and were of a uniformly high-quality, engagingly written and creepy. There is a broad representation of authors, and the editor (S. T. Joshi, always a pleasure) goes out of his way to select stories that don't merely ape Lovecraft but use the mythos as a launching point for something new. I'm really pleased to have discovered several new authors to check out.

So when the stories work, they really, really work. Those that don't, however....oy. 50-60 page novellas that only tangentially relate to Lovecraft or, indeed, anything to do with horror, simply don't belong. One story (the name of which escapes me at the moment) was a lengthy dissertation on military action in the Middle East. I read 30 pages of this--during which there was NOTHING about cosmic horror, etc., even casually mentioned--and finally skipped ahead. It was dull, it was poorly written, and it was seemingly irrelevant to the topic of the anthology.

Even some of the more established authors (Pugmire, Kiernan) turned in less than stellar entries here.

So it's yet another strange anthology: wonderful, exciting, awful, and boring...all at the same time.

Alan

I find it ironic and hypocritical that in his introduction Joshi claims the stories in this collection are all original in nature with just the influence of Lovecraft while he berates the works of August Derleth and Brian Lumley as "unimaginitve mimicry". Yet, in the first half of the book nearly every single tale is nothing but the same old pastiche and blatant rip-off pilfering of Lovecraft's works, even by some of the more famous authors. In the second half there are more examples of stories that weren't direct copies, but in several of them I was hard pressed to find why they were included in this collection, as many of them didn't even feel Lovecraft inspired. They were obviously authors Joshi wanted to include in his book whether they wrote Mythos tales or not. This is not the worst Lovecraftian collection out there, and most the of the stories are at least readable, but there are few tales here that have any real outstanding quality to them. This will likely be the last time I waste time on one of Joshi's outputs.

Sebastien LaQroix

This is a massive book. At over 600 pages long, be prepared to have your thirst for Yog-Sothothery thoroughly quenched. I'm happy to say this anthology is a winner. Sure there are duds (what anthology doesn't have them?), but they're overshadowed by some of the most entertaining Mythos stories I've read in some time.

Here's the breakdown by story.

(1) The House of the Worm by Merle Prout: 4/5

This was a fine introductory story that really set the tone for the anthology. Two hikers/outdoorsmen find something twisted out in the wilderness, something otherwordly that's slowly swallowing up our world. This is fun pulp horror. Dread? Check! Otherworldly horrors? You betcha! Characters that temporarily win, only to realize that there is no stopping the horror? Absolutely! That said, the writing is a bit... melodramatic, and the story doesn't move as fast as I would've liked. Other than that, I greatly enjoyed this story.

(2) Far Below by Barbour Johnson: 3/5

While intriguing, the story suffers from a lack of actual plot. Basically, horrific monsters exist underneath the New York subways, and the U.S. government decides to fight these creatures in secret. There really is no plot, just a character telling another character the what he needs to know in order to keep the creatures at bay. And then the story sort of ends with a surprise twist. As interesting as this is, I feel the story could have been much better had this background info formed the backdrop of an actual story.

(3) The Spawn of the Green Abyss by C. Hall Thompson: 4/5

I actually agree with Mr. Joshi's blurb here. The story feels very much like something Lovecraft would've written with one major improvement: characters you actually care about. Think "The Thing on the Doorstep" with human-like characters as opposed to automatons. Now these characters won't be winning prizes anytime soon, but they're a major improvement compared to Lovecraft's. Still, the characters exhibit moments of face-slapping stupidity that made me groan out loud. This keeps the story from getting a perfect score.

(4) The Deep Ones by James Wade -- 3/5

A psychic-ish guy is hired by a researcher at some lab on the coast of Southern California. They want to investigate psychic powers as they relate to certain intelligent creatures. Sounds intriguing, right? There's just one big problem: they're researching dolphins. Freaking dolphins! Of all the creepy things you could have them research, the author chooses freaking DOLPHINS! There's just nothing creepy about dolphins, and, for that reason, the entire story suffers. Moments that should be creepy just end up being ridiculous and comical because... come on, dolphins?!

(5) The Franklyn Paragraphs by Ramsey Campbell -- 2/5

I've heard great things about Ramsey Campbell and enjoyed what I read from him in other Cthulhu anthologies. This story was a total letdown. It starts out interestingly enough, with the main character trying to find out what happened to a missing author. At least I think it was an author. The story drags on and on before ending with a whimper. And to be frank, I actually fell asleep in the middle of the story. That should tell you enough.

(6) Where Yidhra Walks by Walter C. DeBill, Jr. -- 3/5

This story can be best summed up with one big "MEH". It's not a bad story, but does nothing to distinguish itself from the huge amount of Cthulhu pastiche out there. A storm traps a traveler in some out-of-the-way town that clearly has skeletons in its closet. And of course, weird creatures make an appearance, creatures straight out of Lovecraft's Innsmouth. Again, not a bad story, but not one I will remember.

(7) Black Man With a Horn by T.E.D. Klein -- 4/5

Despite one not-so-big problem, I really enjoyed this story. Klein has a way of slowly ramping up the dread before hinting at much larger horrors out in the world. An unnamed writer begins to piece together seemingly disparate pieces of info that hint at something much more sinister. I found this story kind of similar to Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu." A narrator finds clues from secondhand sources before being caught up in a horror much bigger than himself. The only problem I had with this story is that it focuses way too much on character. There are parts where the story drags due to obligatory character moments that seem out of place in a Mythos story. Luckily, these parts don't detract too much from what is a very enjoyable story.

(8) The Last Feast of Harlequin by Thomas Ligotti -- 5/5

Of the stories collected here, this is a serious contender for best of show. Thomas Ligotti has crafted a masterpiece of Mythos fiction without a single reference to the usual Lovecraftian motifs. A professor specializing in clowns decides to investigate an annual clown festival in some town out in the middle of nowhere, and things get quite disturbing. Ligotti introduces unease and dread with painstaking precision as things get weirder and weirder for our protagonist. The ending is disturbing and horrifying more by implication than actual depiction. I don't know how Ligotti does it, but somehow, what he doesn't say or explain manages to be more horrifying that almost anything else in this anthology. A fantastic piece by a horror master.

(9) Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman -- 3/5

I'll be honest. I've read this story previously in another anthology, Shadows over Innsmouth. I cannot remember much about the story other than this being a curious mishmash of werewolves and Innsmouth. The story did not make a big enough impression on me for me to reread it here. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't wowed by it either.

(10) Mandlebrot Moldrot by Lois H. Gresh -- 1.5/5

This story was just all sorts of lame. Some weird brain/slime/computer thing and his/its love escape a mad professor and somehow unleash a weird lovecraftian monster that needs to be put down. This story was beyond stupid. It doesn't work as horror, as comedy or even affectionate parody. I get it's hard to take Mythos stories seriously sometimes, but this is just insulting.

(11) Black Brat of Dunwich by Stanley C. Sargent -- 3.5/5

I'm not a fan of retellings or "remixes" of other classic stories. Black Brat of Dunwich is a sort of retelling of Lovecraft's Dunwich Horror from a different perspective, one that shows some of the "villains" in a different light. While a decent story, it does take away a lot of the mystery from the original story. What we end up with is a typical villain-was-just-misunderstood type of story. I hate these kinds of stories, but, to Sargent's credit, this one was decent enough.

(12) The Phantom of Beguilement by W.H. Pugmire -- 4/5

I'll come right out and say it: I don't like W.H. Pugmire. I seem to dislike nearly every one of his stories I've read in every single Lovecraftian anthology I've read. That said, I was very surprised when I realized that I didn't hate this story. In fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit. A lonely woman who yearns for something she can't put her finger on purchases a weird painting by a mysterious painter. Things the get weird. A sense of gothic beauty pervades this story, reminding me of some of Lovecraft's earlier works before he went full-on Cthulhu. A short piece of dark beauty that I plan to revisit soon.

(13) ... Hungry ... Rats by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. -- 2/5

Another dud. Some guy returns to his ancestral home somewhere in England, I think, and encounters rats. Yes, it is a total rip off of Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls", except it's not very good. Simply aping one of Lovecraft's stories doesn't make your story Lovecraftian. A stupid and completely forgettable story.

(14) Virgin's Island by Donald Tyson -- 4.5/5

Another serious contender for best story in the anthology. A recovered journal tells of an Anglican minister and an mountain climber who decide to investigate a curious monolith off the coast of Nova Scotia. And of course, things go horribly and terribly wrong. This is pure Lovecraftian pastiche distilled to perfection. Though to be fair, Tyson's story goes beyond mere pastiche and becomes something quite original. I look forward to reading more Mythos fiction from Tyson.

(15) In the Shadow of Swords by Cody Goodfellow -- 5/5

The final contender for best story in the anthology. Goodfellow tells the story of a U.N. inspections team in Iraq looking for Saddam's hidden cache of WMDs. What they find is far more ancient and deadly. The author's ability to blend modern/current events with ancient history before injecting a huge dose of Lovecraftian madness is a wondrous thing to behold. This was a fantastic story; Cody Goodfellow is now on my radar.

(16) Mobymart After Midnight by Jonathan Thomas -- 2/5

A very forgettable, if not stupid, story. A guy working at a not-quite-Walmart experiences something horrific: creatures of the night descend and slaughter most of the workers. He is spared, and some creepy guy spits out some mystical mumbo-jumbo, or something like that. This is a completely uninteresting story that I doubt I was supposed to take seriously. Regardless, this story fails both as a satire, parody, or straight horror story.

(17) A Gentlemen from Mexico by Mark Samuels -- 3.5/5

An editor is faced with something most unusual, a man with the mannerisms of the great H.P. Lovecraft. A cold rationalist, this man admits he isn't H.P. Lovecraft and, therefore, must be insane. There is some subtle humor that worked well with the story. I won't spoil it here, but I couldn't help but smile while reading this story. A pleasant diversion, but nothing spectacular.

(18) The Man with the Horn by Jason V. Brock -- 3/5

This story is just plain weird. A lonely middle-aged woman becomes curious about the eccentric who lives next door, especially when weird music is heard through the walls. The woman gets far more than she bargained for. This isn't a bad story, and it piqued my interest right away. However, there's a point where the story descends into incomprehensible madness. I get it, madness is featured prominently in Lovecraft's stories, but here, I had no clue what in God's sweet name I was reading. This ended up souring the story for me. A decent story that could have been much better.

(19) John Four by Caitlin R. Kiernan -- 3/5

I'm not interested in stories that feature life after the coming of Old Ones, Elder Gods, or other monstrous entities. In spite of this, I didn't mind this story. I can't really explain the plot, but basically it's a slice of life after the coming of some Old One, Nyarlathotep I believe. It's not a bad story, but it's not the kind of thing I want to read when I pick up an anthology of Mythos fiction.

(20) Sigma Octantis by Rhys Hughes -- 3/5

A petty dictator enlists the help of a scholar in translating some ancient tome. Stuff then escalates. I have nothing much to say about this story. It wasn't a bad story, but it's unlikely that I'll remember it. It feels a bit overlong, and it takes some time to get going. But it could have been worse as well.

(21) [Anasazi] by Gemma Files -- 1.5/5

If I had to pick the worst story in the anthology, [Anasazi] would likely be my choice. Here we have a story about cop, I think, who suffers a terrible injury on the job after an encounter with a crazed maniac. He then tries to pick up the pieces of his life and move on. Interspersed between this narrative are bits of info regarding the back story: information about the Anasazi, Nazi expeditions into the Orient, and creepy occult tomes. This story features everything I hate about modern horror: not-quite-comprehensible narratives, very specific sexual details irrelevant to the main plot, stupid and jarring stylistic choices, and terrible attempts to be literary. While the story could have been interesting, the things above totally ruined the story. The length didn't help much either. This is a disappointing and terrible story in practically every way.

(22) The Wreck of the Aurora by Patrick MaGrath -- 3/5

I'll give this story some credit. It has a certain mood/atmosphere that oozes Lovecraft. That said, I'm not sure if I get it. A woman investigates an old lighthouse in order to get answers about a mysterious shipwreck. Unfortunately, neither she nor the reader gets any. The make things a tad worse, a lot of space is devoted to the history of the lighthouse and how some engineer managed to build it. Nice stuff, but it didn't seem all the relevant to the story. The mood is there, but, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much of a story.

(23) Beneath the Beardmore by Michael Shea -- 3.5/5

This story features explorers in the Antarctic that encounter far more than they bargained for. The story gets off to a good, mysterious start. Unfortunately, the story eventually takes a turn into some really ridiculous territory. I wanted to like this story more than I actually did. Toward the end, it just got too ridiculous even for me.

In the end, I greatly enjoyed this behemoth of an anthology. The great stories more than make up for the not-so-great ones. There is some great diversity in characters, setting, and plot that should appeal to any Cthulhu Mythos fan. If you're at all interested in Mythos fiction, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

4 out of 5 stars.

Amy Mills

Enjoyable collection, overall. A few duds, but none that I actively loathed. By and large, the more whimsical ones were not to my taste. I included the years for each story because I was surprised to find several older works at the beginning. Note that there are at least two different editions of the collection. My Kindle edition is missing the art portfolios, any art-based stories, as well as some of the text stories, and has, oddly, added one story not in the original. There is some artwork, a panel before most stories, but not much.

The star rating is the rating for the story as a story. The tentacle rating is how Lovecraftian I thought it was.

The House of the Worm by Mearle Prout, 1933 (3 stars, 4 tentacles) - The explanation doesn't quite hold up, but it's still a good creeper. A more modern variant might include an artifact to make the explanation work better.
Far Below by Robert Barbour Johnson, 1939 (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Do you know what lurks in the New York subway system? I found this one more amusing than creepy, but it was quite nicely done, and hit many themes that Lovecraft used. I especially liked that that trains were called "Things" as well.
Spawn of the Green Abyss by C. Hall Thompson, 1946 (3 stars, 4 tentacles) - Having read sympathetic portrayals of the "deep ones", I find it difficult to read this as anything other than a jealous and possessive husband freaking out . Since he's the narrator, of course he tries to make it sound like he was justified.
The Deep Ones by James Wade, 1969 (2 stars, 4 tentacles) - And I thought Lovecraft was bad at portraying women (to be fair, he mostly didn't try). Female researcher in a love quadrangle with 2 male researchers and a dolphin (and her family is from Innsmouth ). Dolphins are apparently servants of Cthulhu. Um. Okay then.
The Franklyn Papers by Ramsey Campbell, 1973 (2 stars, 2 tentacles) - Impressive build-up with no payoff. The ending just doesn't fit with the build-up.
Where Yidhra Walks by Walter C. DeBill, Jr., 1976 (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Nicely written weirdness-in-a-small-town piece. The main reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that I find it hard to believe that the MC managed to accidentally avoid an entire town looking for him (easy fix: protective amulet/magic of some sort; none was mentioned).
Black Man with a Horn by T. E. D. Klein, 1980 (4 stars, 3.5 tentacles) - Very well written. It focuses on mundane details in a way that makes the weirdness all the more jarring when it occurs. Interestingly, the narrator seems to take issue with every race in some sense (and his own race is never identified). Very deliberate homage to Lovecraft.
The Last Feast of Harlequin by Thomas Ligotti, 1990 (4 stars, 5 tentacles) - Very much an updated, and more complete, version of Lovecraft's "The Festival". Very nicely written and suitably creepy (though ... there is the message that All Clowns Are Evil, which seems a bit much).
Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman, 1998 (3 stars, 3 tentacles) - I'd read this one before in a Gaiman anthology, and was not familiar enough with Lovecraft lore to get much out of it. This time, I enjoyed it quite a bit more (especially the tarot bit), but it's still not a favorite. Atmospheric and well-written, but just kind of meh overall. Werewolf saving the world from deep ones.
Mandelbrot Moldrot by Lois Gresh, 1996 (2 stars, 1.5 tentacles) - Two flesh ball quantum computers escape their lab. Hijinks ensue, with vaguely Lovecraftian overtones. I find it hard to take things seriously when (a) quantum computer flesh blobs talk like teenage humans; (b) quantum and fractal terms are bandied around with little rhyme or reason; (c) there's an easy solution to a Lovecraftian problem.
Black Brat of Dunwich by Stanley C. Sargent, 1997 (4 stars, 3 tentacles) - Enjoyable alternate version of events from the Dunwich Horror. Now I need to track down the original and read it...
The Phantom of Beguilement by W. H. Pugmire, 2001 (3 stars, 3 tentacles) - Short pastiche centered around a haunting (haunted?) painting. I would have liked a bit more exposition about the painting, instead of just an event piece with vague implications, but it was lyrically written and otherwise enjoyable.
...Hungry...Rats by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., 2014 (3 stars, 3 tentacles) - Excellent writing, if you don't mind stream of consciousness, but not really to my taste. Felt more like a hallucinatory PTSD montage than like a Lovecraftian horror story, to me. Possibly if I reread Rats in the Walls I'll find a connection that makes me feel differently.
Virgin's Island by Donald Tyson, 2014 (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Very nice addition to the mythos. Narrator becomes obsessed with a strangely shaped island and investigates, to his regret.
In the Shadow of Swords by Cody Goodfellow, 2000 (4 stars, 5 tentacles) - What really happened to the WMDs in Iraq, and the likely fate of the human race. I can't decide if there was too much exposition or not; fully the first 3/4 or more was exposition about the general search for WMDs in Iraq (felt entirely believable, too), then the weirdness starts to creep in.
Mobymart After Midnight by Jonathan Thomas, 2013 (2.5 stars, 2.5 tentacles) - Clever idea, poor execution. This one needs another editing pass or three. I found myself rereading entire paragraphs several times to try to make sense of the flow of events. Makes fun of big-box-corporate-culture, and tries to stuff in as many Lovecraftian tropes as possible, without ever going deep enough to be interesting (though if it had been well-written, I wouldn't have minded).
A Gentleman from Mexico by Mark Samuels, 2007 (3 stars, 2 tentacles) - Quite good and engaging, but then it just peters out at the end. With a more coherent ending, this could have been quite, quite good. Publisher runs across surprisingly authentic "new" Lovecraft manuscripts.
The Man with the Horn* by Jason V. Brock, 2014 (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - Effective creeper. Best to let neighbors alone who want to be let alone...
John Four by Caitlin R. Kiernan, 2010 (3 stars, 4 tentacles) - Sort of Dreamlands-ish. Is there a Nightmarelands? World with Nyarlethotep in charge.
Sigma Octantis by Rhys Hughes, 2011 (3 stars, 4 tentacles) - Nice inversion of a common Lovecraftian trope, with a white villain and a Jewish hero. Remaking the zodiac via satellite.
[Anasazi] by Gemma Files, 2014 (4 stars, 4 tentacles) - So, the Yith just want to study and archive things. The [Anasazi] have a similar M.O., but they just want to Fight!
The Wreck of the Aurora by Patrick McGrath, 2014 (4 stars, 2 tentacles) - While very well-written and compelling, any Lovecraftian elements are, at best, implied.
Beneath the Beardmore by Michael Shea, 2014 (2 stars, 4 tentacles) - The first half was quite good, but then the creature just wanted some human witnesses to an event (not really sure why), and its rhyming speech became annoying almost instantaneously, as did the author's peculiar use of italics. Intended as a sort of sequel to At the Mountains of Madness, but I enjoyed that work much more.

*Not on the ToC for the original edition

Included in the ToC for the original edition, but not appearing in my Kindle edition:
[Art Portfolio], by Erlend Mork
[Art Portfolio], by Stanley C. Sargent
"Man with No Name," by Laird Barron, 2014
"Thirteen Hundred Rats," by T. C. Boyle, 2008
"Rupa Worms from Outer Space," by Denis Tiani, 2014
"Pickman's Model" by H. P. Lovecraft, illustrated by John Kenn Mortensen
"The Lurking Fear," by H. P. Lovecraft, illustrated by Thomas Ott
"Excerpts from a Notebook," by Drazen Kozjan, 2014
[cartoons], by Julien Bazinet

Jim Dooley

About three years ago, I began reading THE CTHULHU MYTHOS by the self-appointed successor to H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth. As I look back over this dust-covered tome, I find that I'm not quite halfway through it in all of that time. While there are good moments in it, it suffers from the worst writing traits of Lovecraft ... that is numbingly long blocks of narrative and a pretentious aura of self-importance. Unlike the best of Lovecraft, it's not original.

That is why this collection of short stories influenced by Lovecraft came as a surprising breath of fresh air. It entertained while recalling some of the most chilling moments of the originals. Most took the Cthulhu myth in unexpected directions that were a joy to read. Even the longest tales tended to fly by, holding my interest and sparking the imagination.

The stories range from the chilling update, VIRGIN'S ISLAND by Donald Tyson to the sublimely silly ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD by Neil Gaiman. There was the occasional tale that caused me to struggle to keep attention, most notably BENEATH THE BEARDMORE by Michael Shea. However, even that one was better than many of the August Dereleth pastiches.

If there was an overall fault in the selection of stories, it was that quite a few were spin-offs of the main theme of Lovecraft's THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. While this is one of his best stories, reading so many selections with the same theme caused me to wish that one of the writer's had been enchanted or inspired by COOL AIR (which isn't part of the Cthulhu myth, I know).

Still, this book is an impressive collection and an easily accessible entry into the world of H.P. Lovecraft or a welcome homecoming for already existing fans. Highly recommended.

David Davis

Absolutely stunning collection by Joshi. I've been sort of disenfranchised with Lovecraftian fiction as I've explored other areas of weird this past year but this reinvigorated my love for the Cthulhu mythology. The artwork here is amazing--they even got one of my favorite genre artists John Kenn Mortensen (see "Sticky Monsters") to contribute to this amazing book (or should I call it a work of art?). The book starts with three amazing stories from authors that I hadn't heard of before (some of who are one-hit wonders in a way). Then we get some artwork, illustrated stories from Lovecraft that were really neat, and modern authors like Mark Samuels and Laird Barron. All the stories were solid, none weak. The only thing I didn't like about the book is that it's HUGE and hard to position sometimes when reading in bed, etc. Highly recommended.

Eileen

Excellent anthology. Buy it for Stanley C. Sargent's "The Black Brat of Dunwich" alone. I know people like scary monsters but "The Dunwich Horror" was just begging for a deconstruction or perspective flip. Is Wilbur Whateley really an irredeemable abomination or just the product of being born into a household of poverty, squalor, dysfunction, untreated mental illness, and social isolation and having to deal with what are basically severe congenital deformities on top of that? A Mountain Walked also features works by modern masters Neil Gaiman, W.H. Pugmire, Caitlin Kiernan, and Thomas Ligotti. Yeah, there are quite a few stories that have already been published elsewhere but they're worth rereading.

Bogdan

There are some very good stories in here but I really didn`t like anything from the big names ...

This is quite a trend lately. And it`s like a small paradox.

Because the editor is hoping to sell more books because of the names on the cover but in fact their stories aren`t quite satisfactory.

But in the end this is a must for a fan of Lovecraft Mythos or of good old horror stories.

Love it!

Victoria

Wow. This collection is both huge and exceptional. Too bad HPL did not write as well as these authors inspired by his works.

Mariano

Vamos cuento por cuento:

* The house of the worm (Mearle Prout): escrito en vida de Lovecraft, por un autor misterioso y con dos protagonistas que yo intuyo gays, tiene mucho para ser un buen arranque.
* Far Below (Robert Barbour Johnson): posiblemente mi primer libro de aventuras subterraneas (
goodreads.com/book/show/8604524.Bomba...) ha puesto la vara tan alta (era joven, no es que el libro fuera de la gran cosa) asi que tiendo a no entusiasmarme con ese tipo de historias. Esta no es la excepción.
* Spawn of the Green Abyss (C. Hall Thompson): fuera del romance, no se pone más lovecraftiano que esto (en la forma un poco ridicula: oceanos, algas, cosas verdes)
* The Deep Ones (James Wade): si viste ese capítulo de Los Simpsons donde Lisa libera al rey de los delfines, ya has leído este cuento.
* The Franklyn Paragraphs (Ramsey Campbell): el primer relato bueno del libro, el recurso borgeano de hacer al autor parte de la trama está muy bien.
* Where Yidhra walks (Walter C. DeBill Jr.): aunque uno sabe donde termina esto desde el primer momento, entretiene.
* Black Man With a Horn (T. E. D. Klein): el mejor relato de todo el libro, unassuming, lleno de detalles, slow burn hasta los últimos parrafos.
* The Last Feat of Harlequin (Thomas Ligotti): muy a pesar yo no sé que le ve todo el mundo a este autor, que rabia me da no poder subirme al carro de sus admiradores
* Only the end of the World Again (Neil Gaiman): otro autor al cual no puedo sumarme con entusiasmo.
* Mandebröt Moldrop (Lois H. Gresh): lo abandoné porque su argumento me pareció ridículo, lo lamento.
* The Black Brat of Dunwich (Stanley C. Sargent): al igual que
goodreads.com/book/show/26883558.The_..., escuchamos uno de los cuentos clásicos de Lovecraft en boca de otro protagonista, el cual nos da una nueva versión de la historia. Humaniza al villano pero no es ni lejanamente tan subversivo como el de Victor LaValle (seguramente el recopilador S.T. Joshi detesta a Black Tom)
* The phantom of Beguilement (W. H. Pugmire): ligeramente poetico y entretenido.
* ...Hungry ...rats (Joseph S. Pulver, Sr): tampoco me decidí a terminarlo
* Virgin's island (Donald Tyson): Cartas sobre expediciones navales desgraciadas, no gracias, ya he leido muchas.
* In the shadow of Swords (Cody Goodfellow): está muy bien, pese a no ser fan de las historias bélicas en el desierto.
* Mobymart after midnight (Jonathan Thomas): generalmente cuando el protagonista en primera persona es una smartpants no me causa tanta gracia
* A gentleman from Mexico (Mark Samuels): un poco ridículo pero muy bien el español.
* The man with the horn (Jason V. Brock): amigo, no es fácil empardar la historia de Klein, no sé si vale la pena intentarlo.
* John Four (Caitlín R. Kiernan): lo intente abandonar y me obligué a terminarlo, buena decision, es genial en una segunda lectura
* Sigma Octantis (Rhys Hughes): está situado en la patagonia argentina, bonus point chovinista.
* [Anasazi] (Gemma Files): ¡aguante el gore!
* The wreck of of the Aurora (Patrick McGrath): bien, tenue, poetico, inhóspito.
* Beneath the Beardmore (Michael Shea): me encantan estas historias antarticas.

Keith

This is a collection of stories by the esteemed literary expert on things Lovecraftian, S. T. Joshi. This anthology tries to collect stories that the editor believes are great examples of the authors taking Lovecraft’s ideas and using them in their own unique ways, rather than writing mere pastiches.

These stories rang in time from 1939 to 2014 (this collection was published in 2015). They are a varied collection, with some being very true to Lovecraft’s visions like “Beneath the Beardmore” by Michael Shea, which uses the setting of “At the Mountains of Madness.” Others seem far from the original Mythos, like “The Wreck of the Aurora” by Patrick McGrath. The latter I only accept as a Mythos story because S. T. Joshi says it is, and he’s the expert.

One of the most disturbing tales to me is “[Anasazi]” by Gemma Files. This one is going to live in my head quite a while, I’m afraid. Possibly the most surprising story is “Only the End of the World Again” by Neil Gaiman, which takes place in Innsmouth. I didn’t know Neil Gaiman had written Mythos fiction.

Like any anthology, some tales will be more to a reader’s taste than others. However, this is a high quality collection put together by a subject matter expert, so it’s hard not to recommend it highly.

Riina Ojanen

Fyysisenä tämä kirja on yli 700 sivun paksuinen, ja sisältää Lovecraft-novelleja yli 25 kirjoittajalta. Aloitin lukemisen näköjään pari vuotta sitten, innoissani, mutta rempseästi edenneen alun jälkeen jumahdin jotenkin Neil Gaimanin novellin jälkeen. Se ei tainnut olla mitenkään erityinen. Hyviä novelleja tässä kokoelmassa on paljon, ja uskallan suositella kirjaa kaikille Lovecraft-mythoksen ystäville. Valitettavasti joukossa on niitä heikompiakin teoksia, mutta niinhän näissä novellikokoelmissa aina. Minun pitää joku päivä ottaa urakka ja käydä novellit läpi, jotta muistan mistä pidin ja mistä en. Loppupään novelleista maininnan ansaitsee ainakin Donald Tysonin "Virgin's Island", Caitlin R. Kiernanin "John Four", Gemma Filesin "Anasazi". Alkupään tarinoissa oli kylmäävää fiilistä enemmänkin, sen muistan. Kindle-versiossa on mukana muutamia taidekuvia, mutta ne toimisivat huomattavati paremmin paperimuodossa.

Edmund de Wight

This is a large collection of stories either directly related to the Cthulhu mythos or related closely enough to not really have any true difference.
Like most collections there are ones I really liked and others which I quickly flipped through because they just weren't my cup of ichor.
It's overall a good collection. I utterly LOVED the Neil Gaiman story. The actual story was a bit disjointed but the description and evocative prose he used shows why Neil is a master storyteller.
Another one, Hungry...Rats was a really weird tale but the way it was written was riveting. It just pulls you along increasing your tension and forcing you to avalanche forward with the words.
Check it out. It's a good read if you're a fan of the mythos.

Bonnie

Eclectic but Fascinating

This collection of short stories varies wildly in time - from slow investigations with sinister implications, to first-person examinations of the strangeness of alien minds. Every story in this collection holds some element of interest, but a few are a little too light of content to be entirely satisfying.

The two stories, "House of the Worm" and "Black Man with a Horn", are truly exceptional, and exactly fit my taste in Lovecraftian fiction - it's worth reading for those stories alone. The rest of the collection is pretty good as well, it's just that some of them feel so bare bones as to be unfinished.

Nicholas

I love how these stories take Lovecraft's mythos and produce stories better than Lovecraft himself. The tales here embrace diversity as opposed to using it as a horrific element or plot device.

Favorite stories from this collection were:
- "Spawn of the Green Abyss" by C. Hall Thompson
- "The Deep Ones" by James Wade
- "The Last Feast of Harlequin" by Thomas Ligotti
- "Only the End of the World Again" by Neil Gaiman
- "The Black Brat of Dunwich" by Stanley C. Sargento
- "In the Shadow of Swords" by Cody Goodfellow
- "The Man With The Horn" by Jason V Brock
- "John Four" by Caitlin R. Keirnan
- "Beneath the Beardmore" by Michael Shea

Daniel

So-so read

A series of stories based on the Cthulhu Mythos. The quality of the stories varied greatly. Neil Gaiman was the name that drew me in but his was not the best. His story about a werewolf in Innsmouth didn't really work for me. There was more horror in reading about something that was slowly decimating the land and learning more about what caused it.

I think Lovecraft is hard to write and these stories are generally average.

Amber

Neil Gaiman story was worth it

I liked some of these stories better than others, the mood varies from mystical to cynical and the genre from noir to thriller to Lovecraft-pastiche - interesting mix, worth it for the Gaiman story alone, but also one with a sympathetic portrayal of Wilbur Whateley.

Matt

Some good stuff. Some not so much.

As is often the case with anthologies, there was an uneven three-way split. There were a few great stories, some fair to good stories, and then there were some that were there and got read along the way. I do recommend the book, for those fair to good to great stories.

Bill Ramsell

Some of the best Cthulhu Mythos stories I've read. Much better than the usual pastiche treatment; these authors have made this shared universe their own. As usual, I especially liked Neil Gaiman's contribution.

Daniel Cloutier

Starke, voluminöse Sammlung von Geschichten aus dem Cthulhu Mythos, ausgewählt von J.T. Joshi. Im Gegensatz zu vielen anderen aktuelle Anthologien nicht nur aktuelle Werke, sondern quer von den ersten Lovecraft Verbindungen bis heute.

Joe McMahon

Highly recommended

An excellent collection of stories, from gritty to surreal. Some of the best neo-Mythos stories I’ve read; a few I’d read before, but mostly new and highly entertaining.

Vasil

A fine collection with S T Joshi's "stamp of approval"

Every anthology is bound to have its hits and misses, but this one has more of the former.
A warmly recommended read for every Lovecraftian out there.

Title	:	A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
Author	:	S.T. Joshi
Rating	:
ISBN	:	-
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Kindle Edition
Number of Pages	:	612
Publication	:	First published September 1, 2014

A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos by S.T. Joshi

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