Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos by Jim Turner

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Reviews

• 
  Stephen

  Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!…but not forever:
  
  
  
  If the Universal Church of the Congregation of His Most Cosmically Cyclopean and Magisterial Mightiness, the Impenitent, Indomitable and Indefatigable Cthulhu (aka He With Whom One Does Not Fuck) ever designates a single tome as its bible, then this collection will surely be the one chosen as its most revered scripture*. This is the Rolls Royce of mythos anthologies with nary so much as a single turd in the sacred punchbowl.
  
  * I must qualify this statement by pointing out that I have not yet read
  Cthulhurotica (hubba hubba) and if ever a book was going to challenge based on title and cover art alone, then this would be it.
  
  
  
  Still, it seems unlikely that any work has a shoggoth's shot in Hell of unseating this ensemble of excellence.
  
  In addition to magical sermons by H. P. Lovecraft himself, the First Prophet of Cthulhu, all of the upper-echelon, inner circle preachers of Eldrtich Doctrine are represented here: Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belkanp Long, Robert Bloch and August Derleth.
  
  Yes, they are all here.
  
  Plus a veritable who's who of the best talent to ever scratch pen across parchment in the name of "The Mountain That Walks," including Henry Kuttner, Fritz Leiber, Stephen King, Karl Edward Wagner, Philip Jose Farmer, Colin Wilson, Ramsey Campbell, Joanna Russ, Richard A Lupoff and Brian Lumley.
  
  Are you starting to see just how inspired this work is?
  
  THE STORIES:
  
  While I’m not going to summarize each of the stories, I want to share the complete list of delectable nom nom nomminess included within. The selections include:
  
  “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft
  “The Return of the Sorcerer” by Clark Ashton Smith
  “Ubbo-Sathla” by Clark Ashton Smith
  “The Black Stone” by Robert E. Howard
  “The Hounds of Tindalos” by Frank Belknap Long
  "The Space-Eaters" by Frank Belknap Long
  "The Dweller in Darkness" by August Derleth
  "Beyond the Threshold" by August Derleth
  "The Shambler from the Stars" by Robert Bloch
  “The Haunter of the Dark” by H.P. Lovecraft
  "The Shadow from the Steeple" by Robert Bloch
  “Notebook Found in a Deserted House” by Robert Bloch
  "The Salem Horror" by Henry Kuttner
  “The Terror from the Depths” by Fritz Leiber
  “Rising with Surtsey” by Brian Lumley
  “Cold Print” by J. Ramsey Campbell
  "The Return of the Lloigor" by Colin Wilson
  “My Boat” by Joanna Russ
  “Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner
  “The Freshman” by Philip Jose Farmer
  “Jerusalem’s Lot” by Stephen King
  “Discovery of the Ghooric Zone” by Richard A. Lupoff
  
  His Dread Dreaminess is most pleased...
  
  
  
  
  Amen, amen and Tekeli-li, Tekeli-li.
  
  Now each of the above stories are gold and should be pondered, analyzed and meditated upon in order to bring you closer to His Surly Tentacleness. However, I do want to call out a few pieces that I found particularly full of awesome:
  
  1. The Call of Cthulhu:
  
  The best of the best. I previously gave this story a big fat hug so rather than regurgitate it, I will simply link you to my bout of gushy right here: Steve’s Gushing Praise of The Call of Cthulhu
  
  However, I do feel the need to plop down again the best opening line of any mythos story ever and the one that encapsulates the essence of the whole shebang:

  The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age

  2. The Hounds of Tindalos:
  
  Frank Long's brilliant mythos installment featuring funky math, non-euclidean geometry, some mondo powerful psychotropic drugs and a mind-warping phildickian plot that comes together and works beautifully. This story could have escaped Long's control several times and become a bravely-intentioned mess. However, this never happens and Long produced one of the most uniquely outstanding lore stories I’ve read.

  They are lean and athirst...all the evil in the universe was concentrated in their lean, hungry bodies? Or had they bodies? I saw them only for a moment, I cannot be certain.

  Tis truly a religious experience for the faithful.
  
  3. Notebook Found in a Deserted House:
  
  Nothing uniquely mythos-related happens here but I mention it only because of how much fun I had reading it. Robert Bloch tells stories that just pull you into them and this "diary" of a young boy experiencing all kinds of jitter-causing spookiness is a great time.
  
  
  4. The Terror from the Depths:
  
  Fritz Leiber's singular contribution would only rate good if I was judging purely from a plot perspective. However, this one makes the honor role because it is a masterful homage and gushing love letter to all of the great mythos stories that came before it. During the course of the story, fragments of a dozen different mythos tales are called in to contribute. From "The Call of Cthulhu" to “The Mountains of Madness” to "The Dunwich Horror" to "Dagon" to "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"...to handful of non-Lovecraft stories (several of which are in this collection). This was a Cthulu Mythos version of Where's Waldo as well as a stroll down memory lane.
  
  I loved it.
  
  5. Rising with Surtsey:
  
  Brian Lumley absolutely knocks the ball out of the park with this terrific, haunting tale that uses the mythos as a launching pad for a tale that is both cosmically vast and a deeply personal tragedy. One of the best Cthulhu tales I've read.
  
  6. Sticks:
  
  I am so bummed that there is not considerably more Karl Edward Wagner material to read. I snap up everything of his I can find and have loved all of it. This story exudes creepy and touches only tangentially on the mythos...but it is enough. As a horror story, this is lights out. I would have felt remiss had I not paid it homage here.
  
  7. The Freshman:
  
  A bizarre tale of inverted morality and sick choices as a new student arrives to learn the dark arts at Miskatonic University. You can forget about the playful magics of Hogwarts, this place and the professors will have you shitting Shaggoths in your skivvies.
  
  For fans and followers of the mythos, this is as good as it gets. So it is written…so it shall be read. Here endeth the lesson.
  
  
  
  All hail His Lordship Cthulhu.
  
  5.0 stars.
• 
  Werner

  Note, May 3, 2020: When I read short story collections intermittently over a long period of time, my reactions are similarly written piecemeal, while they're fresh in my mind. That gives the reviews a choppy, and often repetitive, quality. Recently, I had to condense and rearrange one of these into a unified whole because of Goodreads' length limit; and I was so pleased with the result that I decided to give every one of these a similar edit! Accordingly, I've now edited this one.
  
  16 authors are represented in this collection inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, contributing 22 roughly chronologically arranged stories between them. Editor Turner, August Derleth's successor as editor-in-chief at Arkham House, provided a short but adequate introduction. Except for the two well-chosen selections by the master himself, all of these tales were new to me, so I approached the anthology with considerable anticipation --pretty much justified! I did not re-read either of the two Lovecraft stories, but both are included in The Best Supernatural Stories of H. P. Lovecraft
  
  One of the selections written in Lovecraft's own lifetime or soon after it, Clark Ashton Smith's "The Return of the Sorcerer" is really more supernatural fiction (and an excellent example of the genre!) than science fiction; its only Lovecraftian touch is that the magical information is said to come from the Necronomicon, but the author could have substituted any invented title. In most of the other stories in this group, however, the Lovecraft connection and influence is much more obvious (the reclusive New Englander is even mentioned by name or used as a character in several of them). Smith and Robert E. Howard can even match him in the quality of their "purple prose" style. Of these tales, though, only Smith's "Ubbo-Sathla" really fully suggests HPL's own existential pessimism; and Derleth's "The Dweller in Darkness" reflects his own modification (well-known to Lovecraft fans) of Lovecraft's cosmology to include a pantheon of more benevolent Old Ones opposed to the nastier specimens. (Some) Lovecraft purists won't like this --S. T. Joshi leaps to mind-- but it's no problem for me; I don't hold any brief for existentially pessimistic horror anyway, and I see the Lovecraft heritage as something that's open for subsequent writers to shape and use in their own ways, in accordance with their own styles and attitudes. (Lovecraft himself probably wouldn't have been offended by this; by his own admission, even his own writings don't drip with existential despair in every story.) My favorites of the Lovecraft imitations are "The Dweller in Darkness" and Derleth's "Beyond the Threshold;" Kuttner's "The Salem Horror;" and Howard's "The Black Stone" --though one passage there isn't for the squeamish. (I knew that Howard wrote some Cthulhu Mythos pastiches, but this was the first one I've read --and a ripping good introduction!) Only the two stories by Frank Belknap Long didn't work for me --I felt that the characters being able to intuitively explain the supposedly unexplainable events robbed the latter of a lot of their force, and was such a logical stretch that the rubber band snapped.
  
  Of the newer stories, two by Robert Bloch were written in 1950-51 --his older "The Shambler From the Stars" is also included-- and the next oldest stories in the book were published in 1969. So most of the stories in this group (except Leiber's) represent the work of a second generation of Lovecraft fans. Most of these don't imitate Lovecraft's distinctive style, but most definitely have the flavor and ethos of his work. (Not surprisingly, they tend to have grim plots, and "happy" endings are rare and usually qualified --often the best you can hope for is that humanity might have another chance in round 2.)
  
  Richard Lupoff's "Discovery of the Ghooric Zone," set mostly in the far future, is (despite Turner's praise for it), IMO, the least effective story here; the combination of essentially post-human cyborg characters and digressive "historical" sections covering 1937-2337 --in reverse chronological order!-- are obviously intended to make the reader feel that our world and frame of reference are vanishingly insignificant, but they impede identification with or interest in the characters. (The sexual references appear to simply be inserted gratuitously in order to shock or gross out the reader --something Lovecraft didn't do.) Philip Jose Farmer's "The Freshman" has more to offer, with a look at a very unhealthy mother-son relationship and a warning about the unwisdom of morally compromising one's self for unworthy ends. But these are set in the pervasive context of a wildly over-the-top vision of Miskatonic Univ. ("M. U."), which doesn't reflect Lovecraft's own more realistic depiction and which fatally detracts from the story's credibility. (This story also has somewhat more bad language than any of the others, which either follow Lovecraft in having none or have very little -- though even Farmer's selection doesn't have much.)
  
  Despite a passing reference to the Necronomicon, Joanna Russ' "My Boat" is actually not a Cthulhu Mythos story as such; it's Lovecraftian, but its inspiration comes from the fantasy side of his work (The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is also mentioned, and plays a role in the plot). Like some of Lovecraft's own work, it has a surreal quality from the juxtaposition of different planes of reality or modes of consciousness, but it isn't horrific. It's a fine story with a very worthwhile message wrapped up in its surrealism (and happily free of the rabid misandry that animates Russ' "When it Changed"); but comparing it to the the rest of the collection is like comparing apples and oranges.
  
  The other six stories are definitely horrific, and do an excellent job of being so. "Sticks" and "Rising With Surtsey" were my first introductions, respectively, to the work of Karl Edward Wagner and Brian Lumley --and neither of them disappointed! One of the Bloch stories, "The Shadow From the Steeple," is a sequel to Lovecraft's own "The Haunter of the Dark," (the protagonist of which, Robert Blake, was modeled directly on Bloch himself), and illustrates the theme of nuclear fear that was so common in the SF of that period. Another outstanding work here is Stephen King's "Jerusalem's Lot," set in 1850, which shares a geographical setting with his novel Salem's Lot; I haven't read the latter, and the story raises intriguing questions about how the two works relate to each other (since here the village is deserted, whereas I know that, in the novel, it starts out as populated by normal people). Ramsey Campbell's "Cold Print" is also an effective, well-written work.
• 
  Ashley Daviau

  Before I get surprised comments at me giving a book featuring King and Lovecraft such a low rating, just hear me out! The Lovecraft and King stories were the highlight of the collection for me and I’ll always read anything with them in it. That being said, the rest of the stories in this collection were just DREADFUL. They were so lacklustre that I wanted to cry tears of boredom! Now I’m all for authors being inspired by Lovecraft’s work and putting a Lovecraftian spin on their stories. But when it’s just a poor imitation of his work with no originality whatsoever, that’s where I draw the line!
• 
  S̶e̶a̶n̶

  Stories read:
  
  'The Call of Cthulhu' / H. P. Lovecraft - 5 stars
  
  'The Shambler from the Stars' / Robert Bloch - 3 stars
  
  'The Haunter of the Dark' / H. P. Lovecraft - 5 stars
  
  'The Shadow from the Steeple' / Robert Bloch - 4 stars
  
  'Rising with Surtsey' / Brian Lumley - 3 stars
  
  'Cold Print' / Ramsey Campbell - 4 stars (I definitely need to read more Campbell)
  
  'My Boat' / Joanna Russ - 2 stars (finding a Russ story in here was unexpected, and although it was the most original of those I read, it didn't do much for me)
• 
  Marsha Altman

  I can't give it more than three stars because the other tales are derivative, but if you've read all of Lovecraft and you want to read stuff he inspired by mostly competent horror authors, this is a great book. The stories are hit-or-miss, but I should point out that a lot of them are from the 1930's and written by Lovecraft's friends, so they have some historical relevance to the general Lovecraftian mythos. Some of the later authors, like Farmer and King, are also good, but again, it's hard to hold it up to Lovecraft and expect the same sort of prose.
  
  (Only two or three stories are by Lovecraft. If you want to read him, go buy a Lovecraft-only book and do it properly, or listen to the radio plays)
• 
  Alberto

  Insane
• 
  Harris

  There are some very interesting stories in this collection, and some less interesting ones. Some take Lovecraft’s ideas and run with them to new concepts, while others attempt mere homage; both of these takes have their hits ("My Boat," "The Hounds of Tindalos") and misses ("Discovery of the Ghooric Zone," "Beyond the Threshold"), but most are in between. Arranged in rough chronological order from the late 1920s to the late 1970s, Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos includes a pair of Lovecraft’s stories to “set the scene,” including my favorite tale, "The Call of Cthulhu" itself. The rest of the stories can be fun but none, with the possible exceptions of Joanna Russ’ "My Boat" and Karl Wagner’s "Sticks," really stand alone outside of "Mythos tales." Only Derleth’s tales were actually boring, though. It is interesting to see the progression of Lovecraft’s concepts and creations, the “Cthulhu Mythos,” as coined by Derleth, into the horror/fantasy/sci-fi genres, through the 20th century. Still, these stories have the most to offer for Mythos devotees who wish to know, in which story did the dread tome Unaussprechlichen Kulten first appear in or where was Y’Golonoc first mentioned?*
  
  * Answers: "The Black Stone," Robert E. Howard (1931), "Cold Print," Ramsey Campbell (1969)!
  
• 
  Myridian

  This is a collection of stories by H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and other greats, as well as genre authors who are not traditionally Cthulhuians (Fritz Leiber, Biran Lumley, Stephen King, et.c.). The stories vary in their quality and style from the excellent, classic, Victorianesque prose of the greats, to more free-form styles of contemporary authors. I tend to prefer the former style, but some of my favorite stories also come from the more current authors. Some of my favorites were: "The Return of the Sorcerer" by Clark Ashton Smith, "The Shambler From the Stars" by Robert Bloch, and "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner, but none of the stories were too horrible to read (exept in the way intended).
• 
  Edward Taylor

  Here we have just the right mix of modern authors as well as Lovecraft's "Mythos" peers collected into one solid volume. The Hounds of Tindalos, The Black Stone, The Return of the Sorcerer, and Jerusalem's Lot are all stand out stories and give a great primer to people that not only want to see what is out there (without Lovecraft's fingers in their pies) in regard to the Mythos, but what can easily be seen as stand-alone stories in their own right.
• 
  Arthur

  Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
• 
  N. M. D.

  I avoidereading things inspired by or directly related to Lovecraft. I've never really found the idea of reworking someone else's ideas appealing. There's a sort of audacity to it. That doesn't mean I've never read anything directly connected. If you read any short-form horror, you've read Lovecraft-related stories, whether you realize it or not. His touch is inescapable. He is a primary thread woven into the fabric of the genre. And I've generally found these too be corny and hokey. That's pretty true for this batch too.
  
  The first chunk are from the 20s and 30s and are written by members of the so-called Lovecraft Circle: writers who had direct contact with Lovecraft during his life. It then jumps over the period of his relative obscurity and lands at the 70s, when his work had a resurgence.
  
  This book is 22 stories in 450 pages. I don't have room here for all my feelings, which vary across the whole spectrum. The good was good, the mid was mid, but the bad was really bad. Dishonorable mentions to:
  
  August Derelth
  Big thanks to him for keeping Lovecraft's legacy alive, really, but he never should have been a writer. Publishing was his calling. He doesn't just stand on the shoulders of a better writer, but swims gleefully in his shadow, completely overtaken by in inky blackness.
  
  Frank Belknap Long
  Interesting ideas but laughably, painfully terrible writing, almost beyond belief. Melodramatic dialogue, absurd conveniences, and forces older than time and space being dispelled with cross waving.
  
  Ramsey Campbell
  Wow. Just wow. Why is this guy famous? How did he ever even get published? The dialogue and character actions make no sense, the metaphors are awful, and the homophobia didn't win it any points either. This doesn't belonging in the lowliest fanzine, so much a proper book.
  
  Fritz Leiber
  The story is actually pretty good, but decency points deducted for using Lovecraft's actual death as part of the plot.
  
  Philip Jose Farmer
  Bland writing and stereotypical characters populating a sleazy version of Miskatonic University that feels like evil Hogwarts for adults.
  
  Richard A. Lupoff
  I hated almost everything about this story except for the skeleton of its plot. There's an idea in there, but the telling was agony. Sleazy cyberpunk and outrageously massive info dumps of world-building suitable for a 500-page novel in a 20-page tale.
  
  
  I lament, daily, deeply, religiously, that people creating in Lovecraft's name, be it writing or visual media, almost never seem to hit the mark, and sometimes veer so widely away from the target one assumes they took the shot while facing the wrong direction. The most interesting bit knowledge I got from this collection is that this has, in fact, always been the case, even when Lovecraft was still alive, and even when crafted by people that personally knew him.
  
  If you're interested I'm something like this, I recommend H. P. Lovecraft's Book of Horrors. It with Lovecraft's essay Supernatural Horror in Literature, a fantastic outline of the genre up to that point, and is followed by many of the stories mentioned in the essay. If you like it, H. P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural is a continuation of the concept. These stories aren't homages or pastiche, and are approved by the man himself.
• 
  Félix D'Jesús

  Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
• 
  Nashid

  Learning about the mythos from the classics
• 
  Whiskey Tango

  Cthulhu is a creature of enormous size and malevolent intent. The creature was created by H.P. Lovecraft and has since been featured in the writings of numerous authors. Cthulhu, one of the Old Ones, is generally described as having an octopoid head atom a grotesque and scaled humanoid body with rudimentary wings. Its hands are described either as claws or possessed of long talons. Cthulhu is most-fully described in The Call of Cthulhu; the name is spelled in alternate ways in some of the other stories in the collection. Cthulhu is significant for lending its name to the entire sub-genre as well as for becoming a sort of pop culture icon.
  
  Nyarlathotep in multiple stories
  Nyarlathotep is a fictional creature with malevolent intent; it is frequently referred to as the Crawling Chaos and its identity is occasionally conflated with that of other Old Ones. Nyarlathotep is variously described as nearly human in appearance or an amorphous shifting cloud of inky blackness. Nyarlathotep is generally considered to be more active than the other Old Ones, and its motivation is generally more intelligible and anthropomorphic than the other Old Ones. Nyarlathotep is featured in Derleth's The Dweller in Darkness, among others. Often portrayed as a messenger or representative of the collective will of the Old Ones, Nyarlathotep makes more personal appearances than most of the other beings in the Cthulhu Mythos.
  
  Hastur, Azathoth, and Shub-Niggurathappears in multiple stories
  Hastur is a fictional creature with malevolent intent; originally mentioned by Lovecraft only in passing, it gained prominence with other writers of Cthulhu Mythos tales. It is usually described as vastly large and unintelligible in motivation, though clearly evil and vile. Azathoth is a fictional creature with malevolent intent; originally created by Lovecraft, it gained prominence with other writers of Cthulhu Mythos tales including Derleth and Campbell. It is usually described as vastly gigantic, usually as large as a planetary body, and is usually said to have numerous servants orbiting about. Shub-Niggurath is a fictional creature with malevolent intent; originally created, but not described, by Lovecraft, it gained prominence with other writers of Cthulhu Mythos tales including Derleth, Bloch, and Campbell. Shub-Niggurath is unusual inasmuch as it is usually considered to be female; it is often also called the black goat of the woods with a thousand young, indicating flagrant fecundity. Bloch's Notebook Found in a Deserted House gives a quite exact description of Shub-Niggurath.
  
  Arthur Machenappears in multiple stories
  Arthur Machen (1863 - 1947) was a Welsh author of supernatural and horror fiction. Machen studied history during early schoolwork and published poems and short stories at a quite early age. Machen's work through the 1890s featured Gothic and fantastic themes leading gradually into tales of decadent horror. Machen's literary output declined in the 1900s, though his early work saw a revival during c. 1922 as American writers, including the Lovecraft circle, began to rediscover his work. Authors in the current collection who are generally held to have been heavily influenced by Machen include Smith, Howard, and Campbell; Lovecraft considered Machen a master of horror and was heavily influenced by his writing. For example, Machen's The Novel of the Black Seal uses a narrative construction technique mirrored in The Call of Cthulhu. Machen is mentioned in several of the stories in the collection.
  
  Edgar Allan Poe appears in multiple stories
  Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849) was an American poet, writer, and critic. He is usually considered to be part of the American Romantic Movement and is best remembered for his tales of the macabre. Most of Poe's work focused on mysterious or strange events and his literary influence is considered to be enormous. Poe was a favored source of inspiration for Lovecraft and nearly all of the other members of the Lovecraft circle, and Poe is mentioned in several of the stories in the collection.
  
  H.P. Lovecraft appears in multiple stories
  Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890 - 1937) was an American writer of horror and fantasy tales then known as weird fiction. Lovecraft's central fictional preoccupation was the concept of cosmic, irrational horror, such that the universe is fundamentally amoral, malevolent, and alien—and is beyond the ability of the rational, human mind to comprehend. Many of his stories feature this element of cosmic horror and share additional construction elements; these tales comprise what is often referred to as the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft's work was not particularly widely read during his lifetime but was popularized, posthumously, largely through the efforts of August Derleth. By the mid 20th century, however, his reputation had grown such that it was on a par with Poe. Lovecraft is generally considered to have held racist views and to champion an Anglo-centric world-view; such elements are in any case often evident in his fiction.
  
  August Derleth appears in multiple stories
  August Derleth (1909 - 1971) was an American writer of horror and fantasy tales, as well as the founder of Arkham House, a company that published the writings of Lovecraft. Derleth was a friend and correspondent of Lovecraft and coined the phrase "Cthulhu Mythos" to describe the shared stories of Lovecraft, Derleth, and others. After Lovecraft's death, Derleth founded Arkham House in 1939 and published the collected works of Lovecraft. Later, Arkham House published Derleth's works and works of other authors. Derleth also utilized numerous Lovecraft outlines or partially completed stories in posthumous collaborations, leading to some criticism. Derleth's use of the Cthulhu Mythos varied considerably from that of Lovecraft. While Lovecraft proposed an amoral and unintelligible universe, Derleth favored a more codified and traditional approach. Thus, Derleth's writing positions the Old Ones as evil beings in opposition to good beings of roughly equivalent ability; this cosmic vision aligned more closely with Derleth's Christian beliefs. Derleth also codified the Old Ones and attempted to align them with various elemental forces such as earth, water, air, and fire. A fictionalized Derleth appears in some Lovecraft stories under the pseudonym 'le Comte d'Erlette'.
  
  Robert Bloch appears in multiple stories
  Robert Bloch (1917 - 1994) was an American writer of various genres including horror. Bloch is remembered primarily for his novels, but also produced numerous short stories. He was a friend of Lovecraft and other members of the Lovecraft circle, and Bloch's early works are clearly heavily influenced by that association. Bloch made considerable contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos, first introducing the often-cited texts De Vermis Mysteriis and Cultes des Goules. A fictionalized Bloch appears in some Lovecraft and Cthulhu Mythos stories under the pseudonym 'Robert Blake.' Bloch's presentation of Lovecraft as the victim in The Shambler from the Stars was seen by both men as a humorous courtesy, or homage. Lovecraft returned the favor in The Haunter of the Dark. Bloch's most famous work, Psycho, relies on realistic horror rather than supernatural horror, but shares many construction elements with his earlier works.
  
  Clark Ashton Smith appears in multiple stories
  Clark Ashton Smith (1893 - 1961) was an artist and author of fantasy and horror fiction. Smith was a friend of Lovecraft and other members of the Lovecraft circle, and Smith's early works in horror fiction are markedly influenced by that association. Smith's contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos include Tsathoggua and the wizard Eibon, whose book appears in the current collection. Lovecraft held Smith's work in high regard, particularly his sculpture and art. Smith is referred to in the current collection by name, and appears fictionalized in some Lovecraft stories as 'Klarkash-Ton.' Many of Smith's stories were originally published by Arkham House, though after Lovecraft's death Smith largely abandoned writing weird fiction for sculpture.
  
  Frank Belknap Long appears in multiple stories
  Frank Belknap Long (1901 - 1994) was an American writer of horror and fantasy fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Despite a prolific and prolonged output, he probably is best remembered for his early contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos. Long published a biography of Lovecraft and an autobiographical memoir. Long was a friend and correspondent of Lovecraft, known to have exchanged over 1,000 letters, some running to eighty pages in length. Some of this correspondence was published by Arkham House. Long was also a member of the Lovecraft circle, and is widely considered to have written the first Cthulhu Mythos story not authored by Lovecraft—The Hounds of Tindalos. Long's contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos are foundational.
• 
  Jeff Stockett

  I really enjoyed this book. It was an excellent introduction to the mythos. There were several stories that were truly chilling. Some of the best stories were:
  
  The Call of Cthulhu - The story that started it all. I love exploring things through the point of view of an investigator as he uncovers layer upon layer, finding out about the cult of Cthulhu and ultimately discovering the truth behind it all. The description of Cthulhu was awesome and terrifying.
  
  Notebook Found in a Deserted House - This story helped me really feel the terror of the main character. Possibly because the main character was a small boy so I was viewing the world from his perspective but it left me with chills.
  
  Jerusalem's Lot - This one really took advantage of the fear of the unknown. It didn't describe anything particularly gruesome until the end, and yet it did a fantastic job of filling the reader with unease at the quiet solitude of the town of Jerusalem's Lot.
  
  Sticks - This one started off with a bang by giving the main character a terrifying experience, but then it followed the rest of his life as that experience changed him. Ultimately it gave an excellent surprise ending that leaves the reader frightened.
  
  So those four were my favorites, but then there were several others that were really good. And then, unfortunately, there were several others that were kind of bland. Many of them tried to use the same formula as "The Call of Cthulhu" which was that an investigator begins discovering something but then the horror gets too great and they end up dieing. Unfortunately, they didn't always do it as well as the original and the formula got old after the 4th or 5th time. But, despite the few lesser ones, the good ones are really good and far outweigh the less interesting ones.
• 
  Laura

  Took me weeks to finish this book. And I really wanted to read it. Cthulhu is fundamental, and every time I read Call of Cthulhu I want to read Terry Pratchett's Jingo. And I think about Buffy. And Hellboy. And Ozzy. And Girl Genius. And Sandman. And Merciful Fate. And Darkover. And The Eternals. And Metallica. [And I could go on]. But all of the overt and unconscious racism and sexism makes it tough going.
  
  There’s a lot of good writing here. Not just Lovecraft, but Fritz Leiber! Stephen King! Joanna Russ!
  
  But reading this excellent compilation makes me realize that unmitigated horror just doesn’t hold my attention. Yeah yeah eldritch, yeah yeah mucous. Yeah yeah, seminal texts of my genre. But horror unmitigated by humor and/or radical feminist agenda just doesn’t hold my attention. HPL put his thumb on the terror that lurks just past what we can see. But it’s the terrors I can see that worry me. Hail unknown! There might be Vulcans.
  
• 
  Evelyn

  An mixed bag of short stories, two by H.P Lovecraft (including the classic, The Call Of The Cthulhu), and the others are by authors who have been influenced by him. All of the tales are set in the Cthulhu world of weirdness or reference certain characters or books that Lovecraft created. Whilst some of my closest friends are huge HPL fans, I approached this anthology as more of a horror and short story lover.
  
  Some of the stories are really weird and creepy, a couple were just painfully dull to get through and a few had a lot of racist/sexist references which annoyed me (but I can understand the times in which they were written originally - most of these are from the 1920s onwards so its to be expected to some degree).
  
  My favourites were The Return Of The Sourcerer by Clark Ashton Smith, The Space Eaters by Frank Belknap Long and Jerusalem's Lot by Stephen King.
  
  
  
  
• 
  Josh

  Meh... Some of the authors / stories were alright, others - not so much. I'm happy that I finally had a chance to read the original Lovecraft Call of Cthulhu. I'm not sure how I felt about how self-referential the ancillary authors were to the writing of others perpetuating the Cthulhu mythos as though it were a real, academic, historical field. It was kind of annoying to me. The stories that were stand alones (King's Jerusalem's Lot, for example - referenced a book that came up multiple times in other stories, but stood on its own).
  
  Perhaps I'll read a collection of just Lovecraft tales at some point, but for now, I'm sufficiently satisfied with this collection as an introduction to the Thing That Should Not Be to leave the universe it resides in well enough alone for the time being.
• 
  Patrick

  If nothing else, this book taught me that I am apparently not a fan of Lovcraftian fiction. Sure, "The Call of Cthulhu" is a fun read, and certainly a classic in the sci-fi pantheon, but the slew of imitations that this book collects from Lovecraft's contemporaries and correspondents were cookie-cutter boring. Scientist/writer/philosopher discovers occult object, researches it against the advice of others, goes crazy and/or dies. The end. Of the stories I did read, Joanna Russ's "Our Boat" and Stephen King's "Jerusalem's Lot" were the true standouts, though it must be said that not even King did something particularly novel with the Lovecraft mythos.
• 
  Hunter Duesing

  A perfect primer to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos as expanded by his contemporaries and disciples, as well as Lovecraft himself. This book is full of Lovecraft-inspired wierd fiction of highest quality, with entries by authors such as Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Philip Jose Farmer, August Derleth, Robert Bloch, Stephen King, and Lovecraft himself. This is the perfect launching pad for those looking to discover short genre fiction in the vein of Lovecraft's twisted and frighteningly unique imagination.
• 
  Richard Houchin

  The greatest fear is fear of the unknown," said HP Lovecraft. I have never met a soul who did not...appreciate...the genius of Lovecraft's historical works. Cthulhu ftaghn!
• 
  Connie

  The verbose gentleman with bean-reeking breath slithered heinously off the pages.
• 
  Nick Chianese

  Perfect for those (like me) who've read everything by Lovecraft and are clamoring for more. With only a few exceptions, it's a solid collection of cosmic horror that successfully captures the tone and feel of his work, compared to the more recent and failed attempts like "Weird Shadows Over Innsmouth". Mini-reviews of the individual, non-Lovecraft stories below:
  
  
  The Return of the Sorcerer (9/10): Very fun, almost Evil Dead II-esque in nature
  
  Ubbo-Sathla (6/10): Well-written, but a bit basic and anti-climactic
  
  The Black Stone (9/10) - After a muddled start, becomes very violent and has some chilling implications. Probably the most Lovecraftian story I've read that wasn't written by H.P. himself
  
  The Hounds of Tindalos (7/10) - Required reading, as it’s the very first Mythos story not written by Lovecraft. Has some interesting mythological ideas, but somewhat forgettable overall.
  
  The Space Eaters (7/10) - Some nice imagery and campiness, but doesn't particularly standout
  
  The Dweller in Darkness (8/10) - Messes with the mythos (turning things into good versus evil, as August Derleth is known to do) but otherwise creepy, entertaining, and even fun in a meta-textual way
  
  Beyond the Threshold (6/10) - A nice set-up, but becomes no more than a hodgepodge of Lovecraftian tropes
  
  The Shambler from the Stars (7/10) - Doesn't break new ground narratively, but rather fun and darkly comic when viewed as a semi-autobiography with a twist
  
  The Shadow from the Steeple (6/10) - “Haunter of the Dark” sequel with a decent twist, but sloppily told and convoluted
  
  Notebook Found in a Deserted House (7/10) - Has a great set-up/told from the perspective of a 12-year old, but forgettable overall
  
  The Salem Horror (8/10) - Clearly inspired by “Dreams in the Witch House”. Not as great as that tale, but still good fun and the rat (although no Brown Jenkin) is effectively creepy
  
  The Terror from the Depths (7/10) - Leiber is too wordy of a writer (and not in an interesting, archaic way). But it's fun to see how he manages to reference nearly *every* Lovecraft story and also incorporate him within the world
  
  Rising with Surtsey (7/10) - Conventional, yet memorable, and has a nice framing device. Lumley's syntax can be a bit stilted, but a nicely told narrative
  
  Cold Print (4/10) - Perhaps Ramsey Campbell's British phrasing is too jarring for me, but his scenes feel horribly sloppy and spatially confused to the point that it’s hard to determine who is where, and when. His characters are either annoying or underdeveloped. His creature is a nicely creepy design, but otherwise it's a total failure that shouldn’t be considered a Mythos story
  
  The Return of the Lloigor (8/10) - Hindered by a convoluted, exposition heavy opening. But otherwise, very strong
  
  My Boat (6/10) - Well written, but undercut by a weak ending, and not very Mythos-esque
  
  Sticks (8/10) - Creepy and refreshingly different. It firmly feels like it belongs in the Mythos, but it doesn't resort to referencing or directly incorporating Lovecraft himself like so many of the other tales
  
  The Freshman (5/10) - Makes the silly decision of turning Miskatonic University into an evil Hogwarts. Also, it feels like the beginning to a larger novel as supposed to a complete, contained short story
  
  Jerusalem’s Lot (9/10) - Excellent. One of the few that works as a standalone story, not explicitly referencing Lovecraft, yet still very much incorporating his style and themes
  
  The Discovery of the Ghooric Zone (3/10) - Nonsensical sci-fi dreck. But admittedly, it’s not my cup of tea. Might be more enjoyable for those who enjoy hardcore futuristic science fiction.
• 
  Adam

  These stories show a clear distinction from the mainstream horror stories today, while also sharing a few similarities. One of the most noticeable differences is the way the senses of horror is created. In most modern works of horror, the fear is created in the reader’s heart by a sudden reveal of an image, or realization. Those kinds of attempts at horror often fail to inflict impactful fear, at least for me. With H.P. Lovecraft’s stories, he does not use the generic ways to create fear. He is able to sustain a constant sense of fear for the readers, he does not rule out any possibilities of the outcomes of an event, and rarely include an unexpected turn of events or reveal in his stories. His does this mostly by limiting the information given to the readers, in a way that prevents the reader to predict or anticipate what will happen next, and only allowing the natural instinct within the audience to know that something ominous is on the way. As Lovecraft himself has said before, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” He utilizes this to inflict great amounts of fear to the readers.
  
  Another factor contributing the senses of horror in his work is that he presents very clearly, the lack of control the protagonist character truly has. Either when the character recognizes this or not, they descend deeper into the danger with every page. In the story, often when the character tries to bring the situation under control, the more it spirals out of it. With the supposedly ancient beings that were awoken and now roaming the earth, hiding in the dark, Lovecraft also strongly presents their superiority and how powerless a human character appears to be under the mental and physical attacks from these beings. Knowing and recognizing how powerless a human is to those beings who the human mind cannot even properly comprehend, truly agitates the fear and anxiety in one’s mind.
  
  The only problem I had with this book is that some of the stories in the collection feel a bit repetitive. Also, some of the stories depict the deities to almost be the antagonist, which I did not prefer. I felt that it would have been better if the beings were not shown to be deliberately harming the people. If they were harming people just with their existence and normal actions, it will more or less emphasize the lack power people have when facing these deities. I would recommend this book to readers who like horror, and more to the ones who perhaps do not really like the generic techniques of inflicting horror.
• 
  Christine McCann

  This is a great anthology for anyone interested in both some damn fine entertainment and the historical development of Lovecraftian fiction. It kicks off with the famous "The Call of Cthulhu" by the man himself, and wends its way through Lovecraft collaborators and contemporaries, all the way to modern authors like Stephen King and Brian Lumley, finishing off with a hyper-futuristic tale, "Discovery of the Ghooric Zone."
  
  Favorites for me were:
  "Notebook Found in a Deserted House," by Robert Bloch
  "The Salem Horror," by Henry Kuttner
  "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner
  "Jerusalem's Lot," by Stephen King
  
  Also of note:
  
  "The Black Stone" shows how hard-core eldritch Robert E. Howard could be. He's known for Conan the Barbarian, but he was part of the Lovecraft Circle, and this story shows that he was inclined to handle some implications of Lovecraft's cults in a much less oblique and squeamish way. One moment is truly not for the faint of heart.
  
  "My Boat," by Joanna Russ. This was Lovecraftian, but not really part of the Mythos - it instead links to the dream cycle stories. This made me seek out more of Russ's work. I really enjoyed the way she melded magical realism and frank social commentary, all in a humorous-but-poignant frame tale.
  
  "Discovery of the Ghooric Zone," by Richard A. Lupoff. What did I just read? I don't think this was terribly good, but it had the charm of being very original. It was a nice balance to start the collection with the classic 1920s search through scholarly papers, and end here, a thousand years in the future and voyaging beyond the orbit of Pluto.
• 
  Kathleen

  Or, White Men Are Dumbasses, The Anthology.
  
  I picked this up (well, requested it through ILL) because I wanted to read Sticks, by Karl Edward Wagner, and I couldn't find it anywhere else. And Sticks was fine. Honestly, most of the anthology is fine. Lovecraft himself and a lot of his imitators are boring, repetitive, and racist (as fuck, my friends, and these aren't even the super racist stories), but the later stories, especially those by Joanna Russ and Stephen King, turned out to be much more interesting, diverse, and fun to read. Hell, the last one even had a genderqueer character, although I don't think it's particularly good genderqueer rep-- actual genderqueer folk feel free to correct me.
  
  Anyway, I don't think I'd really recommend this anthology. It's very White Men Being Dumb About Obviously Sinister Shit, with the POC who are quite rightly saying "umm that sinister shit will kill you" being demonized, and the massive amounts of Ho Yay not anywhere near enough to make up for it. The first five or so stories are pretty indistinguishable in my mind now. A few of the stories, particularly My Boat by Joanna Russ, were actually pretty good, but seek those out on their own.
  
  I will say that this anthology gave me a whole new appreciation for the Whyborne and Griffin series, though.
  
  Also, if you find a book bound in human skin, don't fucking read it.
  
  eta: OH AND DON'T FORGET the explicitly demonized pedophilic dude who is the only explicitly queer dude in the book!