Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, Vol 2 by August Derleth

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, Vol 2 Reviews

• 
  Craig

  This is a second anthology of stories set within Lovecraft's famous Cthulhu Mythos cycle, most from a later time than the contents of the first volume. In addition to Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark, which fits in with the cycle of Robert Bloch entries, there are stories by James Wade, Colin Wilson, two by Brian Lumley, and J. Ramsey Campbell (from before he lost the "J"). It's very much a continuation of the first volume, which I would say had superior stories for the most part. It could be argued that Lovecraft unknowingly created the shared-world concept that later became so popular in fantastic literature. Lovecraft had his flaws, but he was the most influential individual in modern horror until King arrived on the scene.
• 
  Mark McLaughlin

  The Robert Bloch stories in this collection are a real treat. If you love H.P. Lovecraft's breathless tales of cosmic horror, you should also read both volumes of Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Great vintage stuff from an energetic era of powerful fiction.
• 
  Andi

  Nette Sammlung an Geschichten, wenn auch nicht immer sehr gruselig. Diesmal waren die Kommentare wirklich hilfreich zum Verständnis mancher Aspekte der Geschichten, auch wenn man das oft gut und gerne in ein Vorwort zur Publikation und dann ein Kommentar zum Abschluss hätte teilen können. Dann hätte man die ganzen Spoiler verhindern können.
• 
  alex

  I don't mean to say by giving this 5 stars that all of the stories are amazing - it is just a good, fun read and I didn't want to skip any of them. The first few are amazing though... it gets weighted down a bit by the James Wade and Colin Wilson stories at the end which are overlong, but again I still enjoyed them.
• 
  Jonathan Stewart

  Fantastic collection of Lovecraft-inspired stories. My gosh, the line-up of authors is a dream team. Robert Bloch is always a special treat. Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley (the truest progenitor of Lovecraft mythos since H.P. himself). First stories are the best and it slows down a bit after that, but overall a stellar effort.
• 
  Nathan Shumate

  These early volumes edited by Derleth show precisely the flaw of those who continued in Lovecraft's footsteps: the tightrope effort to avoid slavish pastiche of Lovecraft's style while also avoiding anything that contradicted either the worked-out mythos behind the stories or the general tenor thereof.
• 
  Andreas Schmidt

  Non al livello del primo libro del ciclo di Cthulhu
  Racconti carini tutto sommato. In particolar modo le storie sugli antichi. Serve una preparazione culturale non indifferente (che Lovecraft possedeva) per scrivere racconti che spaziano in ogni campo dello scibile umano. Sono costretto anche ad ammettere che i racconti qui raccolti non sono al livello del tomo precedente; "Il caso Charles Dexter Ward" a mio avviso è la perfezione assoluta relativa di Lovecraft, un racconto che lascia una traccia indelebile. Qui invece ci sono racconti per lo più racchiusi nel pantheon delle divinità mostruose, con la figura dominante di Cthulhu.
  
• 
  Aenea Jones

  As much as I like the lore Lovecraft has created, actually reading the stories is difficult for me, because his writing style is very descriptive instead of lively.
  It's all tell and little show, although typical for the general writing style of the 19th/20th century, it's not very appealing to me.
• 
  Dennis

  Je nachdem ob man Fan ist kann einen diese Sammlung gefallen, aber ich tue mich wahnsinnig schwer mit dem Stil des Schreiben von L. H. Lovecraft. Die Geschichten sind spannend etc aber der Schreibstil ist einfach nichts meins. Deswegen neutrale 3 Sterne.
• 
  René

  Love the man, but his stories are incredibly repetitive, predictable, and dragging on for too long.
• 
  Mérovée

  Tout aussi bien que le premier
• 
  Sylvie

  Mon livre de salle d'attente idéal... Chaque histoire me permet de me détacher du lieu où je me trouve, même pour plusieurs heures.
• 
  David Allen

  The opening trio of linked stories -- Bloch's tribute/sendup of HPL, followed by HPL's he-has-a-sense-of-humor rejoinder, and then Bloch's fond response after HPL's death -- is classic. It's a mixed bag from there: I liked Bloch's other contribution, Lumley's first and Wilson's, didn't think much of Campbell's or Wade's. Unnecessary, but not bad for a tribute volume.
• 
  East Bay J

  I've only read the Cthulhu stories of Lovecraft, Howard and Bloch, so this was a good opportunity for me to check out some other writers takes.
  
  The first three stories in the book, one by Lovecraft and two by Bloch, make up an interrelated narrative and there's an interesting story behind that. Bloch asked Lovecraft if he could not only put him in a story but actually have Lovecraft die. Lovecraft thought that was a grand idea and gave Bloch his blessing. That story was "The Shambler From The Stars." Lovecraft returned the favor by killing Bloch in his story, "The Haunter Of The Dark." Bloch provided the finale by putting himself and Lovecraft in the final story from this trilogy, "The Shadow From The Steeple." I love that Derleth put these three stories in order in this volume.
  
  Of the rest, the standout for me was Colin Wilson's "The Return Of The Lloigor." Aside from the disparaging attitude towards the Welsh (I'm Welsh and I am not descended from an ancient, evil weirdos), this was a good story with all the classic elements of a good Cthulhu tale. In fact, every story in this book is good. I was unaware that Brian Lumley got his start writing Cthulhu stories. I think the weirdest story is James Wade's "The Deep Ones." I mean, the bad guy in this one is a dolphin. Dolphins are nice. Science can prove it. It's a good story, though and relates nicely to Lovecraft's tales of Innsmouth.
  
  I'd definitely like to find and read the first volume of Tales because it was a pleasure to check out some other writers having fun with Lovecraft's creation. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more.
• 
  Jerry Kimbro

  It was this book that introduced me to Lovecraft. I still remember the day i read as if it were yesterday though it was 40 years ago! My whole view of the universe got rocked by Lovecraft's story 'the Haunter of the Dark' and the two sequels penned by Robert Bloch that appear in this volume. Every tale in here is by a classic horror writer! Some are from the 70s: Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley; others were contemporaries of HPL: August Derleth, Robert e Howard, and even Clark Ashton Smith.
  
  If you only read ONE Lovecraft book - then i highly recommend this one. I still read it and I have been reading it over and over since 1975...
• 
  Karyn

  I am excited to finish this book as it contains all three parts of the Bloch/Lovecraft trilogy starting with The Shambler From the Stars. Thank you Powells' for having this gem on your shelves when I went for the Lovecraft Film Festival!
  
  Most of the stories were quite entertaining except for James Wade's _The Deep Ones_. It had a good start but Wade really wrote a challenge for himself in making dolphins seem ominous.
• 
  Daniel Cloutier

  Nach Lektüre beider Sammelbänder reicht dann erstmal wieder, alles in allem ist Lovecrafts Werk zwar vielseitig, im Kern aber dennoch repetitiv. Was nichts daran ändert, dass die Innsmouth Geschichte zum besten gehört, was ich im Bereich Horror je gelesen habe.
  Die Sammlung ist in beiden Bänden mit klugen und informativen Kommentaren versehen, ich kann sie als Werkübersicht für Lovecraft uneingeschränkt empfehlen.
• 
  Jeff

  I have been picking up some of these Lovecraftian books at used bookstores. This one is by H.P. Lovecraft "and others" which is at least honest since there is one HPL story here. I liked it; honestly, some of the later writers like Robert Bloch are almost better than the original stuff. Plus there is a hilarious story about dolphins by James Wade.
• 
  Edgar

  Very nice compilation, specially as it focuses more on Lovecraft's successors (Colin Wilson, James Wade, J. Ramsey Campbell), who bring the mythos into a modern context--and a modern, less Lovecraft-affected style, for a change.
• 
  Tim

  Classic stories, many different styles and takes on the Lovecraftian tale.
• 
  Tim Knight

  I have all the writings of Lovecraft,which leads me to this: how many versions of the books or collections does one need?
• 
  Martin Hilcher

  Berge des Wahnsinns, Der Schatten über Innsmouth, Der Schatten aus der Zeit - 3 wegweisende Geschichten. Master of Horror.
• 
  Roberto Lagos Figueroa

  Interesante antologia sobre el universo lovecraftniano, con relatos de sus discípulos mas conocidos. Arranca con The Shambler of the stars del gran Robert Bloch, con todo el sabor de un buen cuento en toda la vena del maestro. De ahi pasa a un relato clasico de Lovecraft The Haunter of the Dark, de largo aliento con suspenso in cresendo.