chmccann's review against another edition
4.0
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.
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.
erichart's review
5.0
A collection of great stories influenced by Lovecraft, from contemporaries to later authors inspired by him.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
5.0
Jim Turner's revision of the classic Cthulhu Mythos anthology shows significant improvements over the earlier version of the collection as edited by August Derleth: some stories Derleth had included which were decidedly substandard are trimmed, and the additional stories are excellent, showing just how imaginative the shared cosmos can get whilst staying true to its horror roots.
Making sure to include at least one story written by a woman is also improvement over the original configuration, which took a "no girls allowed" approach.
Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/tales-of-the-cthulhu-mythos-and-its-imitators-part-1/
Making sure to include at least one story written by a woman is also improvement over the original configuration, which took a "no girls allowed" approach.
Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/tales-of-the-cthulhu-mythos-and-its-imitators-part-1/
onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition
3.0
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.
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.
rssulliv's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
jk0323's review against another edition
5.0
Finally! I have completed the entirety of the mythos, a huge breadth of work comprising 8 short stories and four novellas. Loved it. His writing definitely improved in his later years.
I think a couple more King books, Frankenstein, and Dracula, +/- haunting of hill house, should round out this horror tour quite nicely.
I think a couple more King books, Frankenstein, and Dracula, +/- haunting of hill house, should round out this horror tour quite nicely.
chickenbiscuit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
5.0
arnzen's review against another edition
I recently taught "Call of Cthulhu" in my horror writing course and fell in love with it all over again (for the billionth time). Now I'm rereading these classic stories -- which at once make me laugh and fill me with sublime dread -- as I consider trying my own hand at a mythos tale in a way that hasn't been done already.
readbyashleyd's review against another edition
2.0
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!