bosicbyi's review against another edition
4.0
i won this in a first reads giveaway. this was very demonic and creepy! it reminded me alot of the movies evil dead and in the mouth of madness.
additionaddiction's review against another edition
5.0
Yes! This is 100% a Jim book. It’s got everything I love about the Call of Cthulhu, plus lots of stuff that I feel is lacking from a lot of Lovecraft (mainly depth and length).
My only complaint is that the ending felt a little rushed. I wished the final “journey” would’ve been expanded into a second book. Still, I loved basically every moment of this book.
My only complaint is that the ending felt a little rushed. I wished the final “journey” would’ve been expanded into a second book. Still, I loved basically every moment of this book.
brandiv's review against another edition
4.0
Adventurous and creepy fun may be the best description I can come up with for That Which Should Not Be. I found myself drawn into the story quickly, appreciating the back and forth frame stories, chock full of the mysterious and horrifying monsters we are never sure if real or not.
Carter Weston, a student of folklore at Miskatonic University, has been tasked to find a spell book for his professor. As he journeys on, he finds himself stuck in a tavern due to a snowstorm, with four men, who go to tell their own stories of creatures and general happenings that would make most rational people scoff. However, as each tale is told, we see that Carter's search for the book may be over much sooner than expected. But, of course, that is never the end of the story, is it?
I am not too familiar with HP Lovecraft and Cthluhu, though I am familiar enough that I can see the influence in Brett J Talley's story. I enjoyed the style of writing, feeling like it fit perfectly with the tone and time period of the story. I liked that there is enough distinction between the four storytellers that they are their own characters and do not merely serve a single, one-dimensional purpose. And those stories themselves are fantastically creepy, taking us from haunted forests, the uneasy halls of an insane asylum and a mysterious sea voyage. (My favorite one is the second, a tale set mostly in a fortress with some very sketchy nuns.)
My favorite overall part of this book was the weaving in of different mythologies and histories of all time periods. I feel it gave the story the sense of impending doom needed for the kind of story it was aiming to be, but still able to keep me interested in a small cast of characters.
Lastly, this would make a great audiobook or radio play, especially at Halloween! Beware the shadows, indeed.
4/5 stars.
**Review is my own, though I did receive a copy from the First Reads giveaway (quite some time ago, apologies to the author for finally getting back to it only now!)
Carter Weston, a student of folklore at Miskatonic University, has been tasked to find a spell book for his professor. As he journeys on, he finds himself stuck in a tavern due to a snowstorm, with four men, who go to tell their own stories of creatures and general happenings that would make most rational people scoff. However, as each tale is told, we see that Carter's search for the book may be over much sooner than expected. But, of course, that is never the end of the story, is it?
I am not too familiar with HP Lovecraft and Cthluhu, though I am familiar enough that I can see the influence in Brett J Talley's story. I enjoyed the style of writing, feeling like it fit perfectly with the tone and time period of the story. I liked that there is enough distinction between the four storytellers that they are their own characters and do not merely serve a single, one-dimensional purpose. And those stories themselves are fantastically creepy, taking us from haunted forests, the uneasy halls of an insane asylum and a mysterious sea voyage. (My favorite one is the second, a tale set mostly in a fortress with some very sketchy nuns.)
My favorite overall part of this book was the weaving in of different mythologies and histories of all time periods. I feel it gave the story the sense of impending doom needed for the kind of story it was aiming to be, but still able to keep me interested in a small cast of characters.
Lastly, this would make a great audiobook or radio play, especially at Halloween! Beware the shadows, indeed.
4/5 stars.
**Review is my own, though I did receive a copy from the First Reads giveaway (quite some time ago, apologies to the author for finally getting back to it only now!)
jgolomb's review against another edition
4.0
“One can never truly know when he steps outside his door whether today will be a day that passes without consequence, or if it will be one that changes everything."
- from Bretty Talley’s “That Which Should Not Be"
"That Which Should Not Be" is a dark and moody book, fit for a cold evening in front of the fire; or an autumnal read, for one wanting to build on the cyclical theme of the season. The writing style wreaks of HP Lovecraft, but also of Bram Stoker.
Talley has written four short stories that revolve around a central theme. A student from Lovecraft’s famed Miskatonic University is hunting for a lost book of ancient renown. It’s not the Necronomicon, but rather a companion piece to HP’s much discussed fictional tome. While seeking the book, Carter Weston stops at a pub to share a few drinks with locals to see what he can learn. Four locals then each dive into their own dark tale of the supernatural.
Talley channels Lovecraft well through plot development, theme and mood. As is characteristic with this genre, there are few decisive conclusions. The monster in the back of the cave is built upon a pedestal of of suggestion rather than true blood and gore. The horror resides in what’s unseen, or perhaps merely glimpsed.
Frequent and early Lovecraft references pave a very Lovecraftian road. “I must protect the Book. I will not surrender it, no matter what the cost. And if my life is to be forget, then I shall die as I have lived, standing against the black tide that would cover us all."
From the first tale, which contains more than a few shades of ’The Thing’, the storyteller relays ”Demon hunted the forest was that night, and in my dreams, I heard and felt the darkest and foulest beast that ever gibbered its wail from the depths of the pit."
In another story, Lovecraftian lore spews forth, “It was then that my eyes began to open to the dark forces that move in the uncultivated lands beyond the borders of the world we know.” I realize that “X-Files” can certainly be viewed through an Lovecraft-lens: The truth is out there…just beyond reach…just outside of the lighted pathways…just within the darkest recesses of city alleys, of partially opened bedroom doors.
You get a sense that the Wachowski brothers gave more than a little nod to HP as well in the cultish mythology built within their “Matrix” trilogy. From Talley’s book: “There is truth in myth my friend. Around you they walk even now, floating before your blind eyes. They are the flash in the corner of your vision, the shadow of moving where no now walks, the feeling of a presence, when you are completely alone, the whisper in the darkness. That which is, and was, and will be again.”
The following expresses the fulcrum upon which the story balances. Carter chats with the men in the pub between tales:
“Ah, the consummate skeptic,” the Captain said.
“And I would wear the name gladly,” I replied, “for it’s only the skeptic that gives value to the truth."
“Yes,” the Captain said nodding, “but only when he is open to the truth. The skeptic with a closed mind becomes the worst kind of believer."
Myths run deep and rampant within the story. And while the heft of the stories themselves focus on it, the characters themselves act as authorial mouthpiece for its’ analysis. The four individual stories, as well as the connective tissue of the arching narrative, address the threads of an uber-world religion…references to a common foe, to common legends, regionalized as each peoples evolved over time. “But as I said before, in all myth is truth. And do we not see, in the myths of all civilizations, this believe, this feeling, that the gods have lived amongst us? That they have walked on the Earth? That they have ruled it? And at some point were overthrown? From the ancient sands of Egypt to garden-girdled Babylon. From the schools of Greece to the most high and palmy state of Rome, all speak of the same legend, the same faith.”
The writing is a bit clunky in parts and the stories are derivative. Some questionable plot points drive the narrative here and there, but upon reflection, this is likely due to the nascent efforts of an author learning and perfecting his trade. Overall, the book is well-written, the arching plot is well connected and the individual stories, though predictable, are well thought out and do well to build upon the Lovecraftian foundation.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it’s launching pad for me into the discovery of more Lovecraftian lore as well as Talley’s second novel - “The Void”.
- from Bretty Talley’s “That Which Should Not Be"
"That Which Should Not Be" is a dark and moody book, fit for a cold evening in front of the fire; or an autumnal read, for one wanting to build on the cyclical theme of the season. The writing style wreaks of HP Lovecraft, but also of Bram Stoker.
Talley has written four short stories that revolve around a central theme. A student from Lovecraft’s famed Miskatonic University is hunting for a lost book of ancient renown. It’s not the Necronomicon, but rather a companion piece to HP’s much discussed fictional tome. While seeking the book, Carter Weston stops at a pub to share a few drinks with locals to see what he can learn. Four locals then each dive into their own dark tale of the supernatural.
Talley channels Lovecraft well through plot development, theme and mood. As is characteristic with this genre, there are few decisive conclusions. The monster in the back of the cave is built upon a pedestal of of suggestion rather than true blood and gore. The horror resides in what’s unseen, or perhaps merely glimpsed.
Frequent and early Lovecraft references pave a very Lovecraftian road. “I must protect the Book. I will not surrender it, no matter what the cost. And if my life is to be forget, then I shall die as I have lived, standing against the black tide that would cover us all."
From the first tale, which contains more than a few shades of ’The Thing’, the storyteller relays ”Demon hunted the forest was that night, and in my dreams, I heard and felt the darkest and foulest beast that ever gibbered its wail from the depths of the pit."
In another story, Lovecraftian lore spews forth, “It was then that my eyes began to open to the dark forces that move in the uncultivated lands beyond the borders of the world we know.” I realize that “X-Files” can certainly be viewed through an Lovecraft-lens: The truth is out there…just beyond reach…just outside of the lighted pathways…just within the darkest recesses of city alleys, of partially opened bedroom doors.
You get a sense that the Wachowski brothers gave more than a little nod to HP as well in the cultish mythology built within their “Matrix” trilogy. From Talley’s book: “There is truth in myth my friend. Around you they walk even now, floating before your blind eyes. They are the flash in the corner of your vision, the shadow of moving where no now walks, the feeling of a presence, when you are completely alone, the whisper in the darkness. That which is, and was, and will be again.”
The following expresses the fulcrum upon which the story balances. Carter chats with the men in the pub between tales:
“Ah, the consummate skeptic,” the Captain said.
“And I would wear the name gladly,” I replied, “for it’s only the skeptic that gives value to the truth."
“Yes,” the Captain said nodding, “but only when he is open to the truth. The skeptic with a closed mind becomes the worst kind of believer."
Myths run deep and rampant within the story. And while the heft of the stories themselves focus on it, the characters themselves act as authorial mouthpiece for its’ analysis. The four individual stories, as well as the connective tissue of the arching narrative, address the threads of an uber-world religion…references to a common foe, to common legends, regionalized as each peoples evolved over time. “But as I said before, in all myth is truth. And do we not see, in the myths of all civilizations, this believe, this feeling, that the gods have lived amongst us? That they have walked on the Earth? That they have ruled it? And at some point were overthrown? From the ancient sands of Egypt to garden-girdled Babylon. From the schools of Greece to the most high and palmy state of Rome, all speak of the same legend, the same faith.”
The writing is a bit clunky in parts and the stories are derivative. Some questionable plot points drive the narrative here and there, but upon reflection, this is likely due to the nascent efforts of an author learning and perfecting his trade. Overall, the book is well-written, the arching plot is well connected and the individual stories, though predictable, are well thought out and do well to build upon the Lovecraftian foundation.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it’s launching pad for me into the discovery of more Lovecraftian lore as well as Talley’s second novel - “The Void”.
and_it_spoke's review against another edition
3.0
Fun, pulpy, action-y take on the stories of H.P. Lovecraft which mostly consists of an anthology of mythos-inspired stories before breaking into one final adventure tale.
Like I said, fun... but really corny! But in a decent enough way. You'll roll your eyes at some of the pronouncements of the villains (clunky and overdramatic dialogue? Oh. Oh yes.) but it never tries to take itself too seriously, and isn't out to re-invent the wheel. Goofy horror & Lovecraft inspired fun.
Like I said, fun... but really corny! But in a decent enough way. You'll roll your eyes at some of the pronouncements of the villains (clunky and overdramatic dialogue? Oh. Oh yes.) but it never tries to take itself too seriously, and isn't out to re-invent the wheel. Goofy horror & Lovecraft inspired fun.
sailor_virgo's review against another edition
4.0
It took a bit to pick up, but once it did it was pretty enjoyable.
bergamint's review against another edition
4.0
This was a terrific read. If you enjoy the work of H.P Lovecraft you will adore this book as it faithfully follows the style and mythos that Lovecraft used. It is very hard to find a book that is genuinely scary that does not rely on blood and gore - this book scared me - bravo Sir! Looking forward to reading more in the future by this author.
mferrante83's review against another edition
3.0
Nominated for the 2011 Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel Brett J. Talley’s The Thing Which Should Not Be is send up to the classic occult horror of the early 19th to mid-20th centuries. The novel contains several nested narratives and is couched as a found document. As I’ve said in the past the sort of found material is a tradition that extends back as far as 1764 with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and later made most famous in Stoker’s Dracula. The Thing Which Should Not Be isn’t a complete epistolary but rather a single lengthy letter with several narrated sub-stories that inform the overarching, a somewhat tenuous narrative at the novel’s core.
I should point out that the format employed in The Thing Which Should Not Be while enjoyable was somewhat weakened by the different narratives that appear throughout. The novel has many strong elements and each individual story is certainly effective on its own but I found the interweaving of the story into a whole was less than the sum of its parts. The novel didn’t feel some much like a novel but rather like a series of intersecting short stories drawn loosely together. As such I’m going to try to address the various narratives separately at least to a degree.
The Thing Which Should Not Be is a prefaced by a letter from a lawyer discussing the provenance of the document which follows. From there the narrative begins as the story of a one Carter Weston. The earliest section of the novel introduces us to Charles and his friend Henry and the life as students of New England folklore at Miskatonic University. The novel really kicks into gear when Charles is tasked by his professor to go and retrieve and ancient grimoire from a nearby town. Trapped by a blizzard Charles meets four men: Jack, William, Daniel, and Captain Jonathan Gray who each relay a strange and horrific story. This is what forms the bulk of the novel as each man relays his brush with the supernatural.
Jack’s story is sort of a classic monster tale. Talley’s spare prose serves the hardy trackers and trappers of Jack’s tale well and for all of the author’s economic use of language he adeptly manages to conjure up a scene of cold isolation and creeping dread. With sparing language Talley crafts a sense of looming weather and coming terror “But there was a growing gloom above us as well, and as the moon waxed brighter, as a steel-grey curtain of clouds rose, and as an icy cold wind cut through our tents and our clothes, it was clear to all that the season’s worst was near.” Cleverly, as the terror of night defends, Talley uses “the brilliant, blinding light of the morning sun” to usher in the story’s true horror.
After a brief interlude Daniel begins his tale. Daniel’s story is one that again uses isolation and borrows elements from a haunted house (in this case haunted abbey story). Again Talley proves adept at setting the mood with a few spare sentences as Daniel’s guardian, Lawrence, warns the young man “In Europe…the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. There is darkness there, darkness that you have never seen. That land can be a wondrous place, no doubt of that. But promise you will take care not to stumble out of the light.” With a story like Daniel’s I often find it most difficult to divorce myself from my own past experiences in the horror genre. When travel’s suddenly find themselves forced to take shelter in an ancient castle in the Romanian country built during the war between the Wallachian princes and the Turks well a certain type of reader knows that some bad things are going to happen. The traditional elements here don’t lessen the impact of the story, and it is in Daniel’s tale that the inter-connected nature of the story begins to become more apparent. Expectations aside, Talley manages to provide some surprises.
It isn’t long before William’s story begins, which is perhaps my favorite of the book. William takes a job at an insane asylum and again Talley does a great job at informing the mood from the bright, antiseptic lights to the juxtaposition of the howls of the “wildly mad” against the weighted silence of men who “retrain [reason] while being thoroughly evil, those without remorse or compassion.” Talley earned major respect for a single chilling line spoken by an inmate of the asylum: “I see clearly…what you see darkly.” Something about that line felt absolutely chilling to me. It is also William’s story which continues to solidify the novel’s connection to Lovecraft’s mythos with recitation of that famous quote “That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons, even death may die.”
The final story, that of Captain Gray, is second only to Daniel’s and I won’t discuss it in detail lest I spoil things further. The Captain’s tale is one that finally brings things full circle and sets of Charles Weston’s part in this web of the supernatural. It was this section that felt the weakest to me. Each of the individual stories above manage to spend at least some time letting us get into the heads of the protagonists but as a result over the course of the novel Charles sort of falls by the wayside. Thus as the climax of the novel features him prominently I felt less of a connection to the proceedings since I knew him the least. Furthermore, as much as I love the Cthulhu Mythos I felt like the novel leaned a bit too heavily on that aspect and, truth be told, was actually stronger when it wasn’t leaning quite so heavily on Lovecraft’s legacy. This is the author’s first novel and it definitely proves he has the chops to craft a chilling and engaging story. Fans of Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos looking for a fitting homage need look no further that The Thing Which Should Not Be. Brett J. Talley is a horror author to watch and I for one plan on checking out his new novel The Void, as soon as possible.
I should point out that the format employed in The Thing Which Should Not Be while enjoyable was somewhat weakened by the different narratives that appear throughout. The novel has many strong elements and each individual story is certainly effective on its own but I found the interweaving of the story into a whole was less than the sum of its parts. The novel didn’t feel some much like a novel but rather like a series of intersecting short stories drawn loosely together. As such I’m going to try to address the various narratives separately at least to a degree.
The Thing Which Should Not Be is a prefaced by a letter from a lawyer discussing the provenance of the document which follows. From there the narrative begins as the story of a one Carter Weston. The earliest section of the novel introduces us to Charles and his friend Henry and the life as students of New England folklore at Miskatonic University. The novel really kicks into gear when Charles is tasked by his professor to go and retrieve and ancient grimoire from a nearby town. Trapped by a blizzard Charles meets four men: Jack, William, Daniel, and Captain Jonathan Gray who each relay a strange and horrific story. This is what forms the bulk of the novel as each man relays his brush with the supernatural.
Jack’s story is sort of a classic monster tale. Talley’s spare prose serves the hardy trackers and trappers of Jack’s tale well and for all of the author’s economic use of language he adeptly manages to conjure up a scene of cold isolation and creeping dread. With sparing language Talley crafts a sense of looming weather and coming terror “But there was a growing gloom above us as well, and as the moon waxed brighter, as a steel-grey curtain of clouds rose, and as an icy cold wind cut through our tents and our clothes, it was clear to all that the season’s worst was near.” Cleverly, as the terror of night defends, Talley uses “the brilliant, blinding light of the morning sun” to usher in the story’s true horror.
After a brief interlude Daniel begins his tale. Daniel’s story is one that again uses isolation and borrows elements from a haunted house (in this case haunted abbey story). Again Talley proves adept at setting the mood with a few spare sentences as Daniel’s guardian, Lawrence, warns the young man “In Europe…the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. There is darkness there, darkness that you have never seen. That land can be a wondrous place, no doubt of that. But promise you will take care not to stumble out of the light.” With a story like Daniel’s I often find it most difficult to divorce myself from my own past experiences in the horror genre. When travel’s suddenly find themselves forced to take shelter in an ancient castle in the Romanian country built during the war between the Wallachian princes and the Turks well a certain type of reader knows that some bad things are going to happen. The traditional elements here don’t lessen the impact of the story, and it is in Daniel’s tale that the inter-connected nature of the story begins to become more apparent. Expectations aside, Talley manages to provide some surprises.
It isn’t long before William’s story begins, which is perhaps my favorite of the book. William takes a job at an insane asylum and again Talley does a great job at informing the mood from the bright, antiseptic lights to the juxtaposition of the howls of the “wildly mad” against the weighted silence of men who “retrain [reason] while being thoroughly evil, those without remorse or compassion.” Talley earned major respect for a single chilling line spoken by an inmate of the asylum: “I see clearly…what you see darkly.” Something about that line felt absolutely chilling to me. It is also William’s story which continues to solidify the novel’s connection to Lovecraft’s mythos with recitation of that famous quote “That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons, even death may die.”
The final story, that of Captain Gray, is second only to Daniel’s and I won’t discuss it in detail lest I spoil things further. The Captain’s tale is one that finally brings things full circle and sets of Charles Weston’s part in this web of the supernatural. It was this section that felt the weakest to me. Each of the individual stories above manage to spend at least some time letting us get into the heads of the protagonists but as a result over the course of the novel Charles sort of falls by the wayside. Thus as the climax of the novel features him prominently I felt less of a connection to the proceedings since I knew him the least. Furthermore, as much as I love the Cthulhu Mythos I felt like the novel leaned a bit too heavily on that aspect and, truth be told, was actually stronger when it wasn’t leaning quite so heavily on Lovecraft’s legacy. This is the author’s first novel and it definitely proves he has the chops to craft a chilling and engaging story. Fans of Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos looking for a fitting homage need look no further that The Thing Which Should Not Be. Brett J. Talley is a horror author to watch and I for one plan on checking out his new novel The Void, as soon as possible.
bucketheadmary's review against another edition
3.0
Sure, the merest glimpse of Cthulhu will drive you mad, and when he wakes mankind will be crushed beneath him like so many insignificant insects, but the Wendigo will eat your friends alive while wearing your living body, forcing you to participate. Why do all of the Great Old Ones have to be such creeps?