A review by chmccann
Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos: Stories by Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft
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.