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Lairs of the Hidden Gods #3
Straight to Darkness
This well-received collection of original stories and articles inspired by the 'Cthulhu Mythos' created by H.P. Lovecraft was published in Japan in 2002 as a two-volume set under the name Hishinkai. The list of contributing authors is a who's-who of Japanese horror fiction, featuring some of the finest writers in Japan today, and reviews demonstrate that the Japanese taste for horror can send shivers up English-speaking spines as well In cooperation with Tokyo Sogensha, the Japanese publishers, and the anthology editor, Mr. Asamatsu Ken, we are proud to present this third volume of the series, with a new selection of eerie masterpieces to delight and chill you. Each story is accompanied by a fascinating introduction by Robert M. Price, the recognized master of the Mythos. The cover is by Yamada Akihiro, who is already winning fans with his "four seasons" approach to the four books in this series. In addition to handling many of the covers for the Japanese-language editions of Lovecraft and other Mythos works, he has built up a loyal following in the States as well for his work.
333 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 31, 2008
Here we are at Volume III of this four-volume series. I've already read half of Volume IV and I must say, I'll be quite sad to see this series end. Once again, it's an anthology, and once again, when you pick up one of these books, you have to kind of take what you get -- the great, the good, the not so hot. Luckily, most of the stories in here are really really good, so it is an enjoyable and often hackle-raising reading experience. Definitely one not to miss, and even better during a storm!
Here's the contents list, with a brief blurb about each story (don't worry, definitely no spoilers):
1. The Secret Memoir of the Missionary, by Tanaka Hirofumi -- an awesome story about the first missionaries to Japan, with a twist that will definitely give you the willies.
2. Keepsake of the Grandfather, by Kida Jun'ichiro -- A man's fiancee inherits a souvenir of her grandfather's time in the south seas, and things begin to go bump in the night. Very well done and definitely a creepfest.
3. Horror Special, by Sano Shiro -- Always trying to up the ratings, an actor insists on a tv show based on the work of HP Lovecraft and gets more than he bargained for. Another one that was well written and that sucks you deep into the mythos.
4.The Road, by Aramata Hiroshi -- One of my favorite stories in this book. A Japanese businessman is traveling in the US with his companions, and decides to step out of the train at Providence to soak up some of the HP Lovecraft atmosphere for the very few minutes the train is stopping there en route to Boston. But he misses the train, and spends a wild night on a tour of HPL's old haunts. Very well done, and definitely a no-miss.
5. She Flows, by Takeuchi Yoshikazu -- Not one of my favorites, but still well written. Actually, there seemed to be very little to do with the mythos in this story of a girl whose parents were beastly to her as a child, and the horrors that followed her ever since.
6. C-City, by Kobayashi Yasumi -- A winner of a story; set in the future, the world knows that it must protect itself against the awakening of Cthulhu, and leaves its fate in the hands of two competing camps of scientists. A fantastic story, one you won't forget for a while. One of my favorites.
7. Straight to Darkness, by Tomono Sho --the world alters in a minute as two people are stranded on the subway. Emerging from their underground prison, they find that life as they knew it no longer exists. Not one of my favorites, but very well written.
there's also a section of "Cthulhu metal" at the end, featuring lists of musical artists whose music was inspired by Lovecraftian themes (sorry, no Erich Zann).
Definitely a must-have if you're a collector; recommended for anyone who wants more of the mythos, or for those who enjoy Japanese horror writing. Overall, very good.
Here's the contents list, with a brief blurb about each story (don't worry, definitely no spoilers):
1. The Secret Memoir of the Missionary, by Tanaka Hirofumi -- an awesome story about the first missionaries to Japan, with a twist that will definitely give you the willies.
2. Keepsake of the Grandfather, by Kida Jun'ichiro -- A man's fiancee inherits a souvenir of her grandfather's time in the south seas, and things begin to go bump in the night. Very well done and definitely a creepfest.
3. Horror Special, by Sano Shiro -- Always trying to up the ratings, an actor insists on a tv show based on the work of HP Lovecraft and gets more than he bargained for. Another one that was well written and that sucks you deep into the mythos.
4.The Road, by Aramata Hiroshi -- One of my favorite stories in this book. A Japanese businessman is traveling in the US with his companions, and decides to step out of the train at Providence to soak up some of the HP Lovecraft atmosphere for the very few minutes the train is stopping there en route to Boston. But he misses the train, and spends a wild night on a tour of HPL's old haunts. Very well done, and definitely a no-miss.
5. She Flows, by Takeuchi Yoshikazu -- Not one of my favorites, but still well written. Actually, there seemed to be very little to do with the mythos in this story of a girl whose parents were beastly to her as a child, and the horrors that followed her ever since.
6. C-City, by Kobayashi Yasumi -- A winner of a story; set in the future, the world knows that it must protect itself against the awakening of Cthulhu, and leaves its fate in the hands of two competing camps of scientists. A fantastic story, one you won't forget for a while. One of my favorites.
7. Straight to Darkness, by Tomono Sho --the world alters in a minute as two people are stranded on the subway. Emerging from their underground prison, they find that life as they knew it no longer exists. Not one of my favorites, but very well written.
there's also a section of "Cthulhu metal" at the end, featuring lists of musical artists whose music was inspired by Lovecraftian themes (sorry, no Erich Zann).
Definitely a must-have if you're a collector; recommended for anyone who wants more of the mythos, or for those who enjoy Japanese horror writing. Overall, very good.
January 10, 2009
I’d heard good things about Kurodahan Press’s Lairs of the Hidden Gods, a four-volume original anthology series marrying the talents of many of Japan’s hottest horror writers and H. P. Lovecraft’s oft-pastiched, oft-parodied, but only rarely equaled Cthulhu Mythos. Straight to Darkness, the third book of the cycle, makes a compelling argument for the series as a whole. Sandwiched in between an introductory essay by Robert Price that compares Lovecraft’s elder gods with the rampaging daikaiju of Toho’s Godzilla films and a closing essay examining Lovecraft’s influence on heavy metal music are seven tales of terror, each one translating Lovecraft’s themes of alienation, mysticism, and cosmic horror to a uniquely Japanese perspective. Standouts are Sano Shiro’s “Horror Special,” an ambiguous tale of strange happenings on the set of a television adaptation of “The Dunwich Horror”; Kobayashi Yasumi’s “C-City,” in which the world’s top scientists attempt to battle the machinations of the Great Old Ones; Aramata Hiroshi’s “The Road,” a chilling story following a young Japanese businessman (and Lovecraft fan) as he walks the streets of Providence, hoping to place himself in the footsteps of the master, but finding himself, through the perverse peculiarities of time and space, somewhere else entirely; and, of course, the title story, Tomono Sho’s “Straight to Darkness,” an action-packed splatterpunk showcase featuring a Deep One, a Ghoul, and more Mythos cameos than you could safely shake a shoggoth at. For fans or J-Horror and Lovecraft’s legacy, Straight to Darkness: Lairs of the Hidden Gods Volume Three not only illuminates a previously-unexplored corner of the Cthulhu Mythos, but does so with style, panache, and aplomb. I, for one, plan to investigate the remaining three volumes.
October 28, 2021
After the mostly disappointing first two volumes in this series I thought that I would find at least one or two good stories in this, the third book. No such luck. There is not a single tale that would redeem this volume and make me think it was worth buying. Each story is traditionally preceded by the usual pretentious commentary from Robert Price and his gushing praise for the authors' literary accomplishments, but all it did was make me think again that he must have read different versions.
The book opens with "The Secret Memoir of the Missionary" which right from the start underlines the point I've been making in my reviews of this series: Japanese writers completely misunderstand what the Great Old Ones stand for. Here, we have Cthulhu himself and several other Mythos beings attack a Jesuit missionary's ship off the coast of 16th century Japan. All of the crew are murdered in horrific and bloody ways and replaced with creatures impersonating humans whose purpose is to start a Cthulhu-worshipping cult in the guise of Christianity. Furthermore, everyone in Japan seems to know that there is an underwater city off the Japanese coast with terrible gods living in it. Add the usual blood and gore for shock value and you have to wonder what kind of literature is considered bad in Japan, if this sort of tripe is supposed to be good. 1/5
After that we get "A Keepsake of the Grandfather" which is a follow-up to HPL's "Out of the Aeons" and it tries so very hard to be a spin-off that it completely lacks any identity of its own. The horror feels forced (though I will admit it is well-written), there is too much exposition, and the ending is abrupt. 1/5
The "Horror Special" is yet another ridiculous story that focuses on completely immaterial details to pad the page count. This time, we follow the mishaps of a TV crew filming adaptations of Lovecraft's stories which inadvertently result in mysterious accidents, deaths, and accidental summonings. Just like in that story about kabuki in volume two, here, too, there are pages dedicated to explaining to the reader how Japanese show-business works. The plot, when it actually happens, is shallow, predictable, and trite. 1/5
In "The Road" we follow a Japanese tourist who steps off the train in Providence to stretch his legs and absorb the atmosphere of Lovecraft's hometown only to get abandoned when the train leaves without him. Since this is the eve of the 9/11 tragedy, the mystical paths are open and the past mixes with the present, which allows the protagonist to tour the town with a creepy guide, and learn some facts about Lovecraft's private life from his contemporaries. The story honestly feels more like an attempt at presenting Lovecraft's biography to the reader rather than trying to scare him. 1/5
"She Flows" is a story that shouldn't even be included in this collection, because there is nothing Lovecraftian about it, no matter how much Robert Price tries to tell you that you need to dig really deep to find it. What we have here is a student talking to her friend in a sort of stream of consciousness type of pretentious narration (though I have a niggling suspicion that the girl has split personality disorder and is just conversing with herself). There is no plot, no sense, and no moral to be had here. 1/5
I had a pretty high hopes for "C-City" because it begins quite interestingly. Because of strange happenings around the world humanity believes that Cthulhu has come (even though no one has actually seen him) and a research complex is established to find a way of defeating him. Midway through, however, the story starts dipping towards anime tropes, with evolving superweapons that quickly become smarter than its creators. The plot twist, when it happens, is predictable and ridiculous. 2/5
The titular "Straight to Darkness" reads like a scenario of another anime. A boy and a girl are trapped in a subway car following a terrible earthquake and without any explanation begin to transform into a deep one and a ghoul respectively. Characterisation is limited to the old tropes of the boy being a bumbling, spineless idiot in the vein of all harem anime, while the girl turns out to be a typical tsundere, being interchangeably abrasive and tender. The author absolutely tried to cram as much of Mythos lore into this story as possible, which results in a complete mess, with visceral, pages-long descriptions of hand to hand combat where none were necessary. Somehow, within an hour of their transformation beginning, they defeat creatures that are older and stronger than the two of them, and then they ascend to godhood, becoming so powerful that even the Great Old Ones become wary. This is fanfic-level writing one would expect of a teenage boy trying to put to paper some adolescent power fantasy. Maybe it would have worked as a scenario for a horror anime, but as a short story it fails spectacularly. 1/5
Avoid like the plague.
The book opens with "The Secret Memoir of the Missionary" which right from the start underlines the point I've been making in my reviews of this series: Japanese writers completely misunderstand what the Great Old Ones stand for. Here, we have Cthulhu himself and several other Mythos beings attack a Jesuit missionary's ship off the coast of 16th century Japan. All of the crew are murdered in horrific and bloody ways and replaced with creatures impersonating humans whose purpose is to start a Cthulhu-worshipping cult in the guise of Christianity. Furthermore, everyone in Japan seems to know that there is an underwater city off the Japanese coast with terrible gods living in it. Add the usual blood and gore for shock value and you have to wonder what kind of literature is considered bad in Japan, if this sort of tripe is supposed to be good. 1/5
After that we get "A Keepsake of the Grandfather" which is a follow-up to HPL's "Out of the Aeons" and it tries so very hard to be a spin-off that it completely lacks any identity of its own. The horror feels forced (though I will admit it is well-written), there is too much exposition, and the ending is abrupt. 1/5
The "Horror Special" is yet another ridiculous story that focuses on completely immaterial details to pad the page count. This time, we follow the mishaps of a TV crew filming adaptations of Lovecraft's stories which inadvertently result in mysterious accidents, deaths, and accidental summonings. Just like in that story about kabuki in volume two, here, too, there are pages dedicated to explaining to the reader how Japanese show-business works. The plot, when it actually happens, is shallow, predictable, and trite. 1/5
In "The Road" we follow a Japanese tourist who steps off the train in Providence to stretch his legs and absorb the atmosphere of Lovecraft's hometown only to get abandoned when the train leaves without him. Since this is the eve of the 9/11 tragedy, the mystical paths are open and the past mixes with the present, which allows the protagonist to tour the town with a creepy guide, and learn some facts about Lovecraft's private life from his contemporaries. The story honestly feels more like an attempt at presenting Lovecraft's biography to the reader rather than trying to scare him. 1/5
"She Flows" is a story that shouldn't even be included in this collection, because there is nothing Lovecraftian about it, no matter how much Robert Price tries to tell you that you need to dig really deep to find it. What we have here is a student talking to her friend in a sort of stream of consciousness type of pretentious narration (though I have a niggling suspicion that the girl has split personality disorder and is just conversing with herself). There is no plot, no sense, and no moral to be had here. 1/5
I had a pretty high hopes for "C-City" because it begins quite interestingly. Because of strange happenings around the world humanity believes that Cthulhu has come (even though no one has actually seen him) and a research complex is established to find a way of defeating him. Midway through, however, the story starts dipping towards anime tropes, with evolving superweapons that quickly become smarter than its creators. The plot twist, when it happens, is predictable and ridiculous. 2/5
The titular "Straight to Darkness" reads like a scenario of another anime. A boy and a girl are trapped in a subway car following a terrible earthquake and without any explanation begin to transform into a deep one and a ghoul respectively. Characterisation is limited to the old tropes of the boy being a bumbling, spineless idiot in the vein of all harem anime, while the girl turns out to be a typical tsundere, being interchangeably abrasive and tender. The author absolutely tried to cram as much of Mythos lore into this story as possible, which results in a complete mess, with visceral, pages-long descriptions of hand to hand combat where none were necessary. Somehow, within an hour of their transformation beginning, they defeat creatures that are older and stronger than the two of them, and then they ascend to godhood, becoming so powerful that even the Great Old Ones become wary. This is fanfic-level writing one would expect of a teenage boy trying to put to paper some adolescent power fantasy. Maybe it would have worked as a scenario for a horror anime, but as a short story it fails spectacularly. 1/5
Avoid like the plague.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2026
Lairs of the Hidden Gods is a series of 4 books, featuring translations of Japanese Lovecraftian short stories. The series is like hen's teeth and so far volume 3, Straight to Darkness is the only one I have been able to get for a reasonable price (though I have set up alerts on eBay and several second hand book sites for the others).
The stories are of a consistent quality, without a single dud. A couple did stand out (such as the titular Straight to Darkness), though I wouldn't say any were of an exceptional standard.
Several of the stories take a meta approach, looking at the Lovecraftian canon from the outside, but having it seep into the real world. I noticed a higher tendency toward visceral horror. I'm not sure if this is related to Japanese culture, it didn't feature in any of the other Japanese novels I have read, but admittedly none of these were horrors. It will be interesting to see if this carries over as I explore the other volumes of this series, and other Japanese horrors.
Another trend, which I do suspect is linked to culture, is that several of the stories take a more societal perspective, rather than a purely personal one. As a western reader, I found this less engaging. But it was well rendered and an interesting change in point of view.
Special mention must go to Yamada Akihiro for his gorgeous cover art. Yamada is a well known manga artist, and has created covers for many of the Japanese translations of Lovecraft's work. His cover for Straight to Darkness is a beautiful blend of traditional and creepy, being identifiably Japanese at a glance with sinister undertones.
This review is takne from my blog: https://www.blogger.com
The stories are of a consistent quality, without a single dud. A couple did stand out (such as the titular Straight to Darkness), though I wouldn't say any were of an exceptional standard.
Several of the stories take a meta approach, looking at the Lovecraftian canon from the outside, but having it seep into the real world. I noticed a higher tendency toward visceral horror. I'm not sure if this is related to Japanese culture, it didn't feature in any of the other Japanese novels I have read, but admittedly none of these were horrors. It will be interesting to see if this carries over as I explore the other volumes of this series, and other Japanese horrors.
Another trend, which I do suspect is linked to culture, is that several of the stories take a more societal perspective, rather than a purely personal one. As a western reader, I found this less engaging. But it was well rendered and an interesting change in point of view.
Special mention must go to Yamada Akihiro for his gorgeous cover art. Yamada is a well known manga artist, and has created covers for many of the Japanese translations of Lovecraft's work. His cover for Straight to Darkness is a beautiful blend of traditional and creepy, being identifiably Japanese at a glance with sinister undertones.
This review is takne from my blog: https://www.blogger.com
June 13, 2013
Mythos fans everywhere should rejoice at the release of Straight to Darkness, the third volume in the landmark series of modern Lovecraftian fiction from Japan. This book shares all of the strengths of the previous two volumes. The cover art by Yamada Akihiro is phenomenally gorgeous, showing a demon statue concealed in autumnal woods...or is it a statue? I thought there was no way the painting gracing the cover of Inverted Kingdom could be bettered but I stand corrected. The book is POD and production qualities are good; there were no obvious editorial gaffes. Translations were seamless with no awkwardness coming between the reader and the story (unlike Inverted Kingdom where a few things fell jarringly on the ear (or eye)). Page count is about 330. This includes the introductions, cover sheets for the stories, individual story introductions, nonfiction essay and author and translator minbios, but still allowed a generous page number for each story. The introduction by Asamatsu Ken was just perfect at setting the mood. The introduction by Robert Price (yes, he's back, and no, he's not going away) was an amusing comparison of the Cthulhu mythos and the Godzilla mythos. I would avoid reading the individual introductions until you finish the actual story as they can contain spoilers. For the most part they were useful. The nonfiction essay was about the Cthulhu mythos in rock and roll, and was a very diverting read but didn't seem to have much to do with Japan. Price was $20, not discounted but available for free shipping on Amazon if you buy $25 worth of stuff. Here are the contents:
ASAMATSU Ken - Foreword: "Quivering Brainstems" translated by Edward LIPSETT
TANAKA Hirofumi - "The Secret Memoir of the Missionary - Prologue" translated by Daniel DAY
KIDA Jun'ichiro - "A Keepsake of Grandfather" translated by K. Bird LINCOLN
SANO Shiro - "Horror Special" translated by Daniel DAY
ARAMATA Hiroshi - "The Road" translated by Kathleen TAJI
TAKEUCHI Yoshikazu - "She Flows" translated by Nora Stevens HEATH
KOBAYASHI Yasumi - "C-City" translated by Kathleen TAJI
TOMONO Sho - "Straight to Darkness" translated by Toshiya A. KAMEI
SHIMOTSUKI Aoi - "Sounds Out of Space, or, Cthulhu Metal" translated by Jerome WOODS
***Spoilers may follow - you have been warned***
I found this book mesmerizing. Once I dipped into it I could not put it down and had to read it through a sleepless night. The writing was of uniform high quality. To be fair, however, there were no brilliant gems like Terror Rate or A Night at Yuan-su from Inverted Kingdom. On the other hand there were no stories like The Horror in the Kabuki Theater that rubbed me the wrong way.
Tanaka Hirofumi - "The Secret Memoir of the Missionary - Prologue" - For this story it would be worthwhile to read a brief history of the early introduction of Christianity into Japan. I, of course, did not need to do this because I had read Shogun (um, er...). This was a very inventive use of that time in history, using actual figures from the period, substituting the worship of a Great Old One for God, after the missionaries are waylaid and converted (as it were) en route to Japan. Tanaka san may write a sequel or continuation for us some time in the future and I can only hope we will ever see a translation of it.
Kida Jun'ichiro - "A Keepsake of Grandfather" - To best appreciate A Keepsake of Grandfather you have to reread Out of the Aeons by Hazel Heald (actually by HPL, ghost written for Hazel Heald (how come no famous authors want to ghost write some stories for me?)). This story is a worthy successor to Out of the Aeons and more or less carries on with the history of T'yog.
Sano Shiro - "Horror Special" - This is the story of a Japanese film company making a movie of The Dunwich Horror some years after their movie of The Shadow Over Innsmouth was clouded by mysterious goings on. The entire crew is reassembled including the unusual special effects guy. Although the mythos breathes throughout the production it is never clear if it is real or just a bunch of stories, which adds to the effectiveness. You can decide what really happened.
Aramata Hiroshi - "The Road" - This was clearly my favorite story in the book. A big HPL fan from Japan on a train ride from NYC to Boston takes a not so spontaneous detour into the streets of Providence to walk in the Old Gent's footsteps. It turns out he's more successful than he expected, and that time and space are more malleable than is comfortable.
Takeuchi Yoshikazu - "She Flows" - This story gives us a glimpse into a dialogue between two young people who have had very difficult childhoods. While I liked it I couldn't really place it in the mythos, unless you think alienation as a theme merits inclusion. Oh, well, I was happy to read it.
Kobayashi Yasumi - "C-City" - After The Road, this was my next favorite tale. The world is trying to prevent the rising of R'lyeh and has gathered its top scientists into a remote village to come up with the best means to deal with this threat. As might be expected, there is no consensus and the machinations of the Great Old Ones pervade even this bastion.
Tomono Sho - "Straight to Darkness" - Another winner! In the future it is a winner takes all battle for dominance of the planet among all the alien forms and races that have ever inhabited earth. Maybe the Great Race did not plan carefully enough...this one actually would make a good video game!
That's about it! I was completely captivated. I feel compelled to say that I got a free reviewer's copy from Kurodahan Press (only the second time this has ever happened to me), but that did not influence my opinion. I would have bought a copy anyway. Urgently recommended!
ASAMATSU Ken - Foreword: "Quivering Brainstems" translated by Edward LIPSETT
TANAKA Hirofumi - "The Secret Memoir of the Missionary - Prologue" translated by Daniel DAY
KIDA Jun'ichiro - "A Keepsake of Grandfather" translated by K. Bird LINCOLN
SANO Shiro - "Horror Special" translated by Daniel DAY
ARAMATA Hiroshi - "The Road" translated by Kathleen TAJI
TAKEUCHI Yoshikazu - "She Flows" translated by Nora Stevens HEATH
KOBAYASHI Yasumi - "C-City" translated by Kathleen TAJI
TOMONO Sho - "Straight to Darkness" translated by Toshiya A. KAMEI
SHIMOTSUKI Aoi - "Sounds Out of Space, or, Cthulhu Metal" translated by Jerome WOODS
***Spoilers may follow - you have been warned***
I found this book mesmerizing. Once I dipped into it I could not put it down and had to read it through a sleepless night. The writing was of uniform high quality. To be fair, however, there were no brilliant gems like Terror Rate or A Night at Yuan-su from Inverted Kingdom. On the other hand there were no stories like The Horror in the Kabuki Theater that rubbed me the wrong way.
Tanaka Hirofumi - "The Secret Memoir of the Missionary - Prologue" - For this story it would be worthwhile to read a brief history of the early introduction of Christianity into Japan. I, of course, did not need to do this because I had read Shogun (um, er...). This was a very inventive use of that time in history, using actual figures from the period, substituting the worship of a Great Old One for God, after the missionaries are waylaid and converted (as it were) en route to Japan. Tanaka san may write a sequel or continuation for us some time in the future and I can only hope we will ever see a translation of it.
Kida Jun'ichiro - "A Keepsake of Grandfather" - To best appreciate A Keepsake of Grandfather you have to reread Out of the Aeons by Hazel Heald (actually by HPL, ghost written for Hazel Heald (how come no famous authors want to ghost write some stories for me?)). This story is a worthy successor to Out of the Aeons and more or less carries on with the history of T'yog.
Sano Shiro - "Horror Special" - This is the story of a Japanese film company making a movie of The Dunwich Horror some years after their movie of The Shadow Over Innsmouth was clouded by mysterious goings on. The entire crew is reassembled including the unusual special effects guy. Although the mythos breathes throughout the production it is never clear if it is real or just a bunch of stories, which adds to the effectiveness. You can decide what really happened.
Aramata Hiroshi - "The Road" - This was clearly my favorite story in the book. A big HPL fan from Japan on a train ride from NYC to Boston takes a not so spontaneous detour into the streets of Providence to walk in the Old Gent's footsteps. It turns out he's more successful than he expected, and that time and space are more malleable than is comfortable.
Takeuchi Yoshikazu - "She Flows" - This story gives us a glimpse into a dialogue between two young people who have had very difficult childhoods. While I liked it I couldn't really place it in the mythos, unless you think alienation as a theme merits inclusion. Oh, well, I was happy to read it.
Kobayashi Yasumi - "C-City" - After The Road, this was my next favorite tale. The world is trying to prevent the rising of R'lyeh and has gathered its top scientists into a remote village to come up with the best means to deal with this threat. As might be expected, there is no consensus and the machinations of the Great Old Ones pervade even this bastion.
Tomono Sho - "Straight to Darkness" - Another winner! In the future it is a winner takes all battle for dominance of the planet among all the alien forms and races that have ever inhabited earth. Maybe the Great Race did not plan carefully enough...this one actually would make a good video game!
That's about it! I was completely captivated. I feel compelled to say that I got a free reviewer's copy from Kurodahan Press (only the second time this has ever happened to me), but that did not influence my opinion. I would have bought a copy anyway. Urgently recommended!
June 13, 2020
The third volume in the Lair of the Hidden Gods series and like the pervious two volumes has out done its self again in terms of quality again. The stories which stand out in particular for me are Straight to Darkness which lends it's name to the subtitle of the volume, C - City and Horror Special, all put a unique spin on lovecraftian fiction
Want to Read
October 11, 2023A
October 17, 2025
The Secret Memoir of the Missionary: 3/5
Keepsake of the Grandfather: 3/5
Horror Special: 4/5
The Road: 1/5
She Flows: 1/5
C-City: 5/5
Straight to Darkness: 3/5
Keepsake of the Grandfather: 3/5
Horror Special: 4/5
The Road: 1/5
She Flows: 1/5
C-City: 5/5
Straight to Darkness: 3/5
October 31, 2012
[3.5] The third of four titles in the "Lairs of the Hidden Gods" anthology series of Lovecraft inspired fiction from Japan, "Straight to Darkness" offers more unique cosmic horror tales in English for the first time. With awesome cover art drawing from the four seasons, this "autumn" entry includes some very interesting takes on the "Cthulhu Mythos." Like any anthology, there is a mix of ideas, and while I can't say I really enjoyed all of them, there is some neat, scary stuff in here for devotees of Lovecraft. The translation in a few of the tales were a bit stilted, but for the most part, I feel that they come through with all of their spookiness intact. Some were traditional pastiches such as Kida Junichiro's "Keepsake of the Grandfather," in which a family heirloom from the South Pacific brings strange and unwelcome attention in 1930s Japan, while others, such as Takeuchi Yoshikazu's "She Flows," take an entirely mundane but bleak look at pair of young women trapped in the soul numbing ennui of contemporary Japan (not Lovecraftian in style, but Lovecraftian in spirit, perhaps?).
My personal favorites were Sano Shiro's "Horror Special," which deals with strange goings on at the filming of an adaptation of the "The Dunwich Horror" for Japanese TV and Aramata Hiroshi's "The Road," in which a Japanese tourist in Providence, RI, encounters ghosts from Lovecraft's life. "C-City," by Kobayashi Yasumi, just might be the best interpretation of Cthulhu in the modern world I've seen yet.
My personal favorites were Sano Shiro's "Horror Special," which deals with strange goings on at the filming of an adaptation of the "The Dunwich Horror" for Japanese TV and Aramata Hiroshi's "The Road," in which a Japanese tourist in Providence, RI, encounters ghosts from Lovecraft's life. "C-City," by Kobayashi Yasumi, just might be the best interpretation of Cthulhu in the modern world I've seen yet.
October 29, 2009
The stories vary, but when they're good they're really good. Sort of ruined by the awful final essay about Lovecraft and heavy metal, written by someone who clearly doesn't know anything about the latter. Still, definitely worth checking out, though perhaps more for those familiar with Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.
April 26, 2008
The Secret Memoir of the Missionary has the best description of the Big C that I've ever read.
March 30, 2010
While not every story worked (in particular, the first story), there's a diversity I wish U.S. Mythos fiction had. My favorites were "Keepsake of the Grandfather," "Horror Special" and "She Flows."
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews