The Book of Cthulhu 2 by

The Book of Cthulhu #2

by Ross E. Lockhart

When Night Shade Books unleashed The Book of Cthulhu onto an unsuspecting world, it was critically acclaimed as "the ultimate Cthulhu anthology" and "a 'must read' for fans of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos," The Book of Cthulhu went where no collection of mythos tales had gone to the very edge of madness… and beyond.For nearly a century, H. P. Lovecraft's tales of malevolent Great Old Ones existing beyond the dimensions of this world, beyond the borders of sanity, have captured and held the imaginations of writers and aficionados of the dark, the macabre, the fantastic, and the horrible. Now, because you demanded more, anthologist Ross E. Lockhart has risked all to dive back into the Cthulhu canon, combing through mind-shattering manuscripts and moldering tomes to bring you The Book of Cthulhu 2, with even more tales of tentacles, terror, and madness.Featuring monstrous stories by many of weird fiction's brightest lights, The Book of Cthulhu 2 brings you even more tales inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s greatest The Cthulhu mythos. This year, the stars are right…Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Lovecraftian, Fantasy, Cthulhu Mythos

Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Ross E. Lockhart is the Publisher/Editor in Chief of Word Horde. A lifelong fan of supernatural, fantastic, speculative, and weird fiction, Lockhart holds degrees in English from Sonoma State University (BA) and SFSU (MA). He is a veteran of small-press publishing, having edited scores of well-regarded novels of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Lockhart edited the acclaimed Lovecraftian anthologies The Book of Cthulhu and The Book of Cthulhu II and Tales of Jack the Ripper (2013). Forthcoming are The Children of Old Leech (with Justin Steele, 2014), and Giallo Fantastique (2014). Lockhart's rock-and-roll novel, Chick Bassist, was published by Lazy Fascist Press in 2012. Lockhart lives in an old church in Petaluma, California, with his wife Jennifer, hundreds of books, and Elinor Phantom, a Shih Tzu moonlighting as his editorial assistant. Find Ross online at http://www.haresrocklots.com

Reviews

[Justin Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2011, Ross E. Lockhart, former editor at Night Shade Books, put together an amazing anthology of Lovecraft inspired stories titled The Book of Cthulhu. Weighing in at five hundred pages, this tome managed to collect some of the best Lovecraftian stories to be found, and even included a couple original tales. I’ll most likely be doing a review at some point, but if I may cut to the chase now it’s safe to say that it’s a brilliant anthology that should have a place in every Lovecraft fan’s library.


The Book of Cthulhu met with enough success to warrant a sequel volume which was published in September, The Book of Cthulhu II. Lockhart has chosen more of the finest tales, as well as giving readers four original tales this time around. The book is a tad bit shorter, at four hundred and forty pages, but should easily satisfy any fan of the first.


The main problem with Lovecraft-inspired fiction is that there is so much of it out there. In a sense, for fanboys like me, this is also a good thing, although it means there is also a ton of not-so-good pastiches. Lockhart has found some of the standout stories over the years, some of which I was already very familiar with and others that I myself have not read.


The tales themselves vary in tone. Some of the stories are horrific, and others are light-hearted and even silly. Thematically, there are stories chosen that represent different aspects of Lovecraft’s writing. The vast majority are Cthulhu-Mythos related, or play on those ideas, however there is a tale that explores Lovecraft’s dream cycle. Overall, the vast majority of stories are great reads, and the book is a must have for any fan of the Gentleman of Providence.


Some individual story notes:


The anthology opens with Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar by Neil Gaiman, which is one of the light-hearted, silly offerings. Gaiman’s storytelling skills are evident, and it’s a fun little opener for the anthology.


Next up is Caitlin Kiernan’s Nor The Demons Down Under The Sea (1957). The story is a sequel to Andromeda Among The Stones (a brilliant story that is the opener for The Book of Cthulhu). Kiernan’s language is beautiful as she paints a picture of strained relationship which leads to a “house with secrets”.


John Fultz brings the apocalypse with This Is How The World Ends, and it’s not a pretty one. Cthulhu rises, monsters of all types begin spreading, while some people fight to survive in an increasingly hostile world.


In the first original story, The Drowning at Lake Henpin, author Paul Tobin pens a fun tale with all the right Mythos elements. He’s a new author to me, and I look forward to read more of his works.


The Ocean and All It’s Devices by William Browning Spencer is a well-written story about a creepy family who visits a hotel by the beach every year. There is obviously more going on, and plenty of play with the creepy kid trope.


Livia Llewellyn weaves a depressing tale about a transformed Earth and sacrifice. Take Your Daughters To Work is a beautifully written story and really showcases this author’s vast talent.


Big Fish was originally published under a pseudonym by author Kim Newman. It’s a fun, pulpy, hardboiled detective story.


Cody Goodfellow is another author that I am growing to love. Every story I’ve read by him I’ve loved. Rapture of the Deep is no exception, and is a great story of psychics and the Mythos.


Readers of the first Book of Cthulhu will be hard pressed to forget Molly Tanzer’s The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins, a story that manages to be creepy and funny at the same time. Tanzer brings us another Calipash tale (and an original to this anthology) with The Hour of the Tortoise. The story is delightfully perverse, funny, twisted and disturbing in only a way that she could pull off.


Ann K. Schwader, known especially for her dark poetry, hits a homerun with Objects From The Gilman-Waite Collection. Schwader pumps up the anxiety in a man’s trip to an art exhibit that is a little bit out of this world.


A Gentleman From Mexico showcases Mark Samuels’ easy style of writing. The story moves along at a nice pace, and touches on a few Lovecraftian themes, such as dark cults, evil gods, and the transference of consciousness. I enjoyed the story to quite an extent, and have ordered one of his story collections.


Another author who always delivers a solid tale is W.H. Pugmire. The Hands That Reek and Smoke is a haunting tale about Nyarlathotep. As usual with Pugmire’s tales, this one has beautiful, poetic prose.


Matt Wallace writes an eerie science fiction story titled Akropolis about something that falls from the sky but becomes a city, gifting farmboys with unbelievable powers. These God-like beings then proceed to take over the world in this wonderfully dark story.


Fritz Leiber’s classic, The Terror From The Depths, has some cool ideas, but is also a bit overlong. References many of Lovecraft’s tales.


Black Hills by Orrin Grey is a creepy tale about oil. I loved the ending and the language used in the story.


Michael Chabon’s The God of Dark Laughter is a very literate, and very short story about the murder of a clown. The story explores an eerie mythology, and really makes me wish Chabon wrote more Lovecraftian tales.


Karl Edward Wagner pens one of the best Lovecraftian tales ever written in Sticks. This story remains one of the most classic stories of its kind, and holds up well with rereads.


Lockhart’s closing author of choice is once again Laird Barron. Barron’s story Hand of Glory retains some of the usual Barron trappings (a macho protagonist, a noir-ish feel) but stands out in that it isn’t really a horrific story. There do exist some horrifying moments, but for the most part it stands as a fun tale of a gangster who gets mixed up into the Occult. There are also tons of references to his other stories, which serves to furthermore weave them all together into Barron’s own web of Northwestern Mythos horror.


There are several other good stories in the book as well. Stanley C. Sargent puts his own spin on The Dunwich Horror, A. Scott Glancy serves readers a Delta Green story about the government raid on Innsmouth, Christopher Reynaga offers a short re-telling of Moby Dick, Elizabeth Bear teams with Sarah Monette for a tale set on board a living spaceship, Jonathan Wood delivers a sequel to his novel No Hero, and Gord Sellar hits on the dream cycle with a visit to Ulthar.


All in all, any fan of Lovecraft can’t afford to miss out on this one. If you’re a fanboy like I am, you most likely have a good amount of these stories in other books, but even if you do the originals are worth the buy. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing if Lockhart plans to continue the series. With his two for two track record, this blogger is hoping he does.

Originally appeared on my blog, The Arkham Digest.

[Doug Bolden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere early in the reading of this book, I became convinced I was going to end it with maybe a generous 2-star rating, but at no point could I point to the specific germ that grew into this conviction. There are, as is true of any mythos-centric anthology, stories that sat poorly with me. I wasn't particularly thrilled with "This Is How the World ends". "Hour of the Tortoise" felt like a good story that went too long while "The Hands that Reek and Smoke" read like abridged version of an excellent longer story. "God of Dark Laughter" walks too fine a line between a brilliant joke and a diversion into smug parody.

But 2-stars? For an anthology that includes "Rapture of the Deep", "Big Fish", "Sticks", "Black Brat of Dunwich", "Boojum", "The Drowning at Lake Henpin", "The Nyarlathotep Event", and "The Ocean and All Its Devices"? That has the fun-but-light "Old Shoggoth's Peculiar", the mostly-dream-state of "Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea (1957)", and the tough-guy-having-a-bad-day of "Hand of Glory"? There are enough good-to-great stories in this collection to easily cover the cost and make it worth reading, and I am sure anything I took as a stinker someone else will take as one of the better bits.

It just feels - and by it I mean the genre of mythos-centric-anthologies and not this anthology specifically - to be growing tired.

Much like zombie fiction five years ago, the market is glutted and feeding back in on itself. Especially for these "and the kitchen sink" collections: numerous takes and side entries into the field are presented with core entries, all out of order and occasionally contrasting to the point of dissonance. It is would be like a ghost story anthology pushing together King, James (either one and probably both), Aickman, some splatterpunk take on zombies, a couple of folktales with one retold as a comedy and one retold as an odd dream, and some self-referential-but-not-technically-featuring-ghosts Auster story into one package. It makes for a fascinating display of range but done too often it becomes a bag of tangents. Capable of brilliance but doomed to live or die on the whims of chance. Read the wrong two stories back to back and you might be done with it, or in love with it.

I managed both.

[Ann Schwader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I have a story in The Book of Cthulhu 2.

My rating isn't based on that fact, however, but on the rich diversity of this new box of Arkham chocolates. There's something here for every Lovecraftian, & some of the items are rather difficult to find elsewhere. Michael Chabon's story, for example, first appeared in The New Yorker back in 2001. I don't recall seeing Karl Edward Wagner's chilling "Sticks" anywhere else lately, either.

The variety of this anthology can't be overstated. Fans of the classic tale will discover (or rediscover) Fritz Leiber's "Terror from the Depths" (a personal favorite), and Neil Gaiman's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar." There are elegant Caitlin R. Kiernan and W.H. Pugmire tales for literary types, and A. Scott Glancy's Delta Green thriller "Once More from the Top" for the military-minded. Crave action? Try Jonathan Wood's "The Nyarlathotep Event." SF fans are well served, too, with such offerings as Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette's "Boojum."

Editor Ross E. Lockhart has even added four previously unpublished stories to the mix, including tales by Molly Tanzer and Laird Barron. I particularly enjoyed the Barron story, though it didn't seem as overly Mythos as most in this anthology.

This is a good-sized, chewy volume -- 24 stories -- at a fair price for both print & Kindle editions. Though long-time collectors are likely to have at least a couple of the stories already, it's still a worthwhile acquisition for most eldritch bookshelves.

[Michelle {Book Hangovers} · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently on a behemoth sized Cosmic Horror/Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos Journey, and so far, I am loving it so much!!! I CAN NOT GET ENOUGH!
It has been a bit overwhelming…trying to learn the history and terminology, and realizing just how massive this genre has become. There’s so many amazing authors writing such spectacular stories. I want to read them all!!! But, I want to take my time, not only reading stories from the past but also the modern day stories.

This was a great collection!! Here are the stories that I thought stood out far above the rest:
• THE OCEAN AND ALL ITS DEVICES by William Browning Spencer
• ONCE MORE FROM THE TOP by A. Scott Glancy
• THE HOUR OF THE TORTOISE by Molly Tanzer
• THE BLACK BRAT OF DUNWICH by Stanley C. Sargent
• THE TERROR FROM THE DEPTHS by Fritz Leiber
• HAND OF GLORY by Laird Barron

[Jason Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ross E. Lockhart has dove through the depths of R'lyeh and collected some of the best treasures the ocean of Lovecraftian fiction has to offer.
The collection takes off with the lighter, more whimsical Shoggoth's Old Peculiar by Neil Gaiman and you'll feel whiplash at the end with jaw-dropping, tough-as-nails, Hand of Glory by Laird Barron. The middle of this anthology is packed with most--or maybe, arguably, all the best names from past to present currently dominating the Lovecraftian literary landscape. If you're a fan of Lovecraftian anthologies, the familiars are there including, Caitlin R. Kiernan and the always amazing, W.H. Pugmire. There are also some of the newer guys too, like Molly Tanzer, (Her story, The Hour of the Tortoise is original to this collection) and Cody Goodfellow, whose story Rapture of the Deep is one of the most brilliant spins on a Lovecraftian tale I've ever read, dealing with a telepath and a scenic view of R'lyeh. Rapture of the Deep is so good with its lush descriptions and ingeniousness I read it three times. There isn't a dud in this whole collection, no sag, no lull.
The Book of Cthulhu I and II stands toe to toe with the Black Wings anthologies by S.T. Joshi and all those great anthologies edited by Lovecraftian scholar, Robert M. Price. The Book of Cthulhu I and II will remain a staple in any Lovecraftian's book collections for years to come. A classic.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Info: Genre: Lovecraftian Anthology/Dark Fantasy short stories
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of Lovecraft
Trigger Warnings: Murder, violence, death, black magic, etc.

My Thoughts: I have, below my disclosure, listed the names of the stories and given a hint as to what each is about. I have done my best to avoid major spoilers. It is very difficult to review an anthology, because each story is separate and requires a separate analysis if one wishes to do things properly, yet with short stories it is hard to do this without providing spoilers.

The nice thing about this particular anthology is that it shares a common theme—the Cthulhu mythos—and therefore it all holds together in a way. The authors have mostly made an effort to follow in Lovecraft’s footsteps in their style and wording, often filling their stories with beautiful and unusual words that create an eerie, yet enticing, atmosphere, at least for people who enjoy words for the sake of their beauty. The exception to this is the first story, by Neil Gaiman, which was so funny that I spent the whole thing laughing my head off. People who haven’t read much Lovecraft might miss some of the jokes, but I think most people will enjoy the humor in it.

The stories by Elizabeth Bear and Jonathan Wood have led me to want to read more of their respective work, if I can find it. I’d love to learn more about the Boojum, so I’m hoping some longer stories have been written featuring these creatures, and I so enjoyed Jonathan Wood’s style and humor that I sincerely hope there is more out there to be read. (Note: Jonathan Wood’s story is in his Arthur Wallace series, in which there are two books. I hope to acquire these books once they are again available. And more if there are any more.)

These stories are all darkly brilliant gems of Cthulhuian/Lovecraftian imagination. Fans of Lovecraft will not want to miss it. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I received an e-galley from Night Shade Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. n

Stories in this Anthology: Introduction by Ross Lockhart
“Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar” by Neil Gaiman—Wherein a young American goes on a walking tour of the British coastline and stumbles upon a mysterious town and meets a couple of interestingly frog-faced men. Very funny.
“Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea” by Caitlin R. Kiernan—With lyrical and poetic language, a story is told about two young ladies.
“This is How the World Ends” by John R. Fultz—Not with fire, not with ice, but with water.
“The Drowning at Lake Henpin” by Paul Tobin—What if H.P. Lovecraft had written a procedural mystery? I think it would have gone like this.
“The Ocean and all it’s Devices” by William Browning Spencer—A lonely and isolated motel, a mysterious family that visits at the same time each year.
“Take your Daughters to Work” by Livia Llewellyn—A story told from a different point of view.
“The Big Fish” by Kim Newman—Lovecraftian Noir set right after Pearl Harbor. Wry, dark humor.
“Rapture of the Deep” by Cody Goodfellow—Remote viewers searching the Marianas Trench for a wrecked ship find more than they bargained for.
“Once More from the Top” by A. Scott Glancy—An old Marine remembers his visit to Innsmouth 70 years ago.
“The House of the Tortoise” by Molly Tanzer—An illegitimate child visits a dying guardian and learns a horrifying secret.
“I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee” by Christopher Reynaga—Ishmael tells the real story about Captain Ahab.
“Objects from the Gilman-Waite Collection” by Ann K. Schwader—Mysteriously enticing—and disturbing—scultures.
“Of Melei, of Ulthar” by Gord Sellar—Black and white cats, and the dreams of Melei and mysterious, swarthy soldiers in Ulthar.
“A Gentleman from Mexico” by Mark Samuels—A poet who writes strange and sinister poems in Náhuatl introduces his publisher to a man who perfectly mimics Lovecraft's style. Or is it only mimicry?
“The Hands that Reek and Smoke” by W. H. Pugmire—A strange man named Nyarlathotep inspires artists, including a young woman named Lisa, who now wears strange, metallic-mesh gloves and draws using charcoal.
“Akropolis” by Matt Wallace—Danny is eight when a city falls from the sky.
“Boojum” by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette—A Boojum is a living entity that is used as a spaceship. And I want one!
“The Nyarlathotep Event” by Jonathan Wood—A night at the theatre goes horribly awry, since the performer represents all human fear.
“The Black Brat of Dunwich” by Stanley C. Sargent—A new perspective on Wilbur Whatley.
“The Terror from the Depths” by Fritz Leiber—Geroge tells of his home and the strange, desert trails of his childhood in California. Recursive meta-fiction.
“Black Hill” by Orrin Grey—There is something more than oil under the dir.
“The God of Dark Laughter” by Michael Chabon—Coulrophobia and the Uratian origin of clowns
“Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner—Strange stuctures and cairns of sticks.
“Hand of Glory” by Laird Barron—Irish mobsters and black magicians.

Synopsis: For nearly a century, H. P. Lovecraft's tales of malevolent Great Old Ones existing beyond the dimensions of this world, beyond the borders of sanity, have captured and held the imaginations of writers and aficionados of the dark, the macabre, the fantastic, and the horrible. Now, because you demanded more, anthologist Ross E. Lockhart has risked all to dive back into the Cthulhu canon, combing through mind-shattering manuscripts and moldering tomes to bring you The Book of Cthulhu 2, with even more tales of tentacles, terror, and madness.

Featuring monstrous stories by many of weird fiction's brightest lights, The Book of Cthulhu 2 brings you even more tales inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s greatest creation: The Cthulhu mythos. 

This year, the stars are right…

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!

[Orrin Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm only one of a pile of stories in this anthology, and most of the rest of them are classics, so I don't feel bad giving it five stars.

This, especially when combined with its predecessor, is an indispensable collection of some of the best fiction ever inspired by Lovecraft. This volume seems to have a slightly higher preponderance of tongue-in-cheek stories than the last, but both are sharp and exhaustive and full of great stories new and old. My story in this volume is sandwiched between tales by Fritz Leiber and Michael Chabon, which makes me more than a little happy!

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great colletion, sadly not as strong as Book I as the lows are lower while the highs aren't quite as high. Still recommended without hesitation to anyone who enjoys horror, Lovecraft or short stories.

Shoggoth's Old Peculiar, by Neil Gaiman - Classic, completely non-scary story of an American tourist meeting two English chaps whilst on a tour of blighty and realising he isn't in the best company. You can almost hear Pratchett's voice so I assume this was written around or during the peak of he and Gaiman's collaborative period. Really fun, but doesn't match the tone set by the cover whatsoever.

Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea, by Caitlin R. Kiernan - Very odd and very memorable. A sequel of sorts to her story in Book I (Andromeda Among The Stones). A professor and her student lover go in (unwitting) search of the house where a girl was sacrificed to keep the world safe from the horrors that lurk in the depths. Very peculiar and engaging non-linear narrative with an abrupt ending that leaves you more "huh?" than "bbbrrr".

This Is How the World Ends, by John R. Fultz - "Manly man confronted by incomprehensible and unbeatable horror" story. I love these when they're told right, as this one is. Thoroughly unpleasant and nihilistic.

The Drowning at Lake Henpin, by Paul Tobin - Absolutely cracking. Prototypical Lovecraftian "found manuscript" first person telling of a typically bleak and fatalistic journey. Really captures the feel of the world going mad about which nothing will, or can, be done.

The Ocean and All Its Devices, by William Browning Spencer - Would probably have worked a lot better as a film. In written form it drifted a bit listlessly and all the characters figured out what was happening considerably later than most readers will. Nice prose, nice idea, poor execution.

Take Your Daughters to Work, by Livia Llewelly - The first stinker. Mercifully it was a ten minute read at most, but it was pointless, impossible to relate to and not particularly well told.

The Big Fish, by Kim Newman - Hard Drinking Manly Man finds himself embroiled in the war between the horrors below and a Hell-Boy-esque Secret Global Tentacular Task-force. Could have been terrible but the quality and style of the writing (literally hard-boiled detective pastiche that crashes full into Lovecraftian horror 50% of the way)alongside the skilful telling make this one of the best in the collection. Top notch pulp, and I must get around to reading some more Newman.

Rapture of the Deep, by Cody Goodfellow - I'd forgotten reading this (put that on the cover!). Soviet psychic drags Amercian psychic to the sea-floor (psychically), meets and gets owned by R'lyeh then she dies "coming back up" from the depths too quickly to her body. Makes no sense, is dumb and forgettable mainly because it is neither bad nor good.

Once More from the Top, by A. Scott Glancy - Manly Man grown old recounts when he and his platoon tried a military raid on Innsmouth under orders from Delta Green, with predictable results. Good fun if a little ham-fisted in the framing device ("I would like to write some sequels!").

Hour of the Tortoise, by Molly Tanzer - A spin-off of her story in Book I (The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins) which is all the things the first was, from a different perspective. Filthy, horrible and dark, though not particularly affecting due to the off-putting protagonist.

I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee, by Christopher Reynaga - Loved this. Re-contextualisation of Moby Dick replacing the White Whale with something much worse. "Don't call me Ishmael" comes back into town, the sole survivor to tell us what really happened to Ahab out there on the endless blue.

Objects from the Gilman-Waite Collection, by Ann K. Schwader - Boring, nonsensical story about a man getting spooked in an art gallery. I hate to be so blunt but honestly it makes no sense and is full to bursting with "although I didn't want to, I"- let me guess, you did what you didn't want to do anyway. Terrible.

Of Melei, of Ulthar, by Gord Sellar - Garbage. "Girl has spooky dreams and is a bit nuts. Or maybe she isn't?! *shines torch underneath chin* WooOOOoo" - Gord Sellar.

A Gentleman from Mexico, by Mark Samuels - Very good. Artfully told story of a publisher approaching burn-out in Mexico who's introduced to someone who can write Lovecraftian stories with uncanny accuracy.

The Hands that Reek and Smoke, by W. H. Pugmire - Whatever. Lovely prose with some nicely done scenes that make you feel uncomfortable, but rather flat due to a lack of broader context.

Akropolis, by Matt Wallace - Crap. Space-city falls to earth and gives people magical powers so magical that "one of them could pacify an entire city". The ending is that these magical people are there to serve the masters that are coming. Who cares?

Boojum, by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette - Fun little Sci-Fi story, a Boojum is a life-ship, like Moya from Farscape but much more... carnivorous. Gets the isolated and terrifying nature of Space right, as well as a suitably horrible and inscrutable antagonist.

The Nyarlathotep Event, by Jonathan Wood - And the grand prize for "worst story in the collection" goes to... Absolute shonky drivel from end to end. An English Secret Agent fights Nyarlathotep with his imagination and the power or laughter. He's from MI37. It really is that bad. I shy away from giving authors advice, but I'd advise Jonathan Wood to burn his fucking pen.

The Black Brat of Dunwich, by Stanley C. Sargent - A decent re-telling of a Lovecraft original from a new perspective. Well told, written and executed stuff that is just shy of being great, most likely due to what follows.

The Terror from the Depths, by Fritz Leiber - A really interesting tale that goes for a Tim Powers-esque "no really, these guys were actually on to something" approach to the Lovecraft cabal. It's told in the very traditional first-person memoir style that almost turned me off to begin with, but soon has you utterly hooked. Bowing out with a wonderfully open-ended close that has stuck with me since, it's a great story and well worth the extra running time it's given.

Black Hill, by Orrin Grey - Average, over very quickly so it gets some points there but it's all a bit perfunctory. "What if Oil was actually the blood of elder beings?" isn't really existentially terrifying nowadays because we know it isn't.

The God of Dark Laughter, by Michael Chabon - Top stuff. A beautifully written resignation letter from the District Attorney of Podunk Nowheresville that's part sad shaken head at the human condition and part wonderfully drawn character study. You can Google this to read it for free from The New Yorker and if you aren't going to buy this collection I'd heartily recommend you do so. I seriously wish Michael Chabon would write more pulp, as he absolutely nails it here.

Sticks, by Karl Edward Wagner - Good, if predictable. Nicely treads the line between "creeping unease" and "you idiot why are you still there?!" without ever crossing too far into the latter.

Hand of Glory, by Laird Barron - Laird Barron? Writing a story about a horrible man confronted by things more horrible than any mere men are capable of? Yes please. I love stories of Bad vs Worse, and in particular I love the spit and shit and blood sensibility Barron brings to this one. When he talks about semi-feral trappers living in the woods you can smell the years of smoke and rotting meat. When he talks about a coven of not-quite normal women you feel palpable unease rolling off of every page. Earthy, focused and vital, like all of his best stuff, this is a treat from start to end.

[Drake Llywelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a stunning collection of Lovecraft inspired tales all centered around the infamous Cthulhu myth. The stories in this collection vary greatly in theme, tone, and atmosphere, but all pay homage to the great master of storytelling and world-building.

Some, like Neil Gaiman's addition "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar," make direct reference to Lovecraft and his mythos. Others, such as "Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea" by Caitlin R. Kiernan allude to the mysteries of the master with just as much skill and craft. William Browning Spencer's "The Ocean and All Its Devices" gives us the possible origins of such creatures in his heartbreaking tale of loss. Kim Newman even gives us Lovecraft noir in her excellent story "The Big Fish." There are two dozen stories here from some of the biggest names in horror. Laird Barron, Neil Gaiman, Jonathon Wood, W. H. Pugmire, and more serve up a fantastic selection of monsters. There are very few weak moments in this one and worth every slithery scale! The only catch-- you must be a Lovecraft fan. Without that, many of the stories will be a little too odd as they rely on an understanding of the original story.

[Amara Tanith · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there were a few stories in The Book of Cthulhu II that didn't appeal to me (Molly Tanzer's The Hour of the Tortoise and Laird Barron's Hand of Glory in particular), it also had some delights (Christopher Reynaga's I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee, Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette's Boojum, etc.). I definitely look forward to checking out The Book of Cthulhu next.

Full review to come at Amara's Eden. A copy of this book was provided free via Netgalley for the purpose of review.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book of Lovecraftian based stories.

None really captured the chilling madness and horror of HPL, but Neil Gaiman turned in a beautifully funny story that delighted me no end. That and Kim Newman's offering are what raise this book from 3 stars to 4.

There are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon than reading this.

[Logan Berrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rare 5 star anthology! BravFuckingVo. Looking forward to the 3rd installment, but keep it original, please, editor. No reprints, all interesting, and we'll be cool.

[The Smoog · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of Lovecraftian horror. Although there were some stories which weren’t really to my taste, unlike many anthologies there isn’t a dud in the book. Any fan of the genre will likely find a good number of stories to enjoy here.

[Stephanie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not many stories stood out in this one.

[David Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mostly good to great Lovecraft inspired stories. The collection gets 5 stars because it includes one of my all time favorite short stories: The God of Dark Laughter by Michael Chabon.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going to be a long one so hang on for a bit and I'll let you know all about this book. I've been looking forward to this book for a long time. It's amazing that this book is nearly as good as the first one. This is a fun read, especially for the Halloween season. Fans of horror will wet themselves (for joy, not fear...well...maybe a little from fear) reading this collection.

One of the few problems I have (not with the book, per se) is that I've read so much Lovecraftian fiction, that a lot of the same stories show up again and again. However, in this book a few stories make appearances from other collections. In this case, this actually helps these stories. A collection is not merely separate stories, it has a tone and a mood. In this collection, with these supporting stories, the stories are allowed to breathe. These two or three stories were good bits of fiction within the other collections, but their neighbors created a stifling mood that made it difficult to enjoy them. It's good to see these stories with others of their caliber, in an environment where they are not hampered by awful pieces of drivel trying to add in one more vowel-challenged name to try to be more Lovecraftian.

There were a few stories that didn't left me unmoved one way or another in this book, but this number was very small. One story, though, I was thoroughly disappointed with. This tale attempts to tell the story of The Dunwich Horror from an alternate perspective. One more sympathetic to the original story's main antagonist. It does so by discrediting the narrator, and the original's protagonist, who we are led by this story's author to believe is an antagonist himself, just one who had a falling out with his partner because the guy thought, "Hey, isn't destroying the world detrimental to my health too?" I especially want to make this point about this particular entry because two others do the same thing without nearly as much cognitive dissonance from the resulting flip of the mental perspectives. I Am Legend (the novella, not the movie with Will Smith) is a good example of how to shift the readers' perspective significantly without destroying their ability to reconcile either perspective.

As I said, two other stories in this collection are able to tell a story that changes the readers' perspective without once jarring them out of their seats on the Plot Line Express. One of these stories basically just fills in the gaps left in one HPL original novella. While the other one gently asks "Did we really see monsters? or did we see strange visitors."

If you like scary stories read this book. If you don't like scary stories read this book anyway. Break away from your comfort zones and come feel the adrenaline surge as your heart rate goes through the roof!

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok...
So 24 stories in the Anthology...some big names, but big only of their background because like it happens, usually, I didn`t like their stories. Gaiman, Kiernan, Chabon, Laird Barron, etc. had weak stories, too long, or very uninteresting tings happen in them.

From all the stories I enjoyed only a number of seven of them :

JOHN R. FULTZ : This Is How the World End -A Chtulhu Apocalypse happens very fast.

LIVIA LLEWELLYN : Take Your Daughters to Work - Very short story with a interesting ideea and a dark twist to it.

KIM NEWMAN : The Big Fish – From the old hardboiled detective stories we have this one that melds the classic detective pacing with some... lobster influence. I`m sure that I`ve read this one somewhere else.

A. SCOTT GLANCY : Once More from the Top – Develops much further some of the classic stories from Lovecraft.

MOLLY TANZER : The Hour of the Tortoise – This is named because it`s a second story in the Calipash Manor universe ( the first one was in "The Cthulhu Anthology I" and I liked very much), but for this time it`s length it`s unbearable…for something that I belived will happen.

GORD SELLAR : Of Melei, of Ulthar - A verry deep and interesting depiction of a Lovecraftian fantastic world.

MATT WALLACE : Akropolis - Maybe the best ideea from the whole Anthology with such a good execution. Some Lovecraftian creatures are putting an end to the humanity supremacy.

STANLEY C. SARGENT : The Black Brat of Dunwich - Another story that I knew it from somewhere else. Very, very good also. Gritty, mysterious, it fills some of the holes from Lovecraft stories.

I don`t understand why there are writers that loose time with boring ramblings and why we find their stories here.

It`s a real mystery for me. I guess you have to keep a good balance (to be sure that it sells) in the writers names from the cover but if you`re not carefull you`ll sure dissappoint your readers.

I have a good opinion of Ross E. Lockhart, but not for this two Anthologies here.

Because is based on the ones that he edited at his smaller publisher, Word Horde.

Those are in another league entirely.

I guess you could easily skip The Book of Cthulhu series and try, The Children of Old Leech or Cthulhu Fhtagn! because it`s really worth it.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually anthologies have one or two good offerings and the rest are poor. This was just the opposite with a lot of quality work. I particularly liked the work by Jonathan Wood and I'm definitely reading more of him.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another home run from editor Ross E. Lockhart and his phenomenal line-up of authors. Nary a dud in the bunch, and some real eye-openers for me. I read Orrin Grey and Michael Chabon for the first time, as well as certain stories by familiar authors that were new to me (Neil Gaiman's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" and Fritz Leiber's "The Terror from the Depths"). Hard to pick my favorite, but I'd go with (unsurprisingly for me) Laird Barron's "Hand of Glory," the amazing noirish tale that closes out the volume. This book is a must-read for lovers of modern weird fiction! Hopefully someday there will be a Book of Cthulhu III...

[Edmund de Wight · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of a LOT of short stories based on the Cthulhu mythos. It's good reading for those times when you want something a bit eerie but don't have a lot of time to read a long tale.

Trust me you will NOT read this entire thing in one sitting, it's enormous - much like dread Cthulhu.
The stories are set in varied eras, have different approaches but all are consistently true to the mythos and the feel created by Lovecraft. There are a lot of different authors so there is no one consistent style or voice but they all do a good job of drawing you into the Lovecraftian world.

[David Agranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ross Lockheart has proven with this second collection that he has an eye for the best modern Lovecraftian horror, although a few of the pieces like Fritz Lieber are classics. Cody Goodfellow's rapture from the deep which I read when it was first in Dark Discoveries and The Michael Chabon stories were my favorites. Must read for Lovecratian mythos fans.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first collection, I think. Not all winners, but a good portion are an excellent mix of Weird/Horror/Lovecraftian.

[Tobias Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very varied (but generally good) stories. Especial mention should go to Neil Gaiman's Shoggoth's Old Peculiar!

[Gertie]

This ebook is usually 16$ but is $1.99 right now, as of February 9th, 2016.

[Skjam! · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s spooky stuff month again, so I sat down with this thick volume (24 stories) of tales inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft for a couple of weeks. This is a sequel to The Book of Cthulhu that I reviewed earlier on this blog. In the introduction, editor Lockhart primarily talks about the collaborative nature of the Mythos, which encouraged authors both enthusiastic and opportunistic to contribute their bits.

“Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar” by Neil Gaiman starts us off with a more light-hearted take. An American tourist stumbles into Innsmouth (the original British village, not the more famous American one) and gets taken under the wing of two old codgers in the local pub. While he survives mostly intact, he develops an urge to live as far from the ocean as possible.

“Hand of Glory” by Laird Barron ends the volume with a hard-boiled tale of a Washington state hitman who learns that a certain recluse sent colleagues to kill him. A recluse who may also be responsible for the death of the hitman’s father. Johnny Cope may be getting in way over his head with this mumbo-jumbo stuff. A bit of a coincidence–the “man on a horse” clip that features in the recent movie Nope is also relevant here.

Like the previous volume, most of the stories are from the more recent generation of writers, but we do have two from the 1970s.

“Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner concerns a horror illustrator who stumbles across a series of odd wooden lattices in the woods. He should perhaps have been more suspicious when someone asks that he recreate them to illustrate a new anthology. It doesn’t feel dated.

“The Terror from the Depths” by Fritz Leiber, on the other hand, does show its age. It’s an old-style Lovecraftian pastiche, detailing our doomed narrator’s life from birth to inevitable horrific death. It’s stuffed with references to other Mythos tales, most irrelevant to the plot, and takes forever to get to the actual horrific part of tunnels honeycombing the Hollywood hills. It’s not a bad story, but it creaks at the joints. There’s even a framing device of the narrator’s journal being found after the disaster.

A few other standouts:

“The Big Fish” by Kim Newman is a noir-ish detective story set in the early days of (the American involvement in) World War Two. A private eye is hired to track down an ex-boyfriend who used to be a big shot in the mob, and also his baby with the client, which is why she cares. There’s a bit of a contrast between the internment of California’s Japanese-American population, and what is going on with more sinister alien inhabitants. The detective’s plotline intersects with more experienced Mythos investigators who are handling the larger picture, like a Call of Cthulhu game as seen by one of the guest NPCs.

“Once More, From the Top…” by A. Scott Glancy turns out to be in the Delta Green continuity as agents from that secret government organization debrief the last known survivor of the Marines that “cleaned up” Innsmouth at the end of Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” Reference is made to how seemingly similar it was at first to missions the Marines had performed upon villages in certain “banana republics” during the 1920s.

“The Hour of the Tortoise” by Molly Tanzer has a pornography writer called back to her biological father’s house when he lays dying. Her half-brother and the servants are not initially thrilled to see her, claiming that the letter summoning her could not have come from anyone there. Like any enterprising author, Chelone is busy fictionalizing her experiences for her latest lurid tale of illicit love. But will her editor recognize the subtle cry for help?

H.P. Lovecraft himself is often referenced in these stories, usually offstage and in rather unflattering terms. The one partial exception is “A Gentleman from Mexico” by Mark Samuels, but the gentleman in question is quick to point out that he cannot possibly really be the reincarnation of Lovecraft, and therefore must be a delusional fan who just happens to write exactly like the original.

Content note: This is, after all, a horror anthology, so there’s plenty of gruesomely described death to go around, including of children. Suicide, incest, period racism and sexism.

Overall, a good selection of Cthulhu Mythos and Lovecraftian stories for the fan of such. Most of you should know who you are. If you’re not sure, you might want to try reading individual stories of this type before investing in a big anthology.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been on a bit of a Lovecraft kick lately, first reading the man himself, then Alan Moore’s disturbing homage. And it all got its impetus from The Book Of Cthulhu II, which I won via the Goodreads FirstReads program. I figured I should read the real thing before picking up either of the derivatives. Sad to say, I haven’t had any luck finding a copy of The Book Of Cthulhu I, but oh well. Most of these are authors I’d not heard of before, and all save a couple are ones I’d yet to sample. Kim Newman wrote the stellar Anno Dracula series, among other things, and I am a Neil Gaiman devotee. I’ve not read all of his work yet, but not for lack of trying.

This is an anthology of Lovecraft-inspired works from a wide range of authors. I’ll list and comment below, only commenting on plot when I think it necessary. Its a bit tough to mention plot for a short story without spoilers, so….
■Neil Gaiman, Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar; I had read this one before in a collection of Gaiman tales (don’t remember which one), and it didn’t make much sense then as I had never read HPL. Now I have, and I had a much greater appreciation for the story. That said, not nearly as great as A Study In Emerald.
■Caitlin R. Kiernan, Nor The Demons Down Under The Sea; The writing style here was a bit confusing at first–Ms. Kiernan is not afraid of a sentence fragment masquerading as a full sentence if it helps set her scene. But once the scene was set this proved a very evocative tale.
■John R. Fultz, This Is How The World Ends; Fultz sketches a brief vignette of Cthulu’s rise from the deeps to swallow the world, and I must say his vision is frankly terrifying.
■Paul Tobin, The Drowning At Lake Henpin; Most of these are Lovecraftian, but this is the first one I’ve seen that could have been written by Lovecraft himself.
■William Browning Spencer, The Ocean And All Its Devices; I’m still not completely sure I understand what Spencer is saying about what lives in the water just offshore from this beachfront hotel, but I know I don’t want to meet it.
■Livia Llewellyn, Take Your Daughters To Work; This one succeeded in disturbing me. That’s all I’ll say.
■Kim Newman, The Big Fish; I love Kim Newman. Newman is a past master of the literary pastiche, here presenting a sequel to Lovecraft’s Shadow Over Innsmouth while at the same time doing a Sam Spade-type character (maybe Spade himself, the protagonist is never named…did Spade live in San Francisco?) AND roping in his recurring characters Edwin Winthrop and Genvieve Dieudonné from the Diogenes Club stories.* Which I am just reminded that I should get around to reading…
■Cody Goodfellow, Rapture Of The Deep; A corporate investigation into a potential source of endless energy on the seafloor turns to terror when an ex-Soviet psychic and his unwilling protegé take an astral visit to sunken R’lyeh….
■A. Scott Glancy, Once More From The Top; An aged Marine recounts the horror he and his fellows experienced at the Battle Of Innsmouth. I quite enjoyed this one…though I don’t recall the Deep Ones having Shoggoths in the original story. Maybe that came from one of HPL’s stories I haven’t read yet…Anyway, gonna try and track down the anthology this originated in.
■Molly Tanzer, The Hour Of The Tortoise; An exiled young lady returns to her ancestral home, thought cursed by the surrounding villagers, to find her illegitimate father on his deathbed and something amiss about the house….
■Christopher Reynaga, I Only Am Escaped Alone To Tell Thee; Christopher Reynaga recasts Moby Dick as a tale of Captain Ahab hunting Cthulhu in order to buy the world more time before his rise.
■Ann K. Schwader, Objects From The Gilman-Waite Collection; A creepy though not unpredictable tale of a man entering a museum exhibit featuring the coral and gold jewelry from The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
■Gord Sellar, Of Melei, Of Ulthar; I’m still not sure I understand this one. Melei is visiting other worlds in her sleep, one of which appears to be post-Cthulhu New York. I can’t figure out, however, whether she exists in the far-distant past or the regressed future…in either case, it was an intriguing tale.
■Mark Samuels, A Gentleman From Mexico; This was an outstanding idea, and I literally laughed out loud when I realized what was going on. I didn’t find the ending as strong as the middle, but it was very like what Lovecraft himself might have written as the ending.
■W.H. Pugmire, The Hands That Reek And Smoke; Very creepy. Not really my thing, but creepy.
■Matt Wallace, Akropolis; Behold, the Great Old Ones are returning, and they have sent their emissaries to prepare the way for them…A great story here.
■Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette, Boojum; This was one of my favorites, a real surprise find. Living spacecraft, starfaring pirates, evil aliens who collect human brains for their own sinister purposes…it’s all here. Quality science-fiction! I’m going to track down the anthology it was originally written for…I was a bit hazy on most of the Lovecraft connections in this one, as I’d not read the relevant tales.
■Jonathan Wood, The Nyarlathotep Event; Agent Arthur Wallace of MI37 goes up against Nyarlathotep, an ancient entity from a dimension representing humanity’s collective fears, and he does it with a snarky sense of humor and a hilarious narrative voice. I literally laughed out loud several times while reading it, and plan to track down the author’s other stories featuring the same protagonists.
■Stanley C. Sargent, The Black Brat Of Dunwich; A surprising tale here, as Sargent turns the entire HPL story The Dunwich Horror on its head. Very fun, and HPL himself might be a fan of this one, but it would help to have read the original tale first.
■Fritz Leiber, The Terror From The Depths; I actually forgot for a while that this wasn’t actually a Lovecraft story. I don’t think I’ve ever seen (by HPL or anyone else) so comprehensive and cohesive an ode to the Cthulhu Mythos…Well done.
■Orrin Grey, Black Hill; A quick read, a mite predictable, but decent nonetheless.
■Michael Chabon, The God Of Dark Laughter; A small-town sheriff investigates the ritual murder of a clown, possibly uncovering ties to an ancient and unholy cult. I really enjoyed this one, and I think I may have to look up more of Michael Chabon’s work.
■Karl Edward Wagner, Sticks; An incredibly creepy tale of an artist who discovers an ancient abandoned cottage that continues to haunt his dreams…Again, I really enjoyed this.
■Laird Barron, Hand Of Glory; Less actually scary, not incredibly Lovecraftian, but a good story nonetheless. Mobland hitman Johnny Cope has a problem. It seems that an old enemy of his father has sent goons to kill him. They weren’t incredibly successful, but they did manage to get his ire up. Now Johnny wants to know why….

On the whole, I loved this collection. A lot of the stories were excellent, but like with any collection you’ll have some that were better than others. I love Neil Gaiman, but given my choice I’d put in A Study In Emerald over Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar. Its simply a better tale–though, I’ll allow, perhaps not a better tribute to the original Lovecraft. Some of the stories I flat-out disliked, but that was probably a matter of taste. Certainly they are different than the ones cited by other reviewers as having fallen flat for them. A few of the stories, good as they were on their own, probably would have been enhanced by a more thorough knowledge of Lovecraft’s works. I’ve only read a very small selection as of this writing. I plan to remedy that in the near future…I very much recommend picking up this book if you ever get the chance.

*Technically, the Diogenese Club stories happen in a separate world from the Anno Dracula novels, but they are mirrors of each other and feature the same characters. The prime difference seems to be that in the Diogenes Club stories Dracula was actually defeated as scheduled in his original book, whereas in the Anno Dracula world he was triumphant.

Content: This is a horror anthology, so from the get-go you know its not going to be appropriate for children. Bloody horror violence. Sexual references, including the implication that a couple characters are lesbians. The protagonist in another tale makes her living as a writer of Victorian-era pornography, and mostly non-explicit excerpts of her work are included. She also refers to several sexual encounters of her own, in generally non-explicit but incredibly suggestive terms. Language varies from story to story, but some at least are R-rated.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The collection:

The first collection of Lovecraft inspired works edited by Ross E. Lockhart was amazing: Packed with punches both of the laughter and horror variety; magnificently edited with just enough stories grouped to give a flavor of different veins of gold other authors had struck in the Lovecraft Universe without overdoing it; balanced between the experimental, in terms of genre, and traditional; and all around good stuff. Does he do it again?

Well, yes and no.

The biggest and most obvious flaw in this collection is the editing. More specifically there are a couple of poor choices in order and there were WAY too many stories based off of the Innsmouth tale (at least half of the collection ... all found in the front). Any connections that could be made in the other stories were that much harder to find after being drowned in Innsmouth for so long. Which is too bad, because there are some gems here.

Sure, the fact that this is the second collection (and hadn't been planned with the first) begs the question how many of these stories are just filler. The good thing is, the answer is "not a lot." Had this been appropriately organized, in fact, I could see this being as strong a collection as the the first. But this is very different in many ways also.

First, there are a lot more experimental (in genre and theme) stories in this set. At least, it feels that way. Some of them work amazingly well ("The Big Fish" is worth at least half the price of admission and "Hand of Glory" is also an amazing noir piece), while others ("Once More From The Top" ... I'm looking at you) don't hold up as well. Another interesting thing is, though there is only one story ("The Hour of the Tortoise" which was first published here) that delves into the erotica explored a bit more in the first collection; that story is one of the strongest and makes me want to seek out more of the Lovecraft inspired lite-erotica that's out there. They seem to know how to blend genres correctly.

Second, this collection is shorter. 102 pages shorter and 3 stories shorter. Even though the page and story count would suggest otherwise, the second collection had more novella-length stories in the count. The problem with long form Lovecraft is, it's hard to hold up the tension and madness for more than 13 or 14 pages ("Once more..." fails where "Hand of Glory" succeeds in this). But this really hurts the anthology because, despite it's length, it feels longer than the first collection. There was lots of wading through (during the first half) that I had to do ... which just kills the effect of the good stories.

So Lockhart did not strike gold again. Still, there's plenty of silver and other refined gems in here that are worth seeking out. This collection, at least, can be read in some random order (and I would recommend reading one from the first half followed by a story from the second half ... but start with "This is How The World Ends" or "The Drowning at Lake Henpin" to make the first half more enjoyable). Pick it up for cheap and you'll be very happy. Pay full price ... well, you probably won't be as pleased.

Story by Story:

SHOGGOTH'S OLD PECULIAR It seems strange to start out this collection with what amounts to a horror comedy in the vein of An American Werewolf in London but that's what this is.

NOR THE DEMONS DOWN UNDER THE SEA Revisit The Shunned House in a dream fueled short story ... that's what this is. It only partially succeeds.

THIS IS HOW THE WORLD ENDS The first first-person tale appears earlier in the book. It feels more in line with Lovecraft than most of the stories in the two collections so far.

THE DROWNING AT LAKE HENPIN Another first-person narrative, this one playing out like a mystery told by Lovecraft. Though a bit disconcerting with the time leaps near the beginning, this turned out to be a very good piece. Why didn't this story open the collection?

THE OCEAN AND ALL ITS DEVICES Eerie take on the sacrifices one family makes year after year after year ... and what happens when they ask for more.

TAKE YOUR DAUGHTERS TO WORK A decent story all building up to a twist that half of the readers will figure out before it gets there (I was slightly surprised).

THE BIG FISH Lovecraft and Chandler (or maybe Hammett) meet up in San Fransisco for a tale about a PI who gets into some deep water. One of the few genre shifts that has worked so far.

RAPTURE OF THE DEEP More SF than Weird, but still interesting. This one could have fit in well in the first BoC, and may have been on the shortlist for that one.

ONCE MORE, FROM THE TOP What happens after Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" ends? This explains it all ... and goes on for about 30 pages too long.

THE HOUR OF THE TORTOISE Part erotica, part Lovecraftian, all Gothic. Interesting and much better than the preceding story.

I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE Moby Dick, meet Lovecraft.

OBJECTS FROM THE GILMAN-WAITE COLLECTION What a strange collection for a museum. Even stranger is this tugging I have when I see the unguarded prize of the collection.

OF MELEI, OF ULTHAR I had a strange flashback to Dhalgren while reading this. Not that it has anything to do with that book (and pales in comparison), but it was there nonetheless.

A GENTLEMAN FROM MEXICO A very interesting story that begs the question, how much of Lovecraft's stories are real? But then again, that is the same adage for a lot of the stories in the BoC 1 and 2. So far, this is where that idea was best handled.

THE HANDS THAT REEK AND SMOKE This felt like the closest to Lovecraft-penned of the stories in the collection so far. Interesting, if a bit uneven and not quite complete.

AKROPOLIS War from the Outer Realms comes to Earth ... but this is only a precursor.

BOOJUM Science Fiction, meet Lovecraft. More specifically; Space Opera, meet Lovecraft. Meh.

THE NYARLATHOTEP EVENT An attempt to be as clever as "The Big Fish", but too satirical and modern to achieve the desired affect. I really don't care too much for the superhero-type versus Cthulhu stories in general.

THE BLACK BRAT OF DUNWICH Makes me want to read "The Dunwich Horror" and think about how to take already written Lovecraft stories and retell them from other points of view. This is what "Once More From The Top" wanted to be but couldn't come close to.

THE TERROR FROM THE DEPTHS A deliberately paced tale about the wonders under the dirt.

BLACK HILL Under the dirt, there's more than just oil in them thar hills.

THE GOD OF DARK LAUGHTER A mystery case of sorts about a dead clown and those that hunted him.

STICKS The only story in both collections that I had read before. Blair Witch ... meet Lovecraft.

HAND OF GLORY Another Noir tale to finish it off. Great gangster story about film, revenge, and being a peon in the universe.

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always a pain to rate anthologies. There's some good, some bad, some atrocious and some great stuff here. The Gaiman story might bring more punters in but is among the weaker entries, too swept up in irreverence without making a proper joke of it. The Big Fish more skillfully navigated irreverence and noir pastiche to deliver an enjoyable bombastic meld. I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee does the same with Moby Dick of all things and despite the premise it kind of works, really balancing on a knife's edge. Boojum was a standout in a future setting working with a living ship fending off some Mi-Go, managing to marry the mythos with something new that felt entirely native to the setting. Objects from the Gilman-Waite Collection tries to recontextualize an existing Lovecraft story to poor effect with pale imitation. The Black Brat of Dunwich does the same but successfully.
Overall a collection well worth perusing.

Alternatives: There's a lot of these now. The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft was fun but Lovecraft's Monsters is better. The Abyssal Plain: The R'lyeh Cycle had some great apocalyptic visions but is a weaker collection overall (too involved in reinterpreting the material perhaps?). New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird collected a variety of more modern entries to good effect.

[Nick Vossen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like so many anthology collections, especially Lovecraftian ones, expect a mixed bag of great stories interspersed with somwhat forgettable or even plain terrible stories.

I noticed I tended to favor the stories either directly based off of Lovecraft's work or those that were merely very much influenced by it.
In particular I regarded "The Ocean and All it's Devices", "Once More from the Top" (Hell yes for some Delta Green!), "Boojum" and "The Terror from the Depths" as particularly well thought out and engaging stories. I also really liked "Take your Daughters to Work-Day" as I realized the story really stuck with me long after I had read it (I have read the first half of this anthology way back in 2015-16).

There were a handful of other great ones, but I won't cover or name them all individually.

The lesser stories were either bland horror tales that did not fit in an anthology for Cosmic horror altogether or belonged to the so-called "satirical" category but unfortunately fail to be satirical (with the exception of the midly amusing Gaiman piece at the very start). Utterly ridiculous. One particularly disastrous piece would be "A Gentleman from Mexico" which revolves around the reincarnation of H.P. Lovecraft (is this really the best idea the author could come up with?) in the body of a mexican dude called Felipé Lopéz (God, I wish I was kidding.) The only other real stinker in the anthology for me was "The Nyarlathotep Event". Both this story and "A Gentleman from Mexico" try way too hard to be Lovecraft 'meta' and funny and really fail in every sense of the word.

Fans of Lovecraft and speculative fiction (but mostly horror, will get a kick out of this anthology. There are some great reads in here.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me begin by saying that I had no idea that there was a second one of these until about 6 or 7 months ago. I read the first book in the series in 2013, so it's not as though I haven't had adequate time to stumble across it. The only reason I heard of it is because of this site. Up until August of 2023, my summer that year was quite pleasant. I spent a large part of it adding the rest of my book collection to my profile here on GoodReads. While I was adding the first book in this series, I decided to check the "Series" section on its page on a whim. I saw that it had a link and was listed as the first entry in its series, so I got excited. I clicked the link, saw there was a second book and opened a tab to Amazon where I immediately ordered this book. It was worth the decade-plus wait.

This book, like the first, is a collection of short stories written by modern authors that make heavy use of the themes, locations, and characters of H.P. Lovecraft. Like the first book, several of the authors managed stories that were either truly transformative or, at the very least, very clever in their use of Lovecraft's foundation material. My standouts in this book include "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" by Neil Gaiman, "The Big Fish" by Kim Newman, "Once More from the Top" by Adam Scott Glancy, "The Hour of the Tortoise" by Molly Tanzler, "The Nyarlathotep Event" by Jonathan Wood, "The God of Dark Laughter" by Michael Chabon, and "Hand of Glory" by Laird Barron. I know I've already broken my self-imposed format but I feel that there are so many more standouts in this book compared to the first. Gaiman's story is a short, sweet appetizer that kicks off the book and follows a young American tourist on a walking tour of Great Britain. He ends up in a strange village on the coast of Scotland and things keep getting stranger the longer he stays. At first it seems like an uncharacteristically lazy pastiche from a guy like Gaiman, but the ending is genuinely unsettling and makes you realize just how tongue-in-cheek his overuse of Lovecraftiana really was. "The Big Fish" tells of a hardboiled private detective that stumbles into eldritch entanglements while investigating a kidnapping for a client. I just love the combination of the brilliantly played up noir detective story and the creepy Lovecraft elements that suffuse the story as it goes along. "Once More from the Top" sees members of the clandestine organization of Delta Green using a cover story in order to extract more information on the U.S. Government's destructive raid on Innsmouth from one of the only surviving soldiers of that raid, who is now a very elderly and frightened man. As noted by my love of Charles Stross, I love the idea of secret agencies that deal with eldritch horrors intruding on everyday life, and I particularly love that that this take on it - written by one of the creators of Delta Green, one of the premier Lovecraft-based roleplaying properties - has a distinctly American bent to it what with its focus on military heroics and Jason Bourne-esque spy thriller flavor. Tanzer's story is a continuation of her story of the Ivybridge Twins that featured in the first volume of this series. In this case it follows a woman who has only a tangential relationship to the old manor that features heavily in the first story as she returns to that very place by the unexpected invitation of her former guardian, who is now at death's doorstep. The narrator is an absolute delight as she is a writer of pornographic stories living in the late 19th century. She has no filter and enjoys complete bodily autonomy, so her disdain of her time's views on women and sexuality is absolutely hilarious and perfectly written by Tanzer. She does a brilliant job of making you think it's one type of story but then revealing it to be another with a very clever and nasty pull of the rug near the end. I need to look into her novels at some point. "The Nyarlathotep Event" takes a page out of Stross's book by following a hidden branch of the British government that specializes in dealing with eldritch horrors and is narrated for us by a snarky dweeb that is incredibly knowledgeable but not at all built for the field work he finds himself desperately entangled in. It's very derivative of Stross but it's still a lot of fun and surprisingly frightening at times. "The God of Dark Laughter" is an account from a district attorney in a small Pennsylvania town recounting his deeply unsettling brush with the supernatural while investigating the strange murder of a clown that had quietly left a circus that had recently been in the area. I've made it very clear that I love a good mystery, and I love it even more when supernatural elements are (sparingly) connected to the case. This is one of those instances where it's really done right. My final standout is "Hand of Glory" by Laird Barron. It's a first person account from an Irishman who works as an all-around thug for a crime lord in the pacific northwest and how he ended up in the middle of a secret supernatural war. The narration is fantastic and feels like Lovecraft meets Peaky Blinders. Also like the previous book, there are a few clunkers, most notably "I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee", "The Black Brat of Dunwich" and "The Terror from the Deeps". All three stories have the same issue: over reliance on Lovecraft references with absolutely no creativity in how they're used, with the first story I mentioned having the added bonus of an equally uninspired attempt to mash up Moby Dick with Lovecraft.

This book has the same quantity of stories as the first, but it's significantly shorter thanks to many of the stories being much shorter, but I feel that that works in its favor. These stories simply feel better written than most of the first book and both books are a treasure trove of worthwhile authors to look into for those who have only recently gotten into Lovecraft and have read all his material. Two really excellent volumes here. This year I'll be interspersing my read throughs of new-to-me books in my stack with rereads of my collections of modern Lovecraft authors and the short stories of Stephen King as I was quite inspired by the incredibly rewarding Agatha Christie reread initiative that absorbed the final four months of 2023 for me. This and it's predecessor are books one and two in this new initiative.