Frontier Cthulhu: Ancient Horrors in the New World

by William Jones, Steven Gilberts (Illustrator), Lee Clark Zumpe (Contributor)

As explorers conquered the frontiers of North America, they disturbed sleeping terrors and things long forgotten by humanity. Journey into the undiscovered country where fierce Vikings struggle against monstrous abominations. Travel with European colonists as they learn of buried secrets and the creatures guarding ancient knowledge. Go west across the plains, into the territories were sorcerers dwell in demon-haunted lands, and cowboys confront cosmic horrors.

Genres: Horror, Cthulhu Mythos, Lovecraftian, Anthologies, Weird West, Short Stories

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2007

About the author

William Jones has received Bram Stoker Award nominations, International Horror Guild Award and Origins Award nominations for his works. He is the editor of several anthologies, including The Anthology of Dark Wisdom: The Best of Dark Fiction, Frontier Cthulhu: Ancient Horrors in the New World, High Seas Cthulhu, and the Horrors Beyond Series. His book, The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson was selected by Editor Ellen Datlow as a "seminal" work for readers of Lovecraftian horror. He has also written a number of role-playing game supplements, and his writings have been translated into several languages. He was worked as an engineer and a professor of English literature. He writes full time now, and lives in Michigan.

--from the author's website

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[BeerDiablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent Weird Western/Horror anthology based on Cthlulhu mythos, some stories more loosely than others and some stories better than others.

[Tarl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wild West. Cthulhu. What more could one want in a collection of stories?

When I picked this up, I was itching to get my eyes onto its pages and get down to reading this anthology. But as I started to read the pages the initial excitement I had felt slowly gave way to something else.

There are some good stories in this anthology, though not as many as I would have liked to see. Mostly, the stories are of about average quality or lower. Some of them feel like they would be better off in a Wild West anthology rather than one of Lovecraft's Mythos. (like "The Rider Of The Dark" by Darrell Schweitzer with its zombies and zombie cattle) I honestly expected better.

Though the writing is strong and the editing well done within this collection, the stories themselves just lack a lot of movement and proper pacing. "Where Men Had Seldom Trod" by Lee Clark Zumpe is possibly the best example of this. The story drags on and on with what felt like pointless filler to the story. Everything felt bogged down and the pacing stumbled time and time again. More than once I actually had to put the book down for fear of falling asleep, and more than once I almost set the entire anthology aside because of this one story.

I'm glad I didn't.

Stories such as "Snake Oil" by Matthew Baugh and "The Dead Man's Hand" by Jason Andrew are possibly the two best stories in this anthology that I can remember. The former kept the pacing moving along with the right amount of action, and the latter was short and neatly trimmed with no excess baggage to hinder the story.

But all in all, the stories in this anthology just didn't have what it took to capture my attention and interest. If you are a Lovecraft fan, I do suggest picking this up. There isn't enough genre Mythos literature and anthologies out there, so it's worth having in your collection. If you are looking for weird west material, this might be worth a look, though you are better off looking elsewhere.

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good collection of Cosmic Horror from Chaosium. The theme of this volume revolves around the American frontier, starting with early colonists, and moving to the "Wild West." Most of the stories were really good, and I don't think there was a dog in the bunch. Very much worth checking out if you want a different spin on Lovecraftian horrors.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was alright. Most were a bit predictable and too similar to each other, but maybe that was due to the narrow theme of the anthology. A few stories I really liked.

[Jay Eckard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories here -- like most Lovecraftian anthologies -- vary. In this volume, story quality varies from good to very good; there isn't much that's average or sub-average. The impression the reader is left with in one of brilliant images and (maybe) a new way of looking at the concept of "frontier."

The book's weak point is obvious, though, and depending on the type of reader, either negligible or supremely irritating. I fall in the latter. The copy editing is atrocious. There are numerous spelling and grammar mistakes throughout the book, from what are surely authorial typing slips to basic lack of research on the author's part -- for example, in one story Eleanor Dare stands on the rocky shores of the the Roanoke Colony in (present-day) North Carolina. There are no rocky shores in North Carolina, nor within five hundred miles of it, at least.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this anthology has a good story or two, for the most part it fails to live up to its potential. Lovecraftian creatures should have been perfect for the American West, lurking in the canyons, arroyos and even the open prairies in wait for that rare specimen of humanity that should cross their paths. Overall the authors in this set take poor advantage of the setting. Heck, the book’s five stories in before they even make it off the Eastern Seaboard. On the plus side, the stories manage for the most part to avoid cowboy story clichés. Though I’m not sorry I ever picked it up, it isn’t exactly the best entry in Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu Fiction series.

[Brad Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are hit and miss. None really seem to capture the Lovecraft vibe.

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. I've read worse mythos fiction. I've also read much much better.