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The Mask of Cthulhu
These are tales of horror grown from Mankind's ageless struggle between good and evil, which H.P. Lovecraft formed into his concept of the conflict between the Great Old Ones and the Ancient Ones - Hastur, Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Nyarlathotep and other ghastly beings of the Cthulhu Mythos. August Derleth absorbed the power of Lovecraft's concept and in these stories captures the very essence of terrifying macabre dread, the palpable horror of cosmic evil perpetually poised to obliterate puny mankind...
1."Introduction"
2."The Return of Hastur"
3."The Whipporwills in the Hills"
4."Something in Wood"
5."The Sandwin Compact"
6."The House in the Valley"
7."The Seal of R'lyeh"
Cover Illustration: Bruce Pennington
1."Introduction"
2."The Return of Hastur"
3."The Whipporwills in the Hills"
4."Something in Wood"
5."The Sandwin Compact"
6."The House in the Valley"
7."The Seal of R'lyeh"
Cover Illustration: Bruce Pennington
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
19 people are currently reading
1507 people want to read
About the author
August Derleth
883 books295 followersAugust William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Cosmic Horror genre, as well as his founding of the publisher Arkham House (which did much to bring supernatural fiction into print in hardcover in the US that had only been readily available in the UK), Derleth was a leading American regional writer of his day, as well as prolific in several other genres, including historical fiction, poetry, detective fiction, science fiction, and biography
A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]
A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
June 29, 2008
August Derleth saw himself as H.P. Lovecraft's natural heir, weaving his stories into the Cthulhu Mythos and incorporating the 'dreadful events in Innsmouth' and other incidents from the original corpus. At one moment, he suggests, in a fit of in-joke paranoia, that Lovecraft and others died young because they knew too much - a nice little conceit.
He has been much and rightly criticised on two grounds - for being derivative but, more seriously, for attenuating the raw cosmic horror of the original (as if he had failed to understand its essential bleakness).
He constructed a mythological fantasy of good and evil much closer to the religious tradition and to fantasy than true horror. A Sumerian would have understood his Elder Gods and Ancient Ones, whereas only a modern mind could have comprehended Lovecraft himself.
The Mask of Cthulhu, a collection of stories from Wierd Tales, stretching from 1939 to 1957, epitomises those failures and yet, perhaps, the reaction has gone too far because too much was expected of Mr. Derleth.
His early championship of his master helped to ensure that Lovecraft became a cultural phenomenon, heir to Poe in leading the American tradition of horror and influencer of popular culture. Although his writing is not great, by the standards of pulp fiction, Derleth is solid, clear and, at times, can write very well and suggestively. There is a minor and unexpected erotic charge in the final story - The Seal of R'lyeh - and the community threat to the 'hero' to The House in the Valley is well drawn.
The chief difference from Lovecraft is one of perspective. He is more likely to be 'simpatico' to the person drawn to the evil which he can treat more ambiguously as just the not-good of another - as if alien creatures have rights too. Lovecraft is determinedly judgemental. These evil forces are dominant but they are evil, or at least anti-human rather than just non-human, to Lovecraft. The alien is generally to be extirpated.
The American Government in Innsmouth would have had every right to slaughter the half-breeds whereas Derleth sometimes sees them as sentient 'others' to which he, like some of his heroes, are drawn. Abominations or just different? - Derleth's ambiguity shows a culture in change between judgementalism and relativism.
His weaknesses are intellectual and imaginative rather than purely literary and he still deserves to be remembered as the leading member of the 'School of Lovecraft'.
The stories themselves are like watching re-runs of favourite TV shows. They are comfort food for horror fans. The first stage in a process with all horror tropes that has a visceral original eventually end up with a child's cartoon or toy. From Dracula to Count Duckula and so from Innsmouth to cuddly Cthulhu knitted toys. Derleth is the first unfortunate stage in taming Lovecraft as Bela Lugosi's Count Dracula was in taming the Nosferatu.
His stories are the sort that remind you why you wish Lovecraft had lived longer and written more. As the years go by, it becomes ever clearer that the gap between Poe and Lovecraft is reflected in a gap between Lovecraft and whoever is to be the next great innovator in horror.
Sadly, it is not Stephen King (though he is another writer who is over-diminished by literary snobs) and it is not yet Thomas Ligotti who is too much in the shadow of his Master and whose corpus seems small and too out-of-the-way. Someone out there, in some American High School, is turning their Goth mind to dark matters that must be written down ... lest he go insane :-)
He has been much and rightly criticised on two grounds - for being derivative but, more seriously, for attenuating the raw cosmic horror of the original (as if he had failed to understand its essential bleakness).
He constructed a mythological fantasy of good and evil much closer to the religious tradition and to fantasy than true horror. A Sumerian would have understood his Elder Gods and Ancient Ones, whereas only a modern mind could have comprehended Lovecraft himself.
The Mask of Cthulhu, a collection of stories from Wierd Tales, stretching from 1939 to 1957, epitomises those failures and yet, perhaps, the reaction has gone too far because too much was expected of Mr. Derleth.
His early championship of his master helped to ensure that Lovecraft became a cultural phenomenon, heir to Poe in leading the American tradition of horror and influencer of popular culture. Although his writing is not great, by the standards of pulp fiction, Derleth is solid, clear and, at times, can write very well and suggestively. There is a minor and unexpected erotic charge in the final story - The Seal of R'lyeh - and the community threat to the 'hero' to The House in the Valley is well drawn.
The chief difference from Lovecraft is one of perspective. He is more likely to be 'simpatico' to the person drawn to the evil which he can treat more ambiguously as just the not-good of another - as if alien creatures have rights too. Lovecraft is determinedly judgemental. These evil forces are dominant but they are evil, or at least anti-human rather than just non-human, to Lovecraft. The alien is generally to be extirpated.
The American Government in Innsmouth would have had every right to slaughter the half-breeds whereas Derleth sometimes sees them as sentient 'others' to which he, like some of his heroes, are drawn. Abominations or just different? - Derleth's ambiguity shows a culture in change between judgementalism and relativism.
His weaknesses are intellectual and imaginative rather than purely literary and he still deserves to be remembered as the leading member of the 'School of Lovecraft'.
The stories themselves are like watching re-runs of favourite TV shows. They are comfort food for horror fans. The first stage in a process with all horror tropes that has a visceral original eventually end up with a child's cartoon or toy. From Dracula to Count Duckula and so from Innsmouth to cuddly Cthulhu knitted toys. Derleth is the first unfortunate stage in taming Lovecraft as Bela Lugosi's Count Dracula was in taming the Nosferatu.
His stories are the sort that remind you why you wish Lovecraft had lived longer and written more. As the years go by, it becomes ever clearer that the gap between Poe and Lovecraft is reflected in a gap between Lovecraft and whoever is to be the next great innovator in horror.
Sadly, it is not Stephen King (though he is another writer who is over-diminished by literary snobs) and it is not yet Thomas Ligotti who is too much in the shadow of his Master and whose corpus seems small and too out-of-the-way. Someone out there, in some American High School, is turning their Goth mind to dark matters that must be written down ... lest he go insane :-)
April 25, 2016
Me gusta August Derleth. Está claro que Derleth no es H.P. Lovecraft. Partiendo de ahí, los relatos de Derleth son muy disfrutables; pueden ser vistos como una ampliación al universo lovecraftiano, o simplemente como pastiches que abundan en esta temática. Muchos le achacan la explotación de la obra del Maestro de Providence, pero también hay que tener en cuenta que hizo todo lo posible, junto a Donald Wandrei, para que se publicase.
Derleth también acuñó el término de Mitos de Cthulhu y siguió promoviendo, como hacía Lovecraft en vida, que otros escritores contribuyesen son sus relatos a la riqueza de este universo. En cierta medida, desvirtuó la visión cósmica que tenía Lovecraft de su obra. Este escribía sobre unos seres que dominaron la Tierra hace millones de años, para desaparecer posteriormente de la mano de los Dioses Arquetípicos. Pero siguen ahí, pueden volver en cualquier momento; los seres humanos no significan nada para ellos, menos que nada; y todo aquél que intente entrar en contacto con ellos, acaba mal parado. Sin embargo, Derleth diferencia a estos seres en Buenos y Malos, como si realmente les importasen los pobres humanos. Y es aquí donde se entra en controversia. A mí personalmente, no me disgusta, y me parece interesante conocer más referencias sobre los Mitos.
En cuanto a cómo escribe Derleth, sus relatos no están tan sobrecargados en descripciones como los de Lovecraft. Su lenguaje es más llano, no es barroco como el del Maestro; están bien escritos y documentados, pero no llegan a crear esa atmósfera inquietante tan característica de Lovecraft.
Estos son los seis relatos incluidos en ‘La máscara de Cthulhu’ (The Mask of Cthulhu, 1958):
El regreso de Hastur. Haddon, el narrador, nos habla de cómo Amos Tuttle le encomendó la destrucción de su casa y todos sus libros, incluido el Necronomicón, para que no llegue a Paul, su único heredero.
Los whippoorwills de las colinas. Harrop nos narra cómo tomó posesión de la casa de su primo, que ha desaparecido en extrañas circunstancias. Poco a poco, irá descubriendo la bibliografía blasfema que leía su primo, y que le valió la animadversión de sus vecinos. Igualmente, empezará el ensordecedor piar de los pájaros, que le provocarán recurrentes pesadillas.
Una talla de madera. El protagonista le regala una estatuilla de madera, que representa a un extraño dios del mar, a su amigo Jason Wecker, músico y crítico. A partir de este momento, el comportamiento de Wecker cambiará radicalmente.
El pacto de Sandwin. Durante generaciones, los Sandwin han hecho un pacto con un Primigenio, pacto que Asa Sandwin desea romper para que no llegue a su nieto.
La casa del valle. Jefferson Bates, pintor, en busca de soledad y tranquilidad, decide alquilar una apartada casa. Al poco de llegar, se enterará del odio de los vecinos por esta propiedad, antes perteneciente a los Bishop.
El sello de R’lyeh. El protagonista, perteneciente a los Phillips, siempre ha sido alejado del mar por su familia, hasta que hereda una casa en Innsmouth. Una vez instalado, conocerá a Ada Marsh, lo que le llevará a interesarse por los escritos de Sylvan Phillips, y a descubrir de dónde procede realmente.
Derleth también acuñó el término de Mitos de Cthulhu y siguió promoviendo, como hacía Lovecraft en vida, que otros escritores contribuyesen son sus relatos a la riqueza de este universo. En cierta medida, desvirtuó la visión cósmica que tenía Lovecraft de su obra. Este escribía sobre unos seres que dominaron la Tierra hace millones de años, para desaparecer posteriormente de la mano de los Dioses Arquetípicos. Pero siguen ahí, pueden volver en cualquier momento; los seres humanos no significan nada para ellos, menos que nada; y todo aquél que intente entrar en contacto con ellos, acaba mal parado. Sin embargo, Derleth diferencia a estos seres en Buenos y Malos, como si realmente les importasen los pobres humanos. Y es aquí donde se entra en controversia. A mí personalmente, no me disgusta, y me parece interesante conocer más referencias sobre los Mitos.
En cuanto a cómo escribe Derleth, sus relatos no están tan sobrecargados en descripciones como los de Lovecraft. Su lenguaje es más llano, no es barroco como el del Maestro; están bien escritos y documentados, pero no llegan a crear esa atmósfera inquietante tan característica de Lovecraft.
Estos son los seis relatos incluidos en ‘La máscara de Cthulhu’ (The Mask of Cthulhu, 1958):
El regreso de Hastur. Haddon, el narrador, nos habla de cómo Amos Tuttle le encomendó la destrucción de su casa y todos sus libros, incluido el Necronomicón, para que no llegue a Paul, su único heredero.
Los whippoorwills de las colinas. Harrop nos narra cómo tomó posesión de la casa de su primo, que ha desaparecido en extrañas circunstancias. Poco a poco, irá descubriendo la bibliografía blasfema que leía su primo, y que le valió la animadversión de sus vecinos. Igualmente, empezará el ensordecedor piar de los pájaros, que le provocarán recurrentes pesadillas.
Una talla de madera. El protagonista le regala una estatuilla de madera, que representa a un extraño dios del mar, a su amigo Jason Wecker, músico y crítico. A partir de este momento, el comportamiento de Wecker cambiará radicalmente.
El pacto de Sandwin. Durante generaciones, los Sandwin han hecho un pacto con un Primigenio, pacto que Asa Sandwin desea romper para que no llegue a su nieto.
La casa del valle. Jefferson Bates, pintor, en busca de soledad y tranquilidad, decide alquilar una apartada casa. Al poco de llegar, se enterará del odio de los vecinos por esta propiedad, antes perteneciente a los Bishop.
El sello de R’lyeh. El protagonista, perteneciente a los Phillips, siempre ha sido alejado del mar por su familia, hasta que hereda una casa en Innsmouth. Una vez instalado, conocerá a Ada Marsh, lo que le llevará a interesarse por los escritos de Sylvan Phillips, y a descubrir de dónde procede realmente.
January 24, 2015
A collection of Lovecraftian short stories by editor supremo August Derleth that seek to build on the Cthulhu Mythos in various ways. The general consensus among Lovecraft scholars is that these are a load of tosh, and while Derleth is indeed the inferior author, I think they're a lot of fun. The stories are as follows:
THE RETURN OF HASTUR - a man moves into the home of a deceased relative and uncovers a mysterious, water-filled subterranean tunnel and a library of ancient, evil texts. Business as usual then, but the story is heavy on atmosphere and Derleth adds his own spin by depicting a cosmic battle between Hastur and Cthulhu. 4/5
THE WHIPPOORWILLS IN THE HILLS - a man moves into the home of a deceased relative and finds himself kept awake at night by the constant calling of hundreds of birds. He soon finds out that these prefigure a greater cosmic menace... Derleth seems to have seized on the mention of whippoorwills in one of the Lovecraft stories and constructed his own tale around it, but this is a bit of a lacklustre effort. The oppressive atmosphere is okay, but the curiously ineffectual climax is a letdown. 3/5
SOMETHING IN WOOD - A mysterious wooden carving spells disaster for its owner. A very short and straightforward story, I found it too predictable to enjoy it too much. Not much in the way of atmosphere, just a storyline we've seen played out too many times. Cool name-checking of Clark Ashton Smith, though. 2/5
THE SANDWIN COMPACT - A man visits his uncle and cousin in their remote household and finds the building assailed by strong winds, strange footsteps and mysterious chanting. It all adds up to a horrifying pact between human and god. Again, this is merely a straightforward re-run of various Lovecraftian themes; Innsmouth is referenced here, alongside Derleth's own addition to the Mythos, Lloigor the Wind-Walker. Not bad, but fairly forgettable. 3/5
THE HOUSE IN THE VALLEY - One of Derleth's better entries into the Lovecraftian genre, this effort sees a man moving into a newly-rented home which has the inevitable dark history involving the Deep Ones and Cthulhu himself. The horror's a little more explicit in this one, and there's less reliance on the usual Miskatonic library stuff for effect. Some of the conceits, such as the frightened neighbours laying siege to the house, are also more original. 4/5
THE SEAL OF R'LYEH - A man moves into his ancestral home in Innsmouth and soon discovers that his uncle was conducting some very strange research there. At last, a full-blooded Cthulhu adventure that ably mixes both the ominous foreboding as well as all-out monster mayhem. Definitely one of the highlights of this slim anthology. 4/5
THE RETURN OF HASTUR - a man moves into the home of a deceased relative and uncovers a mysterious, water-filled subterranean tunnel and a library of ancient, evil texts. Business as usual then, but the story is heavy on atmosphere and Derleth adds his own spin by depicting a cosmic battle between Hastur and Cthulhu. 4/5
THE WHIPPOORWILLS IN THE HILLS - a man moves into the home of a deceased relative and finds himself kept awake at night by the constant calling of hundreds of birds. He soon finds out that these prefigure a greater cosmic menace... Derleth seems to have seized on the mention of whippoorwills in one of the Lovecraft stories and constructed his own tale around it, but this is a bit of a lacklustre effort. The oppressive atmosphere is okay, but the curiously ineffectual climax is a letdown. 3/5
SOMETHING IN WOOD - A mysterious wooden carving spells disaster for its owner. A very short and straightforward story, I found it too predictable to enjoy it too much. Not much in the way of atmosphere, just a storyline we've seen played out too many times. Cool name-checking of Clark Ashton Smith, though. 2/5
THE SANDWIN COMPACT - A man visits his uncle and cousin in their remote household and finds the building assailed by strong winds, strange footsteps and mysterious chanting. It all adds up to a horrifying pact between human and god. Again, this is merely a straightforward re-run of various Lovecraftian themes; Innsmouth is referenced here, alongside Derleth's own addition to the Mythos, Lloigor the Wind-Walker. Not bad, but fairly forgettable. 3/5
THE HOUSE IN THE VALLEY - One of Derleth's better entries into the Lovecraftian genre, this effort sees a man moving into a newly-rented home which has the inevitable dark history involving the Deep Ones and Cthulhu himself. The horror's a little more explicit in this one, and there's less reliance on the usual Miskatonic library stuff for effect. Some of the conceits, such as the frightened neighbours laying siege to the house, are also more original. 4/5
THE SEAL OF R'LYEH - A man moves into his ancestral home in Innsmouth and soon discovers that his uncle was conducting some very strange research there. At last, a full-blooded Cthulhu adventure that ably mixes both the ominous foreboding as well as all-out monster mayhem. Definitely one of the highlights of this slim anthology. 4/5
July 31, 2008
No one does Lovecraft like Lovecraft, alas. But since I've pretty much exhausted that well, I gave this a try. The stories get better as they go along -- these were written over a considerable timespan and you can see Derleth improve as a storyteller and prose stylist from piece to piece -- but he never quite gets the Lovecraftian atmosphere right. Partly, I think, it's because he's an over-explainer. Lovecraft's narrators stumble on ancient horrors and don't really know anything about them, but every one of Derleth's heroes manages to acquire or borrow the entire library of banned occult books in the Lovecraft corpus and they all become experts on Derleth's version of the mythos lickety-split. And when something is explained at great length, it just stops being unnameable, unimagined horror and gets very prosaic.
The stories were originally published separately, in various issues of Weird Tales, and I'm sure they were more effective as stand-alones because they all have the same basic plot and mention the same events from Lovecraft stories. Someone rents or visits or inherits a creepy house, which turns out to have Cthulhu or one of his buddies lurking in the basement. He starts reading the banned, legendary, horrifying books that always seem to be just lying around in heaps, and gets sucked into worship or propitiation of the Ancient Ones. In almost every story, Derleth stops to trot out his revised story of the Lovecraft mythos, which does get richer and more fully thought out in the later stories.
The last of the stories is the best -- he steps far enough away from Lovecraft's originals to actually take the part of the blasphemous creatures from beyond time and space, and the result is kind of eerie and sexy and intriguing.
The stories were originally published separately, in various issues of Weird Tales, and I'm sure they were more effective as stand-alones because they all have the same basic plot and mention the same events from Lovecraft stories. Someone rents or visits or inherits a creepy house, which turns out to have Cthulhu or one of his buddies lurking in the basement. He starts reading the banned, legendary, horrifying books that always seem to be just lying around in heaps, and gets sucked into worship or propitiation of the Ancient Ones. In almost every story, Derleth stops to trot out his revised story of the Lovecraft mythos, which does get richer and more fully thought out in the later stories.
The last of the stories is the best -- he steps far enough away from Lovecraft's originals to actually take the part of the blasphemous creatures from beyond time and space, and the result is kind of eerie and sexy and intriguing.
December 27, 2025
3/5
Me gustó más la antología de La habitación cerrada. Derleth no es un escritor sobresaliente, pero entretiene. Es cierto que, sobre todo en este libro, repite mucho las ideas e incluso diría que incorpora de manera forzada constantes referencias a los mitos de Cthulhu. Me gusta sobre todo cómo resuelve sus historias, así como la ambientación a la que suele recurrir para los relatos. No termino de conectar con lo de los Dioses Arquetípicos, por lo que cuando entran en escena no me dicen mucho.
Los cuentos que más me han gustado han sido «Una talla en madera» y «El pacto de Sandwin». La conclusión del relato de la talla ha sido escalofriante. Seguiré leyendo a Derleth cuando busque algo ligero para despejar la mente.
Me gustó más la antología de La habitación cerrada. Derleth no es un escritor sobresaliente, pero entretiene. Es cierto que, sobre todo en este libro, repite mucho las ideas e incluso diría que incorpora de manera forzada constantes referencias a los mitos de Cthulhu. Me gusta sobre todo cómo resuelve sus historias, así como la ambientación a la que suele recurrir para los relatos. No termino de conectar con lo de los Dioses Arquetípicos, por lo que cuando entran en escena no me dicen mucho.
Los cuentos que más me han gustado han sido «Una talla en madera» y «El pacto de Sandwin». La conclusión del relato de la talla ha sido escalofriante. Seguiré leyendo a Derleth cuando busque algo ligero para despejar la mente.
January 9, 2017
Mediocre pastiches can potentially be impressive to new readers, but if you're familiar with the pastiched author's style you begin to see that this is not art, and the reader can perhaps visualise the author flicking through a Lovecraft story as he writes, cribbing arbitrarily an unintentional parody of that great author's style to create a jumble of gibberish purely for commercial purposes.
..but wait?
I can hear the piping of the whippoorwills outside and the gelatinous footsteps on the boards above. A knock at the door? I will not yield! I will not yield! I will not--
..but wait?
I can hear the piping of the whippoorwills outside and the gelatinous footsteps on the boards above. A knock at the door? I will not yield! I will not yield! I will not--
August 7, 2022
Everyone knows who is HP Lovecraft.Every one knows who is Edgar Allan Poe. Don't you? Poe and Lovecraft are the masters of horror. They are what other writers read and judge. I don't think that there aren't any like him. I enjoy reading Ligotti but he is too unknown. It's hard as hell to get a book by him. Of course Stephen King is the one who should sit nowadays at the throne vacant since Lovecraft removed Poe. But even Stephen King doesn't write the same way as Lovecraft. Even Derleth his protegé and most important the creator of Arkham printing company is way out of league of Lovecraft. Maybe Edward Wagner, Bloch or Brian Lumley tried to reach for the stars but they are not Lovecraft. I have yet to read every single story by him but I know a lot about Cthulhu Mythos.
Derleth changed a lot about what is called today Cthulhu Mythos. Damn, he created the term. Unfortunally he also created the Elder Gods who want to protect humankind. He also gave the Great Old Ones a counterpart of the Eldar Gods going further in the "Seal of R'lyeh" to compare Good and Evil, Christianity and Satanism duality. I don't think Lovecraft ever commented on that.
They are alien beings. They are incompreensible to us. No-one can discern what are their plans or ambitions. A mind would go blank or suffer a psychic attack if he tried to compreehend Their mind. That's why many of them go insane... isn't it?
Derleth also tried to explain a lot about the Mythos destroying (in my humble opinion) what Lovecraft expected to achieve. There are 6 stories... now look at the plots and characters.
-Every single story is told in the first person point of view;
-In the first story a man inherits a house full of occult books and his curiosity made him realize the full extend of Cthulhu mythos. The same happened in the second story, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth stories;
-It's always male characters. Besides the last story and the second where woman talk on the phone constantly there aren't any woman in it.
-In the first story our main character dies (not the one telling the narrative).
-The Second story our main character goes insane
-The Third disappears (again it's not the one telling the story)
-The Fourth disappears (again it's not the one telling the story)
~The Fifth our main character goes insane
-The Sixth disappears to serve Cthulhu alongside his wife and child
The references of the books are always the same. In each story we get the mention of the same books over and over again
- Necronomicon
- De Vermis Mysteriis
- Cultes de Ghoules
- Unaussprechlichen Kulten
- Book of Eibon
- Pnakotic Manuscripts
- R'lyeh Text
And of course each tale has the most famous phrase by HP Lovecraft
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn..."
"In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming..."
I would advice to anyone who wants to dwell more on the Cthulhu mythos but only after reading HP Lovecraft stories.
There is also a comic reference that Lovecraft and two other writer friends dissappeared or were killed becasue they knew too much.
Derleth changed a lot about what is called today Cthulhu Mythos. Damn, he created the term. Unfortunally he also created the Elder Gods who want to protect humankind. He also gave the Great Old Ones a counterpart of the Eldar Gods going further in the "Seal of R'lyeh" to compare Good and Evil, Christianity and Satanism duality. I don't think Lovecraft ever commented on that.
They are alien beings. They are incompreensible to us. No-one can discern what are their plans or ambitions. A mind would go blank or suffer a psychic attack if he tried to compreehend Their mind. That's why many of them go insane... isn't it?
Derleth also tried to explain a lot about the Mythos destroying (in my humble opinion) what Lovecraft expected to achieve. There are 6 stories... now look at the plots and characters.
-Every single story is told in the first person point of view;
-In the first story a man inherits a house full of occult books and his curiosity made him realize the full extend of Cthulhu mythos. The same happened in the second story, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth stories;
-It's always male characters. Besides the last story and the second where woman talk on the phone constantly there aren't any woman in it.
-In the first story our main character dies (not the one telling the narrative).
-The Second story our main character goes insane
-The Third disappears (again it's not the one telling the story)
-The Fourth disappears (again it's not the one telling the story)
~The Fifth our main character goes insane
-The Sixth disappears to serve Cthulhu alongside his wife and child
The references of the books are always the same. In each story we get the mention of the same books over and over again
- Necronomicon
- De Vermis Mysteriis
- Cultes de Ghoules
- Unaussprechlichen Kulten
- Book of Eibon
- Pnakotic Manuscripts
- R'lyeh Text
And of course each tale has the most famous phrase by HP Lovecraft
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn..."
"In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming..."
I would advice to anyone who wants to dwell more on the Cthulhu mythos but only after reading HP Lovecraft stories.
There is also a comic reference that Lovecraft and two other writer friends dissappeared or were killed becasue they knew too much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2021
En estos tiempos lo llamaríamos fan fiction. El autor fundó Arkham House y fue el primer editor de H.P. Lovecraft (aunque ahora deduzco que no editó demasiado), adoraba los Mitos de Cthulhu y todo en lo que se basaron, y sus obras expandieron este universo y el subgénero del Horror Cósmico.
Por desgracia, en ninguno de estos relatos encontramos el genio estilístico de Lovecraft, rico en insinuaciones y metáforas, sino una enumeración continua (muy continua) de referencias ametralladas de familias de personajes, oscuros tomos, incognoscibles seres que habitan otras constelaciones, y otros elementos incluidos a cascoporro con escaso gusto y abundante epíteto. Es como si hubiera apuntado los nombres propios incluidos en cada relato original de los Mitos y los hubiera incluido seguidos en cada uno de los suyos sin pararse a pensar si la fuerza residía ahí o en otros elementos. Pista: lo segundo.
Espero que se me entienda cuando digo que, como ejemplo de literatura pulp, bastante mejor que la de Lovecraft. Y que la traducción se hiciera en castellano dequeísta tampoco ha mejorado el conjunto.
Por desgracia, en ninguno de estos relatos encontramos el genio estilístico de Lovecraft, rico en insinuaciones y metáforas, sino una enumeración continua (muy continua) de referencias ametralladas de familias de personajes, oscuros tomos, incognoscibles seres que habitan otras constelaciones, y otros elementos incluidos a cascoporro con escaso gusto y abundante epíteto. Es como si hubiera apuntado los nombres propios incluidos en cada relato original de los Mitos y los hubiera incluido seguidos en cada uno de los suyos sin pararse a pensar si la fuerza residía ahí o en otros elementos. Pista: lo segundo.
Espero que se me entienda cuando digo que, como ejemplo de literatura pulp, bastante mejor que la de Lovecraft. Y que la traducción se hiciera en castellano dequeísta tampoco ha mejorado el conjunto.
December 27, 2022
Each of these stories is perfectly readable, quite atmospheric, and rife with detail and foreboding. I'm not wild about Derleth's dichotomous approach to Lovecraft's mythos, but at least he creates sympathetic and capable characters, keen on investigation and putting things right.
Published individually over many years, these must have seemed satisfactory replacements for Lovecraft's passing (and they are), but read as a whole it's clear that—aside from adding his religious beliefs to what was essentially an unknowable and dread-filled universe—most of these tales are exactly the same story template repeated over and again.
Published individually over many years, these must have seemed satisfactory replacements for Lovecraft's passing (and they are), but read as a whole it's clear that—aside from adding his religious beliefs to what was essentially an unknowable and dread-filled universe—most of these tales are exactly the same story template repeated over and again.
September 30, 2017
Not a review, but more my notes and thoughts as I read each story.
"The Return of Hastur" - "He Who Is Not To Be Named"
"The Whipporwills in the Hills" - The human body and mind can tolerate only so much before oblivion comes, and with oblivion that night came a dream-structure of unutterable power and terror. I dreamed I was in a far place, a place of vast monolithic buildings, inhabited not by men, but by beings apart from the wildest imagination of men, a land of great unknown tree ferns, of Calamites and Sigillaria surrounding the fantastic buildings of that place, of fearsome forests of trees and other growths belonging to no known terrestrial place.
Not quite the exuberant purple prose of Lovecraft, but still a lot of fun. Add to that some rural Great Old Ones madness, heightened by the cacophony of the whipperwills' call and the sheer gossipy fun of a rural party line as the neighbors and their cows get eviscerated. This one was lots of fun.
"Something in Wood" - Apparently I was so impressed with this one, I promptly fell asleep and forgot it. Hmmm
"The Sandwin Compact" - I was awake for this one, a story of the Sandwin house on the hill, set off from the main road between Arkham and Innsmouth. Uncle Asa, owner of the Sandwin house, apparently has that frog-like Innsmouth appearance. Oh, and there's lots of whipporwills in this one, too.
he
"The House in the Valley" - a man rents a house for a few months and quickly discovers that the house's prior owner had a predilection for digging underground tunnels and calling upon Cthulu. Livestock and a few locals go missing before the cops get involved. Nicely done.
"The Seal of R'lyeh" - another Cthulu story with another narrator who finds an underground passage to the sea. This one, however, is my favorite story in the book. Lovecraft made the Philips and the Marshes infamous in their devotion to the Great Old Ones, particularly Cthulu. Here, our narrator is a landlubbing Phillips who has returned to his ancestral home and meets Ada Marsh. This Cthulu-loving couple adds an unusual and sensual element to these stories, as evidenced by this passage:
Ada flashed ahead of me, and I followed. I was swift, but she was swifter. No more the slow walk across the oceans floor, now only the propulsion of arms and legs that were seemingly made for the water, and the surging, triumphant joy of swimming so, without constraint, towards some goal I knew dimly I was meant to reach. Ada led the way, and I followed, while above us, beyond the water, the sun sank westwards, and the day ended, the last light withdrew down the west, and the sickle moon shone in the afterglow.
Not quite Lovecraft, but good in its own style. Not quite Lovecraft, but August Derleth is the man. This last story made me a convert.
"The Return of Hastur" - "He Who Is Not To Be Named"
"The Whipporwills in the Hills" - The human body and mind can tolerate only so much before oblivion comes, and with oblivion that night came a dream-structure of unutterable power and terror. I dreamed I was in a far place, a place of vast monolithic buildings, inhabited not by men, but by beings apart from the wildest imagination of men, a land of great unknown tree ferns, of Calamites and Sigillaria surrounding the fantastic buildings of that place, of fearsome forests of trees and other growths belonging to no known terrestrial place.
Not quite the exuberant purple prose of Lovecraft, but still a lot of fun. Add to that some rural Great Old Ones madness, heightened by the cacophony of the whipperwills' call and the sheer gossipy fun of a rural party line as the neighbors and their cows get eviscerated. This one was lots of fun.
"Something in Wood" - Apparently I was so impressed with this one, I promptly fell asleep and forgot it. Hmmm
"The Sandwin Compact" - I was awake for this one, a story of the Sandwin house on the hill, set off from the main road between Arkham and Innsmouth. Uncle Asa, owner of the Sandwin house, apparently has that frog-like Innsmouth appearance. Oh, and there's lots of whipporwills in this one, too.
he
"The House in the Valley" - a man rents a house for a few months and quickly discovers that the house's prior owner had a predilection for digging underground tunnels and calling upon Cthulu. Livestock and a few locals go missing before the cops get involved. Nicely done.
"The Seal of R'lyeh" - another Cthulu story with another narrator who finds an underground passage to the sea. This one, however, is my favorite story in the book. Lovecraft made the Philips and the Marshes infamous in their devotion to the Great Old Ones, particularly Cthulu. Here, our narrator is a landlubbing Phillips who has returned to his ancestral home and meets Ada Marsh. This Cthulu-loving couple adds an unusual and sensual element to these stories, as evidenced by this passage:
Ada flashed ahead of me, and I followed. I was swift, but she was swifter. No more the slow walk across the oceans floor, now only the propulsion of arms and legs that were seemingly made for the water, and the surging, triumphant joy of swimming so, without constraint, towards some goal I knew dimly I was meant to reach. Ada led the way, and I followed, while above us, beyond the water, the sun sank westwards, and the day ended, the last light withdrew down the west, and the sickle moon shone in the afterglow.
Not quite Lovecraft, but good in its own style. Not quite Lovecraft, but August Derleth is the man. This last story made me a convert.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2016
Los mitos cosmogónicos de Cthulhu, que explicarían el origen de la creación desde un punto de vista muy singular, con extrañas entidades envueltas en violentas luchas intestinas por el control del universo, y con la Tierra como escenario del exilio de malvados seres, nació en la fecunda imaginación de H. P. Lovecraft.
Pero sus textos calaron tanto en sus lectores, que pronto vieron la luz diferentes discípulos que, tanto en vida del maestro como después de su fallecimiento, siguieron su senda y mantuvieron con vida la mitología lovecraftiana por medio de nuevos relatos.
Uno de los alumnos más aventajados del genial Lovecraft, recomendado a la vez por ese otro maestro del terror que es Stephen King, es el escritor August Derleth, amigo personal de H. P. De su mano nacieron varios libros de relatos que continúan la labor de su preceptor.
Uno de esos libros es "La máscara de Cthulhu", publicado en 1958. La obra recoge seis relatos cargados de ingredientes que despiertan la inquietud y el miedo en aquellos que se adentran en sus historias, todas ellas relacionadas con seres humanos que, por una u otra circunstancia, se convirtieron en receptores de la enorme maldad de los secuaces de Cthulhu, o de la propia bestia anfibia que descansa bajo el mar, durmiendo su muerte, esperando el momento de despertar.
Pero sus textos calaron tanto en sus lectores, que pronto vieron la luz diferentes discípulos que, tanto en vida del maestro como después de su fallecimiento, siguieron su senda y mantuvieron con vida la mitología lovecraftiana por medio de nuevos relatos.
Uno de los alumnos más aventajados del genial Lovecraft, recomendado a la vez por ese otro maestro del terror que es Stephen King, es el escritor August Derleth, amigo personal de H. P. De su mano nacieron varios libros de relatos que continúan la labor de su preceptor.
Uno de esos libros es "La máscara de Cthulhu", publicado en 1958. La obra recoge seis relatos cargados de ingredientes que despiertan la inquietud y el miedo en aquellos que se adentran en sus historias, todas ellas relacionadas con seres humanos que, por una u otra circunstancia, se convirtieron en receptores de la enorme maldad de los secuaces de Cthulhu, o de la propia bestia anfibia que descansa bajo el mar, durmiendo su muerte, esperando el momento de despertar.
September 4, 2019
Γιατί το έκανα αυτό; Χμ. Μάλλον για ψυχαναγκαστικούς λόγους, αλλά το πιο πιθανό για λόγους συλλεκτικούς... Τα διηγήματα εδώ ακολουθούν ένα άααααλο κλασσικό κι αγαπημένο του Ντέρλεθ μοτίβο, εκείνο του αθώου ήρωα που κληρονομεί ένα παράξενο σπίτι, τον εχθρεύονται οι γείτονες, μαθαίνει γα τις παράξενες έρευνες του συγγενή του από τον οποίο το κληρονόμησε και στο τέλος τον βρίσκουν εννιά φορές στις δέκα πάνω από έναν σκοτωμένο άνθρωπο, την ώρα που του μασουλίζει την καρωτίδα. Αχούμ-χουμ, συγγνώμη για το χασμουρητό, αλλά μετά την τρίτη επανάληψη γίνεται πολύ βαρεζζζζζζ...
May 26, 2015
Yeah, yeah, I know, minds says that this is four stars maximum. But I was so, so happy to read new creepy stories about Cthulhu that managed to ignore that retcons which Derlecht did to Lovecraft's original creation. You know, Lovecraft's works give you an itching from the teases of cosmic horrors and ancient mysteries. Derleht give you the opportunity to scratch that itching. For that, he deserves five stars!
December 15, 2021
No i moi mili zapoznałem się z tym zbiorem opowiadanek takich sobie lekko horror owych i lekko fantasy, ale sympatyczna to była znajomość.
Wiadomo, klasycznie są opowiadania lepsze i słabsze, ale nie będziemy sobie tutaj każdego analizować, dekapitować literacko czy intelektualnie, bo my nie pójdziemy tą drogą.
Na pewno nie brakuje tutaj klimatu Lovecrafta, bo ten jest wyczuwalny aż nadto. Jednak Darleth to nie Lovecraft więc nie jest to dokładnie to samo, ale nikt chyba na to nie liczyło, bo ciężko, żeby wszystko było kopiowane 1:1 jak kawa w McDonalds, tam jest fatalna i zawsze można mieć pewność, że taka będzie (już lepiej pić wodę po kąpieli nietoperza), chociaż moim zdaniem styl Darletha jest nieco łatwiejszy do przyswojenia, ale to moje zdanie i wiadomo, że jest najmojsze. Myśle, że czytając po zmroku ci co wrażliwsi będą mieć tak zwane ciary mary.
Doskwierała mi pewna monotonnia i powtarzalność opowiadań, do tego niestety ciągłe wymienianie ksiąg i bogów to nie jest dla mnie rozsądna opcja, to trochę jakbym sobie zamawiał burgera, tylko wiecie takiego dobrego, bo niedobrego to bez sensu zamawiać, a tam mi wymieniają w menu, którym lotem i skąd przyleciała wołowina, jaki Zenek na której grządce zbierał pomidory i czy wcześniej nie pracował przy zdzieraniu azbestu no i tak dalej moi mili…
Jeśli miałbym wybrać najlepsze opowiadanie, to chyba byłaby to „Rzecz z drewna”, które ciekawie obrazuje przemianę pewnego krytykującego łobuza, ale to sobie sami przeczytajcie.
Powiadam Wam moi mili, że fani Lovecrafta będą usatysfakcjonowani tą pozycją i będą się w niej zaczytywać i tak dalej…
Wiadomo, klasycznie są opowiadania lepsze i słabsze, ale nie będziemy sobie tutaj każdego analizować, dekapitować literacko czy intelektualnie, bo my nie pójdziemy tą drogą.
Na pewno nie brakuje tutaj klimatu Lovecrafta, bo ten jest wyczuwalny aż nadto. Jednak Darleth to nie Lovecraft więc nie jest to dokładnie to samo, ale nikt chyba na to nie liczyło, bo ciężko, żeby wszystko było kopiowane 1:1 jak kawa w McDonalds, tam jest fatalna i zawsze można mieć pewność, że taka będzie (już lepiej pić wodę po kąpieli nietoperza), chociaż moim zdaniem styl Darletha jest nieco łatwiejszy do przyswojenia, ale to moje zdanie i wiadomo, że jest najmojsze. Myśle, że czytając po zmroku ci co wrażliwsi będą mieć tak zwane ciary mary.
Doskwierała mi pewna monotonnia i powtarzalność opowiadań, do tego niestety ciągłe wymienianie ksiąg i bogów to nie jest dla mnie rozsądna opcja, to trochę jakbym sobie zamawiał burgera, tylko wiecie takiego dobrego, bo niedobrego to bez sensu zamawiać, a tam mi wymieniają w menu, którym lotem i skąd przyleciała wołowina, jaki Zenek na której grządce zbierał pomidory i czy wcześniej nie pracował przy zdzieraniu azbestu no i tak dalej moi mili…
Jeśli miałbym wybrać najlepsze opowiadanie, to chyba byłaby to „Rzecz z drewna”, które ciekawie obrazuje przemianę pewnego krytykującego łobuza, ale to sobie sami przeczytajcie.
Powiadam Wam moi mili, że fani Lovecrafta będą usatysfakcjonowani tą pozycją i będą się w niej zaczytywać i tak dalej…
December 20, 2022
August Derleth was the Keeper of the Flame. H P Lovecraft died a relatively unknown and obscure writer-he might have remained so but for Derleth’s nigh obsessive promotion of his works. Today Lovecraft’s fiction has spawned (you see what I did there) countless movies, comics, games and TV and film productions. I wonder what H P would have thought.
Derleth also wrote many a tale of his own featuring Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos as a central plot point. (Lovecraft kindly invited others to play in his sandbox.) I remember reading and enjoying some of those when I was a teen. But as Thomas Wolfe wrote you can’t go home again.
Which brings us in roundabout fashion to Derleth’s The Mask of Cthulhu. This is a collection of six stories. I found them to be slavish imitations of Lovecraft’s tales, down to borrowing far too many plot points. I always knew exactly where these stories were going. I think reading this type of fiction is a form of calculated nostalgia on my part. I want the same feeling I got when I first read Lovecraft’s The Outsider or The Lurking Fear or The Statement of Randolph Carter (and so many others.)
Not happening. But I keep looking. Three stars-if you are out of Lovecraft stories to read these might tide you over.
Derleth also wrote many a tale of his own featuring Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos as a central plot point. (Lovecraft kindly invited others to play in his sandbox.) I remember reading and enjoying some of those when I was a teen. But as Thomas Wolfe wrote you can’t go home again.
Which brings us in roundabout fashion to Derleth’s The Mask of Cthulhu. This is a collection of six stories. I found them to be slavish imitations of Lovecraft’s tales, down to borrowing far too many plot points. I always knew exactly where these stories were going. I think reading this type of fiction is a form of calculated nostalgia on my part. I want the same feeling I got when I first read Lovecraft’s The Outsider or The Lurking Fear or The Statement of Randolph Carter (and so many others.)
Not happening. But I keep looking. Three stars-if you are out of Lovecraft stories to read these might tide you over.
August 11, 2020
Wygląda na to ze mitologia Cthulhu bez specyficznego stylu Lovecrafta jest dość błaha. August Derleth troche namieszał jeżeli chodzi o koncepcje grozy. Nie potrafi on budować napięcia już w trakcie opowiadań sugerując nam zakończenie. Lovecraft napisał esej o tym jak powinny być skonstruowane opowiadania grozy, można go znaleźć w ,,Koszmary i Fantazje'' wydanych po polsku. Opowiadania Derletcha są zaprzeczeniem tego eseju. Nie są jakieś fatalne ale kompletnie nie budzą u mnie ciekawości i nie wzbudzają emocji. Chyba najgorsze jest pierwsze opowiadanie gdzie mamy pojedynek przedwiecznych przypominajacy starcie Godzilli vs Mecha-Godzilli.
Jeżeli chodzi o wydanie to jest wspaniałe. Wydawnictwo IX odstawiło kawał solidnej roboty. Miłym gratisem jest zakładka. Bardzo praktyczne.
Sam zbiór traktuję jako literacko/historyczna ciekawostkę z którą mimo wszystko warto się zapoznać z uwagi na wkład Augusta Derletha w literaturę grozy i promowanie Lovecrafta.
Jeżeli chodzi o wydanie to jest wspaniałe. Wydawnictwo IX odstawiło kawał solidnej roboty. Miłym gratisem jest zakładka. Bardzo praktyczne.
Sam zbiór traktuję jako literacko/historyczna ciekawostkę z którą mimo wszystko warto się zapoznać z uwagi na wkład Augusta Derletha w literaturę grozy i promowanie Lovecrafta.
February 26, 2021
A bit repetitive and formulaic as some others have said but its enjoyable like a lower budget version of something I enjoy (Lovecraft). A few stories werent bad and there were some good moments.
January 13, 2014
Just a point of clarification: The book "The Mask of Cthulhu" is actually a sub-book of "Quest for Cthulhu", both of which are a series of short stories inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's own stories. The breakdown is:
Quest for Cthulhu
1) The Mask of Cthulhu
A) The Return of Hastur
B) The Whippoorwills in the HIlls
C) Something in Wood
D) The Sandwin Compact
E) The House in the Valley
F) The Seal of R'lyeh
2) The Trail of Cthulhu
A) The House on Curwin Street
B) The Watcher from the Sky
C) The Gorge Beyond Salapunco
D) The Keeper of the Key
E) The Black Island
Let me begin by being positive and saying a Thank You to August Derleth for his work in preserving HPL's legacy.
Now that that is out of the way, let me be clear: August Derleth is a TERRIBLE author and his Lovecraft-inspired writings are absolute RUBBISH next to HPL. I can do no better than quote Clark Ashton Smith, who told Derleth in a very pointed letter:
"you have tried to work in too much of the Lovecraft mythology and have not assimilated it into the natural body of the story."
That simple sentence alone describes EVERY mythos-based story in this entire book. Derleth has no subtlety. Whereas HPL would build up a story, and sprinkle a little mythos around, building up suspense and terror, Derleth instead BLUDGEONS the reader with name dropping. Every story mentions at least a half dozen to a dozen of the Great Old Ones. Every villain seems to have every book ever mentioned by HPL. Was there some sort of mass paperback offering?
Further abominations by Derleth, in simple list form:
1) He treats HPL as a character in his stories. This trick is a MAJOR distraction. It would be like an author writing a follow-on to the Harry Potter stories mentioning JK Rowling as a character. It DOES NOT WORK.
2) He makes up a nonsensical "elemental" categorization of the Great Old Ones. Cthulhu is suddenly a "water elemental" and Hastur an "air elemental". Lovecraft has NONE of this in his stories.
3) He confuses the Great Old Ones and the Other (nee "Outer") Gods. Blasphemy!
4) He counts Dholes as some sort of servitor race when HPL himself mentions them only as the enormous worm creatures in the underworld of the Dreamlands
Etc etc etc.
If you are looking for good fiction that is true to the spirit and style of H.P. Lovecraft then you should avoid Derleth at all costs.
Quest for Cthulhu
1) The Mask of Cthulhu
A) The Return of Hastur
B) The Whippoorwills in the HIlls
C) Something in Wood
D) The Sandwin Compact
E) The House in the Valley
F) The Seal of R'lyeh
2) The Trail of Cthulhu
A) The House on Curwin Street
B) The Watcher from the Sky
C) The Gorge Beyond Salapunco
D) The Keeper of the Key
E) The Black Island
Let me begin by being positive and saying a Thank You to August Derleth for his work in preserving HPL's legacy.
Now that that is out of the way, let me be clear: August Derleth is a TERRIBLE author and his Lovecraft-inspired writings are absolute RUBBISH next to HPL. I can do no better than quote Clark Ashton Smith, who told Derleth in a very pointed letter:
"you have tried to work in too much of the Lovecraft mythology and have not assimilated it into the natural body of the story."
That simple sentence alone describes EVERY mythos-based story in this entire book. Derleth has no subtlety. Whereas HPL would build up a story, and sprinkle a little mythos around, building up suspense and terror, Derleth instead BLUDGEONS the reader with name dropping. Every story mentions at least a half dozen to a dozen of the Great Old Ones. Every villain seems to have every book ever mentioned by HPL. Was there some sort of mass paperback offering?
Further abominations by Derleth, in simple list form:
1) He treats HPL as a character in his stories. This trick is a MAJOR distraction. It would be like an author writing a follow-on to the Harry Potter stories mentioning JK Rowling as a character. It DOES NOT WORK.
2) He makes up a nonsensical "elemental" categorization of the Great Old Ones. Cthulhu is suddenly a "water elemental" and Hastur an "air elemental". Lovecraft has NONE of this in his stories.
3) He confuses the Great Old Ones and the Other (nee "Outer") Gods. Blasphemy!
4) He counts Dholes as some sort of servitor race when HPL himself mentions them only as the enormous worm creatures in the underworld of the Dreamlands
Etc etc etc.
If you are looking for good fiction that is true to the spirit and style of H.P. Lovecraft then you should avoid Derleth at all costs.
July 11, 2013
A quick run down of every story in this collection:
I arrive at the house of some long dead/estranged/missing relative. The neighbours hate and fear the house, and don't trust me. When I poke around, I find the secret occult library with every book H.P. Lovecraft ever mentioned in his stories. Somebody/something dies, and all eyes turn to me. I know not why.
I have dreams about Cthulhu.
When I awaken, I find those dreams are real!!!!
The end.
Maybe I should have written ***SPOILER ALERT!!!*** across the top of this review.
I arrive at the house of some long dead/estranged/missing relative. The neighbours hate and fear the house, and don't trust me. When I poke around, I find the secret occult library with every book H.P. Lovecraft ever mentioned in his stories. Somebody/something dies, and all eyes turn to me. I know not why.
I have dreams about Cthulhu.
When I awaken, I find those dreams are real!!!!
The end.
Maybe I should have written ***SPOILER ALERT!!!*** across the top of this review.
March 26, 2010
so derleth is clearly not lovecraft, but i still mostly enjoyed reading these stories..i don't really remember the first few all that well, as he tends to use the same story structure in each one..they all kinda blend together. However, The House In The Valley and The Seal of R'yleh both deviate enough from the formula to be compelling additions to the HPL mythos.
June 22, 2009
Six Cthulhu mythos stories by August Derleth, and they aren't bad. Probably includes the best ones he did in the mythos. Includes "The Whippoorwills in the Hills," and "The Return of Hastur."
Pretty good stuff.
Pretty good stuff.
February 16, 2016
Stories based on the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. I enjoyed these much more than the original works. Recommended
April 21, 2019
Muy mediocre como es habitual en el autor.
September 11, 2021
A collection of Cthulhu mythos stories not quite the caliber of Lovecraft's writing but still enjoyable if you like Lovecraft's work.
October 19, 2022
Właśnie skończyłem pierwszy tom opowiadań człowieka, dzięki któremu teksty i motywy Lovecrafta trafiły do popkultury.
Zbiór składa się z sześciu opowiadań Derletha i posłowia Mikołaja Kołyszki. Jeśli miałbym jak najkrócej określić te historie, to nazwałbym je fanficami. I to takimi raczej średnimi. Autor śmiało korzysta z motywów stworzonych i wykorzystywanych przez Samotnika z Providence (na szczęście z wyłączeniem motywów rasistowskich), ale robi to jednak niezbyt umiejętnie, bardzo szybko wpadając w sztampę (z której wybija się opowiadanie "Rzecz z drewna", jak dla mnie najlepsze ze zbioru). Praktycznie w każdym opowiadaniu dostajemy wyliczankę kolejnych zakazanych tomów (jak "Necronomicon", "Manuskrypty Pnakotyczne", "Cultes des Ghouls" itd.) czy Wielkich Przedwiecznych. W oryginalnych historiach Lovecrafta pojawiały się rzadko, a ich pojawienie się pokazywało, że shit gone serious.
Inny zarzut to to co Derleth zrobił z "mitologią Cthulhu" (termin nota bene jego autorstwa). Oryginalnie Wielcy Przedwieczni byli istotami tak potężnymi i obcymi, że ludzie byli w porównaniu do nich jak mrówki w porównaniu do człowieka. Derleth wprowadził i budował dalej mitologię w oparciu o klasyczny/sztampowy podział na dobro i zło (najpewniej inspirowany katolicyzmem autora), gdzie zło reprezentowali Wielcy Przedwieczni, a dobro Starsi Bogowie. Średnio to kupuję i o wiele bardziej pasuje mi oryginalne podejście Lovecrafta.
Więcej na temat Derletha i kontrowersji jakie go otaczały i wciąż otaczają można przeczytać w posłowiu Mikołaja Kołyszki. Autor pozwalał sobie na naprawdę dużo, za co wielu fanów ma do niego żal (wliczając w to badacza i biografa Lovecrafta, S.T. Joshi'ego). Z drugiej strony, jak zauważa Kołyszka, gdyby nie on, najpewniej nikt by nie usłyszał o Wielkich Przedwiecznych, a Cthulhu i jego pobratymcy nie zagościliby na stałe w popkulturze. To właśnie Derleth obrał sobie za cel ocalić od zapomnienia twórczość swojego korespondencyjnego przyjaciela - ostatecznie założył nawet wydawnictwo (do którego musiał zresztą dopłacać), żeby publikować jego teksty i podtrzymywać zainteresowanie nimi.
Jeżeli ktoś chce sobie wyrobić własne zdanie o tekstach Derletha, myślę że można przeczytać. Mimo wszystko nie są do niczego, a posłowie ciekawie przybliża postać autora. Przed sobą mam jeszcze drugi zbiór Derletha, więc będę miał porównanie jak tam sobie poradził.
Zbiór składa się z sześciu opowiadań Derletha i posłowia Mikołaja Kołyszki. Jeśli miałbym jak najkrócej określić te historie, to nazwałbym je fanficami. I to takimi raczej średnimi. Autor śmiało korzysta z motywów stworzonych i wykorzystywanych przez Samotnika z Providence (na szczęście z wyłączeniem motywów rasistowskich), ale robi to jednak niezbyt umiejętnie, bardzo szybko wpadając w sztampę (z której wybija się opowiadanie "Rzecz z drewna", jak dla mnie najlepsze ze zbioru). Praktycznie w każdym opowiadaniu dostajemy wyliczankę kolejnych zakazanych tomów (jak "Necronomicon", "Manuskrypty Pnakotyczne", "Cultes des Ghouls" itd.) czy Wielkich Przedwiecznych. W oryginalnych historiach Lovecrafta pojawiały się rzadko, a ich pojawienie się pokazywało, że shit gone serious.
Inny zarzut to to co Derleth zrobił z "mitologią Cthulhu" (termin nota bene jego autorstwa). Oryginalnie Wielcy Przedwieczni byli istotami tak potężnymi i obcymi, że ludzie byli w porównaniu do nich jak mrówki w porównaniu do człowieka. Derleth wprowadził i budował dalej mitologię w oparciu o klasyczny/sztampowy podział na dobro i zło (najpewniej inspirowany katolicyzmem autora), gdzie zło reprezentowali Wielcy Przedwieczni, a dobro Starsi Bogowie. Średnio to kupuję i o wiele bardziej pasuje mi oryginalne podejście Lovecrafta.
Więcej na temat Derletha i kontrowersji jakie go otaczały i wciąż otaczają można przeczytać w posłowiu Mikołaja Kołyszki. Autor pozwalał sobie na naprawdę dużo, za co wielu fanów ma do niego żal (wliczając w to badacza i biografa Lovecrafta, S.T. Joshi'ego). Z drugiej strony, jak zauważa Kołyszka, gdyby nie on, najpewniej nikt by nie usłyszał o Wielkich Przedwiecznych, a Cthulhu i jego pobratymcy nie zagościliby na stałe w popkulturze. To właśnie Derleth obrał sobie za cel ocalić od zapomnienia twórczość swojego korespondencyjnego przyjaciela - ostatecznie założył nawet wydawnictwo (do którego musiał zresztą dopłacać), żeby publikować jego teksty i podtrzymywać zainteresowanie nimi.
Jeżeli ktoś chce sobie wyrobić własne zdanie o tekstach Derletha, myślę że można przeczytać. Mimo wszystko nie są do niczego, a posłowie ciekawie przybliża postać autora. Przed sobą mam jeszcze drugi zbiór Derletha, więc będę miał porównanie jak tam sobie poradził.
October 24, 2025
(3.5 stars) Not to repeat what most other readers have written, but these are indeed slavish imitations of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories. They don't pretend to be anything but. I found them for the most part creepy fun. But they are repetitious. They wouldn't have felt that way when originally published, over the space of some fifteen years, but collected in one volume, you can see how Derleth followed a template inspired by Lovecraft. Generally, a narrator moves into the house of a dead relative, discovers a library of evil works, and begins to feel obsessed with the stories he reads of ancient and dark gods and creatures. It usually ends in some degree of madness.
Derleth is not the stylist that Lovecraft was, but if you don't mind Lovecraft lite, these stories will do. Their plotlines are a bit more simple and obvious than most of Lovecraft's but that's not really a bad thing. Each story contains paragraphs of names from Lovecraft, and get ready to see some words and ideas repeated constantly, not just Cthulhu and Devil's Reef and Innsmouth, but "susurrus" and "batrachian" and great sloshing footsteps. The most interesting one is the last one, "The Seal of R'lyeh" because it does add something new to the mythos. "The Whippoorwills in the Hills" has a very creepy atmosphere. Derleth ends most of his stories with entire paragraphs in what I think of as scare italics, almost like he's parodying Lovecraft. I read all six stories in four night, but because of the repetition, they might be best spread out over a few weeks.
Derleth is not the stylist that Lovecraft was, but if you don't mind Lovecraft lite, these stories will do. Their plotlines are a bit more simple and obvious than most of Lovecraft's but that's not really a bad thing. Each story contains paragraphs of names from Lovecraft, and get ready to see some words and ideas repeated constantly, not just Cthulhu and Devil's Reef and Innsmouth, but "susurrus" and "batrachian" and great sloshing footsteps. The most interesting one is the last one, "The Seal of R'lyeh" because it does add something new to the mythos. "The Whippoorwills in the Hills" has a very creepy atmosphere. Derleth ends most of his stories with entire paragraphs in what I think of as scare italics, almost like he's parodying Lovecraft. I read all six stories in four night, but because of the repetition, they might be best spread out over a few weeks.
November 20, 2022
The three stars is maybe a bit generous only earned as I am a big fan of the cosmic horror genre, it probably deserves a 2 stars to be honest.
The 6 short stories are all classic cosmic horror fare. However they seem badly served if read one after the other as they are ultimately very similar in themes and even events.
It seems obvious that August Derleth is a huge fan of the deep ones from Lovevraft's original stories and they appear in almost every story within this book. It also begins to be hard to be surprised or unnerved by yet another distant relation or isolated local with large eyes and a thin lipped mouth after the third time. The prevalence of strange massive sounds beneath houses also becomes predictable after the second time.
That being said the book does have its moments 'something in wood' has its moments due to the sheer weirdness of events, but it is 'the house in the valley' that really stands out due to interesting things it does with the heavily used deep ones.
fans of lovecraft and cosmic horror more broadly will likely enjoy this book as its more classic cosmic stuff with cults, elder gods and maddness aplenty. I do feel it is a weaker entry into the long running mythos and unlikely to impress newcomers to the genre or those who don't like horror.
The 6 short stories are all classic cosmic horror fare. However they seem badly served if read one after the other as they are ultimately very similar in themes and even events.
It seems obvious that August Derleth is a huge fan of the deep ones from Lovevraft's original stories and they appear in almost every story within this book. It also begins to be hard to be surprised or unnerved by yet another distant relation or isolated local with large eyes and a thin lipped mouth after the third time. The prevalence of strange massive sounds beneath houses also becomes predictable after the second time.
That being said the book does have its moments 'something in wood' has its moments due to the sheer weirdness of events, but it is 'the house in the valley' that really stands out due to interesting things it does with the heavily used deep ones.
fans of lovecraft and cosmic horror more broadly will likely enjoy this book as its more classic cosmic stuff with cults, elder gods and maddness aplenty. I do feel it is a weaker entry into the long running mythos and unlikely to impress newcomers to the genre or those who don't like horror.
October 22, 2025
More recent authors who have adapted H.P. Lovecraft’s works or expanded his realms have taken portions of his writing style or Elder lore and combined it with their own sensibilities to craft cosmic horror of their own flavor. However, August Derleth, one of Lovecraft’s main acolytes, merely copies what Lovecraft had already done.
In most of the stories in this collection, a friend or relative inherits an old house, begins to investigate, finds the same archaic books, faces cagey locals, and we eventually learn what happened to the occult instigators. Derleth wears the formula thin and often gives away too much, so there is little in the way of suspense or true horror. I know Lovecraft himself did the same sometimes, but I feel like he had the ability to reign in it at times, too.
Still, the stories are fun, cozy cosmic horror you can read while curled up on the couch in your Cthulhu slippers. “The Return of Hastur” has a thick atmosphere and a nice (not thrilling, but nice) ending. “The Seal of R’lyeh” also diverges a bit from the bunch with a dreamy underwater sequence. But, otherwise, it’s all pretty run-of-the-mill.
In most of the stories in this collection, a friend or relative inherits an old house, begins to investigate, finds the same archaic books, faces cagey locals, and we eventually learn what happened to the occult instigators. Derleth wears the formula thin and often gives away too much, so there is little in the way of suspense or true horror. I know Lovecraft himself did the same sometimes, but I feel like he had the ability to reign in it at times, too.
Still, the stories are fun, cozy cosmic horror you can read while curled up on the couch in your Cthulhu slippers. “The Return of Hastur” has a thick atmosphere and a nice (not thrilling, but nice) ending. “The Seal of R’lyeh” also diverges a bit from the bunch with a dreamy underwater sequence. But, otherwise, it’s all pretty run-of-the-mill.
June 21, 2023
For such a fan of Lovecraft he sure isn't one for atmosphere. The problem I have with these stories is that they all start off great, wonderful in fact, but then by the end he ruins them by completely removing any mystery or atmosphere that they started off with and making things extremely obvious and concrete. That does not work for me. One reason I am so into Lovecraft is that he's the master of atmosphere and of shrouding his work in mystery and shadow. He never makes things too obvious, but always retains a degree of obscurity. Derleth is way too obsessed with the Cthulhu mythos and that's what he focuses on most, attempting to explain and spell out the gods and their functions and cosmology in excruciating detail- it removes the horror from them! I did enjoy the beginnings of the story but the fact that they were all so similar was also a problem even though I get that the whole point of the collection was the focus on Cthulhu. Idk it just did not work for me.
August 8, 2019
The common criticisms of August Derleth are completely valid, in my opinion. The stories in this collection are not terrible, but they come up short compared to the original Lovecraft stories that inspired them. Derleth seems to have written them with a checklist, because the same plot points recur over and over. "The Seal of R'lyeh" is less formulaic, and the best of the collection. In general, the stories are not very scary or creepy. Derleth's conception of the Mythos tends toward pulp-style action rather than true weird horror, and the predictability of the stories undercuts the atmosphere. If you're interested in what other authors did with H.P. Lovecraft's creations, this may be of interest to you, but there's not much to recommend the collection on its own merits.
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