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Resonator: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond
"With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with a wider, stronger, or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand ... I have always believed that such strange, inaccessible worlds exist at our very elbows, and now I believe I have found a way to break down the barriers!" - H. P. Lovecraft, From Beyond (1920)
[dramatically, to camera] "It ate him ... bit off his head ... like a gingerbread man!" - Jeffrey Combs as 'Crawford Tillinghast' in Stuart Gordon's FROM BEYOND (1986)
In his classic story "From Beyond", Howard Phillips Lovecraft introduced the Tillinghast Resonator: a monstrous device that stimulates dormant senses in man, opens up unseen worlds to unsuspecting eyes, and calls through terror and ecstasy from a realm far beyond our mundane perceptions. In 'RESONATOR: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond', you'll meet the men and women who dare to pull the switch, for profit, pleasure, and ultimately, peril! Thrill to the creatures (both mindless and horribly sentient) that are revealed in wave after wave of uncanny radiation! Turn on the juice, brace your pineal gland for some unprecedented growth, and get ready to go BEYOND!
Editor Scott R Jones brings you stories from some of the best writers working in Weird Fiction today (Cody Goodfellow, Scott Nicolay, Christopher Slatsky, Christine Morgan, Richard Lee Byers, Orrin Grey, Anya Martin, and Edward Morris) as well as fresh new voices. With a cover featuring the psychedelic art of Nick 'The Hat' Gucker, 'RESONATOR: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond' is the anthology that will break down the barriers in 2015!
Martian Migraine Press: The Best Kind of Headache
martianmigrainepress.com
[dramatically, to camera] "It ate him ... bit off his head ... like a gingerbread man!" - Jeffrey Combs as 'Crawford Tillinghast' in Stuart Gordon's FROM BEYOND (1986)
In his classic story "From Beyond", Howard Phillips Lovecraft introduced the Tillinghast Resonator: a monstrous device that stimulates dormant senses in man, opens up unseen worlds to unsuspecting eyes, and calls through terror and ecstasy from a realm far beyond our mundane perceptions. In 'RESONATOR: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond', you'll meet the men and women who dare to pull the switch, for profit, pleasure, and ultimately, peril! Thrill to the creatures (both mindless and horribly sentient) that are revealed in wave after wave of uncanny radiation! Turn on the juice, brace your pineal gland for some unprecedented growth, and get ready to go BEYOND!
Editor Scott R Jones brings you stories from some of the best writers working in Weird Fiction today (Cody Goodfellow, Scott Nicolay, Christopher Slatsky, Christine Morgan, Richard Lee Byers, Orrin Grey, Anya Martin, and Edward Morris) as well as fresh new voices. With a cover featuring the psychedelic art of Nick 'The Hat' Gucker, 'RESONATOR: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond' is the anthology that will break down the barriers in 2015!
Martian Migraine Press: The Best Kind of Headache
martianmigrainepress.com
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 13, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 17, 2015
RESONATOR is one of the most fun anthologies I've read lately, Lovecraftian or non-. A lot of that has to with editor Scott R. Jones' decision to allow stories based on the film version of FROM BEYOND as well as the original Lovecraft story. If you have read the story and seen the film, you know that while they share a basic plot and theme, the results are vastly different. The film version is a crazypants masterpiece, filled with all the sex, gore, humor, and generally questionable taste that Lovecraft eschewed, and this really opens up possible story scenarios.
Cody Goodfellow and Matthew M. Bartlett, in particular, take the sexual implications of Crawford Tillinghast's curious device to disturbing and creative ends. Other favorites come from Christopher Slatsky, Christine Morgan, Orrin Grey, and the always reliable Scott Nicolay.
I have been getting really burned out on Lovecraftian anthologies - there are SO many of them, and like most anthos, the stories tend to be a mixed bag. There are usually a couple of stories I really enjoy, a couple that don't move me at all, and a majority that fall somewhere in between. RESONATOR hits my sweet spot, with all sixteen stories being at least Good and more often Very Good or Great, at least in my opinion.
In addition to the engrossing stories, the cover features knock-out art from Nick "The Hat" Gucker. This is a especially nice one, even for Nick, who has a solid portfolio of great horror and bizarro art.
There is really nothing not to like here unless you are a Lovecraft purist. Old Howard would undoubtedly be very uncomfortable with some of the content in this book, but that is one of the good things about it. Taking Lovecraft's central themes and then running far away from his world to do other things with them is much more interesting to me than reading yet another pseudo-pastiche of hoary tropes and unpronounceable names. This was a very enjoyable book, recommended for both open-minded Lovecraftians and general enthusiasts of modern weird horror.
Cody Goodfellow and Matthew M. Bartlett, in particular, take the sexual implications of Crawford Tillinghast's curious device to disturbing and creative ends. Other favorites come from Christopher Slatsky, Christine Morgan, Orrin Grey, and the always reliable Scott Nicolay.
I have been getting really burned out on Lovecraftian anthologies - there are SO many of them, and like most anthos, the stories tend to be a mixed bag. There are usually a couple of stories I really enjoy, a couple that don't move me at all, and a majority that fall somewhere in between. RESONATOR hits my sweet spot, with all sixteen stories being at least Good and more often Very Good or Great, at least in my opinion.
In addition to the engrossing stories, the cover features knock-out art from Nick "The Hat" Gucker. This is a especially nice one, even for Nick, who has a solid portfolio of great horror and bizarro art.
There is really nothing not to like here unless you are a Lovecraft purist. Old Howard would undoubtedly be very uncomfortable with some of the content in this book, but that is one of the good things about it. Taking Lovecraft's central themes and then running far away from his world to do other things with them is much more interesting to me than reading yet another pseudo-pastiche of hoary tropes and unpronounceable names. This was a very enjoyable book, recommended for both open-minded Lovecraftians and general enthusiasts of modern weird horror.
March 25, 2015
"Resonator" is a joy for fans of horror, science fiction, and H.P. Lovecraft in particular, not least because the anthology manages to accomplish what increasingly seems like an impossible feat: finding something new to say about the themes explored by the old gent from Providence.
It certainly helps that editor Scott R. Jones has rounded up some of the most promising up-and-coming writers associated with the "New Weird" label. It's also to this anthology's advantage that instead of Cthulhu & Co., it looks to Lovecraft's relatively unexplored "From Beyond" for inspiration. In that story, included here, a mad inventor creates a machine that stimulates the pineal gland in a way that enables humans to see otherwise invisible things.
From this promising premise, the writers of "Resonator" explore everything from sex (Matthew M. Bartlett's funny, lubricious "Machine Will Start When You Are Start") to the military (Jones' own "Turbulence") to Wall Street (Darren Brightman's ingenuous "IPO") to Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground (Anya Martin's superb "Resonator Superstar!"). Two of the stories that will probably stick with me the longest are Christopher Slatsky's "Film Maudit," which recalls the best of Ramsey Campbell in its grim urban setting and shabby gorehound film festival milieu, and Scott Nicolay's "The Wizard of OK," which finds cosmic horror not in Elder Gods or the Necronomicon, but in the bad decisions and misspent lives we can't undo.
The quality of the writing is superb throughout - there's not a tiresome Lovecraft pastiche in the bunch. It's a collection that varies in tone from funny to bleakly depressing, and is all the better for it - "Resonator" suggests there's still life in HPL yet. Highly recommended.
(I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderfully psyechedelic cover art by Nick Gucker - too many small presses seem to regard covers as an afterthought, and this is one more way in which Martian Migraine gets it right with "Resonator."
It certainly helps that editor Scott R. Jones has rounded up some of the most promising up-and-coming writers associated with the "New Weird" label. It's also to this anthology's advantage that instead of Cthulhu & Co., it looks to Lovecraft's relatively unexplored "From Beyond" for inspiration. In that story, included here, a mad inventor creates a machine that stimulates the pineal gland in a way that enables humans to see otherwise invisible things.
From this promising premise, the writers of "Resonator" explore everything from sex (Matthew M. Bartlett's funny, lubricious "Machine Will Start When You Are Start") to the military (Jones' own "Turbulence") to Wall Street (Darren Brightman's ingenuous "IPO") to Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground (Anya Martin's superb "Resonator Superstar!"). Two of the stories that will probably stick with me the longest are Christopher Slatsky's "Film Maudit," which recalls the best of Ramsey Campbell in its grim urban setting and shabby gorehound film festival milieu, and Scott Nicolay's "The Wizard of OK," which finds cosmic horror not in Elder Gods or the Necronomicon, but in the bad decisions and misspent lives we can't undo.
The quality of the writing is superb throughout - there's not a tiresome Lovecraft pastiche in the bunch. It's a collection that varies in tone from funny to bleakly depressing, and is all the better for it - "Resonator" suggests there's still life in HPL yet. Highly recommended.
(I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderfully psyechedelic cover art by Nick Gucker - too many small presses seem to regard covers as an afterthought, and this is one more way in which Martian Migraine gets it right with "Resonator."
May 7, 2015
The story that inspired this anthology, "From Beyond", is one of Lovecraft's most accessible, encapsulating his theme that the world is larger, darker, and stranger than we think, but without the paraphernalia of evil gods and ancient tomes that has collected around his 'Mythos' tales. As such RESONATOR will appeal not only to Lovecraftians but more generally to SF and horror readers and lovers of the Weird. No degree from good ol' MU required. Stand-out stories, for me, apart from the editor's own "Turbulence" and Cody Goodfellow's "Infernal Attractors", both of which I had read and enjoyed elsewhere, were Darrin Brightman's clever and witty "IPO"; Orrin Grey's "Programmed To Receive", a tale not so much of horror but of sadness and loss; and Scott Nicolay's "The Wizard of OK", with its painfully-human characters and chilling end. Recommended.
March 11, 2017
A really great collection of stories! So glad I got this in the Lovecraft Bundle from storybundle.com! Definitely worth reading (and purchasing!)
September 8, 2015
This is a collection without a drop of fat on it. Lean, scary, clever, and entirely well written. Read "From Beyond" by Lovecraft (included in the book) and also (IMO) watch the movie starring Jeffrey Combs before launching into this anthology. It is just incredibly well done, one of the most balanced and padding-free I've yet to encounter in Lovecraftian circles.
April 18, 2021
As much, if not more, inspired by "From Beyond" the much beloved cult horror film than by the Lovecraft story of the same name, "Resonator" is one of the overall most solid collections put together by Scott R. Jones and Martian Migraine Press I've yet read. There is not a shred of fat to be lost here.
Those familiar with Martian Migraine may know of the editor's fondness for playing with concepts and themes for their collections in ways other publisher might not, as well as for an openness to more sex and eros integrated into the stories than we might normally see in short literary horror. A collection based on the concepts and technology in the film "From Beyond" lend themselves perfectly to this mindset.
As is frequently the case with Martian Migraine, the collection opens with a reprinting of the Lovecraft story that inspired it all after a not to be skipped Introduction/analysis by Scott Jones. I won't do an exhaustive list/summary at this time, but let's hit a few high points. "The Wizard of OK" is not a only a standout in this collection, but ranks as one of my favorite pieces by genre favourite Scott Nicolay so far. "Machine Will Start When You Start" is a super fun piece by Matthew Bartlett, and is wildly divergent from his usual Leeds fair, something I think fans will really enjoy. "IPO", "Film Maudit", "Bug Zappers", and "Turbulence" all play in different ways with the idea of the Tillinghast technology getting out in a more widespread way into the world. As does Orrin Grey's, "Programmed To Receive", albeit in a more tragic and personal way. For lovers of cats and children, there's a particularly sad entry by the name of "Ninesight" not to be missed.
Those familiar with Martian Migraine may know of the editor's fondness for playing with concepts and themes for their collections in ways other publisher might not, as well as for an openness to more sex and eros integrated into the stories than we might normally see in short literary horror. A collection based on the concepts and technology in the film "From Beyond" lend themselves perfectly to this mindset.
As is frequently the case with Martian Migraine, the collection opens with a reprinting of the Lovecraft story that inspired it all after a not to be skipped Introduction/analysis by Scott Jones. I won't do an exhaustive list/summary at this time, but let's hit a few high points. "The Wizard of OK" is not a only a standout in this collection, but ranks as one of my favorite pieces by genre favourite Scott Nicolay so far. "Machine Will Start When You Start" is a super fun piece by Matthew Bartlett, and is wildly divergent from his usual Leeds fair, something I think fans will really enjoy. "IPO", "Film Maudit", "Bug Zappers", and "Turbulence" all play in different ways with the idea of the Tillinghast technology getting out in a more widespread way into the world. As does Orrin Grey's, "Programmed To Receive", albeit in a more tragic and personal way. For lovers of cats and children, there's a particularly sad entry by the name of "Ninesight" not to be missed.
October 16, 2019
This was a fascinating and terrifying collection of tales. It was been in my to read collection for quite some time. Since I was and possibly still am in the midst of a mental breakdown from a series of shocks I decided this was a good time to read it and distract myself from the horrors that sometimes come with being a single parent.
Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. It helped but not as much as something sugary and soothing would have. Read this during October of course but do it when you are in a well grounded state. Not when you are stressing over how long savings will hold out paying monthly bills that only grow or the fallout of a business having to issue a large refund that is twice what you can pay yourself due to unreasonable demands. That mistake just makes these scarier.
I am not sure which horrified me the most. It may be the one with the disappearing dancer. Each was well and truly horrific. Very well done. Don’t read it if you are unstable. Also stay away from flashing lasers, just in case.
Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. It helped but not as much as something sugary and soothing would have. Read this during October of course but do it when you are in a well grounded state. Not when you are stressing over how long savings will hold out paying monthly bills that only grow or the fallout of a business having to issue a large refund that is twice what you can pay yourself due to unreasonable demands. That mistake just makes these scarier.
I am not sure which horrified me the most. It may be the one with the disappearing dancer. Each was well and truly horrific. Very well done. Don’t read it if you are unstable. Also stay away from flashing lasers, just in case.
April 29, 2018
This is an outstanding anthology. Somehow the motif of Tillinghast's Resonator does not tire, but is used differently in each story. Though each story is great, I want to give a special mention to Christopher Slatsky's "Film Maudit." Editor Scott R. Jones has assembled an excellent anthology here, and each story very carefully pours into the next. Well worth a read and a purchase.
August 13, 2016
This should be closer to 4.5 stars, but I'll go with 4.
"Resonator" is an anthology of Mythos fiction that focuses on themes present in much of Lovecraft's work. Jones does a nice job of summarizing those in the introduction entitled, "Magic Circles, Noxious Machines." Here's a quote from that: "Everything is either corruptible or corrupted, and those with the eyes to see that corruption will see it. And once it is seen, it cannot be unseen." All of the stories in the anthology employ the Tillinghast Resonator in some way ("From Beyond" is included in the book, as well), and while to assign such a specific object, the Resonator itself, or even the larger trope of the "thinly veiled reality" might seem to ask for a load of pastiche or, at least, slight variations on the same ol' story, that doesn't happen with this collection.
A few of my favorites:
"Infernal Attractors" by Cody Goodfellow – At first blush, this story appears guilty of mimicry/pastiche. It has some of the standard "From Beyond" dressing: flipping the switch, amoeba-like things floating and biting, reckless pursuit of knowledge, etc.; however, it takes those familiar images and turns the spectatorship inward towards addiction and, ultimately, identity. I liked it and appreciated the way sexuality was employed. It was used much more seamlessly here than in Stuart Gordon's visual take on the piece, though it wouldn't take much. And, to be completely honest here, I enjoyed seeing the term “teledildonics” in print for the first time since....hell, grad school. My antennae perked-up at that, so you may not enjoy the story as much as I did for subjective reasons. My old Harraway/po-mo tendencies may have made my reading a little rosy; regardless, it's a sound piece of Weird fiction.
"Turbulence" by Scott R. Jones is intensely creepy in its “practicality." And if you’ve ever worked in/with the military in any capacity, you might understand what I mean by that. If you don't, it's probably for the best, and I don't know how to say a lot about this piece without giving too much away or dampening its effect. I will say that the visuals are chilling. I actually heard this story a while ago on one of my favorite podcasts (Pseudopod) and was pleased to see it included. Here’s a link if you’d like to listen to the story (free access).
"The Wizard of OK" by Scott Nicolay incorporates the concept of the "invisible magic circle" present, arguably, in the original tale and mentioned by Jones in his introduction, but turns it visible and quite a bit more insidious with the version of sacrificial Chaos Magic practiced by Mortuus. Its main character is deeply, deeply flawed and the circumstances of the piece are frustratingly sad. And, for me, this quality heightens the horrific effect of the final few paragraphs. Additionally, this story isn't alone in the collection in its poignancy; "Professor Hilliard's Electric Lantern" also dwells on the more emotional consequences of tinkering with this kind of forbidden knowledge/awareness.
As an aside, if you’re not familiar with the (interesting, really) branch of the Mythos dedicated to various magical disciplines and occult practices, it’s worth some exploration. Despite HPL’s own atheism and rationalism (i.e., he didn’t believe in any of this stuff), it’s a lively and fertile realm—and one that I really enjoy despite my own (regrettable; I hate it, folks) agnosticism. Here’s a place to start for a critical view or here. As for informational resources that are less critical of spirituality/its place in the Mythos, I’ll defer to the followers who might want to reply with where to go for non-initiates looking for creditable sources on Chaos Magic. I don’t think I’m informed enough in this area of study to judge credibility.
"Programmed to Receive" by Orrin Grey and "The Divide" by Damir Salkovic are also notable. I enjoy Grey's work a lot, as well, though this piece of fiction almost lost me with the present tense/verb shifting at its start. Stick with it if that sort of thing affects you the same way; it's definitely worth it, particularly in its final paragraphs.
"IPO" by Darrin Brightman isn't really a story as much as a collection of ephemera. I've seen this "series of documents" approach in a few places recently: Laird Barron has a piece of short fiction structured like this, if memory serves; I've seen an "email" story and even an "IM" tale, as well, in the past few weeks. It's not necessarily something "new" (hey, the epistolary novel has been around a while), but it's not always enjoyed by everyone. If you don't care for non-standard structure, just be aware that it's first in the collection. You might prefer to skip-around.
I feel fairly comfortable with saying that are no "bad" stories in the anthology—simply ones that weren't of interest to me for one reason or another (e.g., the Bartlett tale struck me as a tiny bit silly, but I'm sure others will like it, etc.). I definitely recommend this anthology to Mythos Fiction fans and lovers of the Weird Fiction Horror sub-genre.
"Resonator" is an anthology of Mythos fiction that focuses on themes present in much of Lovecraft's work. Jones does a nice job of summarizing those in the introduction entitled, "Magic Circles, Noxious Machines." Here's a quote from that: "Everything is either corruptible or corrupted, and those with the eyes to see that corruption will see it. And once it is seen, it cannot be unseen." All of the stories in the anthology employ the Tillinghast Resonator in some way ("From Beyond" is included in the book, as well), and while to assign such a specific object, the Resonator itself, or even the larger trope of the "thinly veiled reality" might seem to ask for a load of pastiche or, at least, slight variations on the same ol' story, that doesn't happen with this collection.
A few of my favorites:
"Infernal Attractors" by Cody Goodfellow – At first blush, this story appears guilty of mimicry/pastiche. It has some of the standard "From Beyond" dressing: flipping the switch, amoeba-like things floating and biting, reckless pursuit of knowledge, etc.; however, it takes those familiar images and turns the spectatorship inward towards addiction and, ultimately, identity. I liked it and appreciated the way sexuality was employed. It was used much more seamlessly here than in Stuart Gordon's visual take on the piece, though it wouldn't take much. And, to be completely honest here, I enjoyed seeing the term “teledildonics” in print for the first time since....hell, grad school. My antennae perked-up at that, so you may not enjoy the story as much as I did for subjective reasons. My old Harraway/po-mo tendencies may have made my reading a little rosy; regardless, it's a sound piece of Weird fiction.
"Turbulence" by Scott R. Jones is intensely creepy in its “practicality." And if you’ve ever worked in/with the military in any capacity, you might understand what I mean by that. If you don't, it's probably for the best, and I don't know how to say a lot about this piece without giving too much away or dampening its effect. I will say that the visuals are chilling. I actually heard this story a while ago on one of my favorite podcasts (Pseudopod) and was pleased to see it included. Here’s a link if you’d like to listen to the story (free access).
"The Wizard of OK" by Scott Nicolay incorporates the concept of the "invisible magic circle" present, arguably, in the original tale and mentioned by Jones in his introduction, but turns it visible and quite a bit more insidious with the version of sacrificial Chaos Magic practiced by Mortuus. Its main character is deeply, deeply flawed and the circumstances of the piece are frustratingly sad. And, for me, this quality heightens the horrific effect of the final few paragraphs. Additionally, this story isn't alone in the collection in its poignancy; "Professor Hilliard's Electric Lantern" also dwells on the more emotional consequences of tinkering with this kind of forbidden knowledge/awareness.
As an aside, if you’re not familiar with the (interesting, really) branch of the Mythos dedicated to various magical disciplines and occult practices, it’s worth some exploration. Despite HPL’s own atheism and rationalism (i.e., he didn’t believe in any of this stuff), it’s a lively and fertile realm—and one that I really enjoy despite my own (regrettable; I hate it, folks) agnosticism. Here’s a place to start for a critical view or here. As for informational resources that are less critical of spirituality/its place in the Mythos, I’ll defer to the followers who might want to reply with where to go for non-initiates looking for creditable sources on Chaos Magic. I don’t think I’m informed enough in this area of study to judge credibility.
"Programmed to Receive" by Orrin Grey and "The Divide" by Damir Salkovic are also notable. I enjoy Grey's work a lot, as well, though this piece of fiction almost lost me with the present tense/verb shifting at its start. Stick with it if that sort of thing affects you the same way; it's definitely worth it, particularly in its final paragraphs.
"IPO" by Darrin Brightman isn't really a story as much as a collection of ephemera. I've seen this "series of documents" approach in a few places recently: Laird Barron has a piece of short fiction structured like this, if memory serves; I've seen an "email" story and even an "IM" tale, as well, in the past few weeks. It's not necessarily something "new" (hey, the epistolary novel has been around a while), but it's not always enjoyed by everyone. If you don't care for non-standard structure, just be aware that it's first in the collection. You might prefer to skip-around.
I feel fairly comfortable with saying that are no "bad" stories in the anthology—simply ones that weren't of interest to me for one reason or another (e.g., the Bartlett tale struck me as a tiny bit silly, but I'm sure others will like it, etc.). I definitely recommend this anthology to Mythos Fiction fans and lovers of the Weird Fiction Horror sub-genre.
July 31, 2022
Slatsky's story was my favorite, but there were plenty of other treats here, like Bartlett's wild yarn. Other favs were by Robert J Santa, Rodney Turner, Christine Morgan, and Lyndsey Holder.
October 18, 2024
Stories based on one of Lovecraft's lesser stories, From Beyond, with pretty good results overall. My favorites were Edward Morris's "The Happiness Machine" and Christine Morgan's "Ninesight." YMMV.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews