Madness on the Orient Express: 16 Lovecraftian Tales of an Unforgettable Journey

by James Lowder (Editor), Dennis Detwiller, Geoff Gillan

16 LOVECRAFTIAN TALES FROM AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY

Trains embody the promise and peril of technological advance. They unlock opportunities for wealth and travel, but also create incredible chaos--uprooting populations and blighting landscapes. Work on or around the rails leads to unwelcome discoveries and, in light of the Mythos, dire implications in the spread of the rail system as a whole.

A certain path to uncovering unwelcome truths about the universe is to venture beyond our own "placid island of ignorance" and encounter foreign cultures. The Orient Express serves as the perfect vehicle for such excursions, designed as a bridge between West and East. Movement into mystery forms the central action for many stories in this volume. The only limitation placed upon writers for this collection was that their works somehow involve the Orient Express and the Mythos.

The last warning whistle has blown, and we are getting underway. Have your tickets at the ready and settle in for a journey across unexpected landscapes to a destination that--well, we'll just let you see for yourself when you arrive. We promise this though: murder will be the least of your problems on this trip aboard the Orient Express!

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

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2014

About the author

aka Richard Awlinson, J D Lowder, Jim Lowder

James Lowder has worked extensively in fantasy and horror fiction on both sides of the editorial blotter. He's authored several best-selling dark fantasy novels, including Prince of Lies and Knight of the Black Rose, and has had short fiction appear in such anthologies as Shadows Over Baker Street and Genius Loci. He's penned comic book scripts for several companies and the city of Boston. His book and film reviews, feature articles, and role-playing game design work can be found in such diverse publications as Amazing Stories, Milwaukee Magazine, and The New England Journal of History. As an editor, he's directed lines or series for TSR, Green Knight Publishing, Chaosium, and CDS Books. He's helmed more than twenty anthologies, including Hobby Games: The 100 Best and Curse of the Full Moon. In the media, he is a regular contributor to the Public Radio show "Lake Effect" in Milwaukee, provided werewolf lore on the TV show Weird or What? and tabletop game industry lore for the documentary The Dreams in Gary's Basement, and served as a puppeteer on the indie film Misfit Heights.

Reviews

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid collection that ranges the style gamut, not a skimmable story in the bunch. Includes one of my favorite stories of the year, "The God Beneath the Mountain," by James Sutter.

[Thistle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have zero interest in the Orient Express.
I've never read any, and I'm not interested in, Lovecraftian stories.

Then why did I pick up this book? There's an author I love, James Sutter, and he has a story in it. I'm reading everything of his I can get my hands on.

I was surprised that I enjoyed most stories in this book. None of them were outright scary, though a number were creepy and a couple had some gross scenes. Most of them were well written and kept my interest.

Nicely, every story in this book was written by an author in the gaming field. Most of them were traditional tabletop game writers, though a few were videogame writers.

Sutter's story was the third to last one, and by the time I reached it, I pretty much had enough of this genre. I read the second to last one, but gave up in the middle of the final one, ending at the 87% point. It wasn't the fault of the story, I just was at my limit of stories about a subject I didn't really care about.

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid anthology. The stories ranged from good to very good. Even the (unfortunate) requisite first person present tense story isn't terrible (because using that tense in this one case actually makes sense with the story). Good stuff, and definitely worth a look for fans of the Mythos and the ever expanding Lovecraft circle.

[BethK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book of short stories, each involving something about the train or railroading, and something concerning the whole Lovecraftian/Cthulhu mythos. Each story is self-contained, so it is great to pick up and set down, then pick up again later - months or even years later. Each story is written by a different author, in a different style, and while the settings all have something to do with the Orient Express train - each story is in a different time period, or setting, with different human characters. Some have to do with the construction of the line, some take place in the early "Glory Days" of the Orient Express, some take place at the end of this marvelous train's lifetime.

[CT-516 · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of H.P.Lovecraft, August Derlith, Lin Carter and the like, will enjoy this addition of Cthulhu-Mythos based stories, circling around the Orient Express. Please note, this is not directly related to the RPG campaign 'Horror on the Orient Express', but more of a collection of stories loosely related. I found the various tales to range from mildly entertaining to really good. A fun quick read for those interested in light horror fantasy mystery. If not already intrigued by the Cthulhu Mythos, I would rate this a 3.5 instead of a 4.

[The Smoog · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was quite looking forward to this book, but unfortunately it was something of a letdown. Most of the stories were at best middling, with nothing really standing out. I feel like the setting may not have been the greatest: the majority of the stories are limited to taking place on the Orient Express itself and to be perfectly honest, after the first couple, they mostly seemed quite same-y. For the most part it isn’t actually bad, just forgettable.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any anthology, there are some great stories, some ok stories, and some crap stories, which makes giving it a rating hard. I have always enjoyed HP Lovecraft and Lovecraftian style horror mostt if the stories were true to that genre. There were enough good stories to make this an enjoyable read.

[Melissa Joulwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.Fun!

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chaotic fever dream. Quite mad

[John Warren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really uneven collection of stories. Some good, others not so much.

[Bookbinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, a slightly mixed bag but over all a decent enough read.

[Joe Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I am too critical when it comes to fiction, because I tend to find myself rating them rather poorly than nonfiction. With nonfiction, I am looking for accuracy, wealth of information, etc, but with fiction I am looking for did it drag me into wanting a lot more for the author or have strong memory of enjoyment after I finish. I can find myself still excited to read certain authors and remember every clearly the various parts of their story years after reading it with just one read. The stories in this collection are definitely not at that level for me. Most I can barely remember the next morning except a small bit of the story. I don’t know why I find most authors that reach their peak and passed away before I was born to be far superior to anything that has been written in my life time, but there is a lack of understanding in the writing pose of Lovecraft that the writers have. I appreciate their efforts to try to provide a suitable story to the Lovecraft’s mythos, but I just can’t say that their stories are good.

[Jason Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some very good stories in this anthology but thee are also a few mediocre stories.
Could have used another proof reading pass and maybe another read by a copy editor.
Other than that, a typical Chaosium fiction anthology that is worth picking up particularly if you are interested in their Horror on the Orient Express.

[Charles Haworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the Horror on the Orient Express rpg for CoC - my favourite roleplaying thing ever so had very high expectations

Some good stories, some average and some that seemed shoe-horned to fit the theme of the book and not very Lovecraftian in my opinion. Wish it had been more like the roleplaying adventure - perhaps worth another star without that initial hope as to what I was going to read

[Leonard Armitage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less than average.