Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis

by Scott R. Jones (Editor), Ruthanna Emrys, Kristi DeMeester

When all is madness... there is no madness.

Is there wisdom in insanity? Enlightenment in blackest despair? Higher consciousness in the depths of chaos? These are the stories of the men and women who choose to cast off from the shores of our placid island of ignorance and sail the black seas of infinity beyond. Those who would dive into primeval consciousness in search of dark treasures. Thos who would risk the Deadly Light for one reason: it is still light.

Martian Migraine Press presents fifteen diverse tales of enlightenment and horror from some of the best new voices working in Weird Fiction today. Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis features poetry from Bryan Thao Worra, stories by Gord Sellar, Kristi DeMeester, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, and the groundbreaking Mythos novella from Ruthanna Emrys, The Litany of Earth. With cover art by Alix Branwyn, interior illustrations by Michael Lee Macdonald, and an introduction by editor Scott R Jones (author of When The Stars Are Right: Towards An Authentic R'lyehian Spirituality), Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis will plunge readers into a seriously entertaining contemplation of the mysticism and magic inherent to Lovecraft's fantastical world of cosmic horror and dread. Take the Cthulhusattva Vow! Enter the Black Gnosis!

Table of Contents

The Pearl in the Shadows -- Bryan Thao Worra
Keys in Stranger Deserts -- Vrai Kaiser
Mr Johnson and the Old Ones -- Jamie Mason
Antinomia -- Erica Ruppert
Heiros Gamos -- Gord Sellar
Mother's Nature -- Stefanie Elrick
At the Left Hand of Nothing -- Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
The Litany of Earth -- Ruthanna Emrys
Emperor Eternal -- Konstantine Paradias
The Wicked Shall Come Upon Him -- Kristi DeMeester
Messages -- John Linwood Grant
That Most Foreign of Veils -- Luke R J Maynard
We Three Kings -- Don Raymond
Feeding the Abyss -- Rhoads Brazos
After Randolph Carter -- Noah Wareness

Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis
edited by Scott R Jones
5.58.5″ trade paperback and electronic book formats
ISBN 978-1-927673-16-4
Publication date: May 23, 2016
Distributed to the trade by Ingram

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

206 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2016

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis is a collection of Cthulhu mythos stories. The theme of the collection is enlightenment through insanity, that the cultists found in most mythos stories are the extremists and that more or less regular people lead more or less normal lives while worshiping the Great Old Ones, Elder Gods, and the like.

Like most anthologies, the stories range from okay to pretty damn good. For me, the standouts were We Three Kings, Messages, Mr. Johnson and the Old Ones, and The Litany of Earth.

While I enjoyed it, it lacked some of the punch of other Lovecraft anthologies I've read recently like Heroes of Red Hook and Whispers from the Abyss. I guess that's what happened when you take away the soul-blasting horror from beyond the stars and things of that nature.

Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis is an interesting concept but you can better spend your squamous dollars elsewhere. Three out of five stars.

[Heidi Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis is quite a trip. Initially, I gave it four stars, as I often do for an anthology -- every story doesn't work for everyone, you know. But after some thought, I'm bumping it up to five because, thematically, it's something new (at least to me) in Mythos literature.

Madness, madness, madness. We all know the Old Ones bring madness to mankind. Happens all the time. But here's a twist: the motif of Cthulhusattva is pushing through that soul-shattering chaos to enlightenment on the other side. As Jones says in his preface,"When all is madness, there is no madness." A Tao of Cosmic Horror. What a fascinating way to break fresh ground!

Highlights for me included Gord Sellar's "Heiros Gamos," in which a self-taught acolyte experiences the ancient, cthonic Eleusinian Mysteries firsthand; "We Three Kings," Don Raymond's eerie revision of the Nativity story; and Rhoads Brazos' urban noir, "Feeding the Abyss," in which we meet the contractors who specialize in keeping the gods fed. Brazos' story also boasts one of my favorite sentences in the whole collection: "In a world of limitations, only a fool would hesitate to touch the infinite."

But the heart, and possibly also the point, of the collection is Ruthanna Emrys' "The Litany of Earth." Here we meet Aphra Marsh (of those Marshes), a mild, devout "Aeonist" in a world where they are a persecuted minority. Emrys turns our expectations of the Mythos gods inside-out (and lays in some fair social commentary in the process):

"Most religions consist largely of good people trying to get by. No matter what names they worship, or what church they go to, or what language they pray in . . . [a]nd every religion has its fanatics, who are willing to do terrible things in the name of their god. No one is immune . . . [i]t's a failing of humanity, not of any particular sect."

What if all those gibbering cultists we've grown so used to are the Aeonist equivalent of suicide bombers and snake-handlers? What if there's really another way?

In the end, I was so taken with this question, and with Jones' editorial choices, that I picked up a copy of his When The Stars Are Right: Towards An Authentic R'lyehian Spirituality. I'll report back.

[Claus Appel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. The concept is cool, and the introduction sounded promising. Alas, I found most of the stories here boring and uninteresting. They are not cosmic enough. They are way too much about human affairs - love and sadness and pointless things like that.

One of the worst was the longest, "The Litany of Earth", which deals with Deep Ones and their hybrid children. This story is NOT "black gnosis"! The whole story is about human compassion and forgiveness and being nice to each other. More like "pink gnosis". If I wanted that kind of story I would watch "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". From a Lovecraftian anthology I expect something else.

By far my favorite story here is "Messages" by John Linwood Grant, which is about a mother and daughter who both serve Nyarlathotep. That story is both unusual and tension-filled while still being dark and bleak. I want more stories like that one.

[Rose Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

No fainting scholars here, but Cthulhusattva isn't either, quite, a book from the cultists' point of view; members of organised cults as depicted in this anthology are frequently in possession of only a part of the truth they claim to seek, and in a number of stories come off badly. More, this is a set of stories about individuals, on journeys literal and metaphorical, intended and accidental, toward a revelation of the "deadly light." Personal favourites among those stories written for this volume include "That Most Foreign of Veils," in which two sisters make a journey to a bleak and fateful North, and "Messages," a mother-daughter road trip like no other. However the book also contains, as its single reprint, Ruthanna Emrys's novelette "The Litany of Earth," and this is the perfect setting for it, a story that evokes deep time in a way that is both moving and chilling. Overall, highly recommended for anyone open to new interpretations of Lovecraft’s mythos.

[Brian O'Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly mind-blowing philosophical explorations of H.P.L.'s writing in the form of intense and entertaining weird fiction. One of the best of 2016, and possibly of all time.

[Aaron Vlek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is a very intriguing and engaging collection of great yarns any fan of HP Lovecraft can sink her tentacles into. But there's more here and those looking at the subterranean side of human questing for what lies behind that door left slightly ajar or beyond that next mist filled valley will find a lot to recognize in these pages. As a collection of great mind horror, there's not a miss in the batch.

[Waffles · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars.
My expectation for anthologies is if I like more than half of the stories, it;s a 3 star anthology.
I definitely liked several stories - those by Grant, Satyamurthy, Paradias, Brazos, Emrys, and DeMeester.

[Sylri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cthulhu Mythos book with the premise that the main characters are cultists.
…….
………….
…………………..
SIGN ME UP!

I think that concept has a lot of untapped potential. So, does this book live up to that potential?
For the most part, I gotta say yes. I was initially wary of this collection, as the intro has the editor stating he is a bit tired of Lovecraft and it has the story “The Litany of Earth”, a well marketed Counter Lovecraft piece I was overwhelmingly lukewarm about on my first read.
But despite my early misgivings, I found myself enjoying most of the stories in here. The collection starts off strong, with the poem “The Pearl in the Shadows” doing a great job of setting up the atmosphere for the following stories. I also particularly enjoyed “Messages”, as I am rather whorish for Nyarlathotep, and the concept of it wanting to break its bonds of Azathoth is a new and interesting one for me.

My first misstep with Cthulhusattva came from “Mr.Johnson and the Old Ones”, as it mostly seems like an excuse to caricature Mr.Lovecraft and have him act completely out of character so the author can make themselves feel good about sticking it to a big bad racist man.
Other than that, my other standouts would be “Mother’s Nature”, “The Cthulhusattva Vow”, “Emperor Eternal”, “Feeding the Abyss” and even….. “The Litany of Earth”. What? I know, I know, who would have expected me to say something like that?

I have to agree with Mr.Jones that “Litany of Earth" has found its home here in this collection. I think it works much better placed here than as a standalone, where it serves as a nice gentle breather amongst some of the more graphic and intense stories. It steeps itself in quiet contemplation versus the chaotic violence and mind blasting revelations of its companions. In that way I found a new appreciation for it. It serves as another potential way to approach cultist life.

I have come to realize I will have to just accept that this is what Mrs.Emerys wants from her Deep Ones. And even if they’re vastly different from my preffered Deep Ones, I still enjoy spending time with Deep Ones in their many interpretations. I think her series has become one of my guilty pleasures, because despite all of the problems I have with it, I still look forward to the new release next summer.

So to sum it up, I greatly enjoyed this anthology and it has been one of my favorite Counter Lovecraft books so far. But then again, I’ve always been drawn to the Dark Side. ;)

[Szilárd Schaffhauser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional Mythos collection, in a way similar to She Walks In Shadows. We have all read the Datlow, Joshi, Guran collections but this is different, Scott R. Jones managed to pick stories that
manifest the spiritual and religious concepts of several paths in the history of humankind and unify it under the aegis of the Mythos.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cthulhusattva is an excellent collection of stories centered on those who play parts in the return of elder things, either voluntarily or no. Definitely recommended.

[Otto Hahaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joukko tarinoita Cthulhu-mytologian kultistien näkökulmasta. Tarinat vaihtelevat runoista novelleihin. Osasta tykkäsin kovasti, osasta vähemmän. Ei ole itsestään selvää ovatko tarinoiden kultistin pahoja vai ei, tai onko koko kysymys mieletön jo itsessään. Tarinoissa päästään myös käsittelemään HPL:n vähemmän mairittelevia luonteenpiirteitä nostamalla päähenkilöiksi naisia ja muitakin etnisiä ryhmiä kuin pohjoisamerikkalaiset itärannikkolaiset.

[Gaze Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting anthology that focuses on the mystical side of the Cthulhu mythos. The stories within cast a dark light on the religious aspects of the Old Ones and the Elder Gods, and interprets their reign as a source of black gnosis (as described in the subtitle). This does not mean that the stories are all from the perspective on the cultists, nor does it mean that the traditional antagonists become the hero in these stories, although sometimes that is the case. This does mean that the focus of the stories are not so much to scare us, but to get us to reevaluate the ethics and metaphysics behind the Lovecraft mythos. Short stories, peoms, and a novella, make up the collection.

Some of my favorites were "The Eternal Emperor," which tells of an ancient Chinese attempt at evoking Nyalarthotep... I also enjoyed "Heiros Gamos"which adds a Lovecraftian twists to the ancient Mystery Rituals of Eleusis. But the stand out story by far was "The Litany of Earth" which recasts the denizens of Innsmouth as a persecuted race, very much drawing a parallel to the discrimination of the Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. This is quite artfully done, considering that it turns the intent of the original "Shadow over Innsmouth" on its head.

The anthology was interesting and had a lot of satisfying stories, but they would probably only appeal to deep fans of the Cthulhu Mythos. Those that have become bored with the formulaic pastiches of the original pulp stories from Weird Tales. Gone are the grotesque and arabesque scares, and instead we are presented with sardonic states of awe. Missing are the heroes racing against time to save the world, and in exchange we have the grizzled and harried accepting and even ushering in the final cataclysm. In my opinion, the Lovecraftian "religion" that emerges from this collection is very Nihilistic. It suggests that we are but an infinitesimal speck in the whole of so-called reality. The fact that we even exists is an accident really. The Gods created us to try and create meaning for themselves. But even the Gods that made us will die eventually... I can see how some might find comfort in the utter meaningless of it all, but I'm not sure that the Black Gnosis is for everyone.

[Book lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for me

Its a collection of Cthulhu tales that failed to draw me in. I am a great fan of anthologies and Cthulhu mythos. I expected this book to thrill me but it didn't. Am not sure if the weakness in the tales was the plot, characters, the presentation or all three. I mainly read through the book to get to the end.

[Edward Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

When the book starts out with a forward where the writer (Scott R. Jones) talks about how tired he has gotten with the Cthulhu Mythos and reading stories that are just simply retreads and I agree with him. Many of the tales belong more in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Volume 1 than in an anthology of the Mythos. On a more Mi-Go route, there are: The Wicked Shall Come Upon Him by Kristi DeMeester and Mr. Johnson and the Old Ones by Jamie Mason that stood out like a Deep One on the shoreline of Falcon Point but "That Most Foreign of Veils" by Luke R J Maynard
"We Three Kings" by Don Raymond just did not gel for me. They are competent and capable writers, it just seems that the format they were shoehorned into did not work.

UPDATE: My reread of this one did not change my review, so the above still holds true.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of Lovecraftian short stories. Here the unifying theme is those who embrace the Old Gods and their ways. A few of the stories are too 'experimental' for my taste. I like a strong narrative. On the other hand, a few of the stories are superb: "The Litany of Earth" by Ruthanna Emrys is hands-down my favorite.

Read this if you're always looking for new weird fiction. Skip it if you haven't read the original Lovecraft stories yet.

[BERNARD ANDREWS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of mythos stories from the "other" side

I really enjoyed this collection of stories of the mythos viewed from from the "other" side.
It's justifiably important to have alternative viewpoints

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

By swapping normal protagonist reactions about 180 degrees and featuring a lot of under-the-radar talent, this collections manages to be both entertaining and thought provoking.

[J Kuria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another collection of lovecraftian fiction to satisfy that niche craving. I remember seeing this book when it came out a few years ago and wanting to read it so bad but not being able to find it. I eventually forgot about it but it recently popped onto my radar and here we are.

This was really good. The stories have a more human focus than lovecraftian stories usually do and I found that it worked for me. Being able to get into the heads of these characters as they grappled with cosmic awe and horror was quite interesting. It’s something I haven’t seen before in the genre and having read this very engaging collection, would like to see more.

My favorite stories were:
We Three Kings - anything that puts a dark twist on religious stories will always do it for me.
Hieros Gamos - WTH did I just read? Seriously, this was some royally f*cked up shit and I loved it.
The Litany of Earth - because a well told Innsmouth story is always appreciated.

I loved pretty much the entire collection so this was a difficult top 3 to narrow down to. My least favorite story was Mr. Johnson and the Old Ones. The way the n-word was flung around by a character in there just set my teeth on edge. I get the context in which it happened but I just could not see past it to enjoy the story itself.

Overall, a solid collection of lovecraftian horrors, if you have ever found yourself yearning to dive deeper into the experiences of the people who these beings destroy.

[Sam Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his introduction, editor Scott Jones makes clear his dilemma. Lovecraft, for all the merit of conjuring an unrivaled sensation of fear, presents an oft-repeated formula. And it is a fine formula, but one which inevitably ends in "madness" and one which could bore the omnivorous reader.

Cthulhusattva seeks to remedy this problem, providing an insight into Lovecraft's beings and those who worship them. As in John Linwood Grant's "Messages," even when these beings are more sympathetic they are no less terrifying. Another reoccurring theme is the gaining of knowledge. A standard Lovecraftian motif, this knowledge is NOT madness. There is a horror in knowing, in becoming better and different, and it is a profound terror which this anthology addresses well.

Other standouts include Ruthanna Emrys' "The LITANY of the EARTH" and Kristi Demeester's "The Wicked Shall Come Upon Him."

I would recommend this for anyone who faced Jones' dilemma, a keen interest in the mythos but an exhaustion of formula.

[James T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The premise of taking cosmic horror and exploring the sense of wonder the otherwise ‘horrific’ genre creates was really compelling. It was also a very fresh take on the genre and an interesting new avenue for old ideas.

I thought the stories varied quite a deal in quality but the ones that work were just so marvelous. We Three Kings really stood out to me. The purple prose, the play on biblical themes, it really captured cosmic horror routes in Dunsany’s wondrous fantasy.

The Litany of Earth I thought was the stand out of the collection. Just a masterfully well done story. The interweaving of the classic Insmouth myth with tragic real world events worked very well. The protagonist was deeply compelling and it was just an endearing tale.

Overall, if you a Lovecraft fan looking for something very different look no further than this anthology.

[Christopher Pufall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this collection was a bit of a mixed bag for me, Stefanie Elrick's short story "Mother's Nature" (from this "Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis") still remains one of my favorite pieces of Lovecraft-based writing. Every word and sentence in that brief piece is meticulous in its brutal agenda, slathering the senses with wonder and dread, and bathing the otherworldly and grotesque with an uncanny vividity that is at once sumptuous and sickening. I've read it a few times just to savor its word painting.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Cthulhu Mythos anthology with the theme of (forbidden) knowledge.

I really liked Messages by John Linwood Grant. The Litany Of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys was also pretty good, although I have read it before. Otherwise, it was the usual mixed bag with some good ones and some that didn't really work for me.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this one. The authors are all highly creative authors who are good at describing things that can't be described, and they have really unique voices, but many of the stories are more like ideas for stories rather than stories themselves, lacking a beginning, middle, and end. Some are just poetry, which is fine, but if you're going to write in prose, you have to put enough meet on the bone to justify me trying to figure out what you wrote.

[Alyssa Macpherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and enjoyable collection of post-Lovecraftian Mythos tales. Ruthanna Emrys’ “The Litany of Earth”, John Linwood Grant’s “Messages” and Luke R.J. Maynard’s “That Most Foreign of Veils” were my favourites of the book, but everything was very good and even the ones I liked least were only so because I found them too poetic for my tastes.

[Szilárd Schaffhauser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional collection, in a way similar to She Walks In Shadows. We have all read the Datlow, Joshi, Guran anthologies but this is different, Scott R. Jones managed to pick stories that
manifest the spiritual and religious concepts of several paths in the history of humankind and unify it under the aegis of the Mythos.

[Miguel Ángel Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leído en inglés, y no con facilidad. La colección de cuentos cumple con lo prometido en el prólogo: la Otredad de la que se trata suele ser horrible, pero no necesariamente malvada. Tampoco es corriente, sino inefable.

[Victor Dumas · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a wide range in quality of both writing and editing. The Emrys piece is nice especially if you enjoyed Winter Tide. Some of the other pieces are good... At least if you're into hentai.

[M.J.E.]

I was not the target audience, despite enjoying cosmic horror.

[Doc Ezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one made an interesting counterpoint to read alongside Lovecraft Unbound. Here, the focus isn't on homage or pastiche to HPL's works, but rather, extending the idea of the Mythos to its "theological" conclusion...these stories revolve around the underlying philosophy or theological systems implied by HPL (and others) who developed the Mythos in the first place. Practitioners, doomsday cultists, oddball theosophist-like dabblers...all sorts of versions of the Mythos as actual philosophy/religious practice.

"Hieros Gamos" is far and away the stand-out story of the collection, alongside runner-up "The Litany of the Earth." Big misses for "We Three Kings" and "The Wicked Shall Come Upon Him"...both kinda interesting ideas but just not quite there in execution.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Cthulhu collection, this one with a bit more of an esoteric occult feel to it. Particularly enjoyed "That Most Foreign of Veils" and "The Litany of Earth." YMMV.