Children of Lovecraft

by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Mike Mignola (Illustrator)

Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s stories shaped modern horror more than any other author’s in the last two centuries: Cthulhu, the Old Ones, Herbert West: Reanimator, and more terrifying nightmares emerged from the mythos of this legendary writer.
Dark Horse teams up with Hugo and Bram Stoker Award–winning editor Ellen Datlow to bring you this anthology of original prose stories that are inspired by Lovecraft’s mythos. Features work by Richard Kadrey, Brian Hodge, A. C. Wise, Siobhan Carroll, Orrin Grey, and many more, with a stunning cover by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Fantasy, Lovecraftian, Weird Fiction

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 20, 2016

About the author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

Reviews

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children of Lovecraft is a great anthology. Most of the stories are either based on or borrow ideas from one or two Lovecraft’s stories. And with the exception of one story (the real reason why it took me this long to finish this book), most of the stories are pretty good. One or two go even beyond that.

Nesters by Siobhan Carroll
For Lovecraft lovers out there, it would be quite enough to say that Nesters is based on The Colour Out of Space, one of my favourites. Not everything, of course.
It takes place in the time of Great Depression. The imagery of dust killing livestocks and slowly suffocating the families living there is really well written. But they endure. One day, two government officials come and ask the father about an abandoned farm near there. The place has some weird vegetation. Soon we find out that something horrendous happened there and nobody wants to come near it, but since the two pay well, the father accepts.

Little Ease by Gemma Files
Ginevra Cochrane is an ex con working as a pest exterminator on unregulated pest-control jobs for a private contractor. Soon she finds out that there is something really weird with the tenants of this one building she is supposed to clean.

Eternal Troutland by Stephen Graham Jones
It took me ages to grt through this story. It way be that I wasn’t in the mood, but it was a real chore to finish it. A divorced man is alone in his cabin and he is either having the mother of nervous breakdowns or the cosmic horror creatures that seem to have a whole different attitude towards Time are after him.

The Supplement by John Langan
You can hardly have a collection of Lovecraftian stories and not have a weird book in at least one of them. The Supplement is one such book. It offers a glimpse or two (or until you die) into all those lives you haven’t lived. You pay a high price, though.

Mortensen’s Muse by Orrin Grey
The basis of this story could partly be Pickman’s Model (there is a mention of a Silver Key too and a composer with a German-sounding name), only featuring a photographer searching for something elusive on his photographs. Until one day he finds it. Or it finds him.

Oblivion Mode by Laird Barron
This revenge story is a combination of dark fantasy and science fiction. One the one hand, you have this world of warriors, soldiers, vampires, kingdoms and such and on the other, you have android-like creatures made by cosmic forces everyone forgot. The villain of the story is an extension of a much larger being. Overall, a weird and very dark story.

Mr. Doornail by Maria Dahvana Headley
You can’t have an anthology like this and not have a tentacles.
Either there is something seriously wrong with me or Mr. Doornail is hilarious. It’s very dark, but still humour. There are goats here with a very clear idea on who and how should be punished for the death of their friend.

The Secrets of Insects by Richard Kadrey
Two detectives are transferring a serial killer to an unknown destination. You see from the start that the killer is playing with them. This story features one of the most interesting Lovecraft’s beings. Most would recognize who it is when the killer starts talking about his true name. He doesn’t really like the name the press had given him (Nightcrawler). It’s crawling, not crawler. Then the fog appears out of nowhere and the traffic stops.

Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille by Caitlín R. Kiernan
This story jumps through time (part is in 1969, then jumps to 2007, then back to the past in 1956, only to jump into the apocalyptic future of 2151) following different people finding a Dagon-like jade figurine. It’s not very pleasant to look at and some of those people found with it a lot more than they expected.

Jules and Richard by David Nickle
After Jules’s bicycle accident, he finds himself living with a young woman in her home. There is a painter (Richard) living with her too. After a while, Richard decides to show where he paints, his models to Jules. Let’s just say, his ‘studio’ is not what Jules expects. Neither are Richard’s models.

Glasses by Brian Evenson
Geir finds herself in a small town and there she buys a new pair of glasses. Soon she understands why the man who sold her asked her twice if she was sure. It turns out they aren’t what she wanted at all because you can see more than you really want with her new glasses.

When the Stitches Come Undone by A. C. Wise
A man comes back to his hometown only to realize that he is the only one remembering his cousin, one horrible afternoon in the forest and to top it all, he has a terrible choice to make.

On These Blackened Shores of Time by Brian Hodge
After their son’s car sinks into a collapsed mineshaft that opened in the middle of the street, the family tries to cope the best way they can. The twin sister claims her brother is still alive. Then they learn more about the history of that cursed mineshaft. I loved this heartbreaking story.

Bright Crown of Joy by Livia Llewellyn
The story goes back and forth between different timelines. It is told by the same person (entity) only she (it) seems to be evolved over the aeons into something much more. It’s the story about the end of the Earth we know it.

ARC received from Dark Horse Books via Edelweiss

[Karl]

Ellen Datlow states in her introduction that "this is my third Lovecraftian anthology"

All original stories copyright 2016.

Table of Contents:

007 - Introduction - Ellen Datlow
009 - "Nesters" by Siobhan Carroll
031 - "Little Ease" by Gemma Files
061 - "Eternal Troutland" by Stephen Graham Jones
099 - "The Supplement" by John Langan
123 - "Mortensen’s Muse" by Orrin Grey
137 - "Oblivion Mode" by Laird Barron
171 - "Mr. Doornail" by Maria Dahvana Headley
195 - "The Secrets of Insects" by Richard Kadrey
211 - "Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille" by Caitlín R. Kiernan
235 - "Jules and Richard" by David Nickle
259 - "Glasses" by Brian Evenson
269 - "When the Stitches Come Undone" by A.C. Wise
295 - "On These Blackened Shores of Time" by Brian Hodge
337 - "Bright Crown of Joy" by Livia Llewellyn

Cover by Mike Mignola

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review copy

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for over thirty years. She has won numerous awards for her work and is certainly one of the best in the business. As a result she attracts some of the best writers when she puts together a new project and Children of Lovecraft is a fine example of this effect.

H.P. Lovecraft is not without his detractors, for numerous reasons, but love him or despise him, Lovecraft was, without a doubt, one of the most influential horror writers of all time. Go anywhere where writers of horror have congregated and sooner or later, you'll hear his name or talk of his work or see Cthulhu on a t-shirt.

"Nesters" by Siobhan Carroll - As if life on the plains wasn't tough enough, the Mackay's are called upon two guide two men from the government to a neighbor's property where a shooting star seems to have crashed. Off to a great start.

"Little Ease" by Gemma Files -Ginevra Cochrane works under the table for a shifty exterminator, A scary proposition from the start. Her current job is at number 33, a run-down tenement. What she finds behind the walls, well, let's just say eating lunch while reading this one may not have been the best idea I ever had. One of the best shorts I've read this year.

"Eternal Troutland" by Stephen Graham Jones - There are creatures out there we can't even guess at. Surreal, esoteric, and entertaining.

"The Supplement" by John Langan - A book of blank pages, an amazing power, but it comes with a cost. I was deeply moved by this story and regardless of the cost, I'd love to own this book.

"Mortensen's Muse" by Orrin Grey - A young ingenue moves to Los Angelos to become an actress. A talented photographer with a eye for the grotesque follows her to the City of Dreams. If HP Lovecraft had written for The Twilight Zone, this could have been the story he would have written.

"Oblivion Mode" by Laird Barron - Talking vampire bats and other animals are just the beginning, When Karl Lochinvar falls into a pit, things really get crazy. If H.P. Lovecraft and Douglas Adams had a love child his name would be Laird Barron and he might be writing stories like this.

"Mr. Doornail" by Maria Dahvana Headley - What would an H.P. Lovecraft inspired anthology be without tentacles? Sharing a house with a man who's heart you've fed to a monster was nothing nice. Another great read in a book where all of the stories are really good.

"The Secrets of Insects" by Richard Kadrey - Another solid tale, this one about a serial killer who would drill holes in his victim's heads and then allow insects to crawl inside.

"Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille" by Caitlin R Kiernan - An amazing and visceral story involving an ancient jade statuette. Just when you think it can't get any worse...it get's much worse.

"Jules and Richard" by David Nickle - One of my favorite stories in an anthology where there are no weak links. It's all a matter of taste. This one starts out innocently enough, but just grew darker and darker as the story progressed.

"Glasses" by Brian Evenson - The shortest story in the collection. About a woman who picks up a pair of biofocals (sic) when her new reading glasses break.

"When the Stitches Come Undone" by A.C. Wise - Darkness, cannibals, and more. Ultimately a story of sacrifice.

"On These Blackened Shores of Time" by Brian Hodge - Great story with a terrific opening line. I saw it happen, watched the street open up and swallow my son whole.

"Bright Crown of Joy" by Livia Llewellyn - The anthology ends with a superb story of a world that has moved on.

You don't need to be a fan of H.P. Lovecraft to enjoy the quality storytelling in this book. If you are, though, you might enjoy it even more.

Children of Lovecraft is available in both paperback and e-book formats from Dark Horse Books.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: This review originally appeared on New York Journal of Books.

Editorial superstar Ellen Datlow possesses a monumental knack for putting out original, thoughtful, and high-quality anthologies. Children of Lovecraft, her third collection of fiction inspired by seminal weird fiction author H. P. Lovecraft (the other two being Lovecraft Unbound, 2009; and Lovecraft’s Monsters, 2014), is no exception to her sensational skills, and a fine showcase of some of the most talented current voices in modern weird fiction, including Caitlín R. Kiernan, Brian Hodge, Gemma Files, Brian Evenson, John Langan, Livia Llewelyn, Orrin Grey, Stephen Graham Jones, and David Nickle.

Many a Lovecraft-inspired editor and author strive to put out fiction that isn’t told in that author’s old-fashioned verbose pulp style. Datlow, however, takes things a step further: “when I edit an anthology of Lovecraftian stories, I encourage my contributors to create stories using the best of Lovecraft (the terror of the cosmic unknown, and his vision) to explore new themes, new horrors.” With few exceptions, the authors in this anthology largely eschew Lovecraft’s canon of entities and monsters to explore the very nature of cosmic horror in very modern and often powerfully emotional tales.

In “Little Ease” by Gemma Files, a discontented pest exterminator is called in to a decaying retirement home, where she finds gruesome secrets lurking within its walls, in both a literal sense and in the form of a mysterious old woman conducting esoteric research. Files takes some powerful liberties with the reader’s emotions in this tale; themes of despair and pity weigh in as heavily as scenes that of deep-rooted revulsions that one may expect from a tale about a pest exterminator, culminating in an effectively macabre, emotionally devastating, and utterly haunting ending.

Immediately following this tale is “Eternal Troutland” by Stephen Graham Jones, in which a divorced man may or may not be experiencing some kind of mental breakdown, ambiguously coupled with (or causing, or being caused by) visions of cosmic entities from beyond time. This is the kind of dense, unnerving, emotional, hilarious, sentimental, and deeply-moving that only Jones can tell, with mind-bending implications that may please fans of such Lovecraft tales as “The Shadow Out of Time.”

Some of the stories in this anthology wear their Lovecraft influences more prominently. The opener, Siobhan Carroll’s “Nesters,” is a powerfully atmospheric and morose tale set in a Dustbowl-besieged town, where a struggling family gets a visit by government officials with a keen interest in their abandoned neighbors’ farmland—which has been curiously thriving with strange vegetation ever since a meteor fell there some time before. Although very reminiscent of Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space,” Carroll’s tale is wholly her own, and vividly realized in characterization, description, and mood.

David Nickle’s “Jules and Richard” is a bit of a treat for Lovecraft fans. It starts out innocuously enough, with a man named Jules who has gotten into a bicycle accident, only to be taken under the wing of a young woman living in a gaudy, art-filled estate. As the tale unfolds, elements of a particular Lovecraft story begins to creep in; but to say more would be to spoil the fun. Suffice to say, even for readers unfamiliar with its influential counterpart, this is a hilarious and morbid tale, one that dances along the thin line between horror and comedy.

Caitlín R. Kiernan’s “Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille” is one of the most unique of the tales in Children of Lovecraft. Concerning incidents revolving around a peculiar stone idol, this tale is told in four scenes which take place in as many time periods, changing not only their settings and characters, but their very moods and even styles, to the point that it’s like four wholly separate, if interrelated, stories.

Similarly, Livia Llewellyn’s closing story, “Bright Crown of Joy” is a split-timeline narrative. Told as a series of computer-augmented memories from a nameless narrator in a far-flung future, the story bounces back and forth in time from the final days of Earth, as she joins a small group bracing themselves against the ultimate phase of climate change . . . and then “After,” when she observes morbid beauty in the primordial cosmos in which she and the other mutated survivors of what was once humankind now dwell.

Finally, there is one other story that holds a particularly unique place in the anthology, and may well stand out as the best of the bunch. Written by veteran horror author Brian Hodge, “On These Blackened Shores of Time” is a devastating tale of a family slowly tearing apart at the seams in the wake of a tragedy. After his son’s car plunges into a collapsed former mineshaft, the narrator, his wife, and his son’s twin sister are only barely scraping by. The family’s grief begins to morph into a desperate curiosity as they begin to learn about the dark history of that mineshaft; from there, the tale slowly travels toward a powerful finale that is both terrifyingly weird and densely heartbreaking.

Cleverly realized and expertly assembled, Children of Lovecraft is easily the best Lovecraftian anthology out this year and one of the better ones in the past decade. (It also sports a beautiful cover by artist and comic master Mike Mignola.) The power of this anthology shows in that it’s not only a must for Lovecraft fans, but for any fan of solid, mature, and mind-boggling weird fiction, courtesy of one of the finest editors in the industry.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book for the most part. A couple of stories didn't resonate with me, but I was still very impressed and enthralled. Well worth buying!

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is chock-a-block of good stories. The ones that jumped out at me the most were "Little Ease" by Gemma Files, "The Spplement" by John Langan, "The Secrets of Insects", by Richard Kadrey, and "Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille" by Caitlin R. Kieran.

The story that has stuck with me the most is "When The Stitches Come Undone" by A.C. Wise. Read it and see why.

This collection reminds us that the Lovecraftian mythos will keep going into perpetuity.

[Ctgt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some heavy hitters in this collection and they didn't disappoint
Files, Langan, Barron, Kiernan, Evenson and my favorite from Brian Hodge


8/10

[Orrin Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no way I can write an unbiased review of this book, because I am just so thrilled to have a story of my own in it! But I can say that it's a strong anthology of Lovecraft-inspired tales that avoid pastiche, and that some of my favorite stories in the book came from Siobhan Carroll, Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, Maria Dahvana Headley, A.C. Wise, and Brian Hodge. (Which, I realize, is like half the book. So yeah, it was a good one.)

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nesters" by Siobhan Carroll - First story in, and I LOVED it - clearly based off of Howie's classic The Colour Out of Space and others about a meteorite in farmville. This story by Carroll is made even more poignant by the Great Depression/Dust Bowl setting, and having a child as the narrator. Awesome good stuff.

"Little Ease" by Gemma Files
A short story named for the infamous prison cell in the Tower of London, a claustrophobic 4x4 windowless room that forced the victim to crouch without the ability to stand, sit, or lay down. There's an awesome thought! Plus, there's a bad ass ex-con exterminator, some funny business in an old building, and experimentations with the Enochian language. A lovely story.

"Eternal Troutland" by Stephen Graham Jones
I've been reading this story for two days now. I'm going to choke it down tonight, come hell or high water. Usually I enjoy Jones' writing a lot. I just can't seem to find my pace here.

"The Supplement" by John Langan
A creepy librarian story! Every Lovecraft-inspired collection needs one of these.

"Mortensen’s Muse" by Orrin Grey
Grey's story is a modern take on Pickman's Model, adapted to Hollywood and told from the perspective of an aging 'scream queen' actress. This one was nicely done.

"Oblivion Mode" by Laird Barron
A twisted story made even more so by the shifting timelines and points of view. Barron's reputation among new weird authors is richly deserved, and this story illustrates some serious talent.

"Mr. Doornail" by Maria Dahvana Headley
I thought my favorite so far was the Depression-era "Nesters," but Headley's more traditional fairy tale-ish story "Mr. Doornail" has taken the lead. The story revolves around a family of witches, a dead husband who's had his heart fed to Mr. Doornail, a bookseller, and a large herd of vengeful goats.

"The Secrets of Insects" by Richard Kadrey
Fans of Nyarlathotep will rejoice at his return in this shorter story by Kadrey. The story takes place during a car ride with two cops, transporting a mass murderer in the back seat of their squad car. The story is brief and brings to mind memories of the bad guy Khan in the Star Trek II movie.

"Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille" by Caitlín R. Kiernan
There are some truly horrific scenes in this collection of four short stories of interconnected events leading to the final end-of-the-world. The giant white shark, stuffed like a Spanish olive, is probably the first one that comes to mind.

"Jules and Richard" by David Nickle
Another Pickman's Model spin off.

"Glasses" by Brian Evenson
This one was interesting, although unfortunately I knew how the story would end before it did. Shades of From Beyond, but this time using a pair of Biofocals glasses.

"When the Stitches Come Undone" by A. C. Wise
This short was creepy, about an ancient evil in the woods that draws Nick back to his hometown in the sticks (here, the "holler"). There's a stitch witch, a lost and forgotten young cousin, and some pain ahead.

"On These Blackened Shores of Time" by Brian Hodge
Hodge's Blacked Shores takes place in a mine town in Pennsylvania, where a sink hole opens up under a paved road and swallows up a young man driving in his car. Apparently almost a century ago a mine was abandoned and quickly covered up, without anything more than a bandaid patch. When the parents of the missing driver go delving underground to recover their son, what they find is disturbing. I enjoyed this one a lot.

"Bright Crown of Joy" by Livia Llewellyn
Another end of the world story, told through snippets of the corrupted memories of one of the last remaining humans...if she even is still human. This one is really good.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a copy of this to review from edelweiss. I would definitely recommend this to lovers of Lovecraft's original works or if you are a fan of weird fiction. You cannot generalize this to horror or gothic horror at that. I really enjoyed seeing that so many authors were influenced by Lovecraft and decided to write their own evolution of his lore into this collection of short stories. There were only 2 stories that I will admit I just didn't care for, but a majority of these were page turners.

[nethescurial · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid compilation of gothic, cosmic and otherwise weird fiction that is unfortunately made uneven to a detrimental extent by a number of duds that drag down the collection's quality as a whole. "The Secret of Insects" is a boring and uninspired take on Nyarlathotep with little in the way of gripping prose, "Nesters" kind of just painfully *average*, and "Mortensen's Muse" - the worst offender of the bunch - is a dry, half-baked story which makes no attempt to hide being a shameless rehash of Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model". These stories did little to sway me and I found myself checking the page count of my Kindle whenever I was reading them.

However, I'm pleased that those three tales are the only notable drag-downs on this otherwise great collection. John Langan continues to impress me with "The Supplement", a non-horrific but very poignantly written tale of quiet grief that ties in both thematically and mythologically with "The Fisherman", and if "Frontier Death Song" didn't convince me already, Laird Barron's "Oblivion Mode" continuingly sells me on the man's writing chops when I hadn't been entirely convinced before; it's a deliriously wild, imaginative cosmic horror story set in an alt-Earth medieval fantasy backdrop. Caitlin R. Kiernan's contribution is also an expected highlight, working up their surreal and hypnotizing prose as well as their interest in portraying a climate change-wracked future to a fever-pitch in a story about a cursed, ancient relic from the dark depths of the ocean. Other highlights include "Mr. Doornail", a story told in charismatic fairy-tale prose, "When the Stitches Come Undone", a tale of disquieting folk horror, and "On These Blackened Shores of Time", a highly human, emotional, and terrifying tale that has in one story convinced me Brian Hodge is a name I should look out for.

So because of those stories this gets a recommendation from me, and the good entries really are good enough to warrant labeling this "great" and the stories I didn't mention are also well enough. Sadly, the uninteresting tales here do enough to slant the overall momentum of this anthology into a more middling direction.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this from Edelweiss for an honest and unbiased review
This is a brilliant collection of Lovecraftian inspired stories which also pleasantly surprised me due to the vast variety in themes and settings. These stories are not typically what you'd expect from a Lovecraft inspired collection, there's no laborious prose or italicised endings and as Ellen Datlow states in the introduction of the book she encouraged the contributors to create stories using the best of Lovecraft to explore new themes and new horrors, and this was certainly achieved.
There's a lot of well-known weird/cosmic fiction writers in this anthology, like Laird Barron and John Langan, and their stories are unsurprisingly fantastic, however personally the stories I really enjoyed were 'Nesters' by Siobhan Carroll and 'When the Stitches Come Undone' by A. C. Wise, both these stories were effectively creepy exceedingly well written.
Being a fan of Mike Mignola I was also really happy to see that he provided the cover art for the book which sets the tone perfectly. I would definitely recommend this to all fans of horror and not just Lovecraft fans!

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were so many, so many truly imaginative and slightly horrifying stories in this anthology that it's hard for me to pick out a favorite. Some authors I'll have to be on the lookout for are Siobhan Carroll (The Nesters had unexpected turns and kept me glued), Orrin Grey (Mortensen's Muse was a bit horrific), Maria Dahvana Headley (Mr. Doornail was hilarious and so imaginative I loved it) and Brian Evenson (Glasses was unexpected and riveting). Honestly, I may have to break down and buy this book.

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it took me a few months (because of my slow reading pace), Children of Lovecraft — a collection of short stories that draw on the Lovecraftian style of cosmic horror while presenting new perspectives — is a solid collection with a number of great stories.

[A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTHING but bangers, with the exception of The Stitches Come Undone by A.C. Wise, a story that read like someone conflating two different TV movies they saw when they were a kid and trying to summarize that.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was a bit of a toss up for me. I loved a few stories; couldn't get through a couple; so I'm left feeling a bit ambivalent. The good stories were really darn good so it gets the extra star.

[Tim Vargulish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most anthologies, some stories are better than others but overall the stories were pretty good. Some nice weird horror in here.

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing out of the ordinary here! Lovecraft`s Monsters was way better than this one!

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good collection of Lovecraftian inspired horror. There were only one or two stories I lost interest in, the last one, Bright Crown of Joy being one that I stopped reading after a few pages. Standouts included Brian Hodge's On These Blackened Shores of Time, John Langan's the Supplement, and Glasses by Brian Evenson.

Received an advance copy from Edelweiss and Dark Horse in exchange for an honest review.

[S.R. Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliantly assembled collection of Lovecraftian shorts. Unlike a lot of Lovecraftian/Mythos work, none of it reads like fan-fic or pastiche: these are unique voices telling great stories that just-so-happen to carry the same themes of cosmic horror and weird fiction that Lovecraft developed. I highly recommend the book to any fan of the genre, or any related genres.

Some of my particular favorites:

"Little Ease" by Gemma Files. A modern, deeply eerie, and incredibly creative tale. My skin crawled. A well-woven tale that could take place behind the walls of any building in just about any city in the western world... -- this story was inspirational to me. Creepy both in its literal events and their implications.

"Eternal Troutland" by Stephen Graham Jones. I enjoyed this because, even after finishing it, I was completely uncertain whether or not any of it had really, literally happened. It's either a supernatural horror story told by a terrified and increasingly unhinged man, or an unsettling tale of a man's violent and delusional descent into insanity.

"Oblivion Mode" by Laird Barron. A great spin on a traditional fantasy tale. Barron's language is exquisite, as always, and I'm very partial to creative and well-executed usage of the second-person narrative. If this tale were expanded into, say, a fantasy novel...I'd be quite pleased.

"Mr. Doornail" by Maria Dahvana Headley. Who knew Lovecraftian terror would lend itself to such a beautiful tale? This was one of my absolute favorites in the collection, in part because it was so wholly unexpected. If you were to read only a single story from the book, I'd recommend this one. I would also recommend reading more than a single story.

"Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille" by Caitlin R. Kiernan. It's difficult to describe precisely why I enjoyed this one so much. The format was fun and unexpected. The use of different narrative voices, different characters, was also a joy. The strange believability of it all. The change-up of setting, both geographical and temporal. A delightful delivery mechanism for Lovecraftian weirdness.

"When the Stitches Come Undone" by A. C. Wise. Just creepy. Absolutely creepy. Really quite unsettling. This was the tale that most viscerally unnerved me. That's all I've got to say about that.

"Bright Crown of Joy" by Livia Llewellyn. This was the sole tale in the collection that pulled words from my throat. At several points in the reading, I set the book down and said "Wow." (Or "whoa," or "damn.") There are such beautiful words in this story, such gorgeous phrases, such powerful, impactful sentences...it was a deeply remarkable read. It even feels good just to say the words aloud. Also, as someone who sometimes struggles with focus, reading the words aloud helped me stay attuned to the story, which I sometimes forgot about while adoring the prose. That's not a statement about the weakness of the story, by the way, it's a statement about the strength of the prose.

This book is worth your money and your time. Purchase it post-haste.

[Kinsey_m · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nesters" by Siobhan Carroll *** A good story, but something in the style didn't appeal to me.

"Little Ease" by Gemma Files **** Excellent story. It reminded me of Auster's New York trilogy, but with a completely different falvor. I really liked the protagonist.

"Eternal Troutland" by Stephen Graham Jones ***** After his wife leaves him, the protagonist may be depressed or losing his mind, or something else entirely.

"The Supplement" by John Langan *** Very recently I read Hose of Windows, whose two main characters are side characters of this story. Both stories are good, but (at least to me) not exceptional.

"Mortensen’s Muse" by Orrin Grey **** An actress in Hollywood's golden years. A photographer. Pictures, arrangements, magic.

"Oblivion Mode" by Laird Barron DNF Maybe this story is terrific, but it just started out very strange with regards to the time-period it was set, and I just wasn't in the mood.

"Mr. Doornail" by Maria Dahvana Headley DNF Very surreal. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be funny

"The Secrets of Insects" by Richard Kadrey ***1/2 Two police detectives, one convicted felon. It reminded me (in a good way) of a specific X-Files episode. I'll call it "Cerulean Blue", although I'm not sure that's the title "Cerulean blue is like a gentle breeze" if anyone remembers that one.

"Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille" by Caitlín R. Kiernan ***** OMG, this was good. An idol. Four moments in time. Each of the four mini-chapters has something special to it, be it imagery or a character. The image of the spill in the last part will stay with me.

"Jules and Richard" by David Nickle*** I liked the beginning better than how it ends, perhaps because I found Queen more interesting than Richard and things seemed to move far away from her

"Glasses" by Brian Evenson **1/2 I may have been spoilt by the overall quality of the collection, but this left me completely cold.

"When the Stitches Come Undone" by A.C. Wise *** 1/2 Interesting horror story about a damned village and the measures some will take to prevent evil from gaining strength. As in the first story, "Nesters" this had the feel f a more classic horror tale than others in the collection.

"On These Blackened Shores of Time" by Brian Hodge ***1/2 Grief, Caves. I would have preferred if the bereaved parents weren't an FBI agent and a self-defense instructor. It made them less believable for me, and things could have happened anyway without those job descriptions.

"Bright Crown of Joy" by Livia Llewellyn***1/2

[Khubler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children of Lovecraft is an anthology of short stories written by a multitude of prominent genre authors, commissioned and collected together by fantasy publisher Ellen Datlow. Though the stories vary wildly in theme and story, the stories are all based upon the ideas, mythos, and themes of the works of early 20th century horror writer HP Lovecraft, known for establishing the "cosmic horror" genre and creating the Cthulhu Mythos.

Though none of the stories are connected in any way, being written seierately by different authors, all connect into the larger "Cthulhu Mythos" of ancient gods and cosmic monsters initially envisioned by Lovecraft, kept alive by writers of all stripe well into the modern day. Though all the stories are written by seasoned authors and are of quality, a few stand out above the rest:

THE SUPPLEMENT by John Langan is in my opinion, probably the all-time best story in this book (as far as I've managed, I have at least two to go off of). Either that, a close tie with the below stories. The story of an ex-librarian who discovers a former colleague, struggling from grief, discovers a supernatural book is heartbreakingly beautiful. What's remarkable about it is that unlike its competition, which weave vast tapestries to be slowly unraveled as the story ploughs on (which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't) Langan surprises you by going completely minimal. The story is oddly devoid of any too unusual setups, places or creatures. The story's monster and its servitors, while interesting in themselves, are barely mentioned and only serves as a backstory to the main plot. They actually could all be done away with entirely, leaving just the book, and it would still work perfectly. All focus is placed on the two main characters of the story, their relatively brief interaction together in one's apartment, and the narrator's own personal view on the tragedy that is slowly eating away his friend's life. It's an interesting take on Lovecraft's "friends of scientist is called over to see what he's working on" tales such as Cool Air, Herbert West-Reanimator or From Beyond, this time playing on the sadness of the situation as opposed to the horror. It opens a lot of philosophical and emotional themes and will leave you thinking about them long after you finish the tale; not even the most tragic of the anthology's stories can quite manage to hit this hard. By clinging to the very meat of the story, Langnan's tale is one you won't forget.

NESTERS by Siobhan Carroll is a short horror piece dealing with a young farm girl and her family trying to survive in the 1920s dustbowl era. When two government investigators offer the girl's family better pay in turn for the father's assistance in an investigation of a "cursed" plot of land neighboring theirs, the father reluctantly agrees to follow them for the pay, against the girl's wishes. All three disappear, and the girl, tired of waiting for a return she knows won't happen, sneaks onto the land herself in an effort to find them, and learns the horrid truth of just what happens to those who enter the "Devil's Garden". The story's greatest strength is its imagery: Carroll has an unsettling knack for making the reader feel as if they're actually living there in the Dustbowl. The characters, place, and overall story is wonderfully executed and always feels true and authentic to the era. Everyone feels real and behaves realistically. The backstory, while reminiscent of Lovecraft's The Colour out of Space, is extremely unsettling, the unusually ripe produce of the "Devil's Garden" placing a sickening spin on biblical temptation that works scarily well in constraint with the denizens if the starving, dying dustbowl town. The backstory, while not giving too much away, gives you just enough information to keep you guessing until the very end, and the finale is sad as it is genuinely disturbing. One of Carroll's best.

ON THESE BLACKENED SHORES OF TIME by Brian Hodge is more a tragedy than horror, dealing with an FBI agent and his wife and daughter trying to cope after losing their son to a massive sinkhole. Rescue crews unable to find him and his family grieving, the man attempts to research more into the tunnel and history of the sinkhole and the centuries-old mining operation responsible for it. Like all good Lovecraft, the man and his wife quickly realize the shaft's old miners, and by extension themselves, have tapped into a far grander narrative, and soon find themselves plunging into complete unknown to save their possibly alive son. Hodge writes his story to be more explicitly in the Lovecraft mythos as opposed to just sharing his kinds of creatures and themes, making reference to Ry'leh and other places and entities that imply a shared continuity. However, Hodge refuses to borrow anything else from Lovecraft outright, and instead chooses to create new creatures and worlds, like the best of writers in this anthology. Like Carroll's Dust Bowl setting, the Pennsylvania Mining Country setting is fresh and original, perfect for Lovecraftian lore and places you there in the world. The characters are memorable, the history behind the mining shaft and what it holds is fascinating and feels real. Hodge's work plays on what you do know and don't the best, using the lack of and snippets of information to both peak your curiosity and fill you with apprehension. However, in my opinion the greatest part of the story is the ending, a weird, cruel, and perfectly suited finish that emulates the core of Lovecraft's cosmic horror: sometimes in life, there are things that happen that are simply beyond our control, mere ripple effects of things done ages ago with no way to correct or retaliate against the. A happy ending is not guaranteed in a vast, cruelly indifferent, and indifferently cruel universe.

Though I like the majority of stories in the book, these are my favorites. Children of Lovecraft is a perfect example of emulating a writing style while making it your own: everyone is creative and original, either using classic mythos creatures in new scenarios or simply making their own creations entirely. In a foreword, Datlow claimed in commissioning these stories she specifically banned any attempt at "pastiche" or "rehash" works, and I believe that was a very wise choice. Filled with horror, comedy, tragedy, and unfathomable creatures from beyond the beyond the black void of space and time, Children of Lovecraft is an enchantingly dark compendium of literature, and while not for everyone (I can imagine very who appreciate a sad ending) it's must-read for anybody familiar HP Lovecraft's worlds and works.

[Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

My introduction to HP Lovecraft came not from the source material, but Stephen King's "Crouch End"*. I still love that short story, still remember how completely weirded out my younger self was by it. The disfigured kids? Writing on a closet wall about the goat with a thousand young? Hello, sleeplessness.

In the years since, I've read HP Lovecraft's work, but I find I prefer his influence, his mythos, to the actual words the man wrote. Howard laid the dark geometry of the foundation, and all these other artists continue to build crazy shacks, skyscrapers, and oily-stoned temples atop it.

This anthology, like others that Ellen Datlow has overseen, is a good collection of weird architecture. I thought I'd be able to call out just a few favorites, but I honestly enjoyed every story. Maria Dahvana Headley ("Mr. Doornail") made me laugh; Brian Evenson ("Glasses") reminded me of a favorite Twilight Zone episode; Stephen Graham Jones ("Eternal Troutland") and John Langan ("The Supplement") would've been enough for me to buy this in the first place...and so on. Oh, and Mike Mignola's cover art? Yeah. All kinds of perfect.

One final thought, with regard to Laird Barron's contribution ("Oblivion Mode"): I can't wait for the day that Laird rolls out his version of Lord of the Rings Broken Ouroboros. I'm not saying he is working on such a thing, but if it happens...wow.

*with honorable mention to Metallica's "The Call of Ktulu" (R.I.P. Cliff Burton)

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was a great collection. There were no stories that I didn't have any interest in at all, but I think my favorite was "On These Blackened Shores of Time" by Brian Hodge.
But other favorites were: "When the Stitches Come Undone" by A.C. Wise, "Mr. Doornail" by Maria Dahvana Headley, "Little Ease" by Gemma Files, and "Nesters" by Siobhan Carroll.

Anyways, like most Lovecraftian things, these stories were bizarre. But in this volume, almost all beautifully done with lots of mystery and much better representation. I highly recommend for fans of mysterious sci-fi & creepy short tales. (And now I'm going to go look up most of the authors to make my monstrous "to-read" list even longer.)

[Toney Baus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a marvelous anthology. The editor also makes a great point in the introduction, in particular that "One does not have to love the man to appreciate [Lovecraft's] work. For me, it is the sheer inventiveness of his mythos." I would add that Lovecraft the man was, according to all the evidence I have seen, a hateful creature. His mythos, however, moves the horror genre past the trite haunted house, etc. Haunted houses just don't get it done in a world where The Holocaust and the Armenian genocide are established facts. Lovecraft gave the horror genre a necessary increase in scale to remain important. Modern authors like the ones in this anthology take his mythos to brilliance.

The last story in the collection, "Bright Crown of Joy," by Livia Llewellyn, is a diamond among gems. It presents the end of our species as a vivid hallucination, a vibrant nightmare. Like great art, it does not tell the reader what to think. It does, however, give the reader grounds for hope of a sort, making it very special in the world of mythos literature where people no longer exist.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 3 out of 5]

When these stories are good, they’re reasonably good. But when they’re bad, wow. The failures break down into two categories. Some of them are bewildering slogs through over-arty prose. Others sour the experience by relying on the suffering and death of animals and children (the beginning of the book is particularly rife with this type, so much so that I almost abandoned it). I prefer to do a good job of reading everything in any book I review, but here I was sorely tempted to skim or skip any entry that wasn’t to my taste. That would have made the experience considerably better and considerably shorter. But I did appreciate one factor that was consistent throughout the anthology: all the authors made use of Lovecraftian themes without resorting to hackneyed pastiche.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's possible to say no author has really paved new ground in horror after HP Lovecraft. For any idea, he'd likely already written about it (or something close to it). The problem is, Lovecraft really wasn't a good writer. Modern writers riffing on Lovecraft are much, much better. Today's "Weird authors" and "Dark Fantasists" write with lyrical prose and metaphor that make for some great reading. As with any anthology, results vary, but this collection has some real zingers. A few, like Laird Barron's "Oblivion Mode" and A.C. Wise's "When the Stitches Come Undone" prompted me to immediately pick up more of their work.

[Rachel Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not surprisingly this is a book without any happy endings. That being said, this book still had a lot of beautiful tragedy. There was plenty of horror and Twilight Zone style unsettled feelings. There were monsters in human and unrecognizable forms. There was one story in the collection that was so inane and difficult to follow that I actually put the book down for a couple weeks. The rest of the stories, however, were very engaging and I've got another list of authors to look up. This is a good book for fans of the horror genre or Lovecraft fans looking for new authors to read.

[m 🎬genXstasy🕶️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love Datlow’s concept— the Cthulhu Mythos reimagined— but the book started off spotty. as i read, though, the tales began blazing more brightly with coy, beautiful, intelligent, disturbing, nastiness as only the Elder Gods can serve.

bright spots:
Gemma Files (of course!)
Brian Hodge (another “of course”)
Maria Dahvana Headley (superb magic realism)
Caitlin Kiernan (yep)
David Nickle
Brian Evenson
A.C. Wise
Livia Llewellyn

the placement of the stories was superb, as well.

~~

this is a pretty darn decent and fresh offering in the Mythos landscape.

—m

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

5*****
Nesters by Siobhan Carroll
The Supplement by John Langan
Mortensen’s Muse by Orrin Grey
On These Blackened Shores of Time by Brian Hodge

4****
When the Stitches Come Undone by A.C. Wise
The Secrets of Insects by Richard Kadrey
Glasses by Brian Evenson

3***
Eternal Troutland by Stephen Graham Jones

2**
Excerpts for An Eschatology Quadrille by Caitlín R. Kiernan

1*
Little Ease by Gemma Files
Oblivion Mode by Laird Barron
Mr. Doornail by Maria Dahvana Headle
Jules and Richard by David Nickle
Bright Crown of Joy by Livia Llewellyn