The Cthulhu Cycle: Thirteen Tentacles of Terror

Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu books

by Robert M. Price (Editor), Lord Dunsany, M.R. James

Book by Burleson, Donald R., Carpenter, Leonard, Comtois, Pierre, Derleth, August William, Dunsany, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Foster, Alan Dean, Henderson, C. J., James, M. R., Paulsen, Steven, Smith, David C.

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

259 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Robert McNair Price is an American theologian and writer. He teaches philosophy and religion at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute, and the author of a number of books on theology and the historicity of Jesus, asserting the Christ myth theory.

A former Baptist minister, he was the editor of the Journal of Higher Criticism from 1994 until it ceased publication in 2003. He has also written extensively about the Cthulhu Mythos, a "shared universe" created by H.P. Lovecraft.

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Para sectarios muy fans de la criatura, porque Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wagh’nagl fhtagn.-

Género. Relatos.

Lo que nos cuenta. Antología de relatos seleccionados por Robert M. Price (que también firma la introducción llena de arqueología literaria al respecto y sitúa muy bien al lector en cada uno de los cuentos) por encargo de Chaosium (ya se hacen una idea ustedes) y que para él pueden ser unos de ellos las semillas de la idea de Lovecraft respecto a Cthulhu, el relato “La llamada de Cthulhu” y las implicaciones del mismo en la cosmología creada por el autor, mientras otros relatos podrían ser el desarrollo de la idea y alguno, incluso, su continuación directa si ello fuera posible; curiosamente, bastantes de los escritores que participan en la antología trabajaron el pulp con asiduidad… llamativo ¿no?

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com....

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attention Mythos fans! Do NOT miss this one! Each story in this book is very well done, and some of them will get your adrenaline flowing late into the night. At least it did for me. The ambience for reading this book was perfect: high winds, rain throughout the day and night, a fire blazing in my living room....who could ask for more!

Here's the lineup of the stories in the book:

"A Shop in Go-By Street" by Lord Dunsany: An example of the fantasy fiction of one of Lovecraft's favorite authors & inspirations.
"Count Magnus" by M. R. James: Another early and scary example of HPL's inspiratios
"The Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft: The original 3-part story; the one that got me hooked on HPL. This one also introduces Inspector Legrasse
"The Black Island," by August Derleth: Very good story that takes the reader to R'lyeh
"Some Notes Concerning a Green Box" by Alan Dean Foster: Good mythos-type story in more modern setting
"Patiently Waiting" by C. J. Henderson: To be honest, I skipped this one, because I have his Tales of Inspector Legrasse that contains this one
"The Sign of Kutullu" by David C. Smith: Another cult is located archaeologically, this one with Sumerian roots
"Recrudescence" by Leonard Carpenter: In a present-day setting, Cthulhu supporters on the coast of California
"Rude Awakening" by Will Murray: A team of NOAA scientists are experimenting with a sonic device under the waters; warned by various agencies, groups and people from all over the world, they do not listen....
"The Eye of Hlu-Hlu," by Donald R. Burleson: One of the creepier stories in the book; A young archaeologist uncovers a gateway to the nether regions on his property in the woods
"Black Fire" by Will Murray: Meet Cthulhu's dad in the Arctic; very unlike any of the other Cthulhu-based stories but very well done.
"In the Light of the Lamp" by Steven Paulsen: Two young dopers pop into a junk store and buy a lamp with some tragic consequences
"Zombies from R'lyeh" by Pierre Comtois: The lure of the South Seas is going to get someone in a LOT of trouble here! Probably my least favorite, but still good.

Be sure to read the introductions to each story; sit back, relax and enjoy the book.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any reader looking for a typical example of the volumes in Chaosium’s “Call of Cthulhu Fiction” series may find it here. Editor Robert Price leads off with an introductory essay. Next we get a couple of stories that helped inspire a classic tale by H.P. Lovecraft. Then we get the story itself, in this case the legendary three-stories-in-one, “The Call of Cthulhu.” The rest of the work is devoted to tales that further develop Lovecraft’s themes. For example, “Patiently Waiting” by C.J. Henderson provides an apt continuation of the middle tale from “Call of Cthulhu.” Other authors such as Leonard Carpenter and Steven Paulsen stray farther afield to produce stories that are actually a bit easier to read than the original. On the other hand, Donald R. Burleson more closely apes Lovecraft’s writing style, giving his story a deadly dose of impenetrable unoriginality. Other entries work or don’t in varying degrees, typical of the series and of horror anthologies in general.

[Zantaeus Glom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tremendously evocative selection of eldritch art; one or two of them being dangerously close to perfection, which is a deuced rare event in horror compendiums. Therein darkly resides a tentacular spectacular; a well (Love) crafted selection of murderous midnight missives from an anything but abysmal abyssal of mountainously malefic madness! Fair warning! Once exposed to these tenebrous tales of titanic doom, Thou mightest become greatly afeared, since this wickedly clamorous collection of forbidden lore might also awaken ones anciently slumbering appreciation of all things unnameable and fiendishly unpronounceable!

[Michael Latiolais · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for Lovecraftian short stories, so of course I'm going to love this. There were a couple of weaker stories, but overall, a good anthology of Cthulhu stories.

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite Cthulhu arguably being Lovecraft's most famous creation, the tentacle-faced beast has also always seemed to me somewhat weak when taken up by writers other than old HPL himself. For the most part, that is borne out by the contents of this volume. Price does a nice job, as usual, of tracing the mythological and literary origins of HPL's creations in his editorial notes, but many of the stories chosen for inclusion (especially CJ Henderson's and "Black Fire" by Will Murray) are not up to snuff. The MR James story (1904's "Count Magnus") is a revelation, and the 1988 tale "Recrudescence" is by far the best of the newer tales. Still, pretty good collection that holds up well against the Cthulhu-mania we've seen in recent years.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Premise: Tales all linking to the Great Old One himself.

I read this collection back in college. While it includes Lovecraft's ubiquitous story, it also includes stories inspired by Lovecraft, written by more modern authors. As I recall, it was a good collection. It brings to mind the fact that while Lovecraft was an excellent writer, his impact has reached farther than I think he ever dreamed would be possible. The other stories are just as good, if not better, than Lovecraft's own work.

[The Artificer · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was probably one of the stronger entries in Chaosium's "Cycle" series it is plagued by the same issues that trouble it's weaker cousins- spelling and editing errors as well as a few downright awful selections, in particular "Black Fire" by Will Murray, an otherwise decent story completely filled with his apparent loathing for Inuit people.

Seriously. This story alone lost the book a full star.

I'm not sure what the native peoples of the North did to ol' Will, but he certainly isn't happy with them.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Price is one of the two names (S T Joshi is the other one) I trust when picking up a book of Lovecraft compilations (some by the author himself, with other contributors). Both gentlemen include enough information about the subject, that how good the contributing author is a bonus.

[Little Timmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of stories based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. These are, to me, only slightly better than the original Lovecraft stories. Just not a fan of his writings. Not recommended

[Jair Ibarra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hace falta una compilación definitiva de los mitos de Cthulhu, algo que ponga orden y contexto como lo hace este señor Price, sólo que en grandote y definitivo.