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Black Wings #5
Black Wings of Cthulhu 5
Twenty new short stories in the tradition of the famed writer H. P. Lovecraft, produced by a lineup of authors considered to be among his most skilled and dedicated acolytes. Authors include Caitlin R. Kiernan, Donald Tyson, Darrell Schweitzer, and Nancy Kilpatrick, and the stories range from scientists who come face to face with the appalling implications of their discoveries, to the psychological aberrations of characters as they come face-to-face with the bizarre. Black Wings of Cthulhu 5 will take its place as a pioneering anthology that shows how the work of H. P. Lovecraft is inexhaustibly rich in the inspiration it can provide to contemporary writers of weird fiction.
384 pages, Paperback
Published January 16, 2018
32 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
About the author
S.T. Joshi
795 books455 followersSunand Tryambak Joshi is an Indian American literary scholar, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors. Besides what some critics consider to be the definitive biography of Lovecraft (H. P. Lovecraft: A Life, 1996), Joshi has written about Ambrose Bierce, H. L. Mencken, Lord Dunsany, and M.R. James, and has edited collections of their works.
His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question; his The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.
Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.
In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.
Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.
In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.
Joshi, who lives with his wife in Moravia, New York, has stated on his website that his most noteworthy achievements thus far have been his biography of Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life and The Weird Tale.
His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question; his The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.
Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.
In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.
Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.
In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.
Joshi, who lives with his wife in Moravia, New York, has stated on his website that his most noteworthy achievements thus far have been his biography of Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life and The Weird Tale.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 4, 2018
3.5 stars.
While still an overall solid read, I'm getting a sense of diminishing returns from this anthology series.
I've actually been spending much of my "Mythos Time" lately discovering (or RE-discovering) forgotten authors and titles, and it's been very enlightening in helping me obtain perspective on some of the newer Mythos fiction and themes.
While still an overall solid read, I'm getting a sense of diminishing returns from this anthology series.
I've actually been spending much of my "Mythos Time" lately discovering (or RE-discovering) forgotten authors and titles, and it's been very enlightening in helping me obtain perspective on some of the newer Mythos fiction and themes.
February 4, 2018
Rounded up from 3.5. Review forthcoming.
April 20, 2021
This is a brilliant collection of stories and by far the most solid, consistent, and creative entry in the "Black Wings of Cthulhu" series. I've read these straight-through as my go-to bedtime read (with an occasional finish or follow up the next morning), and I'd felt my commitment to the series flagging after the misstep of volume 3 (which I still "liked" with a 3-star rating, for whatever that's worth). The stories in Volume 4 were an improvement narrative-wise as well as atmospherically, but certain themes and motifs were starting to seem overly familiar, even a bit stale (and not entirely due to the recurring roster of authors that Joshi draws on); combined with the very sloppy editing/proofing, that edition seemed rushed overall. Anyway, I've reviewed these volumes, as well as the first two, in their own entries here at Goodreads, so on to Vol. 5.
I've loved the consistent visual design and cover art for this series; I'm especially a sucker (get it?) for the tentacled "space Cthulhu" on Vol. 1, but the manifestation emerging from the turquoise depths on Vol. 5 is exquisite and a clear signal of the return-to-form of this collection. By that, I meant that there is quality in many of these stories that tap into the Lovecraftian mythos/ethos of cosmic disdain and weird horror that feels so legit, earned by the earnestness with which the authors delve into Lovecraftian tropes and themes, but conveyed with the conviction of ownership and personal vision that take these stories in directions Lovecraft would not, and in many cases could not, have done. By this, I mean to point to the historical, cultural, and social settings that many of these writers bring to the collection and so make weird horror a relevant probe into our recent past and very contemporary concerns, including racially charged civil unrest, the irrational acceleration of episodes of mass shootings, psychological trauma, self-harm, and suicide (the latter three, particularly in the case of women's experiences), and more. If you're wanting the pulp escapism of roaring '20s-styled fare, this collection probably isn't for you.
Just a few more notes about why I loved this anthology so much, and why you might like it to. First, I love music/sound-oriented Lovecraft stories, and this work delivers a few of those in various ways and to different depths. Our experimental doom metal duo in John Reppion's "The Black Abbess" (the name of their "band"), who I think I may have run into in Denver, should never have taken their tour of the UK to hunt down their namesake; great likable characters, excellent Gothic atmospherics, and a heavy doom vibe! The post-apocalyptic setting for Donald Tyson's "The Organ of Chaos" is also great, and the incorporation of atonal and experimental music (I won't provide more details) as part of the story was great -- I kept flashing on the radiated mutant choirs in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes."
I'm also a fan of drug-themed stories, and this volume has two of those. The collection finale, Stephen Woodworth's "Voodoo," is a totally convincing blend of New Orleans atmospheres with Old Ones lore, and I would not ever, ever want to take the entheogenic trip that occurs there. Better yet, and hands-down a contender for my favorite weird horror short story ever, is the "Easy Rider"-meets-Lovecraft (with a bit of Tarantino thrown in) acid antics of Cody Goodfellow's "Snakeladder." It hits all the right notes for me, from the hallucinogenic flare of the prose, to the solid point-of-view character, to the twists and turns of the story and the (sur)reality therein.
Finally, I tend to turn to Lovecraftian narratives because I like the cosmic scope and the atmosphere of dread realization, but rarely for the scares and discomfort of real horror. But two very fine stories in this collection -- Sam Gafford's "Casting Fractals" and Nancy Kilpatrick's "The Oldies" -- truly left me unsettled, disturbed, and anxious. Both hit home and resonated for personal reasons while also hit a nerve that feels way too historically/culturally timely as they diagnose broader societal illnesses.
Only a couple of stories didn't do anything for me, and I don't feel a need to call them out by name or title -- maybe you'll like them -- but in one instance the stilted and artificial dialogue just made the thing feel too much like it was trying to be a good short story, and in the other, an otherwise quite compelling narrative set-up with engaging characters ended so abruptly and without resolution it felt more like a sample chapter for novel pitch than a short story.
Otherwise, this collection has so much to offer the interested and willing reader. The stories are differently engaging, convincing, and immersive. At one point in his intro, Joshi notes that a few of these authors here build "new worlds out of whole cloth," and in fact, the majority included here feel as complete and fully realized as such hyperbole suggests.
A Black Wings Volume 6 has already dropped, and now I've ordered Joshi's pair of "madness of Cthulhu" books, but I'm going to take a break from all this for a bit, ending on the incredibly high, if discordant, note of "Black Wings of Cthulhu 5."
I've loved the consistent visual design and cover art for this series; I'm especially a sucker (get it?) for the tentacled "space Cthulhu" on Vol. 1, but the manifestation emerging from the turquoise depths on Vol. 5 is exquisite and a clear signal of the return-to-form of this collection. By that, I meant that there is quality in many of these stories that tap into the Lovecraftian mythos/ethos of cosmic disdain and weird horror that feels so legit, earned by the earnestness with which the authors delve into Lovecraftian tropes and themes, but conveyed with the conviction of ownership and personal vision that take these stories in directions Lovecraft would not, and in many cases could not, have done. By this, I mean to point to the historical, cultural, and social settings that many of these writers bring to the collection and so make weird horror a relevant probe into our recent past and very contemporary concerns, including racially charged civil unrest, the irrational acceleration of episodes of mass shootings, psychological trauma, self-harm, and suicide (the latter three, particularly in the case of women's experiences), and more. If you're wanting the pulp escapism of roaring '20s-styled fare, this collection probably isn't for you.
Just a few more notes about why I loved this anthology so much, and why you might like it to. First, I love music/sound-oriented Lovecraft stories, and this work delivers a few of those in various ways and to different depths. Our experimental doom metal duo in John Reppion's "The Black Abbess" (the name of their "band"), who I think I may have run into in Denver, should never have taken their tour of the UK to hunt down their namesake; great likable characters, excellent Gothic atmospherics, and a heavy doom vibe! The post-apocalyptic setting for Donald Tyson's "The Organ of Chaos" is also great, and the incorporation of atonal and experimental music (I won't provide more details) as part of the story was great -- I kept flashing on the radiated mutant choirs in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes."
I'm also a fan of drug-themed stories, and this volume has two of those. The collection finale, Stephen Woodworth's "Voodoo," is a totally convincing blend of New Orleans atmospheres with Old Ones lore, and I would not ever, ever want to take the entheogenic trip that occurs there. Better yet, and hands-down a contender for my favorite weird horror short story ever, is the "Easy Rider"-meets-Lovecraft (with a bit of Tarantino thrown in) acid antics of Cody Goodfellow's "Snakeladder." It hits all the right notes for me, from the hallucinogenic flare of the prose, to the solid point-of-view character, to the twists and turns of the story and the (sur)reality therein.
Finally, I tend to turn to Lovecraftian narratives because I like the cosmic scope and the atmosphere of dread realization, but rarely for the scares and discomfort of real horror. But two very fine stories in this collection -- Sam Gafford's "Casting Fractals" and Nancy Kilpatrick's "The Oldies" -- truly left me unsettled, disturbed, and anxious. Both hit home and resonated for personal reasons while also hit a nerve that feels way too historically/culturally timely as they diagnose broader societal illnesses.
Only a couple of stories didn't do anything for me, and I don't feel a need to call them out by name or title -- maybe you'll like them -- but in one instance the stilted and artificial dialogue just made the thing feel too much like it was trying to be a good short story, and in the other, an otherwise quite compelling narrative set-up with engaging characters ended so abruptly and without resolution it felt more like a sample chapter for novel pitch than a short story.
Otherwise, this collection has so much to offer the interested and willing reader. The stories are differently engaging, convincing, and immersive. At one point in his intro, Joshi notes that a few of these authors here build "new worlds out of whole cloth," and in fact, the majority included here feel as complete and fully realized as such hyperbole suggests.
A Black Wings Volume 6 has already dropped, and now I've ordered Joshi's pair of "madness of Cthulhu" books, but I'm going to take a break from all this for a bit, ending on the incredibly high, if discordant, note of "Black Wings of Cthulhu 5."
Read
February 23, 2017My favorite stories:
Snakeladder by Cody Goodfellow
The Red Witch of Chorazin by Darrell Schweitzer
Snakeladder by Cody Goodfellow
The Red Witch of Chorazin by Darrell Schweitzer
April 29, 2017
A BUNCH OF WEIRD STUFF IT IS...
Hello, this collection is okay. Some of the stories are pretty good and some of the stories are really bad. Thanks.
Hello, this collection is okay. Some of the stories are pretty good and some of the stories are really bad. Thanks.
January 24, 2019
Excellent. Much better than Black Wings IV. In fact, I was a bit taken aback when I finished it, wanting more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2021
I was given this book as a gift by a friend who knew that I liked Lovecraftian horror, but who wasn't very familiar with the subject. I was a little hesitant with it, but as I learned of Joshi's significant credentials, I figured that surely someone so invested in this particular niche of horror fiction would be able to scrounge up twenty good stories.
And let it be known: there ARE good stories in here! I just wish I didn't have to crawl through the others to get to them.
As anthologies tend to be, Black Wings of Cthulhu 5 is a mixed bag. I'm giving it three stars to lightly recommend it, because I think that the good stories *just* outweigh the bad.
Here's some standouts for me, starting with the good ones.
If you're going to read one story in this entire book, it should doubtless be Cody Goodfellow's "Snakeladder." The story of a particularly revealing drugged-up journey, it's got motorbikes, hippies, Americana, great dialogue, at least one bug-infested person, personality for days and more than enough deliciously fucked-up imagery to really satisfy. Check out this excerpt and tell me that the guy can't write:
Highly recommended. "Snakeladder" is a five star story.
The opener, "Plenty of Irem," alongside "A Question of Blood" and "Voodoo" are all solid stories that feel like good extensions of the Lovecraft catalogue. "Voodoo," especially, blends some good monster moments with the unique existential flair of the Lovecraftian without dwelling too long in either. "A Question of Blood" has a lengthy first half that delves perhaps a little too deeply into the background of our characters, but it makes up for any drag with a worthwhile payoff.
When a story contains Lovecraft as a character, or alludes to his existence, I found that it is probably worth skipping, with one exception. "The Quest," although a bit predictable, is a short and sweet story about enthusiasts of a fictional Lovecraft stand-in. The literary analysts might find some commentary here on the genre as a whole, although I'll save my thoughts on that for the sake of spoilers. Give it a read - if you hate it, you won't lose too much of your time.
"The Organ of Chaos" gets the award for best world-building, telling the story of a post-apocalyptic cult of... sound. Despite the odd premise, it gets really intense really quickly. The feminist in me has some problems with this story () but if you are otherwise willing to give it a fair shake, there is still a solid story, a unique threat, and a very interesting world. Call it my problematic fave.
Those are the stories I'd really recommend. Here are the ones that I don't really like.
I'll admit it: I'm a fake fan. I haven't read Lovecraft's full catalogue (yet!). From what I can gather, "The Woman in the Attic" is a sort of extension of Lovecraft's "Color Out of Space" from the perspective of Mrs. Gardner, the titular attic woman. It runs stream-of-consciousness style through the woman's scribbled ramblings, and it reads as exactly such. I can't say that the author failed at what they were going for. I just couldn't find anything to get attached to, and doubt I would even if I had read the Lovecraft story.
"Red Walls" is about a survivor of a fucked-up rapture. It has all of the edge that you could pack into less than ten pages, but in my opinion, has none of the point to justify it. In fact, it AVOIDS having a point - the living characters cannot remember much outside of their current condition, and are stuck wondering "why?" So am I. It's an exercise in misery, albeit one I might've enjoyed when I was 15 or so and really liked reading gross stuff. The imagery works, I'll give it that, but I need more than gory imagery to like your story. This is another one where if you're unsure, it at least won't take too long to read.
"Casting Fractals" has an interesting premise. A journalist discovers a pattern - not just in their own stories, but in the shape of human history itself - which points to something they cannot shake. With that being said, it wound up being too long and with too little punch. It actually wound up dulling what impact it might've had by being a period piece.
I admit to DNF'ing "The Oldies," and doing so very quickly. After I read through one page of the typical "I have gone mad!" opening and an awkwardly stuck-in reference to "The Road Not Taken," I was already very skeptical, and stopped as soon as I reached the line about a "token-in-the-making transsexual." No thank you. I might go back and read this one at some point (and if so I'll update this part), but the rest of the story would have to pull some serious weight for making me feel that it is *absolutely not for me* so quickly.
All in all, it's fine. If you're a fanatic for the genre, then it'll fit well on your shelf. Beyond that, I'd suggest that you be picky. There is some worthwhile stuff in here. Hell, there's some downright great weird fiction fun! Still, not every story in an anthology will be for everyone, and if you're not feeling one, just move on. Nobody will judge you.
Except for the ever-watching eye. The ever-watching eye sees you. It judges you. Move lightly; Dare not upset the cosmic balance.
Happy reading.
And let it be known: there ARE good stories in here! I just wish I didn't have to crawl through the others to get to them.
As anthologies tend to be, Black Wings of Cthulhu 5 is a mixed bag. I'm giving it three stars to lightly recommend it, because I think that the good stories *just* outweigh the bad.
Here's some standouts for me, starting with the good ones.
If you're going to read one story in this entire book, it should doubtless be Cody Goodfellow's "Snakeladder." The story of a particularly revealing drugged-up journey, it's got motorbikes, hippies, Americana, great dialogue, at least one bug-infested person, personality for days and more than enough deliciously fucked-up imagery to really satisfy. Check out this excerpt and tell me that the guy can't write:
Highly recommended. "Snakeladder" is a five star story.
The opener, "Plenty of Irem," alongside "A Question of Blood" and "Voodoo" are all solid stories that feel like good extensions of the Lovecraft catalogue. "Voodoo," especially, blends some good monster moments with the unique existential flair of the Lovecraftian without dwelling too long in either. "A Question of Blood" has a lengthy first half that delves perhaps a little too deeply into the background of our characters, but it makes up for any drag with a worthwhile payoff.
When a story contains Lovecraft as a character, or alludes to his existence, I found that it is probably worth skipping, with one exception. "The Quest," although a bit predictable, is a short and sweet story about enthusiasts of a fictional Lovecraft stand-in. The literary analysts might find some commentary here on the genre as a whole, although I'll save my thoughts on that for the sake of spoilers. Give it a read - if you hate it, you won't lose too much of your time.
"The Organ of Chaos" gets the award for best world-building, telling the story of a post-apocalyptic cult of... sound. Despite the odd premise, it gets really intense really quickly. The feminist in me has some problems with this story () but if you are otherwise willing to give it a fair shake, there is still a solid story, a unique threat, and a very interesting world. Call it my problematic fave.
Those are the stories I'd really recommend. Here are the ones that I don't really like.
I'll admit it: I'm a fake fan. I haven't read Lovecraft's full catalogue (yet!). From what I can gather, "The Woman in the Attic" is a sort of extension of Lovecraft's "Color Out of Space" from the perspective of Mrs. Gardner, the titular attic woman. It runs stream-of-consciousness style through the woman's scribbled ramblings, and it reads as exactly such. I can't say that the author failed at what they were going for. I just couldn't find anything to get attached to, and doubt I would even if I had read the Lovecraft story.
"Red Walls" is about a survivor of a fucked-up rapture. It has all of the edge that you could pack into less than ten pages, but in my opinion, has none of the point to justify it. In fact, it AVOIDS having a point - the living characters cannot remember much outside of their current condition, and are stuck wondering "why?" So am I. It's an exercise in misery, albeit one I might've enjoyed when I was 15 or so and really liked reading gross stuff. The imagery works, I'll give it that, but I need more than gory imagery to like your story. This is another one where if you're unsure, it at least won't take too long to read.
"Casting Fractals" has an interesting premise. A journalist discovers a pattern - not just in their own stories, but in the shape of human history itself - which points to something they cannot shake. With that being said, it wound up being too long and with too little punch. It actually wound up dulling what impact it might've had by being a period piece.
I admit to DNF'ing "The Oldies," and doing so very quickly. After I read through one page of the typical "I have gone mad!" opening and an awkwardly stuck-in reference to "The Road Not Taken," I was already very skeptical, and stopped as soon as I reached the line about a "token-in-the-making transsexual." No thank you. I might go back and read this one at some point (and if so I'll update this part), but the rest of the story would have to pull some serious weight for making me feel that it is *absolutely not for me* so quickly.
All in all, it's fine. If you're a fanatic for the genre, then it'll fit well on your shelf. Beyond that, I'd suggest that you be picky. There is some worthwhile stuff in here. Hell, there's some downright great weird fiction fun! Still, not every story in an anthology will be for everyone, and if you're not feeling one, just move on. Nobody will judge you.
Except for the ever-watching eye. The ever-watching eye sees you. It judges you. Move lightly; Dare not upset the cosmic balance.
Happy reading.
December 30, 2024
I'm biased, as I am a fan of eldritch horror, and a fan of short stories. There was a lot to love and a little bit to dislike.
Currently reading
January 12, 2025"Lore" by Wade German - This is a short poem based upon Lovecraftian themes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2018
Black Wings of Cthulhu 5 (2016) edited by S.T. Joshi, containing the following stories:
Plenty of Irem by Jonathan Thomas
Diary of a Sane Man by Nicole Cushing
The Woman in the Attic by Robert H. Waugh
Far from Any Shore by Caitlín R. Kiernan
In Blackness Etched, My Name by W. H. Pugmire
Snakeladder by Cody Goodfellow
The Walker in the Night by Jason C. Eckhardt
In Bloom by Lynne Jamneck
The Black Abbess by John Reppion
The Quest by Mollie L. Burleson
A Question of Blood by David Hambling
Red Walls by Mark Howard Jones
The Organ of Chaos by Donald Tyson
Seed of the Gods by Donald R. Burleson
Fire Breeders by Sunni K Brock
Casting Fractals by Sam Gafford
The Red Witch of Chorazin by Darrell Schweitzer
The Oldies by Nancy Kilpatrick
Voodoo by Stephen Woodworth
Lore by Wade German
Another year, another superior Black Wings anthology of cosmic horror from editor S.T. Joshi. The 'of Cthulhu' is added to the trade paperback editions of these anthologies for commercial considerations, by the way. The hardcovers, per the originating H.P. Lovecraft quote, are simply Black Wings.
As is usual for Joshi anthologies, the stories range from good to excellent. Familiar names that include Caitlin Kiernan, W.H. Pugmire, and Darrell Schweitzer offer up superior tales of dark gods and that menacing, indifferent universe of cosmic dread. Sunni Brock offers a fresh take on Innsmouth, complete with what seems like a nod to the Japanese horror story that would become the American movie Dark Water (that story being "Floating Water" by Koji Suzuki). Schweitzer offers an ambitiously circular mise en abyme. Kiernan's background in paleontology informs the unfortunate findings of her characters.
There's a sarcastic cheekiness to Nancy Kilpatrick's "The Oldies" that doesn't undermine the horror of its collision of Old Gods and traumatized people. As flies to wanton boys, and all that jazz. Jonathan Thomas (The Color Over Occam) offers a wry visit to Lovecraft's Kingsport that nods to the odd festival held there, and its odder participants, in a story whose droll tone resembles that of a vintage Clark Ashton Smith story like "The Seven Geases" or "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros."
A couple of stories -- John Reppion's "The Black Abbess" and David Hambling's "A Question of Blood" specifically -- don't quite stick their landings as they embrace a little too much lack of closure. Still, they're worth reading, as the anthology is as a whole. And Wade German's concluding poem is a nice touch, especially given Lovecraft's embrace of weird poetry. Highly recommended.
Plenty of Irem by Jonathan Thomas
Diary of a Sane Man by Nicole Cushing
The Woman in the Attic by Robert H. Waugh
Far from Any Shore by Caitlín R. Kiernan
In Blackness Etched, My Name by W. H. Pugmire
Snakeladder by Cody Goodfellow
The Walker in the Night by Jason C. Eckhardt
In Bloom by Lynne Jamneck
The Black Abbess by John Reppion
The Quest by Mollie L. Burleson
A Question of Blood by David Hambling
Red Walls by Mark Howard Jones
The Organ of Chaos by Donald Tyson
Seed of the Gods by Donald R. Burleson
Fire Breeders by Sunni K Brock
Casting Fractals by Sam Gafford
The Red Witch of Chorazin by Darrell Schweitzer
The Oldies by Nancy Kilpatrick
Voodoo by Stephen Woodworth
Lore by Wade German
Another year, another superior Black Wings anthology of cosmic horror from editor S.T. Joshi. The 'of Cthulhu' is added to the trade paperback editions of these anthologies for commercial considerations, by the way. The hardcovers, per the originating H.P. Lovecraft quote, are simply Black Wings.
As is usual for Joshi anthologies, the stories range from good to excellent. Familiar names that include Caitlin Kiernan, W.H. Pugmire, and Darrell Schweitzer offer up superior tales of dark gods and that menacing, indifferent universe of cosmic dread. Sunni Brock offers a fresh take on Innsmouth, complete with what seems like a nod to the Japanese horror story that would become the American movie Dark Water (that story being "Floating Water" by Koji Suzuki). Schweitzer offers an ambitiously circular mise en abyme. Kiernan's background in paleontology informs the unfortunate findings of her characters.
There's a sarcastic cheekiness to Nancy Kilpatrick's "The Oldies" that doesn't undermine the horror of its collision of Old Gods and traumatized people. As flies to wanton boys, and all that jazz. Jonathan Thomas (The Color Over Occam) offers a wry visit to Lovecraft's Kingsport that nods to the odd festival held there, and its odder participants, in a story whose droll tone resembles that of a vintage Clark Ashton Smith story like "The Seven Geases" or "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros."
A couple of stories -- John Reppion's "The Black Abbess" and David Hambling's "A Question of Blood" specifically -- don't quite stick their landings as they embrace a little too much lack of closure. Still, they're worth reading, as the anthology is as a whole. And Wade German's concluding poem is a nice touch, especially given Lovecraft's embrace of weird poetry. Highly recommended.
April 29, 2021
Maximálně lehký nadprůměr, podobně jako předchozí díl. Stále se mě drží pocit, že S.T. Joshi při skládání Černých křídel nemá na přispívající autory kdovíjaké kvalitativní nároky, protože řada obsažených povídek je buď vysloveně mdle napsaných a nezáživných (V květu, Rudá čarodejka z Chorazinu, Žena v podkroví, Pátrání, Vúdú) nebo sice docela čtivých, ale zoufale rutinních a neoriginálních (Hojnost Iremu, Množitelé ohně, Deník příčetného člověka, Černá abatyše, Záležitost krve). V hlavě mi nějakým výraznějším způsobem utkvěl Goodfellowův Hadožebřík (který je sugestivní, ale dobrá povídka to taky není) a Staříci, jejichž atmosféra je i přes neoriginalitu správně znervózňující. K případnému opakovanému přečtení mě pak motivovaly pouze povídky Utváření fraktálů (hezky budovaný pocit chaosu), Rudé zdi (strohá, ale působivá vize pekla), Varhany chaosu (docela netradiční fůze lovecraftovských elementů s vidláckým krvákem á la Pach krve, to mě zaujalo), Semeno bohů (holt mám slabost pro body horror) a Daleko od všech břehů (pouze tady jsem pocítil společně s postavami to neodvratné šílenství při kontaktu s něčím nepozemským, jak to sám H.P. uměl stvárnit dokonale). Nakolik mají povídky ve sbírce obecně něco společného s lovecraftovským horrorem jako takovým, to je pak zase druhá věc. Tak či tak, jde o soubor kolísavé kvality, kde opravdu zdařilých kusů je jen několik a zbytek tvoří většinou snesitelná, ale relativně generická vata.
November 14, 2020
Yes, people who are not into HPL should probably count one star off the rating, but still - this was really good. I have to confess that after reading Vol. IV, I felt that this series is somewhat losing its breath, but Black Wings V comes back stronger than ever and I think that it contains the best great-to-mediocre story ratio since Vol. I. There were actually just a few stories that I found either uninteresting, which is subjective, or not too Lovecraftian, but even those were pretty well written. My favorites were Kiernan (as per usual, she can do no wrong), The Black Abbess (a bloody good traditional English folk horror story), Voodoo (some of the best imagery in the whole anthology), and Casting Fractals (really good storytelling), in that order. Goodfellow's Snakeladder was completely bonkers and over-the-top and it somehow surprisinghly worked. Red Walls was so fucking depressing that even Ligotti might have found it too much and The Organ of Chaos contained some torture elements I found pretty hard to read. And The Red Witch of Chorazin left me a bit puzzled in the end, echoing to some of the Laird Barron stories which warrant multiple readings, so I was puzzled in a good way, I guess. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable autumn season read.
March 9, 2024
This is not a bad collection of stories, but it is not great, but my lack of enthusiasm has as much to do with Lovercraft and the whole 'Cathulhu Mythos' - the very words send shivers of desire to upchuck through my stomach - has any fantasy creation attracted so much bad fan fiction - and even it is by 'reputable' authors and published by mainstream publishers it is fan fiction - that or a marketing concept. Lovecraft was a creepy guy obsessed with miscegenation - which should send alarm bells ringing for any sensible reader, as should exaltation of state power to abuse civil rights. Do none of the idiots who read his barely concealed eugenic tracts not remember that while he was living there was a regime which imprisoned, expelled and eventually killed millions of alien races? - yeah I'm talking about Nazis - daah. A foul foundation makes for a foul and rotten building and Cathulhu is rotten. I don't care if the current writers aren't racists - they are promoting a nasty, ugly writer.
March 12, 2020
Inte den starkaste i serien, men fortsatt läsvärt. "The Red Witch of Chorazin" av den alltid pålitliga Darrel Schweitzer och Cody Goodfellows "Snakeladder", båda två knarkiga på precis rätt sätt, är nog de bästa i boken. Kiernan och Pugmire är som vanligt också bra. "The Walker in the Night" av Jason C. Eckhardt är egentligen en bagatell, men en bra sådan.
October 18, 2022
This late entry in the anthology series has a fairly medium hit/miss ratio, and there's enough familiar names on the contents page from previous volumes to suggest that Joshi had got into an editorial rut, becoming over-reliant on the same limited set of authors and filling out Black Wings volumes almost by rote. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
November 22, 2017
Black Wings V: a mixed bag
I’ve enjoyed the Black Wings series, curated by the HPL scholar ST Joshi. I-III are uniformly excellent, IV was uneven and V is more of the same. Quality got better deeper into the collection, but even the best here aren’t brilliant.
I’ve enjoyed the Black Wings series, curated by the HPL scholar ST Joshi. I-III are uniformly excellent, IV was uneven and V is more of the same. Quality got better deeper into the collection, but even the best here aren’t brilliant.
October 7, 2018
Always worthwhile selections, this group of stories were more to my liking than the last volume. I look forward to more from each of the authors.
May 7, 2019
Not the best of this series. Some I really liked, though, including the stories by Jonathan Thomas, Jason Eckhardt, John Reppion, David Hambling, and Stephen Woodworth.
August 18, 2019
2.5 stars.
Found this less interesting than IV. Probably because one collection of Lovecraftian Horror is more than enough for me in a year.
Found this less interesting than IV. Probably because one collection of Lovecraftian Horror is more than enough for me in a year.
January 3, 2022
A solid anthology of Cthulhu Mythos stories. This was really good, maybe the strongest of the "Black Wings" series so far.
August 26, 2023
This was one of those books I had to put down in order to slow my pace. Not a dud in the bunch.
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