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Mon Dieu Cthulhu! #1-2
Mon Dieu Cthulhu! The Dubois Escapades Volume One: Sabres clash with supernatural horror in these epic Napoleonic fantasies!
This first anthology volume of Mon Dieu Cthulhu! contains the first two adventures, The Crystal Void (Illustrated Version) and Feast of the Dead.
The Crystal Void
The year is 1810 and as Napoleon's marshals chase Wellington's expeditionary force to the lines of Torres Verdras, the dashing if rather dim French Hussar Gaston d'Bois is astonished to encounter the love of his life. But the fragrant Odette is soon abducted by the Marquis Da Foz, a ruthless and sadistic Portuguese noblemen.
Joined by a mysterious British Major, the hot blooded Hussar is soon in deadly pursuit, but what strange horrors lurk within the shadows of Da Foz's ancient Moorish fortress? Can the heroic duo foil Da Foz's dark machinations, rescue the delightful Odette and ultimately prevent the opening of the dreaded Crystal Void?
"Great story, interesting characters, lots of sword and musket action, and the potential for future stories in an underutilised setting." - Sci-fi and Fantasy Reviewer
Feast of the Dead
Dashing French Lieutenant, Gaston d'Bois, is reassigned to the XIIIth Imperial Death's Head Hussars and charged with leading a detachment of these "thieves on horseback" into the Spanish interior, in search of intelligence, supplies and plunder.
Forced to take refuge in the Monasterio de St Cloud, d'Bois encounters the unworldly Doctor Malfeas and the beautiful nurse, Mademoiselle Brockenhurst. Yet this former house of the holy holds many outré secrets and d'Bois faces fresh battles on all fronts, including the mystery which lies at the heart of the Monasterio itself, an ancient and terrible enigma which threatens both the lives and souls of all who encounter it.
Alone, deep behind enemy lines and beset on all sides, can d'Bois survive his first real command and prevent the horrible unravelling of the feast of the dead?
"An epic, swashbuckling Napoleonic adventure expertly blended with chilling Lovecraftian horror" - Sci-fi and Fantasy Reviewer
The Crystal Void
The year is 1810 and as Napoleon's marshals chase Wellington's expeditionary force to the lines of Torres Verdras, the dashing if rather dim French Hussar Gaston d'Bois is astonished to encounter the love of his life. But the fragrant Odette is soon abducted by the Marquis Da Foz, a ruthless and sadistic Portuguese noblemen.
Joined by a mysterious British Major, the hot blooded Hussar is soon in deadly pursuit, but what strange horrors lurk within the shadows of Da Foz's ancient Moorish fortress? Can the heroic duo foil Da Foz's dark machinations, rescue the delightful Odette and ultimately prevent the opening of the dreaded Crystal Void?
"Great story, interesting characters, lots of sword and musket action, and the potential for future stories in an underutilised setting." - Sci-fi and Fantasy Reviewer
Feast of the Dead
Dashing French Lieutenant, Gaston d'Bois, is reassigned to the XIIIth Imperial Death's Head Hussars and charged with leading a detachment of these "thieves on horseback" into the Spanish interior, in search of intelligence, supplies and plunder.
Forced to take refuge in the Monasterio de St Cloud, d'Bois encounters the unworldly Doctor Malfeas and the beautiful nurse, Mademoiselle Brockenhurst. Yet this former house of the holy holds many outré secrets and d'Bois faces fresh battles on all fronts, including the mystery which lies at the heart of the Monasterio itself, an ancient and terrible enigma which threatens both the lives and souls of all who encounter it.
Alone, deep behind enemy lines and beset on all sides, can d'Bois survive his first real command and prevent the horrible unravelling of the feast of the dead?
"An epic, swashbuckling Napoleonic adventure expertly blended with chilling Lovecraftian horror" - Sci-fi and Fantasy Reviewer
- GenresHorror
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 10, 2018
8 people want to read
About the author
John Houlihan
33 books17 followersJohn Houlihan is a novelist and short story writer publishing many works including The Seraph Chronicles and Mon Dieu Cthulhu! series, The Cricket Dictionary and the BSFA-award nominated The Constellation of Alarion. He has also appeared in numerous sci-fi and fantasy short story collections including Signals, Near Future Fictions, When Shadows Creep, Corridors, Forgotten Sidekicks, Musketeers vs Cthulhu and many more.
He currently works for Modiphius Entertainment as an ENNIE-award winning game designer, creative lead and narrative director and works for many other TTRPG companies including Wizards of the Coast, Need Games and Monolith. He was also editor-in-chief of Dragon+. Before that he was a journalist and broadcaster for over thirty years, working in news, sport and especially videogames. He worked for The Times, Sunday Times and Cricinfo and is the former editor-in-chief of Computer and Video Games.com. He still works as a video game consultant and script writer.
Away from the written word he has an unnatural fondness for cricket, football, snowboarding, cycling, music, playing guitar and all forms of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. He has an unnatural dread about writing about himself in the third person and currently lives in his home town of Watford in the UK, because, well frankly, someone has to.
Find him at www.john-houlihan.net and @johnh259 on X.com
Contact: jollybigpublishing AT gmail DOT COM
He currently works for Modiphius Entertainment as an ENNIE-award winning game designer, creative lead and narrative director and works for many other TTRPG companies including Wizards of the Coast, Need Games and Monolith. He was also editor-in-chief of Dragon+. Before that he was a journalist and broadcaster for over thirty years, working in news, sport and especially videogames. He worked for The Times, Sunday Times and Cricinfo and is the former editor-in-chief of Computer and Video Games.com. He still works as a video game consultant and script writer.
Away from the written word he has an unnatural fondness for cricket, football, snowboarding, cycling, music, playing guitar and all forms of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. He has an unnatural dread about writing about himself in the third person and currently lives in his home town of Watford in the UK, because, well frankly, someone has to.
Find him at www.john-houlihan.net and @johnh259 on X.com
Contact: jollybigpublishing AT gmail DOT COM
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 6, 2020
I wanted to like this one, but the pretense of French was obtrusive for me. The author drops French words and phrases frequently, but the usage was too inconsistent with some phrases translated but others not and some translated more than once. And it's probably petty, but I was put off by the MC's name. Du Bois is a perfectly legitimate French name. "D'Bois" is an affront. It's "of the wood(s)" so it's de le, which never appears in French but is always "du." The "u" would never be dropped when appearing before a consonant.
Well, I did say it was petty, but those sorts of things piled up. The basic concept is fun and I'm sure other readers will enjoy the combination of light badinage and Lovecraftian horror. The old-fashioned device of having a narrator relate the whole thing to another in the comfort of a club keeps the horror at one step removed. The author handled that well.
Anyway, it's a quick read and is reasonably well edited.
Well, I did say it was petty, but those sorts of things piled up. The basic concept is fun and I'm sure other readers will enjoy the combination of light badinage and Lovecraftian horror. The old-fashioned device of having a narrator relate the whole thing to another in the comfort of a club keeps the horror at one step removed. The author handled that well.
Anyway, it's a quick read and is reasonably well edited.
June 22, 2020
Historical Fantasy (my weakness) mixing with Napoleonic Wars and Cthulhu mythos - what's not to like?
What to Expect
'Mon Dieu Cthulhu' is a collection of two stories with the inimitable Gaston d'Bois, a hussar lieutenant fighting in the Iberian peninsula against Wellington's army. While dealing with the war, he comes across monsters far older and far worse than anything he encountered on the battlefield.
'The Crystal Void' is a novelette, d'Bois' first encounter with lurking supernatural horrors. The story is told as an old d'Bois reminisces to an unnamed listener over a bottle of brandy. What starts as a normal evening party turns into a kidnap, and gets worse when the nature of the kidnappers is revealed.
'Feast of the Dead' is a short novel, with d'Bois commanding his own little force on an expedition in a hostile country. While dealing with Spanish partisans and a strange doctor serving the wounded of both sides, he runs into an old monastery that the locals avoid - seemingly with very good reason!
What I liked
I absolutely loved the voice of both the author and the character. d'Bois is very charming (he's French, after all), and the smattering French and his eccentric referring to himself in the third person add spice and flavour to the story. The setting feels real, the characters feel taken out of any period novel, and the introduction of Lovecraftian elements is seamless and fitting into an excellent adventure.
I particularly enjoyed the action scenes, but in general Houlihan's style is flowing easily, with a quick pace and engaging characters.
What to be aware of
d'Bois isn't as active in the first novelette as I'd normally prefer, but this is excusable as it's his first encounter. He's much more engaged in the second part, which is a joy. The smattering of French added flavour and my high-school level (from many moons ago) was quite enough to enjoy it. Houlihan does make most things understood en le contexte - pardon, in context - and even if you don't speak a word of French that shouldn't detract from your enjoyment.
The links to the Cthulhu mythos are in vile creatures that lurk in dark corners, rather than the god-like monstrosities from outer space. The tone is not horror, but rather adventurous.
Lastly, take note if you are overly sensitive about misplaced commas and the occasional formatting oddity. I never let that stand in my way of enjoyment of a good story, but YMMV.
Felix's Review
Felix found d'Bois a bit on the boisterous side, but sympathised deeply with his experiences and reactions. He's sure that despite his vainglorious way of speaking he'd be a formidable ally when facing nasty critters, and that they'd certainly be able to enjoy a cup (or an amphora) of wine afterwards. He's keen to hear more of his stories.
Summary
Highly entertaining, quick reads, mixing history and fantasy for great adventures. Try them out and you'll very quickly discover if you fall in love with d'Bois and his inimitable style.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
What to Expect
'Mon Dieu Cthulhu' is a collection of two stories with the inimitable Gaston d'Bois, a hussar lieutenant fighting in the Iberian peninsula against Wellington's army. While dealing with the war, he comes across monsters far older and far worse than anything he encountered on the battlefield.
'The Crystal Void' is a novelette, d'Bois' first encounter with lurking supernatural horrors. The story is told as an old d'Bois reminisces to an unnamed listener over a bottle of brandy. What starts as a normal evening party turns into a kidnap, and gets worse when the nature of the kidnappers is revealed.
'Feast of the Dead' is a short novel, with d'Bois commanding his own little force on an expedition in a hostile country. While dealing with Spanish partisans and a strange doctor serving the wounded of both sides, he runs into an old monastery that the locals avoid - seemingly with very good reason!
What I liked
I absolutely loved the voice of both the author and the character. d'Bois is very charming (he's French, after all), and the smattering French and his eccentric referring to himself in the third person add spice and flavour to the story. The setting feels real, the characters feel taken out of any period novel, and the introduction of Lovecraftian elements is seamless and fitting into an excellent adventure.
I particularly enjoyed the action scenes, but in general Houlihan's style is flowing easily, with a quick pace and engaging characters.
What to be aware of
d'Bois isn't as active in the first novelette as I'd normally prefer, but this is excusable as it's his first encounter. He's much more engaged in the second part, which is a joy. The smattering of French added flavour and my high-school level (from many moons ago) was quite enough to enjoy it. Houlihan does make most things understood en le contexte - pardon, in context - and even if you don't speak a word of French that shouldn't detract from your enjoyment.
The links to the Cthulhu mythos are in vile creatures that lurk in dark corners, rather than the god-like monstrosities from outer space. The tone is not horror, but rather adventurous.
Lastly, take note if you are overly sensitive about misplaced commas and the occasional formatting oddity. I never let that stand in my way of enjoyment of a good story, but YMMV.
Felix's Review
Felix found d'Bois a bit on the boisterous side, but sympathised deeply with his experiences and reactions. He's sure that despite his vainglorious way of speaking he'd be a formidable ally when facing nasty critters, and that they'd certainly be able to enjoy a cup (or an amphora) of wine afterwards. He's keen to hear more of his stories.
Summary
Highly entertaining, quick reads, mixing history and fantasy for great adventures. Try them out and you'll very quickly discover if you fall in love with d'Bois and his inimitable style.
--
Assaph Mehr, author of Murder In Absentia: A story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic - for lovers of Ancient Rome, Murder Mysteries, and Urban Fantasy.
June 9, 2025
Nothing really new here. The story being narrated by a French person, there are two or three French phrases in every paragraph. I really don't think there's a French person who would speak that way. It's also quite distracting to the reader, and repeated typos and misspellings, this book deserves two stars at the very most.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews