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Books of Cthulhu #1
Tales of the Al-Azif: A Cthulhu Mythos Anthology
The Necronomicon was not the first book by H.P. Lovecraft to terrify readers with tales of dark and twisted horrors from beyond. No, the Al-Azif, or Book of the Insect, is the first work that told mankind of Cthulhu, Azathoth, and other terrors. Indeed, it was the book that inspired "The Mad Arab" Abdul Al-Hazred to write its more famous successor.
Join us for a collection of novellas written by some of the best Neo-Lovecraftian authors today: Matthew Davenport (Andrew Doran, The Trials of Obed Marsh), David Hambling (Harry Stubbs, The Dulwich Horror), David J. West (Porter Rockwell, Redneck Eldritch), David Niall Wilson (The Call of Distant Shores), and C. T. Phipps (Cthulhu Armageddon) in telling stories of this mysterious book.
Find out where the nightmares began!
Join us for a collection of novellas written by some of the best Neo-Lovecraftian authors today: Matthew Davenport (Andrew Doran, The Trials of Obed Marsh), David Hambling (Harry Stubbs, The Dulwich Horror), David J. West (Porter Rockwell, Redneck Eldritch), David Niall Wilson (The Call of Distant Shores), and C. T. Phipps (Cthulhu Armageddon) in telling stories of this mysterious book.
Find out where the nightmares began!
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 22, 2019
105 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Davenport
50 books54 followersMatthew Davenport hails from Des Moines, Iowa where he lives with his wife, Ren, and daughter, Willow.
He puts up a new chapter every Wednesday on his Patreon. http://patreon.com/matthewdavenport
You can keep track of Matthew through his twitter account @spazenport.
Matt updates his blog from time to time at authormatthewdavenport.wordpress.com
He puts up a new chapter every Wednesday on his Patreon. http://patreon.com/matthewdavenport
You can keep track of Matthew through his twitter account @spazenport.
Matt updates his blog from time to time at authormatthewdavenport.wordpress.com
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 10, 2021
Tales of the Al-Azif by C.T. Phipps and other great others is a book I requested and the review is voluntary. This is an anthology of stories all with the Al-Azif theme. A good variety of horror stories but my favorite was Cockroach Suckers because it has the most humor, although dark, to go along with the fun horror!
October 29, 2019
The Al Azif or the book of insects if a forbidden tome brought into human consciousness by the mad Arab Al Hazred. The Mad Arab picked it up in some divine revelation after being banished to the empty quarter in Yemen. The revelations are derived from the sound of desert Cicadas. Apparently insects are the oldest beings around and have seen everything since the beginning of time. Therefore they have wisdom.
Al Azif comes from the Cthulhu myths written by HP Lovecraft. It has such a following that systems of magic have been based on it and other authors have written their own adventures in the Cthulhu mythology. This book is a collection of such tales. The first story tells how the Mad Arab first obtains the Al. Azif with his uncle. Another story deals with Henry Stubbs in finding the Al Azif. Another story has Elizabeth Dee going to Cairo in search of the book and fighting a group of assassin to stay alive and get the book. Don’t think that Cthulhu is confined to the Middle East. There are cave in the New York Hills where a cult sacrifices people to be taken over by insects. Once again the Al Azif is a source of power.There is a story about a 7 foot wooden cockroach that people pay to see. Instead of just seeing a Steven foot cockroach they get possessed by evil insects. Finally there is an apolylyptic at the end.
The Al Azif is the forerunner to the Necronomicon. It can be used to grant wishes but like the monkeys paw it’s all twisted and comes with a terrible price. The book is indestructible and if the pages get destroyed then the information can travel to another book.
The Cthulhu mythology deals with evil but not demons and devils rather it is about like being coming from another dimension to take us over. Occult means can be used too stop them. But they are really alien like.
Al Azif comes from the Cthulhu myths written by HP Lovecraft. It has such a following that systems of magic have been based on it and other authors have written their own adventures in the Cthulhu mythology. This book is a collection of such tales. The first story tells how the Mad Arab first obtains the Al. Azif with his uncle. Another story deals with Henry Stubbs in finding the Al Azif. Another story has Elizabeth Dee going to Cairo in search of the book and fighting a group of assassin to stay alive and get the book. Don’t think that Cthulhu is confined to the Middle East. There are cave in the New York Hills where a cult sacrifices people to be taken over by insects. Once again the Al Azif is a source of power.There is a story about a 7 foot wooden cockroach that people pay to see. Instead of just seeing a Steven foot cockroach they get possessed by evil insects. Finally there is an apolylyptic at the end.
The Al Azif is the forerunner to the Necronomicon. It can be used to grant wishes but like the monkeys paw it’s all twisted and comes with a terrible price. The book is indestructible and if the pages get destroyed then the information can travel to another book.
The Cthulhu mythology deals with evil but not demons and devils rather it is about like being coming from another dimension to take us over. Occult means can be used too stop them. But they are really alien like.
April 19, 2020
I was never a huge reader of short stories. I’ve always been more drawn to lengthy series, however my one exception is any Antholgy with C.T. Phipps’ name attached to it. Over the past couple of years I’ve devoured Phipps’ novels, many of which have brightened my days with Kevin Smith-esque comedy and perfectly timed pop culture references. Having read Phipps’ Cthulhu Armageddon, I was aware of his admiration of Lovecraft’s work and concepts so I was not at all surprised that this project came to be.
Phipps always enlists some supremely talented writers to his Anthologies as was the case with Blackest Knights. This time he co-edited with Matthew Davenport, an author who I was unfamiliar with but have now begun reading as well.
Tales of the Al-Azif is a masterfully compiled series of stories most of which tie together with various Easter eggs referring to the other authors’ stories. The tales exist in the authors’ worlds and serve as great introductions to the longer Lovecraftian themed novels or series in their catalogues. All of them deal with The Al-Azif, the ancient book of Insect sounds that can change the world, that inspired the Necronimicon, as well the cult of The Old Ones (Lovecraftian monster Gods) Cthulhu is mentioned briefly but is not the focus of these tales.
Phipps, Davenport and Hambling’s tales all feature characters from their own series, so if you enjoy Harry Stubbs, Andrew Doran and John Henry Booth, you’ll have a lot more to jump in to.
One story which stands alone is David Niall Wilson’s Cockroach Suckers. Wilson’s depiction of redneck country life and the bizarre and hilarious characters that inhabit the story drew me to buy his entire catalog in one night and made me a fan for life. I also enjoyed David West’s tale and it led me to take a strong interest in the Grimdark world of his “Brutal” series under the pseudonym of James Alderdice.
Tales of the Al-Azif is published by David Wilson’s Crossroad Press and is an excellent gateway in to the catalogues of these brilliant authors. With very little knowledge or interest in Lovecraft, I was compelled by each of these stories and not only did it spark an interest in the source material, but more importantly the authors’ original work. Tales of the Al-Azif is a superb artistic accomplishment by a powerhouse team of creators.
Phipps always enlists some supremely talented writers to his Anthologies as was the case with Blackest Knights. This time he co-edited with Matthew Davenport, an author who I was unfamiliar with but have now begun reading as well.
Tales of the Al-Azif is a masterfully compiled series of stories most of which tie together with various Easter eggs referring to the other authors’ stories. The tales exist in the authors’ worlds and serve as great introductions to the longer Lovecraftian themed novels or series in their catalogues. All of them deal with The Al-Azif, the ancient book of Insect sounds that can change the world, that inspired the Necronimicon, as well the cult of The Old Ones (Lovecraftian monster Gods) Cthulhu is mentioned briefly but is not the focus of these tales.
Phipps, Davenport and Hambling’s tales all feature characters from their own series, so if you enjoy Harry Stubbs, Andrew Doran and John Henry Booth, you’ll have a lot more to jump in to.
One story which stands alone is David Niall Wilson’s Cockroach Suckers. Wilson’s depiction of redneck country life and the bizarre and hilarious characters that inhabit the story drew me to buy his entire catalog in one night and made me a fan for life. I also enjoyed David West’s tale and it led me to take a strong interest in the Grimdark world of his “Brutal” series under the pseudonym of James Alderdice.
Tales of the Al-Azif is published by David Wilson’s Crossroad Press and is an excellent gateway in to the catalogues of these brilliant authors. With very little knowledge or interest in Lovecraft, I was compelled by each of these stories and not only did it spark an interest in the source material, but more importantly the authors’ original work. Tales of the Al-Azif is a superb artistic accomplishment by a powerhouse team of creators.
April 12, 2019
H.P. LOVECRAFT and I are two authors seperated by a century but both share a love of the weird and macabre. TALES OF THE AL-AZIF was inspired by my love of a particular book of his, no, not the Necronomicon as well as the fast friendships I've made with multiple authors who like to dabble with Lovecraftian themes. David J. Wilson, David Hambling, David J. West, Mathew Davenport, and myself all have written books set in the Cthulhu Mythos. So, it seemed like a natural idea to do a compilation of our work.
The Al-Azif is a book that exists in the Cthulhu Mythos as the predecessor of the Necronomicon. Supposedly, the Mad Arab Abdul found this book after hearing insects relate to him the terrifying secrets of Azathoth and other monstrous abominations. What if we did a series of short stories about this book and set them in the same world? Tales linked together in a coherent narrative spread across time?
The result is a good deal more Pulpy and action-orientated than HPL's usual fair with my favorite story actually being a comedy (David Wilson's "Cockroach Suckers"). However, it's still a feast for any fan of the work of Howard Phillips or his successors. Check it out.
The Al-Azif is a book that exists in the Cthulhu Mythos as the predecessor of the Necronomicon. Supposedly, the Mad Arab Abdul found this book after hearing insects relate to him the terrifying secrets of Azathoth and other monstrous abominations. What if we did a series of short stories about this book and set them in the same world? Tales linked together in a coherent narrative spread across time?
The result is a good deal more Pulpy and action-orientated than HPL's usual fair with my favorite story actually being a comedy (David Wilson's "Cockroach Suckers"). However, it's still a feast for any fan of the work of Howard Phillips or his successors. Check it out.
July 4, 2019
A TALE OF THE FANTASTIC IT IS....
Hello, these are some really great stories. Very well written and entertaining to read. Most would make a fine novel. Thanks.
Hello, these are some really great stories. Very well written and entertaining to read. Most would make a fine novel. Thanks.
April 16, 2020
I love the Cthulhu mythos! This collection of stories focusing on the spine-cringing book, the Al-Azif, is an amazing addition to the other Lovecraftian horrors.
The Book of Insects is a disturbing volume that acts as one part Monkeys Paw and one part Cosmic McGuffin. Through the book, one can find the secrets of immortality, the knowledge of ancient other-dimensional realms, and even the ability to become something other than human. Of course, there is a price for power.
Whether dealing with crazed cultists, a million angry insects, or the slow metamorphosis into a new insect like being, just being in possession of the book is akin to carrying a leaky nuclear bomb on your person.
The stories are laid out in order of time periods and we go from the creation of the book, to its existence in the post apocalyptic wasteland as humans take a much smaller place to the Nameless Horrors that rule the Earth.
Amazingly complex and well written, with not a dull story in the book; this is a must read for any Cthulhu Aficionado!
The Book of Insects is a disturbing volume that acts as one part Monkeys Paw and one part Cosmic McGuffin. Through the book, one can find the secrets of immortality, the knowledge of ancient other-dimensional realms, and even the ability to become something other than human. Of course, there is a price for power.
Whether dealing with crazed cultists, a million angry insects, or the slow metamorphosis into a new insect like being, just being in possession of the book is akin to carrying a leaky nuclear bomb on your person.
The stories are laid out in order of time periods and we go from the creation of the book, to its existence in the post apocalyptic wasteland as humans take a much smaller place to the Nameless Horrors that rule the Earth.
Amazingly complex and well written, with not a dull story in the book; this is a must read for any Cthulhu Aficionado!
May 22, 2019
A great collection of Lovecraftian mysteries!
This is a collection of stories all interwoven with the Al-Azif book. The way that all of the various stories have little hints and nods that tell you it's a vast shared world.
Note- the stories are almost all taken from a number of the writers' different series', but I personally had only read C.T Phipps Booth. Which also turned put to be my favorite of the all the stories.
If you like well written Lovecraftian stories, this book is definitely for you!
This is a collection of stories all interwoven with the Al-Azif book. The way that all of the various stories have little hints and nods that tell you it's a vast shared world.
Note- the stories are almost all taken from a number of the writers' different series', but I personally had only read C.T Phipps Booth. Which also turned put to be my favorite of the all the stories.
If you like well written Lovecraftian stories, this book is definitely for you!
May 23, 2020
An enjoyable romp
A very nicely linked set of stories making a very enjoyable journey through the "life" of the Al-Azif.
Well worth the money for all lovers of the Mythos.
A very nicely linked set of stories making a very enjoyable journey through the "life" of the Al-Azif.
Well worth the money for all lovers of the Mythos.
August 16, 2020
Enjoyable linking stories based on the mad poet. Cockroach suckers was the only rubbish story. The rest were competent pulp fiction.
February 19, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
You can't go wrong with C. T. Phipps. He's just good like that. If you like this, please check out Cthulhu Armageddon!
You can't go wrong with C. T. Phipps. He's just good like that. If you like this, please check out Cthulhu Armageddon!
January 4, 2023
Some good stories that make me interested in reading the novels by those authors, especially the Harry Stubbs series and maybe Cthulhu Armageddon. Not sure yet about the next collection, though.
Read
February 11, 2024Another in the series of anthologies themed around specific corners of Yog-Sothothery which I only read because they always include a decent chunk of David Hambling, reliably thrilling purveyor of local Mythos for local people. This time: is the original Necronomicon really being sold at that auction house near where I change buses in West Norwood? Nah, course not - it's in South Norwood. Which explains a lot. I say 'original Necronomicon', but of course back in the day people would take all kinds of liberties with translations, and the stories here play that up, emphasising that first manuscript as an even more unsettling text than the later iterations, not least because it isn't exactly a fixed text. All of which goes some way to explain why it'll cost you more SAN to peruse in Call Of Cthulhu, of course. Though CoC was also where I learned that Abdul Al'Hazred wasn't a terribly convincing Arabic name, and learned it was better to gently retcon it as a transmission error, making it a little unfortunate that the collection's framing story opens with the line '"You are going to get yourself killed, Abdul Al'Hazred, and everyone will remember you as a madman," my uncle, Abbas, said.' DO YOU SEE? It pretty much stays on the nose where it starts, enthusiastically running through a checklist of Mythos critters, so determined to fit everything together that it never really remembers to weave any kind of spooky mood, or even convey any real sense of the narrator's growing craziness, but somehow its puppyish enthusiasm meant I couldn't hate it. A Manuscript Found In Carcosa, on the other hand...well, I'm sure some would accuse it of orientalism, but for me the problem is less that it tries to evoke an exotic Cairo that never was, more that it doesn't do so very well. I've learned by now always to skip the Matthew Davenport story unless the opening page mentions a character with the same name as someone I know, in which case it gets maybe ten pages for comedy purposes; alas, even on this level Andrew Doran And The Crawling Caves: An Andrew Doran Adventure (yes, really) fails to oblige. But David Niall Wilson takes the collection's appalled fascination with bugs to the Great Dismal Swamp, where a couple of the local good old boys get in over their head in an attempt to cash in on America's fascination with roadside World's Biggest... attractions. The tale manages to be at once genuinely creepy, gently comical and in places genuinely surprising, probably helped by wearing its Lovecraft connections lightly. The Last Page, on the other hand, isn't, and shovels in the keywords like SEO is the most blasphemous and eldritch thing of all (which, now I say it...). I read it mainly because the unsavoury old stranger who comes to post-apocalyptic town is called Owen Jones. "For the longest time, I did not think there was any evil act I could not perform in the name of pleasure and power. The book was a hungry god and I fed it many lives. There were, however, things even I would not do to fulfill its needs, and now I am going to destroy it. My slave and I are going to take it to Sentinel Hill where it can be fed to The Thing That Waits." So at least he seems to have improved with age. And finally, back to the framing story for a deeply unconvincing twist. Really, the sensible thing would be to wait for a collection of the Hambling stories, but hey, these anthologies tend to be cheap, and sometimes books one should probably steer clear of do have a terrible allure...
October 14, 2024
Compare to Dark Origins: Arkham Horror: The Collected Novellas, Vol. 1 that I read last month. Too upbeat and fun. Not remotely scary. It's a collection of adventure stories set in the world of the Cthulhu Mythos. A couple stories were not bad, but it's not cosmic horror. "Cockroach Suckers" was particularly stupid.
There's a framing story and a series of loosely connected stories about the Al-Azif. Here, the Al-Azif is not identical to the Necronomicon, rather, the Necronomicon was inspired by the Al-Azif. The Al-Azif is not actually a book but a demon or entity, although it sometimes manifests as a book.
Referring to Lovecraft's (fictional) History Of The Necronomicon, Al-Azif refers to a "nocturnal sound (made by insects) suppos’d to be the howling of daemons". Hence the insect theme of the monsters/demons/bad guys in most stories.
This is a the first volume of a new series. I hope it gets better.
There's a framing story and a series of loosely connected stories about the Al-Azif. Here, the Al-Azif is not identical to the Necronomicon, rather, the Necronomicon was inspired by the Al-Azif. The Al-Azif is not actually a book but a demon or entity, although it sometimes manifests as a book.
Referring to Lovecraft's (fictional) History Of The Necronomicon, Al-Azif refers to a "nocturnal sound (made by insects) suppos’d to be the howling of daemons". Hence the insect theme of the monsters/demons/bad guys in most stories.
This is a the first volume of a new series. I hope it gets better.
February 17, 2020
I read a lot of Lovecraftian cosmic horror anthologies, and I don’t expect them to be literary masterpieces. The Cthulhu mythos was born in the pulps and remains escapist pulp fiction for the most part. That said, this was one of the least enjoyable collections I have encountered.
The stories were not really to my taste. Most rely far more on insect-inspired horror than the nihilistic dread usual to cosmic horror, and most were of the “monster hunter” variety favored by Robert E. Howard or Clark Ashton Smith rather than the original creeping dread of H. P. Lovecraft.
If that were my only complaint with the book I probably would have given it 3.5 stars as “okay, but not to my personal taste when it comes to Lovecraftian horror.” However, the book (I read the Kindle edition) was riddled with typos. The number of omitted, duplicated, and misplaced words was absolutely ridiculous…completely amateur.
The stories were not really to my taste. Most rely far more on insect-inspired horror than the nihilistic dread usual to cosmic horror, and most were of the “monster hunter” variety favored by Robert E. Howard or Clark Ashton Smith rather than the original creeping dread of H. P. Lovecraft.
If that were my only complaint with the book I probably would have given it 3.5 stars as “okay, but not to my personal taste when it comes to Lovecraftian horror.” However, the book (I read the Kindle edition) was riddled with typos. The number of omitted, duplicated, and misplaced words was absolutely ridiculous…completely amateur.
July 29, 2022
Great Anthology
The Al-Azif is the book that inspired the Necronomicon Witten by the mad Arab. Or so the legend goes...but within these stories you will find a lot of it's lore.
All joking aside, I enjoyed all of these stories on a Mythos topic that has only been touched on once or twice.
The authors did a great job continuing the Mythos and giving homage to the book that really started all he madness in the first place.
If you're a Lovecraft fan or enjoy reading about strange artifacts that cause insanity then this anthology I highly recommend!!
The Al-Azif is the book that inspired the Necronomicon Witten by the mad Arab. Or so the legend goes...but within these stories you will find a lot of it's lore.
All joking aside, I enjoyed all of these stories on a Mythos topic that has only been touched on once or twice.
The authors did a great job continuing the Mythos and giving homage to the book that really started all he madness in the first place.
If you're a Lovecraft fan or enjoy reading about strange artifacts that cause insanity then this anthology I highly recommend!!
October 26, 2021
I loved it! I've been waiting for quite some time for more of C. T. Phipps Cthulhu Armageddon. Excellent series! Tales of the Al-Azif, A Cthulhu Mythos Anthology gives a nice little short story from that series as well as several other short stories about the Al-Azif, which is another book similar to, but worse than the Necronomicon. Very cool collection of stories and great narrators! I hope these authors do more collaborations like this!
June 17, 2023
Absolute gold.
A lot of Lovecraftian fiction is a real let down. Frequently the connection to the Cthulhu mythos is weak or even non-extant. The Al Azif gets a mention by Lovecraft and is then presented here is a series of stories about that book. Great and enjoyable stories. Great reading. I am glad I bought it.
A lot of Lovecraftian fiction is a real let down. Frequently the connection to the Cthulhu mythos is weak or even non-extant. The Al Azif gets a mention by Lovecraft and is then presented here is a series of stories about that book. Great and enjoyable stories. Great reading. I am glad I bought it.
August 16, 2024
The Hambling and the Wilson stories were far and away the best in this anthology. The West and the Phipps were okay, nothing special. But the Davenport story wasn't worth the time it took to read. He has no feel for the time period he's setting the story in and his hero is a complete idiot, who would never have been accepted as a student, let along become a professor & dean.
September 3, 2021
A great collection of fun stories that explain the origin of the Necronomicon. Especially enjoyed seeing more Stubbs and Doran. A good choice if you want to know more about the Al Azif with plenty of nods to the mythos
February 19, 2022
Another fantastic anthology of stories influenced by and including beings and characters from Lovecraft’ Cthulhu Mythos.
September 4, 2022
A nice anthology, could have been better overall but you take what you can get with anthology.
December 11, 2024
This was a better than expected collection of short stories.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews