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The Second Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK®
Collected here for you, a sampler of stories & poems set in or related to the “Cthulhu Mythos,” as conceived by H.P, Lovecraft, expanded on by the “Lovecraft Circle” and endlessly expanded on by current writers up to the current day. Included are:
INTRODUCTION, by Shawn Garrett
DREAMS OF YITH, by Duane W. Rimel (Poem)
OUT OF THE AEONS, by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald
FISHHEAD, by Irvin S. Cobb
WHEN CHAUGNAR WAKES, by Frank Belknap Long (Poem)
THE MOUND, by H.P. Lovecraft and Zelia Bishop
THE THING ON THE ROOF, by Robert E. Howard
THE ISLE OF DARK MAGIC, by Hugh B. Cave
THE SECRET IN THE TOMB, by Robert Bloch
THE HORROR FROM THE HILLS, by Frank Belknap Long
THE TERRIBLE PARCHMENT, by Manly Wade Wellman
THE SHAMBLER FROM THE STARS, by Robert Bloch
THE DIARY OF ALONZO TYPER, by H. P. Lovecraft and William Lumley
HYDRA, by Henry Kuttner
THE SUICIDE IN THE STUDY, by Robert Bloch
MARMOK, Emil Petaja (Poem)
THE INTRUDER, by Emil Petaja
OUT OF THE JAR, by Charles A. Tanner
SKYDRIFT, by Emil Petaja
ANONYMOUS, by George T. Wetzel
WHY ABDUL ALHAZRED WENT MAD, by D.R. Smith
CAER SIDHI, by George T. Wetzel
DEAD OF NIGHT, by Lin Carter
DEATH OF A DAMNED GOOD MAN, by Avram Davidson
MEDUSA'S COIL, by Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop
PERCHANCE TO DREAM, by Lin Carter
THE WINFIELD HERITENCE, by Lin Carter
THE CHALLENGE FROM BEYOND, by Multiple Authors (Novel)
THE LAST HORROR OUT OF ARKHAM, by Darrell Schweitzer
If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 300+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more!
485 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1969
262 people are currently reading
1752 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
6,039 books19.2k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
October 28, 2021
This is a second anthology of stories set within Lovecraft's famous Cthulhu Mythos cycle, most from a later time than the contents of the first volume. In addition to Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark, which fits in with the cycle of Robert Bloch entries, there are stories by James Wade, Colin Wilson, two by Brian Lumley, and J. Ramsey Campbell (from before he lost the "J"). It's very much a continuation of the first volume, which I would say had superior stories for the most part. It could be argued that Lovecraft unknowingly created the shared-world concept that later became so popular in fantastic literature. Lovecraft had his flaws, but he was the most influential individual in modern horror until King arrived on the scene.
March 13, 2023
Another wordy Lovecraft's tale...this time it's the Chinese translation of At the Mountains of Madness, so far so good. The usual Lovecraft's weird shit, y'know.
A Chinese translation does make my life easier because reading At the Mountains of Madness in English can be quite a chore, but still...all the wordy-ness!
A Chinese translation does make my life easier because reading At the Mountains of Madness in English can be quite a chore, but still...all the wordy-ness!
November 13, 2023
Una suerte que dividieran las historias
Una recopilacion de 3 cuentos en 124 paginas en mi edicion.
Honestamente tiene muchos detalles de traduccion pero al final sigue siendo Lovecraft
Entretenido y me ayudaron los relatos de Azathoth para una dinamica, como siempre me gusta que las historias las narren como si fueran hechos reales que no pueden ser comoartidos o se compartieron después de una misteriosa desaparicion de personajes.
Es una buena manera de leer los Mitos de Cthulhu para no saturarnos de la narrativa de Lovecraft, asi vas por tomos y puedes tener un descanso.
Una recopilacion de 3 cuentos en 124 paginas en mi edicion.
Honestamente tiene muchos detalles de traduccion pero al final sigue siendo Lovecraft
Entretenido y me ayudaron los relatos de Azathoth para una dinamica, como siempre me gusta que las historias las narren como si fueran hechos reales que no pueden ser comoartidos o se compartieron después de una misteriosa desaparicion de personajes.
Es una buena manera de leer los Mitos de Cthulhu para no saturarnos de la narrativa de Lovecraft, asi vas por tomos y puedes tener un descanso.
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April 14, 2023PLACEHOLDER REVIEW
“The Shambler From The Stars” by Robert Bloch has a writer of “weird tales” who wants to explore “further” (for inspiration) into the world of the dark. He finds a blasphemous text and brings it to “the scholar from Providence,” but further extrapolation leads to death and madness. Once upon a time I would have rated this low, and disregarded it as trite, but with age comes wisdom. What this story is, hoary and predictable as it may be, is a lot of fun. Bloch weighs and balances everything (except the weight of history), and spins a predictable but savory yarn that incorporates his life experience into a Lovecraft Circle horror yarn. Would that we could all do so well....
“The Shambler From The Stars” by Robert Bloch has a writer of “weird tales” who wants to explore “further” (for inspiration) into the world of the dark. He finds a blasphemous text and brings it to “the scholar from Providence,” but further extrapolation leads to death and madness. Once upon a time I would have rated this low, and disregarded it as trite, but with age comes wisdom. What this story is, hoary and predictable as it may be, is a lot of fun. Bloch weighs and balances everything (except the weight of history), and spins a predictable but savory yarn that incorporates his life experience into a Lovecraft Circle horror yarn. Would that we could all do so well....
December 16, 2012
The Robert Bloch stories in this collection are a real treat. If you love H.P. Lovecraft's breathless tales of cosmic horror, you should also read both volumes of Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Great vintage stuff from an energetic era of powerful fiction.
December 23, 2016
Fine anthology including such classics from the Lovecraft Circle as Frank Belknap Long's "The Horror from the Hills", Lovecraft's classic 'revision' stories with William Lumley, Hazel Heald and Zealia Bishop, as well as stories from the following generation of Cthulhu Mythos scribes.
Looking forward to the The Third Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK :)
Looking forward to the The Third Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK :)
October 15, 2019
Nette Sammlung an Geschichten, wenn auch nicht immer sehr gruselig. Diesmal waren die Kommentare wirklich hilfreich zum Verständnis mancher Aspekte der Geschichten, auch wenn man das oft gut und gerne in ein Vorwort zur Publikation und dann ein Kommentar zum Abschluss hätte teilen können. Dann hätte man die ganzen Spoiler verhindern können.
April 4, 2012
I don't mean to say by giving this 5 stars that all of the stories are amazing - it is just a good, fun read and I didn't want to skip any of them. The first few are amazing though... it gets weighted down a bit by the James Wade and Colin Wilson stories at the end which are overlong, but again I still enjoyed them.
November 23, 2024
At the Mountains of Madness ⭐
The Shadow over Innsmouth ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Dreams in the Witch House ⭐⭐
The Thing on the Doorstep⭐⭐
The Shadow out of Time ⭐⭐
The Haunter of the Dark ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Shadow over Innsmouth ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Dreams in the Witch House ⭐⭐
The Thing on the Doorstep⭐⭐
The Shadow out of Time ⭐⭐
The Haunter of the Dark ⭐⭐⭐⭐
May 22, 2022
«Lo que la gente creía haber visto eran formas orgánicas muy distintas a cualquier otra vista antes. Naturalmente, muchos cadáveres humanos eran arrastrados por las corrientes en ese trágico periodo, pero aquellos que describieron las extrañas formas estaban convencidos de que no eran humanos, pese al parecido superficial en aspecto y tamaño. Tampoco, decían los testigos, podían ser algún tipo de animal conocido en Vermont. Eran cosas rosadas de un metro y medio de largo, con cuerpos revestidos de un caparazón provisto de grandes aletas dorsales o alas membranosas y varios pares de patas articuladas con formas intrincadas como de elipsoide, cubiertas de una infinidad de antenáculos, en el lugar en que normalmente se encontraría la cabeza. Era realmente notable cómo tendían a coincidir los reportes de distintas fuentes, aunque en parte se explicaba por el hecho de que las antiguas leyendas, difundidas en otro tiempo por toda la montañosa comarca, aportaban un cuadro morbosamente vivido que bien podía teñir la imaginación de todos los testigos implicados. Mi conclusión fue que tales testigos —todos ellos inocentes y simples campesinos— habían vislumbrado los destrozados y abotagados cadáveres de seres humanos y animales domésticos en las turbulentas aguas, y el recuerdo latente de su folklore les habla llevado a revestir de atributos fantásticos a aquellos cadáveres dignos de la mayor compasión».
El susurrador en la oscuridad
LOS MITOS DE CTHULHU Vol.2 de H.P. Lovecraft
El susurrador en la oscuridad
LOS MITOS DE CTHULHU Vol.2 de H.P. Lovecraft
April 1, 2013
Fantastic collection of Lovecraft-inspired stories. My gosh, the line-up of authors is a dream team. Robert Bloch is always a special treat. Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley (the truest progenitor of Lovecraft mythos since H.P. himself). First stories are the best and it slows down a bit after that, but overall a stellar effort.
March 31, 2014
These early volumes edited by Derleth show precisely the flaw of those who continued in Lovecraft's footsteps: the tightrope effort to avoid slavish pastiche of Lovecraft's style while also avoiding anything that contradicted either the worked-out mythos behind the stories or the general tenor thereof.
October 13, 2016
De nuevo, la edición pésima y llena de erratas. Increíble para el precio que tiene. En fin, paciencia.
Las historias son apasionantes.
Las historias son apasionantes.
August 16, 2017
Non al livello del primo libro del ciclo di Cthulhu
Racconti carini tutto sommato. In particolar modo le storie sugli antichi. Serve una preparazione culturale non indifferente (che Lovecraft possedeva) per scrivere racconti che spaziano in ogni campo dello scibile umano. Sono costretto anche ad ammettere che i racconti qui raccolti non sono al livello del tomo precedente; "Il caso Charles Dexter Ward" a mio avviso è la perfezione assoluta relativa di Lovecraft, un racconto che lascia una traccia indelebile. Qui invece ci sono racconti per lo più racchiusi nel pantheon delle divinità mostruose, con la figura dominante di Cthulhu.
Racconti carini tutto sommato. In particolar modo le storie sugli antichi. Serve una preparazione culturale non indifferente (che Lovecraft possedeva) per scrivere racconti che spaziano in ogni campo dello scibile umano. Sono costretto anche ad ammettere che i racconti qui raccolti non sono al livello del tomo precedente; "Il caso Charles Dexter Ward" a mio avviso è la perfezione assoluta relativa di Lovecraft, un racconto che lascia una traccia indelebile. Qui invece ci sono racconti per lo più racchiusi nel pantheon delle divinità mostruose, con la figura dominante di Cthulhu.
August 24, 2025
Mal wieder nach ein paar Jahren wiedergelesen. Im Gegensatz zu den ersten Malen gefiel mir " Die Berge des Wahnsinns" am besten, was mir noch vor ein paar Jahren überhaupt nicht zugesagt hatte.
Die verkrampfte Erwähnung des "Necronomicon" in jeder Geschichte nervt irgendwie; sollte das "clever" wirken? "Der Schatten über Innsmouth" gut wie eh und jeh, lediglich "Der Schatten aus der Zeit" hat mir nicht so gut gefallen.
Vor jeder Geschichte ein informatives Vorwort von Frenchowski, aber mit Spoilern. (Was wurde sich dabei gedacht?)
Alles in allem eine solide Sammlung einiger von Lovecrafts Werken.
Die verkrampfte Erwähnung des "Necronomicon" in jeder Geschichte nervt irgendwie; sollte das "clever" wirken? "Der Schatten über Innsmouth" gut wie eh und jeh, lediglich "Der Schatten aus der Zeit" hat mir nicht so gut gefallen.
Vor jeder Geschichte ein informatives Vorwort von Frenchowski, aber mit Spoilern. (Was wurde sich dabei gedacht?)
Alles in allem eine solide Sammlung einiger von Lovecrafts Werken.
January 27, 2025
Colección de algunos de los últimos relatos y cuentos escritos por el propio Lovecraft, piezas fundamentales de su mitología. Las historias son excelentes, para leer una y otra vez, siendo "En las montañas de la locura" mí favorita y una de las más emblemáticas del género de terror y ciencia ficción. Lo único malo de la edición es la cantidad de errores ortográficos y de redacción que tiene, incluso a veces cambiando el sentido de la oración lo cual puede confundir si uno no sigue atentamente la lectura. Si no fuera por lo geniales que son los relatos, le pondría menos estrellas.
August 10, 2024
Es terror ambiental que casi puedo saborear, con su música y ruidos de noche pero en todos estos libros hay un denominador común, un pseudo intelectual que va más allá de la razón invocando cosas que no comprende y juega con poderes y dioses antiguos, desaparece en el umbral y después se quejan, o no, tragedia!!! Nos atacan!!! Déjalo en paz viejo puto y veras como no pasa nada. Siempre igual, vamos a investigar este pueblo maldito donde hacen sacrificios al diablo. Mira que son imbéciles. No puedo evitar pensar en eso cada vez.
July 18, 2021
As much as I like the lore Lovecraft has created, actually reading the stories is difficult for me, because his writing style is very descriptive instead of lively.
It's all tell and little show, although typical for the general writing style of the 19th/20th century, it's not very appealing to me.
It's all tell and little show, although typical for the general writing style of the 19th/20th century, it's not very appealing to me.
October 12, 2024
2/5 - Robert Bloch – The Shambler From The Stars - Very poor
3/5 - Robert Bloch – Notebook Found In A Deserted House - Very Lovecraftian but already seen
5/5 - Ramsey Campbell – Cold Print - Loved everything in it
3/5 - Brian Lumley – The Sister City - Promising start but disappointing end, deserved more work
4/5 - Henry Kuttner - The Salem Horror - Very good Lovecraftian story
3/5 - Robert Bloch – Notebook Found In A Deserted House - Very Lovecraftian but already seen
5/5 - Ramsey Campbell – Cold Print - Loved everything in it
3/5 - Brian Lumley – The Sister City - Promising start but disappointing end, deserved more work
4/5 - Henry Kuttner - The Salem Horror - Very good Lovecraftian story
December 21, 2019
Je nachdem ob man Fan ist kann einen diese Sammlung gefallen, aber ich tue mich wahnsinnig schwer mit dem Stil des Schreiben von L. H. Lovecraft. Die Geschichten sind spannend etc aber der Schreibstil ist einfach nichts meins. Deswegen neutrale 3 Sterne.
January 6, 2025
Several of 25 stories (and 3 poems) have really original ideas: The Horror from the Hills by Frank Belknap Long, The Terrible Parchment by Manly Wade Wellman, and Anonymous by George T. Wetzel, in particular. Medusa's Coil by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop is a whole novella/novel in itself.
May 6, 2025
lovecraft pendel-paradoxon: entweder er schwingt über sein potential hinaus und kreiert eine faszinierende kurzschgeschichte mit außerordentlichem worldbuilding oder er enttäuscht mit Rassismus und nicht Erreichen der Messlatte.
November 12, 2017
Wieder sehr genossen. Auf jeden Fall irgendwann Reread.
March 23, 2019
Love the man, but his stories are incredibly repetitive, predictable, and dragging on for too long.
June 11, 2022
Tout aussi bien que le premier
June 12, 2023
Nouvelles 1 et 2 >>
Sinon le premier est un peu mieux 🤷🤷
Sinon le premier est un peu mieux 🤷🤷
November 19, 2025
Wunderbare Kurzgeschichten die einen zum gruseln bringen. Das Ungewisse ist überall und "greifbar". Eine unbedingte Empfehlung, lest H. P. Lovecraft
October 16, 2016
The opening trio of linked stories -- Bloch's tribute/sendup of HPL, followed by HPL's he-has-a-sense-of-humor rejoinder, and then Bloch's fond response after HPL's death -- is classic. It's a mixed bag from there: I liked Bloch's other contribution, Lumley's first and Wilson's, didn't think much of Campbell's or Wade's. Unnecessary, but not bad for a tribute volume.
February 24, 2021
The Second Cthulhu Mythos MEGAPACK® is the best of the publisher's MEGAPACK® series I've read to date.
Some stories set in the Cthulhu Mythos seem dated when you read them. Given that many are 90 years old, that's really no surprise. But, with the odd exception, that's not the case in this anthology.
True, the tales' modernity are helped by some stories dating from the 70's run of Weird Tales (Carter and Darrell Schweitzer). Yet the whole volume contains pace, style and I fair zipped through it.
What this volume does well is introduce many of the characters, entities and locations that other Lovecraftian writers shared between them. You get a true sense of a world being built by multiple contributors (think The Gospels, only more believable), aided by multiple stories herein written in collaboration with H. P. Lovecraft himself.
If you're a bit of a nerd (like me), you can then pop off and research the paths of said characters and locations to help collate your next reading stack.
For me, that means more Robert E Howard (probably Conan), Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long and, as priority, Lin Carter's Xothic Legend Cycle.
Even if you have only a passing curiosity of speculative and weird fiction, or are just wanting to dip your toe into R'lyeh's icy waters, there are few places better to start than here.
Some stories set in the Cthulhu Mythos seem dated when you read them. Given that many are 90 years old, that's really no surprise. But, with the odd exception, that's not the case in this anthology.
True, the tales' modernity are helped by some stories dating from the 70's run of Weird Tales (Carter and Darrell Schweitzer). Yet the whole volume contains pace, style and I fair zipped through it.
What this volume does well is introduce many of the characters, entities and locations that other Lovecraftian writers shared between them. You get a true sense of a world being built by multiple contributors (think The Gospels, only more believable), aided by multiple stories herein written in collaboration with H. P. Lovecraft himself.
If you're a bit of a nerd (like me), you can then pop off and research the paths of said characters and locations to help collate your next reading stack.
For me, that means more Robert E Howard (probably Conan), Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long and, as priority, Lin Carter's Xothic Legend Cycle.
Even if you have only a passing curiosity of speculative and weird fiction, or are just wanting to dip your toe into R'lyeh's icy waters, there are few places better to start than here.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews