Blasphemies & Revelations

by Robert M. Price, Robert E. Howard, W. Pugmire

Robert M. Price is well known to fans of H.P Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. He is the founder of Crypt of Cthulhu as well as editor of numerous Cthulhu Mythos anthologies. Blasphemies & Revelations collects the early fiction of Robert M. Price. These stories first appeared in small press magazines including Nyctalops, Eldritch Tales, Vollmond, and FantasyBook. For the most part, they are sequels to many of H.P. Lovecraft’s major tales. Price eschews the frequent sins of Lovecraft pasticheurs. He adds no monstrous gods to the Cthulhu Mythospantheon, nor any new eldritch grimoires to the Lovecraftian shelf. But his stories share with Lovecraft an idiom of scholarly prose, which comes naturally to Price because of his academic career as a biblical scholar, an advantage few Lovecraftian writers can boast. Stories include“Saucers from Yaddith,” “The Deprogrammer,” “Wilbur Whateley Waiting,” “A ThousandYoung,” “The Devil’s Steps,” “The Beard of Byatis,” and “Black Eons.”

968 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2008

About the author

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

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

Reviews

[Mike Mclatchey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read probably 12-15 of these stories in various Cthulhu Mythos anthologies, many of them on the Chaosium imprint edited by Robert M. Price himself. If you don't know Price's work he has one foot in Lovecraftian research and fiction and another in biblical studies where he's something of a figure among the Christ is a myth types, which isn't any more mainstream than this type of fiction is. Price wrote a lot of these stories before Lovecraft underwent a much bigger resurgence, back when a lot of this material was in semi-pro or amateur zines just as the Chaosium imprint was starting to roll. In many of these anthologies he crosses both of his interests to different effects.

I've always been a bit fascinated by Price's work as he has a similar story to my own of leaving fundamentalist Christianity (although I was much younger and not as deeply embedded) and so I recognize a great deal of background and psychology from these experiences that inform many of these stories. My own path led me through a skeptical period as well, although I moved through that and left a lot of the same concerns in my rearview mirror, but I mention this because it's a curious lens I view Price's work with, as it seems to me that a lot of conservative trappings from fundamentalism still remain even if the faith is gone. There are a few stories where antiques play an important part, at least two or three where Islamic terrorism and the fear thereof plays an important part and there a lot of stories where biblical criticism, higher learning, seminary school are foremost and lean towards long standing tradition.

Most of these stories were written in the 90s and 00s, but there is everything from a short story that reminds me of something Frank Peretti might have written ("The Devil's Steps") to a couple pieces that are somewhat M.R James inspired ("Ashes to Ashes" and "Midnight Mass") and then of course the lion's share of the work which is self-admitted Lovecraftian pastiching. Where the Lovecraftian fiction of the '00s and '10s seeked to introduce modern elements, more character development and so forth, Price most often sticks to the Lovecraftian scholar/scientist sort of voice and I think there is some argument to made about why this voice went to making Lovecraftt's stories so legendary. While there are definitely a fair share of average or throwaway pastiches in the mix here, there are a lot of really enjoyable pieces as well as long as you're not expecting too much in the way of innovation with the formula, although the collection's best story, "Saucers for Yaddith," demonstrates well what Price can do at his strongest and when he's thought past the usual Lovecrafian endings. Other really good stories include "The Deprogrammer," which gave me the willies for both how culty fundamentalism can be along with the usual mythos horrors and "Acute Spiritual Fear," which struck me as being deeply personal in how some of us start to see holes in the traditions we're most comfortable with. There are probably half a dozen more I thought were more than entertaining and very few I thought were substandard. There aren't too many major innovations to the formulas here, and in the introduction, you're left with the impression that wasn't the point anyway.

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are, for some reason, familiar with the reviews I have thrown out into the void on this app, then you will know I am a huge fan of both Robert M. Price, the Lovecraft Mythos, and Price’s editions of mythos fiction specifically. That is why it breaks my heart to tell you that this book is trash.

To be sure, there are diamonds in the rough here, but only two or three in a sea of uninspired and unoriginal pastiches. Again, having read as many Mythos books as I have, I think I am qualified to say what makes a good one. These stories are limp, lifeless, and a chore to read. Price has, I assume in an attempt to emulate the pulp-era, included some very racist content in his writing which drew me right out of the book. If it wasn’t an attempt at emulation, then you’d be better served burning any copy of this book you come across than reading it. At least when Lovecraft was racist, he was creating work so original that it would define a whole genre. When Price does it, it is so boring and blatantly pastiching HPL that I’d rather read an obituary for my own grandfather.

Price is a great editor, but do not read this book.

[Darrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of horror stories does a good job of recreating the style and feel of H.P. Lovecraft's works, and in some cases the stories are direct sequels to Lovecraftian tales. As Robert M. Price is a theologian in addition to being a fan of Lovecraft, he introduces religion into the stories in some interesting ways, including a story featuring a Mormon cult. Although most of these stories are serious, my favorite was the The Dweller in the Pot, or the Pasta out of Space Eaters in which H. P. Lovecraft invites the narrator over for pasta with hilarious results. Readers unfamiliar with Lovecraft will miss several of the references, so reading the works of Lovecraft first is a must. My major complaint is that most of the stories seemed to end too suddenly. I would have appreciated more denouement.