The Book of Cthulhu: Tales Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft

The Book of Cthulhu #1

by Ross E. Lockhart (Editor), Cherie Priest, Joe R. Lansdale

Tales of tentacles, terror, and madness from the publisher who brought you  Wastelands, The Living Dead , and  Brave New Worlds

First described by visionary author H. P. Lovecraft, the Cthulhu mythos encompass a pantheon of truly existential cosmic  Eldritch, uncaring, alien god-things, beyond mankind’s deepest imaginings, drawing ever nearer, insatiably hungry, until one day, when the stars are right.…

As that dread day, hinted at within the moldering pages of the fabled Necronomicon, draws nigh, tales of the Great Old Ones—Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Hastur, Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, and the weird cults that worship them—have cross-pollinated, drawing authors and other dreamers to imagine the strange dark aeons ahead, when the dead-but-dreaming gods return.

Now, intrepid anthologist Ross E. Lockhart has delved deep into the Cthulhu canon, selecting from myriad mind-wracking tomes twenty-seven sanity-shattering stories of cosmic terror. Featuring fiction by many of today’s masters of the menacing, macabre, and monstrous, including Laird Barron, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and Thomas Ligotti, The Book of Cthulhu goes where no collection of Cthulhu mythos tales has gone to the very edge of madness... and beyond!

Do you dare open The Book of Cthulhu ?
Do you dare heed the call?

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy, Fiction, Lovecraftian, Cthulhu Mythos

552 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Ross E. Lockhart is the Publisher/Editor in Chief of Word Horde. A lifelong fan of supernatural, fantastic, speculative, and weird fiction, Lockhart holds degrees in English from Sonoma State University (BA) and SFSU (MA). He is a veteran of small-press publishing, having edited scores of well-regarded novels of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Lockhart edited the acclaimed Lovecraftian anthologies The Book of Cthulhu and The Book of Cthulhu II and Tales of Jack the Ripper (2013). Forthcoming are The Children of Old Leech (with Justin Steele, 2014), and Giallo Fantastique (2014). Lockhart's rock-and-roll novel, Chick Bassist, was published by Lazy Fascist Press in 2012. Lockhart lives in an old church in Petaluma, California, with his wife Jennifer, hundreds of books, and Elinor Phantom, a Shih Tzu moonlighting as his editorial assistant. Find Ross online at http://www.haresrocklots.com

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Circle ⭕️

When I was a little girl my brother controlled the remote to our tv and he was a rabid horror lover. Naturally, I had to watch his favorite shows and movies. Lots of animation and lots of horror.

At the time, I knew nothing about Lovecraft and the mythos, but I too became addicted to these horror movies. So as I grew older and gathered more control over the remote, Lovecraft horror was tuned in a lot.

We learned much later about his virulent racism, and then about the group of people who were improving on his Cthulhu mythos stories.

This book sounds about right. There’s a lot of popular authors with stories in this book. And I feel like they are greatly weird and fulfilling for those of us who are fans of the mythos.

There is a second book in the series and I am definitely going to read that one, also. I hope those of you who are fans of this pastiche will check it out. I’m glad I did.

Four fabulous stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ross Lockhart’s Book of Cthulhu is the fourth collection of Lovecraft inspired fiction I’ve read since 2010. Whew! They are: Ellen Datlow’s Lovecraft Unbound; S.T. Joshi’s Black Wings, Darell Schweitzer’s Cthulhu’s Reign (which has a different focus than the other three), and Lockhart’s effort. They all have good stories in them, but there is also considerable paper spent on some so-so efforts. Datlow’s entry, to my mind, suffered from trying to limit her anthology by seeking to get beyond Lovecraft’s familiar tropes, and “make it new.” Well, one of those tropes is dripping atmosphere, and some of the best stories in that collection were the ones, despite the editorial restriction, that clung closest to the Master. But there were some good examples of making it new. On top of that there was about 100 pages wasted on mediocre stuff. Joshi didn’t follow the “make it new” track. But as I recall, there is a snooty and high minded intro that doesn’t match the contents. Again, a number of great stories, and some unnecessary fat. It’s like the editors were under some sort of page count goal.

Which brings me to Ross Lockhart’s whopping effort of 27 stories and 500 plus pages. The intro is pretty low key, with no great goals being sought. Lockhart just wants to show you some good stuff, which includes a mix of reprints and new material. Interestingly, I probably found his effort the best, or the most consistent, of the bunch, with less dead wood, and lots of nasty, and often new, surprises. Here are some brief notes below on what I liked (and didn’t like).

Caitlin R. Kiernan - Andromeda among the Stones. I’m not sure I totally bought into the WW 1 angle, but the story oozes atmosphere and dread. Kiernan’s a great writer and I love her use of language.

Ramsey Campbell - The Tugging. Lockhart’s bookend’s his collection well, starting off things with two of greatest followers of Lovecraft, Campbell and Kiernan. This story, especially when you peeked through the telescope, freaked me out.

Charles Stross - A Colder War. Alt history that had patches that liked, but parts didn’t equal a satisfying whole. The Ollie North bit lost me.

Bruce Sterling - The Unthinkable. Another alt history that I didn’t like. It was a tone thing, meant to be somewhat funny. Fortunately it was short.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Flash Frame. Oh, yeah. I liked this one. Newspaper writer checking into some odd “porn” at a local movie house. Nice noir feel, set in South American. I want to read more by this author.

W. H. Pugmire - Some Buried Memory. Well written. Decadent. Kind of reminds me of those super weird Kenneth Anger films that you can find on Youtube, with evil clowns dancing in the moonlight. Doesn’t sound like much, but it feels Evil. I’m not sure I would call this a Cthulhu story. But it is a good story. I recommend this author’s effort in Joshi’s Black Wings collection. He has a lot of promise.

Molly Tanzer - The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins. A new author for me, and one of my favorite stories in the collection. It reads like demented Thackery on opium. A cursed brother and daughter (twins) working things out under an evil uncle. Good stuff.

Michael Shea - Fat Face. A reprint and a classic. Lovecraft goes to James Ellroy’s Hollywood. Nasty.

Elizabeth Bear - Shoggoths in Bloom. Couldn’t get into it. Annoying anachronisms in the beginning. Maybe it’s just a voice thing, since I didn’t like an earlier story I read by this author in another anthology. Clearly, she can write, just not for me.

T. E. D. Klien - Black Man With A Horn. Classic reprint from one of the best dark fiction collections, ever: Dark Gods.

David Drake - Than Curse the Darkness. Over the top. Pulpy. Great. Imagine Robert E. Howard sitting down to write a Mythos story after reading “Heart of Darkness.” One of my favorites stories in the collection. I need to read more Drake.

Charles Saunders - Jeroboam Henley's Debt. Meh.

Thomas Ligotti – Nethescurial. Liggotti’s a great writer of horror. As much as I admire the craft, he often leaves me cold. I liked this one better than some others I’ve read.

Kage Baker - Calamari Curls. A misanthropic restaurant owner plots revenge on the competition. Set on the West coast, I liked the geographic change. Funny, but also creepy. I loved this story.

Edward Morris - Jihad over Innsmouth. Meh. I think this one tried too hard to wrap current events around the Mythos. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This one didn’t work for me.

Cherie Priest - Bad Sushi. I’m not a Priest fan. She writes great, but once she establishes location, character, and atmosphere, there’s a busy rush to finish things off. To my mind that flattens a story out.

John Hornor Jacobs - The Dream of the Fisherman''s Wife. Short, but nasty effort that is in its own way, one of the more classical stories in this collection.

Brian McNaughton - The Doom that Came to Innsmouth. It’s OK. It started out with great promise, but kind of fizzled for me at the end. A prodigal son from the west coast, say out toward the Green River, comes home to Innsmouth. You can probably connect the dots with that. I didn’t like the tone as the story went on.

Ann K. Schwader - Lost Stars. A young woman is given an amulet by the head of a secret woman’s cult her friend is a member of. I’ll say no more. Very well done, and one of my favorite stories in the collection. And by an author I’ve not hear of. That’s always cool.

Steve Duffy - The Oram County Whoosit. Awesome story, set in Kentucky (1923) – and Alaska (1898). An aging author recounts a horrifying story from his prospecting days in Alaska. The placement of this story by Lockhart is first rate, since it sets the table for the upcoming horror show by Laird Barron. One of my favorite stories in the collection. Duffy’s a fine writer.

Joe R. Lansdale - The Crawling Sky. A fine Lansdale effort that takes place in east Texas during frontier times. A travelling preacher of the Old Testament variety, encounters evil in an abandoned house. Gory fun.

Brian Lumley - The Fairground Horror. Excellent Titus Crow story by Lumley (though Crow is only mentioned, he’s not an active character). An evil and greedy man tries to cash in on some Cthulhu artifacts his brother has been – feeding.

Tim Pratt – Cinderlands. I couldn’t remember what this was about (not a good sign). Actually, it’s a good story. A Rats-In-The-Wall kind of thing. Not all that original, but well done for what it is.

Gene Wolfe - Lord of the Land. A reprint that I’ve read before. Set in Nebraska, I liked the unfamiliar setting. Beyond that, I’m just OK with it. I’m not huge on Wolfe.

Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. - To Live and Die in Arkham. Good, tough Noir type story about a hit job – and family matters. My one problem here was an over reliance on “F” bombs. I’m no prude, but you can overdo it on anything. Good action that reminded me of Spillane.

John Langan - The Shallows. I read this earlier, and didn’t like it. Langan is enormously gifted. He may be one the most literary of the newer horror writers. As a result he takes chances with various literary devices, etc. Sometime it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Here, for me at least, it doesn’t. I had trouble following just what was going on.

Laird Barron - The Men from Porlock. It’s 1923. A group of well armed men, taking a break from their logging efforts, go out hunting deer. They encounter various things in the woods. This is one of Barron’s best stories (and he’s written a lot of great stories). I don’t want to reveal too much here. Great character building, ith the greatest character of all being the brooding wilderness. This story had me recalling “The Willows,” “Deliverance,” “Heart of Darkness,” and “Young Goodman Brown.” Lots of firepower here.

[Dr. Cat in the Brain · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most famous (and infamous) short fiction writers of all time is H.P. Lovecraft. His tales of eldritch gods waiting to consume our souls in tidal waves of cosmic madness have become so ingrained in our culture that he's inspired his own sub-genre of horror.

Now any story about giant unnameable terrors or alien deities waiting in the depths is considered "Lovecraftian". Episodes of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits and Space 1999 are considered Lovecraftian. Ridley Scott's Alien is considered Lovecraftian (although I think it owes quite a bit more to A. E. van Vogt's Discord in Scarlet). Sometimes the label Lovecraftian is a bit limiting to put on the topic because it's a broad concept that isn't completely covered by Lovecraft's particular flavour of weird.

Nevertheless the gaunt and nightmarish visions of his work continue to shamble and writhe in the minds of millions the world over. From the iconic Cthulhu with his tentacle-head to "found footage" horror (which mirrors the found letters and diary horror Lovecraft made famous) to the living dead horror of modern zombies (which owe a lot to Lovecraft's Reanimator ).

The Book of Cthulhu is a series of short stories curated by Ross Lockhart influenced by Lovecraft and his complex, fatalistic mythos. The collection features a host of various writers from different backgrounds and experiences who each bring their own unique perspective to the iconic lore.

Caitlin R. Kiernan unleashes Andromeda among the Stones. A family haunted by terrible choices and powerful forces, face change and sacrifice on a personal and cosmic scale. Kiernan delivers an atmosphere that's slick and ethereal. A ghostly and effective work. 7/10

Ramsey Campbell shows us the gravity of evil in The Tugging. A clear influence towards Japanese horror icon Junji Ito and his graphic novel Hellstar Remina. Campbell brings his cold and subdued writing to a tale of a mysterious rogue planet moving into our solar system. An event that acts as a harbinger for galactic, cyclopean horror. 7/10

Charles Stross sparks A Colder War. A clever combination of nuclear hysteria and Lovecraftian doom. Where human forces race to weaponize the monstrous power of ancient sleeping Gods for the sake of political and ideological advantage. Only to bring about a nightmarish alien Armageddon that threatens to swallow them all. Like Threads meets In the Mouth of Madness. So good. 9/10

Bruce Sterling unveils The Unthinkable. A more light and personal approach to politics in a world invaded by Lovecraftian monsters. Sterling subtly creates a climate of comedic ennui where even twisted gods and horror in the flesh can be normalised under the right circumstances. 6/10

Silvia Moreno-Garcia shoots a Flash Frame. A curious writer investigates a cult that holds meetings at a porno theatre. The cult revolves around an obscure soft-core European flick and a woman in yellow. A forbidden film with a secret message that invades and consumes your dreams. A tight 7/10

W. H. Pugmire delivers Some Buried Memory. A phantasmagorical tale with dream-logic and surreal twists, where a ghoul raised as a human child is brought to her own kind in the tunnels by a man named Sebastian Melmoth. FYI: The name Sebastian Melmoth was used by Oscar Wilde after his release from prison. Oscar based the pseudonym on the book Melmoth the Wanderer, which was a large influence on Lovecraft's own horror fiction. 7/10

Molly Tanzer shares The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins. Debauchery, black magic, a forbidden idol, dolphin people, demonic sex, a spiral into incest and more in this Victorian tale of betrayal. The story reads like Julie Taymor's Titus meets Gormenghast and Brian Yuzna's Society. It also pays homage (and could be a prequel) to Lovecraft's undersea horror The Temple (a personal favourite of mine). Diabolical and delicious. 9/10

Michael Shea shows us what's under the veneer of Fat Face. A filthy tale of sex workers in California running into shambling horror. One part Black Dahlia, one part The Thing, you'll taste the stale cigarettes and smell the smoking acid as this shapeless horror slowly unzips itself. 7/10

Elizabeth Bear studies the Shoggoths in Bloom. "No more masters" as racial and cultural history collides with the unshackled servants of the old gods. A tale of empathy with the unknown and reaching out to connect with crawling alien chaos. 8/10

T. E. D. Klien displays the Black Man With A Horn. A writer of weird fiction and friend of Lovecraft is stalked by the boogeyman of a hidden culture. One part genre analysis, one part classic horror story, where a figure of nightmares waits outside our windows, pressing against the glass to get in. 8/10

David Drake delivers a baleful treat with Than Curse the Darkness. "If these gods are evil, does that make us good?" The terrible atrocities of Leopold II in Africa awaken a horror that threatens to consume the world. Part pulp adventure, part stark commentary, where human evil overshadows even the madness of Nyarlathotep. 7/10

Charles Saunders puts us in Jeroboam Henley's Debt. A tale about carrying a grudge that consumes and overrides your life. Saunders does a scintillating commentary on Lovecraftian horror, African mythos and the heavy, bloody, debt of our past. 7/10

Thomas Ligotti calls forth Nethescurial. After reading a strange manuscript a man is haunted by dreams of an island and the tale of a broken idol and ancient gods. At first glance this is a surface-level homage to the mythos and cults and monsters of Lovecraft, but under the veneer of pulp horror is a different kind of hopeless terror. How the monsters of our stories are a key to a bleak, unblinking truth that will drive us mad. 8/10

Kage Baker cooks up a big batch of Calamari Curls. A cranky old disabled man and a transgender street artist team up to bring a weird calamity down on gentrification in their small town. A hip new seafood restaurant is about to find out that sometimes old things don't like change. A lot of fun in the spirit of classic Stuart Gordon style Lovecraft movies. 7/10

Edward Morris declares a Jihad over Innsmouth. Freaky worshippers of Dagon square off against a Muslim special agent. You can almost hear Samuel L. Jackson say "I've had it with all these mother-###ing fish people on this mother-###ing plane!" 6/10

Cherie Priest serves up some really Bad Sushi. Another quick little ditty that focuses on a connection between Old Ones and Seafood. Only in this story ancient evil finds a use for our gluttonous fast-food appetites. Where what we serve for dinner actually serves the faceless diabolical ambitions of a horrific evil. You know, just like real life. A raw take on the 80s horror movie The Stuff. Where something awful is hiding in those delicious meals just itching to get inside you. 6/10

John Hornor Jacobs seduces us with The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife. A surreal and beautifully written nightmare where a chance meeting and the heat of romance leads to something so much worse than a broken heart. Elegant and thoughtful with a razor-sharp edge. 8/10

Brian McNaughton drops The Doom that Came to Innsmouth. Poor Innsmouth is getting attacked a lot! Where the last story was dream-like and deceptively vicious, this one is rock-solid brutal. It's blunt like a baseball bat to the teeth. A man with family connections to the infamous fish-man village of Innsmouth returns to witness the oppression of his people by the government. A hideous reveal that inspires him to get back to his roots and proudly display the true colours he's been trying so hard to hide. 6/10

Ann K. Schwader shows us some Lost Stars. A classic Lovecraftian tale of strange cults and hidden gods worshipped by things that might no longer be human. The story's protagonist is invited to a new women's group that promises a quick fix for all of her problems. But everything comes with a price and in this case, the bigger the gift, the deadlier the cost. A fast read that had me on the edge of my chair. Old formulas in the hands of talented writers can work miracles. 8/10

Steve Duffy uncovers The Oram County Whoosit. From the first sentence Duffy weaves a masterclass in world-building. A Mark Twain style writer comes to a small town after hearing stories of a strange creature found in the rocks. Great characterisation, whip-smart dialog and tremendous plotting make this one a must-read. 9/10

Joe R. Lansdale brings down The Crawling Sky. A reverend comes to the dead town of Wood Tick where a man claims his wife has been attacked by a creature that came out of a well. It doesn't take long before we discover evidence of supernatural shenanigans and cult lore. This leads to a horrific gore-soaked climax as good and evil face off. Lansdale's talent in storytelling creates mountains of madness in a small cabin in the woods. 8/10

Brian Lumley entices you to come in the tent and see The Fairground Horror. A twisted tale of body horror, murder, cult powers, con artists and dangerous dreams of a monstrous god. It doesn't take long for things to go full tentacle and a couple poor souls meet their soggy green fate. 6/10

Tim Pratt burns a path to the Cinderlands. A short but striking story about moving into a new home and hearing weird sounds in the walls. Home renovations are always frightening, especially old homes that can have stuff like asbestos, crumbling foundations or portals to another dimension. 7/10

Gene Wolfe presents us to the Lord of the Land. Very smart, very weird tale of a folklore writer tracking down rural legends and stories and encountering a tale of a parasitic entity who feasts on the dead. Great characters, fun atmosphere, a lot of bizarre twists and turns that never feel bloated or overwrought. 8/10

Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. shows us how To Live and Die in Arkham. Elmore Leonard goes to Lovecraft Country in this Noir-ish satire of a different kind. Where a killer is brought in to do a 'hit' on a ominous figure. And that job turns very personal and very dark, very fast. Dialog is a lot of fun and works well to establish the setting. Solid. 6/10

John Langan shows us his secret garden in The Shallows. My favourite story of the collection. Lovecraftian horror meets Death of a Salesman, as colossal destruction mirrors the unresolved trauma of intimate loss, becoming a crucible for a family and the entire human condition. I recently saw reviewers talking about the difficulty of combining giant monsters and great human characters while discussing the film Godzilla vs Kong. This is how you do it. Taking the apocalypse of enormous titans and transforming them into something personal and epic in scope. A skilled balance of tone with concept and character and world-building. Brilliant writing. 10/10

Laird Barron brings us to a close with a savage tale of loggers in 1923 going on a hunt in the wild and finding a nightmare factory of horrors. The Men from Porlock is like Robert Eggers' Lighthouse mixed with Deliverance and Jack Ketchum. Merciless atmosphere sinks into your bones, you can feel the wet chill and alien power of the forest. Great conclusion to the book but very nasty. 9/10

So. Does the Book of Cthulhu deliver? Yep.

Short fiction is a particularly effective medium for Lovecraftian horror. Often when Lovecraftian tales are dragged out for hundreds of pages the themes and atmosphere crumble under the weight of digression.

Short fiction collections are also great because you can be introduced to authors you've never read before. It's like sampling a host of different hot sauces to discover a new favourite. The Book of Cthulhu has a lot to sample with a common subject matter but dramatically different executions. I found a few authors that I will absolutely read again. After finishing her short story in this collection I immediately went and picked up the book Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer.

Are the stories true to Lovecraft? I wouldn't say his style of writing? But his concepts? His themes? Absolutely.

Lovecraft spent his life haunted by the illness and madness of his father, every change he faced in his own body came with a sense of inevitable trauma. This terror of transformation, of hidden heritage, of hidden secrets in both the body and the land was a source of endless turmoil for Lovecraft. Right up until his dying day. You see it all across his fiction and his personal beliefs and letters.

The Book of Cthulhu sees societal and personal and technological advance through a similar kind of hypochondriac hysteria. We scale mountains only to find dead civilisations harbouring monsters. We try to tame nature only to run into sleeping chaos. And we rage against the dying of the light only to be burned to ash. Each step we make, each significant discovery, only displays the depth of our mortality and the treachery of a blind, indifferent universe.

A universe embodied by Lovecraft's great Cthulhu. The sleeping god who's very existence defies the idea of "only the strong survive".

Because in time nothing will survive. Not the strong. Not the weak. Not the planets or the stars.

And like the poem goes: in strange aeons even death may die.

[Erin the Avid Reader ⚜BFF's with the Cheshire Cat⚜ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was there something I missed with this compilation of stories? I see the large score it has and can only scratch my head in deep confusion.

I'm a huge Lovecraft fan but I found most of these stories god-awful. I feel like the only things I liked about this book was the very first tale and the fact that my hero, Cthulhu, is in the title.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection filled to the brim with cosmic horror goodness. A couple of stories let it down, but for the most part this anthology rocked! A must for fans of Lovecraft or Cosmic Horror in general.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a whole:
If you look back through the books I've read, you will see Black Seas of Infinity and my review about the collection of Lovecraft stories in it. There is a great deal I enjoy about Lovecraft's work, but reading even that much (20 or so stories) begins to drag after a while. The unending terror meshing with a bit of monotony in just such a way that you feel threatened, but too weak to affect any response. It's a strange feeling and one that I didn't care for despite my enjoyment of particular tales in the collection.

This collection contains no Lovecraft and the wild differences between individual stories allows for none of that tense, unending terror of reading Lovecraft over and over. Some may like that. Some may not. For the most part, I enjoyed this book because of the varying tales. There were some incredibly well paced stories (that recalled some of Lovecraft's best longer works) as well as some quick shots at mythos-based horror that were only OK. Some aimed for dark humor. Some aimed for unending terror. Some looked for moving Lovecraftian lore into other genres. In the end, you get a wild ride of different styles and intentions. My belief is that most folks will find at least one or two stories they love and a couple of stories they can't stand.

The complaint I've seen in other reviews is one that I'll state here. Not all, but over half contain protagonists that succeed in facing down these elder horrors Lovecraft fans have read and known for so long with their senses more or less intact. Very few end up insane ... thus one of the key pieces of Lovecraft horror (bringing men - typically - to the breaking point of sanity) is excised from a great deal of the stories. Now, in some cases, I think that allows for interesting characters and stories (I like the idea of a horror hunter, for instance). In others, it robs the story of the Lovecraftian realism needed for horror.

The good thing in having authors not afraid of running from some Lovecraft tropes is that the racism/sexism in these stories is significantly easier to handle (in some cases, their inclusion seems to be almost satirical in nature), though that may be due to the age of these stories (all but nine were written post-2000, the oldest of which was published in 1976).

A final note on the editing and order of stories. One of the strongest points of this book is how the stories are organized around certain themes. Though these stories may not be located directly next to each other, they are clumped together in fairly obvious sections. There is the erotica section, the horror hunter section, the war section, the tale told by a horror section ... etc. Even better is that switching from one section to the next is not incredibly jarring (some elements of one story in the erotica section may tie into the next section or even the next story that acts as a buffer to entering into another section). Huge kudos to Ross Lockhart for making an extremely readable collection where going straight through the book is a rewarding experience. I've definitely read my fair share of anthologies where they were meant as random collections to be read piecemeal ... this one is an entree.

Overall, a great collection that some may love and others will be "offended" (see note about bucking against some Lovecraft traditions) by. Whatever camp you fall into, there are some excellent pieces in here that are well worth reading. Below is a slight summary of the stories with very little critique. Pick and choose those you like or do yourself the best favor and read the whole thing front to back. It's worth it!

Story by story:
"Andromeda Among the Stars": A beautiful and eerie way to start the collection with nice use of time manipulation.

"The Tugging": Ahh, sweet memory. If only you came through more than dreams, but that's enough for this newspaper writer.

"A Colder War": Lightening the mood just a little before delving into the depths of the horrors of war.

"The Unthinkable": What if we could harness the power of the elder ones and their minions? More war and more sadness than the previous story.

"Flash Frame": So begins the journey into erotica with the mythos twist, this time it is a blue film (yellow may be a better word for it) that drives the horror.

"Some Buried Memory": So as not to forget, monsters have feelings too, and some Lovecraft focuses on witches.

"The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins": As if Mervyn Peake created a story that takes place in the mythos universe, but they must escape the confines of their Gormenghast to experience the elder ones.

"Fat Face": Our second taste of the sexual intersecting with the horrific, this is decidedly colder and a little more, shall we say, shoggithy?

"Shoggoths in Bloom": While other tales have dealt with this theme, here is a tale that plays with what type of man can see the elder ones and stay sane. The least of the stories so far.

"Black Man With A Horn": This marks the first first-person tale and the second to deal with racism in some fashion (the first being "Shoggoths in Bloom" if you discount the witch/monster creature in "Some Buried Memory").

"Than Curse The Darkness": In deep Africa, they are calling the Elder Ones out of slumber.

"Jeroboam Henley's Debt": Vengeance crosses generations to reach fulfillment. Contains only a passing reference to Lovecraft's mythos creatures.

"Nethescurial": A document is found in a moldy tome and it opens our narrator's mind to the horrors that lay asleep.

"Calamri Curls": The elder ones don't mind the Pacific Ocean in this story of greed.

"Jihad Over Innsmouth": Fighters against Dagon unite on a plane trip.

"Bad Sushi": You are what you eat as one elderly man fights for his life against Innsmouth-esque creatures.

"The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife": Another recruitment story.

"The Doom That Came to Innsmouth": First person narrative rife with paranoia and a I Am Legend feel.

"Lost Stars": New Age hippies meet the real deal and she's a lot older than they imagined.

"The Oram County Whoosit": Despite the silly name, this first person narrative is a very Lovecraft-paced piece of work relating the newspapers to fighting the old ones.

"The Crawling Sky": Imagine Deadwood as a ghost town with a strange secret on its outskirts ... and a Reverend comes to town.

"The Fairground Horror": When a strong-willed mortal messes with Cthulu's powers ... bad things happen. Difficult time jumps made in this story, which exemplifies one of the weaknesses of the collection (see review above when finished).

"Cinderlands": Felt more Clive Barker than Lovecraft, but an interesting (with much better use of time jumps) story.

"Lord of the Land": A folklorist interviews an old man with a story about a soul-sucker ... then stays the night. Well told!

"To Live and Die in Arkham": An attempt to bring Lovecraft into the Noir genre. Least family friendly of the stories and only OK.

"The Shallows": Disjointed and hard to follow (don't know if all the time jumps were properly handled ... or if there was a better way to tell the story) post-Apocalyptic tale.

"The Men From Porlock": Slow and intense way to end the collection.

[Paul Genesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Book of Cthulhu ($15.99 Nightshade Books) edited by Ross E. Lockhart—overall rating—five stars—highly recommended for fans of H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, literary horror in general, and great writing.

27 stories inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, the author who created the Cthulhu mythos many years ago. If you haven’t read Lovecraft, or don’t know who he is, think of him this way: he’s the J.R.R. Tolkien of horror. His fiction is impressive and very readable today, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed his short stories. If you haven’t read Lovecraft, find a collection of his short stories that features “The Call of Cthulhu” and dive in, then buy this book to see the evolution of the world he created.

The Book of Cthulhu is an anthology of short stories featuring authors who have written tales that carry on the Cthulhu tradition, as Lovecraft wanted. The editor, Ross Lockhart compiled most of these largely literary stories from other sources, packaging them up nicely, and also presents a few new ones. It’s hard to review so many stories, but I’ll give each one a line or more, and all of the stories had good qualities, but I connected with some more than others. Everyone has different tastes, and if you’re looking for lots of gore or crazy action this isn’t for you, but if you like to read some of the best authors writing today, check this out.

The stories:

Caitlin R. Kiernan: Andromeda Among the Stones—five stars, (new story). This is arguably the best story in the anthology. It evokes everything that Lovecraft created and more. The alien horror of the otherside and the sacrifices that must be made to keep the evil at bay are real and palpable in this brilliantly written and menacingly beautiful story set (mostly) in the early 1900’s just before World War I. A terrible apocalypse can be averted, perhaps, if a terrible cost is paid, and the family in this story is right there at the edge of the sea, staring into the depths of the void. Brilliant story.


Ramsey Campbell: The Tugging—four stars. Fascinating story about an astronomer and a wandering planet that is coming closer to Earth. It’s appearance is a harbinger of doom that is driving poor Ingels mad, as he knows it’s much more than a planet. Why can’t everyone else see what’s coming?!?!


Charles Stross: A Colder War—five stars. A completely awesome story set during the Cold War told by a master writer. You think nuclear bombs are bad. They turn out to be nothing to worry about when the power of the Elder Gods can be harnessed and used for world ending destruction. Great story featuring top secret reports, Cthulhu bombs, and well, the end of life on Earth as we know it.


Bruce Sterling: The Unthinkable—three stars. Interesting and short piece also set in an alternate history cold war setting where the supernatural horrors are walking around, and a couple of aging cold war spies have a chat about the world.


Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Flash Frame—four stars. This was a cool story but it made me go, huh? It was awesome and interesting, and I liked it, but I think I would need to read it again to really get everything. It’s very literary and author has great skill, no doubt, in painting pictures with words.


W.H. Pugmire: Some Buried Memory—four stars. A high-brow tale about a “found foundling” woman who is extremely ugly. The descriptions were awesome.


Molly Tanzer: The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins—five stars. One of the most awesome and horrifying stories in the anthology about two disgustingly awful children, who should probably have been drowned at birth, though the girl wouldn’t have drowned . . . . This was such a creepy and cool story, and I loved the narrator’s voice. Great story.


Michael Shea: Fat Face—three stars. Too subtle for my taste, but an interesting character study about a woman who has a lot of problems. Horror.


Elizabeth Bear: Shoggoths in Bloom—four stars. This story has won some major awards, and I liked it a lot, but I just didn’t connect with it on all levels, hence four out of five stars. Still, it’s worth a read just to see what the fuss is about. I admired Bear’s skill and can see why Shoggoths in Bloom was so critically acclaimed. Solid story.


T.E.D. Klein: Black Man with A Horn—three stars. Somewhat meandering and quiet story about an old man, who is/was a writer, and is near the end of his life. I liked the story, but it was too slow for my tastes.


David Drake: Than Curse the Darkness—five stars. This was the most powerful story in the book for me. I loved it, and was blown away. David Drake is a master and he really hits the dark note of the Cthulhu mythos on this one. This tale is set in darkest Africa and is somewhat reminiscent of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, with a very supernatural twist. The natives resort to dark magic to get revenge upon their Belgian colonial oppressors at the turn of the century, and some white people come up river to stop what is coming. The characters were awesome and this was an extremely entertaining story.


Charles R. Sanders: Jeroboam Henley’s Debt—three and a half stars. More dark magic out of Africa, with an interesting twist.


Thomas Ligotti: Nethescurial—three stars. A little slow, a little dense, too quiet, and in the style of some of Lovecraft’s works. I just didn’t connect with it, but could appreciate what the author accomplished.


Kage Baker: Calamari Curls—three stars. Well done story, but I wasn’t in the mood for the brand of humor contained here.


Edward Morris: Jihad over Innsmouth—four stars. Freaking cool story about a character who wages his own war aboard an airliner. Very spooky story and so Twilight Zone.


Cherie Priest: Bad Sushi—five stars, best character story in the book. I’d heard how awesome Cherie Priest is and now I know why. No other story in the book paints a more complete and awesome picture of a character. In this case a World War II Japanese veteran who works in an American Sushi restaurant. Lets just say that when his boss changes sushi suppliers things get really bad at the restaurant. Note: beware anyone who is addicted to sushi.


John Horner Jacobs: The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife—three stars (new story). I didn’t connect with the characters in the short slice of life kind of story.


Brian McNaughton: The Doom that Came to Innsmouth—five stars. Wow, what a horrifying story about a sick and demented character. This is about a former resident of Innsmouth, a town Lovecraft invented, who returns home to reconnect with his roots. Dark, black, slimy, roots.


Ann K. Schwader: Lost Stars—five stars. Great character story about a gal who starts going to an occult group and finds out the Egyptian High Priestess in charge is the real deal. This would make a great Twilight Zone episode.


Steve Duffy: The Oram County Whoosit—five stars. Brilliant story, and Lovecraft would be so proud of Steve Duffy’s tale, which recounts the discovery of a thing (actually a couple of things—or whoosits) that had been buried for millions of years, and should have been left deep in the ground.


Joe R. Lansdale: The Crawling Sky—five stars. One of my favorite stories in the anthology. A tough preacher comes across a small town with problems. Lansdale is a master and I loved how he presented the story and the characters. His style and skill are brilliant. His stories and books are among my most favorite reads.


Brian Lumley: The Fairground Horror—three stars. Creepy, and nasty, but I just didn’t connect with this one.


Tim Pratt: Cinderlands—five stars. This awesome story pays homage to Lovecraft’s classic, The Rats in the Walls. I loved this one and it was pretty much perfect. Highly recommended.


Gene Wolfe: Lord of the Land—two stars. A lot of interesting stuff, but a little too slow for me. I did enjoy all the Egyptian and occult references though.


Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.: To Live and Die in Arkham—five stars. Very graphic story about some deplorable characters. This one will wake you up and punch you in the throat. Horror all the way through.


John Langan: The Shallows—two stars. Very literary, very slow, too much telling for me. This one just wasn’t my taste, but I know some people will love this one.


Laird Barron: The Men From Porlock—five stars (new story). Very awesome ending to The Book of Cthulhu. It features some lumberjacks going on a deer hunt and finding a strange community in the forest, and interrupting something they should not have interrupted. Mayhem and murder abound in this horror story of epic Stephen King proportions. Highly recommended.


In summary (according to my personal taste), there are 11 five star stories, 5 four star, and lots of other good ones that will please readers of varied interests. Fans of H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and horror in general will love this book. Highly recommended.

Paul Genesse
Editor of The Crimson Pact anthology series
www.thecrimsonpact.com

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, I know whenever I’m feeling down that Lovecraftian mythology will be there for me to pick me up out of my slump and scare the living hell out of me. Yeah, this anthology is that good – it made me feel better when I was cranky, and then it proceeded to give me nightmares. The feel-good anthology of the year? Definitely. But only if you like tentacles.

But out of all of the stories in here, the first by Caitlin R. Kiernan was my favorite. I’ve always loved her writing, and I kind of wish that this had been a longer novella and not just a short story. She wrapped it up really nicely at the end, but still, I would definitely sit down and read 200+ pages of that story in an expanded novel format. The end was especially good, and sent chills up my spine (which is hard to do). All of the stories were great, and it’s hard to say which was “the best” out of all of them – but I did enjoy Kiernan’s tale the most out of the entire lot, if I had to choose.

These are all really great tales by some of fantasy’s (and urban fantasy) current masters, and they all deserve a read. This was a wonderful escapist read, and I highly suggest it to all sci-fi/fantasy fans. This anthology just isn’t full of the Chthulu mythos itself, but full of nuclear wars, cold wars, espionage, creepy families, dystopias, other planets, and the like. It’s a very varied mix of different tales all using Lovecraft together in ways that I haven’t seen before, which is what makes this anthology so great. There was traditional fantasy, urban fantasy, hard sci-fi, cyberpunk, alternate histories – every possible sub-genre to fantasy and sci-fi that’s out there? It was in this anthology in some form or another, all using Lovecraft as jumping off point to get their tales going. There really is something for everyone who enjoys sci-fi and fantasy in this anthology. Stross’ story, for example, was awesome – using the cold war, the CIA, and Chthulu all in one story. Sound insane? It was. And I was sad to see the story end so soon. Really, the stories in these anthologies all could have been developed into novels – they caught my attention that deeply.

If you enjoy Lovecraft, do him a solid and pick up this anthology, as all the authors pay proper tribute to him in their stories. I, for one, welcome our new underwater alien overlords, and support them. Won’t you join us?

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com)

[Kory Callaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it and thought it was great... Then I read a whole lot more Lovecraftian fiction and discovered that while there are some very good stories in here there is also a good deal of work that I found to be uninteresting or tedious. However, it's worth picking up for the two stories original to this anthology, especially Laird Barron's "the Men from from Porlock."

[Naim Luqman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmmmm...a good bowl of spooky cosmic horror in line with Lovecraft. This short story anthology feature a host of weird fiction bigwigs and some newcomers. As with a lot of short story anthologies, there would be some that are head over heels above the rest, some that are good but aren't a level above the rest and some that are just ok. Mixed bag is what I'm saying but the amount of good to bad in here favors the good, which is great for an anthology.

My top 3 would be John Langan's The Shallow. An unending dread that just follow a the main character making it feel anxious to see how it ends. Ann K. Schwader's Lost Stars which is very formulaic in terms of using Lovecraft's writing tropes but brought up the ante just a tad and you got a sense of otherworldness haunting that just can't be put to words. The third would be Molly Tanzer's The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins which is just insanely good mix of Lovecraft and Noir-esque writing.

Does this collection deliver -YES! Lovecraftian horror fits in short story medium perfectly. Some would argue with the length of this stories but to those that are, go read flash fiction if you can't call 30+ pages short stories.

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this Anthology.

Some of the authors that I didn`t enjoyed are Caitlin R. Kiernan, Ramsey Campbell, Stross, or John Langan, and others.

I liked :
Silvia Moreno- Garcia - Flash Frame, year 2010, ****
W.H.Pugmire - Some buried Memory, 2011, ***
Michael Shea - Fat Face, 1987, ***
Kage Baker - Calamari Curls, year 2006, ***
Cherie Priest - Bad Sushi, 2006, ****
John Hornor Jacobs - The Dream of the Fisherman`s Wife, 2011, ****
Ann K. Schwader - Lost Stars, 2003, ***
Steve Duffy - The Oram County Whoosit, 2008, *****
Joe R.Lansdale - The Crawling sky, 2009, *****
Tim Pratt - Cinderlands, 2010, *****
Laird Barron - The Men from Porlock, year 2011, ***

From a total of 26 stories I enjoyed only 11 of them.!.

[Mir]

I just read the first story in this collection. I picked it up at a friend's house and saw that there was a contribution from Caitlín R. Kiernan, so I read it while waiting. It was good. I noticed there were stories from a couple other authors I often enjoy, Cherie Priest and Tim Pratt, so I may see if the library has a copy.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting an anthology is kind of like sticking your hand into a grab bag and not knowing what you are gonna get. In this respect, it makes it hard to give an honest review to them because, like that grab bag, you might get something good, something bad, or something that you could take or leave and not really care either way. It's also hard to judge an entire collection of stories truthfully because even if the subject matter is something you know, it could totally be ruined by the editors choice of stories.

It seems funny that I would pick up this book for research matters (I needed some ideas for an original Cthulhu mythos short of my own), but I can say that I made the right choice. Fortunately, I didn't have to go into some deep place and wrack my brain trying to figure out what kind of star-rating to give "The Book of Cthulhu" as Ross Lockhart's collection is one of the better anthologies I have come across, especially when you consider the world of H.P. Lovecraft and the crazy ways various authors can take their stories.

Of the 27 collected shorts, an astounding 12 were enjoyable and I actually liked reading. That's a pretty high number for ANY anthology, and even bigger for Night Shade Books which has been quite underwhelming as of late. I can't name all of the ones I found entertaining, but "A Colder War" by Charles Stross takes the reality of the Cold War and throws in some "Older Ones" for a nice take on the genre, and "Jihad of Innsmouth" asks the question of what would happen if Cthulhu, or one of his followers, was unleashed on a plane. Then there's Michael Shea's "Fat Face" that puts sexual spin on the mythos, and T.E.D. Klein's "Black Man with a Horn" that could probably be one of the more recent shorts to give rebirth to Lovecraftian lore. And of course, you can't forget "To Live and Die in Arkham" which is a noir pastiche.
Now, of those 12, there were 2 that really stood out as the best in the collection. "The Oram County Whoosit" by Steve Duffy and Brian Lumley's "The Fairground Horror" were probably the best examples of the Cthulhu mythos, keeping with the general theme of Lovecraft and the plot, as well as being incredibly well written.
There's a few ho-hum, so-what kind of shorts, and only 3 that I didn't find much to my amusement: the opening story (a horrible piece to begin with, if you ask me) "Andromeda among the Stars", the horribly confusing "Some Buried Memory" and "Lord of the Land". I would wager that without these 3, this could have easily been a 5-star anthology. Something that I haven't seen in quite some time.

Crappy review aside (sorry, I'm tired and need to get to work on other things) I would suggest buying this one. If you're a Cthulhu fan, an H.P. Lovecraft fan, or just a fan of all things cosmic horror, you're going to be hard pressed to find something that encompasses such a wide spectrum of the mythos, and still manages to be consistent and fun. And, even better, there's already a vol. 2 out!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that for me the quintessential H. P. Lovecraft has always been The Dunwich Horror. I’m fairly certain that it was the first of his stories that I ever read and it evokes the strongest response. Oh to be young, again. While The Necronomicon is the key used to unlock the gates for the Great Old Ones, my recollection is that Cthulhu doesn’t appear (but Yog-Sothoth does). As the years went one I read more and more of his tales and got to know his pantheon better. Contemporaries made occasional contributions, but none seemed to have the same wildness and raw energy of Lovecraft himself.

This collection from latter-day authors stretches back only 35 years. Two of the stories are familiar to me: “Black Man With a Horn” by T.E.D. Klein, and “Than Curse the Darkness” by David Drake. Given their publication history, I apparently read them in another collection, New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. That was around the time that Java Man was traipsing through the underbrush, so I can’t recall any other stories without looking it up.

Like most collections, this one has stronger and weaker stories. The aforementioned “Black Man with a Horn” is one of the best; another is “Bad Sushi” by Cherie Priest, and “The Unthinkable” by Bruce Sterling made me smile. While Cthulhu is featured in many of the stories there is plenty of diversity in story style, plot, and evilness. It kept things fresh for all 500-plus pages. But I must admit than none captured my in a way that the master himself once did. Perhaps I am too jaded, perhaps I am comparing skillful writers who use horror as a tool against a pulp author who wrote horror and used plot as a tool, or perhaps I just didn’t read it late enough into the night with the lights down low.

For those who already know they like the world that Lovecraft gave us this is a nice addition. If you have not steeped yourself in this mythos yet, than I recommend a strong does from the Master himself. Classes are always in session at Miskatonic U. Grade – Three (3) Stars.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really new to Cthulhu and H.P. Lovecraft. But I know what I love and I loved The Book of Cthulhu!! A friend introduced me to Lovecraft earlier this year and I started hunting for his books in used bookstores and at the library, so when I got the chance to read The Book of Cthulhu I couldn't wait to get started. And I was not disappointed on bit.

There are twenty seven stories in this anthology and there's something here for everyone! Being so new to Lovecraft, I did some research and from what I've learned, Night Shade Books and editor Ross E. Lockhart have assembled some of the finest Lovecraftian stories out there. I learned that many are quite rare and have been around for a long time. I wish I was more of an expert on Lovecraft. But maybe this newbie can offer a fair review because I have no preference towards one author or another.

I really enjoyed most all of the stories, they were well crafted with enough weirdness and off-kilter vestiges that I stayed pretty creeped out by them. A couple of the stories that really got to me were Gene Wolfe's Lord of the Land, with his truly icky alien possession and Ann K. Schwader's tale that brings in what I think of as Egyptian mythos. I love most all things Egyptian.

I don't want to try to pretend to know the histories and the legends behind these entertaining authors. What I can say is that I enjoyed the read, each author brought something different and very entertaining to the anthology. I say try something new. If you like to be weirded out, made to question your regular reading material, then for goodness sake...read The Book of Cthulhu, step out of your comfort zone and enjoy coloring outside the lines in these short stories. Who knows? You may find yourself on a search engine looking up Lovecraft!

4 out of 5 stars!

**This e-galley was provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley, and in no way affected my review.

[Michael Brookes · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fair to say that I'm a huge Lovecraft fan and the Cthulhu mythos in particular. Here we have a collection of short stories based to varying degrees to that mythos and there's some well known writers here - which unfortunately leads to the first issue with the collection and that is that I'd read more than a few of these before in other anthologies.

The second issue is common to any collection and that is the varying quality of the stories. I didn't think any of them were bad, but some were truly amazing, while others lagged in comparison. My biggest issue came as a surprise to me. This isn't a curated universe, so there's no guidance as to how the stories should fit with established fiction in this world. That can make for some jarring reading as one perspective shifts radically into another and after three stories in Innsmouth you wonder what is going on!

That isn't a fault with the stories though, more how the anthology was compiled. The stories themselves all have something of value and some stood out for me and made the compilation worth reading. For the most part it was the earlier stories that grabbed me, especially with Ramsey Cambell with the second tale. This had an authentic Lovecraft feel and was exceptionally well written.

The other standout was Charles Stross' cold war redux with the elder gods being the weapons of mass destruction. It was a fun idea that was carried quite well and fitting with the events of the time. I also enjoyed the Jihad over Innsmouth, which was a fun meld of modern technothriller and Cthulhu mythos.

If you're relatively new to the mythos then this is a great book to start with (assuming you've already read Lovecraft's originals!). If you're familiar genre then your mileage may vary, but it's worth checking out.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

For an anthology that perports to be about Cthulhu, there sure was a lack of Cthulhu in this book. Sure, the stories took place within the mythos, but I don't remember many appearances by His Tentacliness himself.

The stories I enjoyed:
Caitlín R. Kiernan – Andromeda among the Stones
W. H. Pugmire – Some Buried Memory
Molly Tanzer – The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins
Elizabeth Bear – Shoggoths in Bloom
Cherie Priest – Bad Sushi
John Hornor Jacobs – The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife
Brian McNaughton – The Doom that Came to Innsmouth
Joe R. Lansdale – The Crawling Sky

Too many stories fell flat for me. Most, I found way too hard to get into. It's certainly an impressive lineup of authors, but many of these authors have done better with other stories. Surprised they didn't try to squish Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald" or something.

Hopefully one day we will get a truly amazing Cthulhu anthology. This isn't it.

[Chas · Rating 2 out of 5]

An anthology of too many stories, most of which are are mediocre at best. There are some very good tales by T.E.D. Klein, Joe Lansdale, Thomas Ligotti, Ramsey Campbell, and Gene Wolfe, but this is hardly unexpected, and none of them are new. The final story in the collection is "The Men from Porlock" by Laird Barron, who I'd not read but had heard many good things about, and I was very thoroughly surprised at how much I enjoyed it -- and I believe it makes its premier in this anthology.

Generally, though, I found most of the stories to be overly morbid and grotesque. Yes, I know the same accusation can be thrown at Lovecraft himself, but his best stories have skill and class in their unveiling of horror -- something that can't necessarily be said (at least in these stories) for, say, Brian McNaughton or Joseph Pulver Sr.

[Lianne Burwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been working my way through the HP Lovecraft Literary podcast, and their coverage of the complete Lovecraft oevre. And a side to this, I've been reading modern interpretations of Lovecraft's best-known creations.

The size of this anthology tells you just how many writers are following in Lovecraft's footsteps. I'd only read two of the stories before (one was in Cthulhu's Reign, an anthology I read a couple of months ago, and the other was in the Pseudopod podcast a couple of years ago)

The stories cover a wide range, from stories that are definite Lovecraft pastiches to much more modern takes (Bad Sushi, for example). In fact, the only thing that seemed to be missing was some humour, which might have lightened the mood a little.

Still, it was a good, thick collection of new takes on the tales of Cthulhu. A good read in the cold, rainy days before Halloween

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly enjoyable collection of chilling tales in the tradition of the "Great Old One" himself. Most anthologies are an even balance of good and bad, but this collection is chock-full of gems. The only complaint is that some stories are just too short. Sit back, relax, but don't read this collection right before bed.

[Graeme Rodaughan]

Purchased.

[Tarl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been staring at this anthology for a long while every time I stepped into the local Chapters, and it was after some long thought that I picked it up.

I fluttered between 3 and 4 stars for this anthology for a couple reasons, and finally settled on four because in the end, this is a good anthology and anyone looking for good mythos tales will be sure to find them in this collection. The main reason I had debated on getting this book for so long, and the reason I had so many issues with rating it was primarily that I had read about half the stories in this collection already.

This wouldn't be a bad thing all in all, except most of the stories I recognized were from anthologies release fairly recently, and thus they were still fresh in my mind. This lead to me skipping them in this collection unless they were ones I either didn't remember, or enjoyed enough to warrant a second reading. (there were only a couple that were either of these cases)

Now, before you think I am giving this book a bad review, I'm not. It's a good collection, excellent in fact. A large number of big names are in this collection, and their work is excellent. What's even better is that there are more than a few stories in this anthology that are Lovecraftian in feel/subject/tone, but don't have to do with the mythos directly. I found these stories to be some of the more enjoyable tales.

Sure, as with all anthologies, there are a couple stories in this collection that felt flatter than the others and to which I had to force myself not to skim read as I was going over them. But they were thankfully few in number and even though I didn't enjoy them, others very well might. In this case it is very much personal choice. Overall though, even the stories I had read before were excellent choices for this collection and the editor did a good job getting them all together for this anthology.

If you are looking for a good collection of lovecraftian works by a variety of writers over a long period of time (check out the copyrights on a lot of the stories, some are far older than I thought) then this anthology is for you. As time goes on, more and more of these collections seem to be popping up, and there is always a fair amount of overlap between them. Still, large collections like this make it easier to get the best cross section of mythos work being done and published. If you are a lovecraft fan and tend to collect anthologies, then you're going to end up like me, with most of the stories being repeats. However, it's still worth picking up when all's said and done.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really surprised by this anthology. I've read a lot of Lovecraftian fiction over the years. The current trend to Locraftian "Weird fiction" has been a lot of fun, but often is more Weird than Mythos or Lovecraftian. The Book of Cthulhu hit squarely in the Lovecraftian end of things for me - just enough weird without sacrificing what made Lovecraft and his followers great. There's great examples of language use (Pugmire, Pulver and Barron - as always), Mythos stories (e.g., "The Doom that Came to Innsmouth", "Shoggoths in Bloom", "The Fairground Horror") as well as some weird fiction elements ("The Shallows", "Nethescurial"). It is very evident that the editor, Ross Lockhart, is an old-school Lovecraftian who can still appreciate some newer authors and takes on Lovecraftian horror. Rather than collecting Mythos fiction OR genre mashups, this volume offers old style Lovecraftian horror ("The Oram County Whoosit"), multiple genre cross-overs (Pulver's "To Live and Die in Arkham" was a blast and "The Infernal History of the Ivorybridge Twins" was a great retreat into Victorian writing), new takes on old Mythos staples AND plenty of Lovecraftian stories ("The Tugging", "Bad Sushi"). There are staple Mythos authors here as well as stories by those famous for very different genres. This was absolutely the best Lovecraftian horror collection I've come across in quite a while - A perfect meal for the hungry Lovecraftian palate.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable collection of lovecraftian fiction, there wasn't a bad story in this book! There was a surprising variety of tones and settings, you can see how lovecraft has influenced each writer in different ways. I'd recommend this to new and old fans of weird fiction alike.

[T.E. Grau · Rating 5 out of 5]

From story quality/ToC, to design and layout, to the surprisingly affordable price, "The Book of Cthulhu" is one of the finest Lovecraftian anthologies I've ever read, and I've chewed through a few.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an uncommonly strong anthology of recent(ish) Cthulhu Mythos stories. Anthologies of this nature often fall prey to Lovecraft pastiche, but for the most part the stories here offer fresh and imaginative takes on the source material and span a wide variety of time periods.

While the average quality is high, a number of stories stand out in particular. Although I had read it before, "A Colder War" by Charles Stross remains a masterful melding of Cold War paranoia with the Mythos. "The Men from Porlock" by Laird Barron and "The Crawling Sky" by Joe R. Lansdale are particularly creepy and effective tales of rural folk encountering the otherworldly. "Fat Face" by Michael Shea offers a fun update of a classic Lovecraftian creature.

Lovecraft has attracted a great deal of negative attention in recent years for his vehement racism, to the extent that some argue that he should be excluded from the horror/science fiction canon. I think that would be a terrible shame, however, as a number of writers have combined Lovecraftian inspiration with more palatable views on race. "Shoggoths in Bloom" by Elizabeth Bear and "Jeroboam Henley’s Debt" by Charles Saunders are both very Lovecraftian stories that benefit greatly by centering race and starring black protagonists. Outside of this anthology, a number of other recent stories and novels have worked with a Lovecraftian foundation while dealing with race-related issues to good effect.

Overall, this is an easy book to recommend to Lovecraft fans curious about recent Mythos-related fiction.

[Ali D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a simple lady, I see that Silvia Moreno-Garcia contributes and I read it.
This was quite the addition to my Spooktober reading.

Like with any collection of short stories, you have some that make you sad it's not a full book, and others that you can't figure out why it's included.

I actually enjoyed most of the stories in here, it was mostly the western themed ones I didn't enjoy (that's out of personal preference than any other reason).

[Rudi Landmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Cthulhu is an anthology of 27 short stories, each by a different author. The oldest tale in the collection dates from 1976, but 19 of them were first published since 2000.

To say that I enjoyed the collection would be an understatement. Anthologies are usually a hit-and-miss affair, and not every story is going to appeal to every reader. Yet, as I started out with The Book of Cthulhu, I found myself to be enjoying story after story after story. The only reason I have not rated this five stars is because the "misses" in terms of appeal to me did eventually come, but not for a long way through the book.

These stories are intentionally mythic, and there are relatively few deviations from well-worn tropes and formulae. The real skill is in what the individual authors did with those building blocks.

I'd like to call out some especially noteworthy pieces:

I liked Caitlín R. Kiernan’s “Andromeda Among the Stones” more than any short story I can remember reading in the recent past. It has all the right ingredients for me: language that is poetic and darkly brooding, a sense of dread and inevitability, and a certain stoic brutality brought about by necessity. Worth the price of the book all by itself.

Cthulhu fiction is too often a poor pastiche of old, stilted prose or—worse—an attempt to ape Lovecraft's own personal and distinctive style. Occasionally, though, a story like “The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins” attempts the antiquated prose style and pulls it off. The trick here is possibly that author Molly Tanzer doesn't take the effort entirely seriously. Aristocratic English families with an embarrassing secret are similarly cliché, but Tanzer has such obvious fun with the trope that the result is delicious.

I love mythos fiction that takes place in unexpected settings, and Michael Shea’s “Fat Face” set in a seedier part of modern LA is a perfect example. The low-rent environs provide a despair all of their own as you realise that nobody is going to care about the terrible things that happen to the characters. This might be the most depressing story in the collection.

T.E.D Klein’s “Black Man with a Horn” is a story that I thought worked in spite of itself. Klein has the temerity to have his protagonist a personal friend of Lovecraft and even go so far as to reflect that “I thought Howard was just making all this stuff up!” To my mind, this is so hokey that it just shouldn't work, and yet, somehow it does!

There's a lot of classic pulp in here too, all examples of authors working within a genre and doing it superbly well rather than doing something new. In this group, I’d place “Than Curse the Darkness” by David Drake (rainforests of Belgian Congo), “The Oram County Woosit” by Steve Duffey (1920s West Virginia) and “The Men from Porlock” by Laird Barron (forests of 1920s Washington). Terrible things happen to people in isolated, wilderness locations.

Other stories portray more modern staples such as government conspiracy (“The Doom that Came to Innsmouth” by Brian McNaughton), sushi (“Bad Sushi” by Cherie Priest), new religious movements (“Lost Stars” by Ann K. Schwader), and a too-cool hitman (“Jihad over Innsmouth” by Edward Morris).

I won't go on to namecheck each and every story in this book. Suffice to say that there's tremendous diversity in how the authors approach the material, and in almost every case, I think it pays off.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

With cosmic horror compilations, you go in hoping for a collection of unsettling, dark, nihilistic stories of creatures outside of your conception. Something that’s not just a monster with some tentacles and mythos stapled on, but gives you the feeling that our whole world is sliding in a direction you really don’t want.

Unfortunately, what you often get is a bunch of boilerplate creature-features with a side of squid (A Crawling Sky). Or worse still, a whole bunch of eldritch prose lapping tawdrily at a plutonian shore (Nethescurial. I am yet to understand the fixation the horror scene has with Ligotti).

The Book of Cthulhu, however, is fairly packed with punchy, crunchy, thoughtful delights, alongside very few duds. It’s always a pleasure to run into Steve Duffy’s “The Oram County Whoosit” in a compilation, Laird Baron does some wonderful world-building in his Old Leech mythology with “The Men of Porlock”, Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes a truly excellent, noir-inflected piece about an obscure porn film, in fact I could single out successful stories for quite a while.

Obviously there are some clunkers, The Fairground Horror in particular was an absolute failure, and deserves special mention for its ham-fisted combination of woeful dialogue, nonsensical character motivations and purple verbiage, but as it’s a short story it’s mercifully brief, and a quick bad story in amongst a run of great stories is very easy to laugh at rather than become frustrated with.

The span of time from which these stories are collected has obviously allowed for real and stringent quality control to be a factor. It feels like a book the editor is proud to put forward rather than a farted out “Best Of The Year(?!)” time driven compilation. An unreserved recommendation, and I really hope Moreno-Garcia puts out some stuff that I'm able to buy very shortly.

[Stan James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly meaty (and slimy/bloody/gooey) collection of stories using Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Horror anthologies are notoriously uneven in my experience so I was pleasantly surprised at how solid this anthology is. While there is no singular standout story here there are also no outright clunkers that I was tempted to flip past. The weakest efforts are probably those that attempt to mimic Lovecraft's actual writing style, like Brian Lumley's "The Fairground Horror". People probably shouldn't do this.

The highlights include Laird Barron's "The Men from Porlock". While I found his style a bit ponderous at times in his own collection, his concluding story set post-World War I is wonderfully weird, gruesome and filled with men who curse like lumberjacks because they are, in fact, lumberjacks.

Charles Stross imagines weaponizing Cthulhu in "A Colder war" and the results are appropriately horrifying, while Elizabeth Bear's "Shoggoths in Bloom" takes a quieter, science-focused approach to Lovecraft's horrors that makes them almost cute. Almost.

Joe R. Lansdale's "The Crawling Sky" features a sharpshooting preacher out to battle evil Old Testament-style. The speech and manner of the preacher reminded me (favorably) of The Dark Tower's Roland.

The remaining stories cover time periods ranging from the early 20th century to the present day and shift in tone from not-quite-outright comedy to relentlessly grim, with a few detours into "What the hell is happening?" territory. There's really something for everyone here, especially if you like faces filled with writhing tentacles or hair that is actually wriggling sentient worms.

Highly recommended.