The Shadow Over Doggerland

North Sea Trilogy #1

by Tim Mendees, S.O. Green, Emil Haskett

In the depth of the North Sea lies the fabled Doggerland. An ancient world of mysterious people and creatures. A green and verdant land destined to be flooded and destroyed, all but forgotten. What actually happened to the people of Doggerland? Was there some great ancient evil bent on destroying the world dreaming below the surface waiting to emerge? -- Fifteen Lovecraftian authors explore the world known only as Doggerland and the cosmic horror destined to destroy paradise. Book one in the North Sea Trilogy

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2022

About the author

Tim Mendees is a horror writer from Macclesfield in the North-West of England that specialises in cosmic horror and weird fiction. A lifelong fan of classic weird tales, Tim set out to bring the pulp horror of yesteryear into the 21st Century and give it a distinctly British flavour. His work has been described as the love-child of H.P. Lovecraft and P.G. Wodehouse and is often peppered with a wry sense of humour that acts as a counterpoint to the unnerving, and often disturbing, narratives.
Tim has had over eighty published short stories and novelettes in anthologies and magazines with publishers all over the world. He also has five novellas and a short story collection on sale with more coming soon.
When he is not arguing with the spellchecker, Tim is a goth DJ, crustacean and cephalopod enthusiast, and the presenter of a popular web series of live video readings of his material and interviews with fellow authors. Tim is also a co-host of the Innsmouth Book Club podcast. He currently lives in Brighton & Hove with his pet crab, Gerald, and an army of stuffed octopods.
https://timmendeeswriter.wordpress.com/
https://tinyurl.com/timmendeesyoutube

Reviews

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Doggerland, that doomed patch of land between mainland Europe and The British Isles was forever submerged during a catastrophe called the Storegga Slide. This tsunami wiped it off the map in one fell swoop.”
But what if it wasn’t a natural occurrence… what if it was, in fact…. something more…monstrous?

Ok, when you’re laughing out loud while reading the Foreward by Tim Mendees, you know it’s going to be a good book! 👌🏽🤣

The stories are expertly written and flow well together! I love cosmic fiction, and this was the perfect book to keep my antsy self occupied for an extended period of time; I was seriously hooked!

I will definitely be adding this one to my favourites list and hopefully adding a hard copy so I can read it again and again!

Thank you to the authors, editor, & Booksirens for a copy

[Rach · Rating 4 out of 5]

So reading this at 2 AM was a big mistake and I definitely had nightmares of antler-men and fish people. I know very little about the Cthulhu mythos and this book has sparked my interest in it.

Guess I'll be having more nightmare fuel for later.

Joy.

A big thank you to BookSirens for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.]

[Sharron Joy Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthology of Lovecraft inspired tales, all teeth, tentacles, blood and horror, I loved it!
The base for all the stories is Doggerland, submerged by rising sea levels in 6500BCE , this land connected Europe to Britain in ancient times. But what if the tsunami that drowned it was not natural but some abomination, a force of ancient darkness.
The stories are so good, so rich in imagery, violent primitive humanity in all its gory glory.

The Cthulhu mythos lives on in these tales and I loved them.

[David Malaski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this book introduced me to an amazing new world of primitive violence and cosmic horror. The authors did an excellent job of world building and crafting fast paced Lovecraftian terror all with a pulp like sword and sorcery theme. In keeping with decades of tradition the mythos has continued to grow and this fun anthology has added a land of new lore while remaining true to the Old Ones.
I was given a reading copy and wanted to leave this review so others can have the great time reading it that I did.

[Gregory Mele · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting indie collection of Mythos stories that center around the *real* lost Hyperborean territory of Doggerland, and take what little we know: it survived into the Mesolithic, there were late mammoth hunters, there are antler-headdresses and stonework that wash ashore or are pulled up, and builds an overarching narrative of mysterious Cthulhu cult allied to the Deep Ones determined to drown the land for their slumbering god.

That's the set-up, and the individual authors are free to riff on this as they will. The first two thirds of the book create a roughly interwoven narrative that links the Hyperborea of Clark Ashton Smith and Atlantis and Hyboria and of Robert E. Howard with HP Lovecraft's own homage to his friend's work in one of his few "sword & sorcery works" (CROM-YA and the CITY OF FALSE SEEMING) and follows it to Doggerland's drowning (HOLDING BACK THE FLOOD).

These stories are macabre horror -- rarely does the protagonist survive -- and the mini-mythos they create is evocative and intriguing, even though not all of the stories are winners. While each of the first five stories are more brilliant than the next, the sixth SOLDIER OF DREAD, cowritten by Chris McAuley and Claudia Christian (of Babylon 5 fame) is so stunningly bad it undermines everything that came before. Fortunately, it is followed by Gavin Chappell's CROM-YA, which reveals the Mythos bonafides and setting's context while also being a fun read straight out of WEIRD TALES, and the dark and evocative CAVE OF MANY VOICES by Emil Haskett which looks at the possible underwater source of a young girl's "cunning" and gift of prophecy.

The last third of the book is "ALTERNATE HISTORIES" -- stories that I suspect were good enough to make the cut but didn't really fit the internal mythos series editor Tim Mendes had envisioned. These are a mixed lot. COSMIC MACABRE is a body-horror story of a husband-wife team that is time-slipped back into Doggerland, that is reminiscent of a kind of 60s short story wherein the 1st person narrators often encounter or a part of all manner of weirdness that the reader is expected to just roll with -- as do they -- to move things along to the real central focus. It doesn't really work for me here, but I see what the author wanted to do. FLESH OF MY FLESH by Jasmine Jarvis is an entirely separate/variant mythology for Doggerland, replacing Cthulhu with Tzathoggua, changing the nature of the antler-headed cult, and couching the entire thing in a kind of dark inversion of Gnostic myth that makes the demiurgic Tzathoggua the hero and mankind and mundane life the villain. An interesting, fun story.

Sadly, the collection ends on a problematic note. John D. Chadwick is one of the collection's most prolific authors, but his tale here, THE COMMON TIME MYSTERIES, is almost unreadable. A prose story written with internal rhyme to feel almost like a verse epic poem, the entire thing feels more like a style experiment than a story, and while the concept was intriguing, the execution obscured and slowed the actual story so badly that I not only had trouble following the narrative, I only finished it because it was the final story in the collection. An unfortunate miss on which to end.

Despite a few duds, the collection is overall strong and there are some really fresh ideas herein. This is apparently part of a trilogy of anthologies set in the North Seas region, the next to take place during the Viking Era. I'll certainly pick it up.

[Chiara Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you BookSirens for the opportunity to read this and here is my honest review.

I wanted so much to love this anthology of short stories inspired by Lovecraft!
Even if I did enjoy all the takes on the mythos around Doggerland, the land that connected Europe to Great Britain around 6500 BC, and all the creatures and gods, I found it hard to keep up my attention at times.

I liked all the writing styles but I found that most of the stories were very predictable given that they were all around the same theme and only slightly different from one another.
On a positive note, my favourite story was "Cosmic Macabre" which I found original, bizarre and trippy!

In summary, this anthology of cosmic horror stories was an interesting read although a bit predictive, with the result that I had to take some breaks between stories.

[Elizabeth R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

maybe we'll try it again someday. Encountering "taught" instead of "taut" in the context of a bowstring on the second page of the first story was bad enough. We were soon irritated by a number of stylistic/ narrative voice characteristics and lost patience.

Will return it to the library and perhaps reconsider during the winter.

[Marceline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the fact that for most of the authors, there felt like there was a cohesiveness of Doggerland and the antlermen as a central thing. It felt at times that I was reading events of other existing tribes. If I am being honest though, quite a few of the stories missed the mark in terms of lovecraftian or cosmic horror.

The first story should have been proofread a bit better. But other than minor issues with the father somehow being "she" in one sentence and the next going back to "he" the story was decently written and paced.

I think my favorite 3 stories were Holding Back the Flood, Cosmic Macabre (this story will get its own paragraph) and Flesh of My Flesh. All were competently written and I felt like each author brought something original to the table, and best of all, didn't stick in a bunch of words multiple times to try to say "look at me, I'm writing like Lovecraft!"

While I enjoyed Cosmic Macabre, and it was about Doggerland and had most everything I wanted in a story, it felt a bit out of place in terms of the rest of the stories. It was definitely weird, like Alice in Wonderland decided to do some shrooms mixed with crack, while simultaneously being mind-kissed by an outer god. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much, the change was refreshing.

The last story in the lot I hated immensely. Hands down, the author vomited paragraph upon paragraph of descriptive words that was boring to read and filled no purpose other than annoying me and ensuring I didn't finish it. To me, it's as if the author thought lovecraftian/Cosmic horror had to have nothing but descriptive words in order to be good, rather than an actual story. And the story? I couldn't even tell what it was about other than some dude who was a bard who told stories with no reason given and some snake creature. This last story easily took a 4 star rating overall for the entire collection and bumped it down to a 3 star rating.

I received an advanced reader copy and am leaving this review for free.

[Sandra Vdplaats · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Shadow Over Doggerland ( nod to The Shadow of Innsmouth by Lovecraft)

I am a huge Lovercraft fan and have the leatherbound collectible Barnes & Nobles edition - Lovecraft, the Complete Fiction -

What an amazing anthology!! I really enjoyed the stories, they took me back to my childhood, and brought back some wonderful memories of days gone by.
I grew up in the coastal northern region of the Netherlands, and spent most of my summers on the Wadden Islands, (West Frisian Islands) wandering through the dunes and salt marshes, along the sea or on the fishing boat out on the (North) sea.
A family friend used to take us out to sea in the summer - he would moor the boat on a sandbank, later we would eat freshly made fish soup from the catch of that day, waiting for the tide to bring us back to the island.
A sailor at heart, he taught me all about the sea, the Wadden, (tidal flats), and the currents. He passed away many years ago, but what we caught in our nets back then, still adorns my bookshelf today, as a keepsake and a reminder of these wonderful times: a mammoth tooth. And of course even at that age I knew about what lay beneath our feet - Doggerland. The drowned land.
I am Frisian - my ancestors made human sacrifices to propitiate the sea gods and the rising waters; or they walked the land bridge, where they encountered the red-haired Celtic clans, or the ‘North Men’, or they settled in parts of England, Scotland and Denmark).

This anthology contains stories where clans meet hostile 'other barbaric clans’; women being carried away as spoils of war across the wetlands, and marshes, to higher grounds. An overarching theme of these stories is TRANSFORMATION in which the old ways disappear (or are washed away) or give way to something new.
In many stories we see hunter communities struggling with tribes that have better weapons, or worship other deities, and we see human sacrifice in all forms: in caves lit up by lichen, on large dolmens, to be taken by bulbous iridescent sea monsters, women tied up to posts in the water as offerings for the Deep Ones, or tied together in wicker baskets abandoned at sea; clans coming into conflict with ‘others’ [ people with pale skin, yellow ‘frisselje’ [ red. > braided hair], or they tell of encounters with Antlermen. (presumably Northmen & Celtic tribes from the North and current Denmark/Norway), and of clans or hermits walking back to Northumberland. Many stories are also about people dreaming about the drowned land, or big waves that will swallow the land.
This anthology is not only about Doggerland and its fate, but mixes myths of shapeshifters, old tales, and ballads speaking of bygone times, sea monsters, the rising tides, hunters witnessing the Storegga slide drowning their homeland…
The locations of Doggerland where these stories take place is sometimes close to the coast of present-day England, or further east (Denmark) or as close as current Friesland.

The added bonus to these stories is that all these tales are interlaced with Lovecraftian horror. This is where Jean Auel and Lovecraft meet: Toad Faced Lovecraftian sea beings, crablike chimeras with pink liquid dripping from their lips, slime and mud creatures, a Ghoul King, Cthulhu - the Octopus King, people with a head of a serpent, or ‘bulbous mass of iridescent protoplasm covered in hundreds of baleful eyes,’and of a titan of a shadow, something too old to be good or evil.’

In some of these stories, one of the clan members has the seeing eye, fearing the growing threat of rising tides, and lands lost to the sea. of ‘great waves that have been, and great waves that will be, or they see ‘Storegga on its way.’

I thought these Lovecraftian stories were really, really good. There were only two that I didn’t like.
This is the first part of the anthology. I am hoping for a continuation of this series!. Wonderful, fascinating stories, a mix of Lovecraftian horror, adding myths, legends and folklore of sea beings in the stories as well.
A number of alternative stories about the Doggerland are also included; a biblical retelling, and as a the myth of the Kraken (Norse Mythology).

Personally, I find octopuses fascinating creatures; they have nine brains, three hearts (one more than a time lord from Gallifrey, :)! and blue blood, and it baffles me why these creatures are so intelligent. Only land mammals that returned to the sea possess such intelligence. What does the octopus need it for? They are the true chimeras of the deep, and we are far from seeing what 'monsters' live on the seafloor!

With the increasing sea level rise due to climate changes, eventually, large parts (75%) of the Netherlands will be swallowed by waves - becoming another Doggerland, and I find it a rather comforting thought that my old bones will be resting with the Octopus God Cthulhu and the Ancient Deep Ones!!

Fascinating stories about Lovecraftian sea creatures.
***** 5 stars.
Thank you Booksirens for this review copy. I leave my review voluntarily.

[Christopher Pate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The anthology has an intriguing premise based on lovecratian and cosmic horror themes with a splash of sword and sorcery, all centered on the ancient and drowned Doggerland that once existed in the North Sea between the British Isles and the Continent. Though most of the stories had a thrilling or nicely eldritch element, at least to begin with, most grew muddled and shot quite wide of themed marks, especially in building the cherished sense of dread. Still, one tale fleshed itself out well from start to finish: "The Cave of Many Voices" by Emil Haskett was aces meeting the intended themes. Overall, an unmemorable read.

Full review at my blog: https://tinyurl.com/43u6vscu.

[Barry Bridgerton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concept, badly executed. It all felt too rushed from the sh!tty cover to the sloppy editing. I'll not bother with 2 and 3

[Matt Sprague · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique setting for cosmic horror. The stories are strong from start to finish and they fit together nicely. Shadow Over Doggerland is great of what a historical mythos anthology should be.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.