Copping Squid and Other Mythos Tales

by Michael Shea, S.T. Joshi (Editor), Steven Gilberts (Illustrator)

With eight psychotropic visions of terror and transformation set in the urban tides pools of San Francisco, COPPING SQUID weaves a tapestry of otherworldly menace shot through with threads of awe-inspiring majesty: of invisible outsiders and self-medicting seekers whose desperate prayers and hidden rituals lead them to behold their warped reflections in the all-seeing eyes of the secret masters of creation.

With the deceptive ease and streetwise enlightenment of a weird storytelling master, Michael Shea fearlessly sounds the unplumbed depths of the Cthulhu Mythos to witness revelations from which traditional cosmic horror has always averted its dark-adapted gaze.

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian

209 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

For the British author of thrillers and non-fiction see Michael Shea

Michael Shea (1946-2014) was an American fantasy, horror, and science fiction author who lived in California. He was a multiple winner of the World Fantasy Award and his works include Nifft the Lean (1982) (winner of the World Fantasy Award) and The Mines of Behemoth (1997) (later republished together as The Incomplete Nifft, 2000), as well as The ARak (2000) and In Yana, the Touch of Undying (1985).

Reviews

[E. Malkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was mostly vibing with this but the last story veered a little too close to shoggoth porn for comfort.

i like that there’s a lot of tsathoggua stuff. love that guy

[Joel Hacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I likely never would have picked up Michael Shea, let alone such a nice edition, if Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (at hppodcraft.com) hadn't invited the utterly delightful Patton Oswalt on the show to talk about several of these stories. And my life would have been the poorer for it.
This is a fantastic introduction to Shea's lovecraftian influenced work, for those (like myself) without the resources to pick up the extremely limited run and extremely expensive omnibus of all his work.
I know I frequently break down these collections with at least a little blurb about every or almost every story in the collection. However, I can't do them nearly the justice in terms of enthusiasm or depth of knowledge that Patton does on those episodes of Chris and Chad's podcast, so I'm going to recommend everyone go listen to those for more detailed information (really, just listen to every episode Chris and Chad have done).
There is not a single story that disappoints here, though many are present in several other collections or chapbooks, so completionists may find some repition. Themetically, these are all lovecraftian stories set in San Francisco. S.T. Joshi deserves some credit for selection and order here. Shea's deep knowledge and experience of the city rivals that of Lovecraft's knowledge of the New England states, and really helps these stories come alive with a vibrant, living, time and place. People, not stuff rarified intellectuals, receive similar treatment as entirely believable everymen (and women) who feel like believable portraits appropriate to the setting. More of O. Henry perhaps than Lovecraft in the skillful depictions of this cast of characters.
These definitely have the feel of world building, a 60s-80s weird san francisco perhaps, but don't expect some longterm payoff in terms of an over-arching plot.
There's enough here to please everyone from Lovecraft traditionalists to those looking for a more modern feel to their horror, with a lot of respectful portrayals of groups (sex workers, the homeless, addicts, and the poor) that don't normally receive such humane treatment in fiction.

[Tonk82 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael shea es uno de esos autores que nunca había leido, a pesar de tener relatos suyos en varias antologías. Y llego además tarde, porque falleció en 2014.

No tengo este libro concreto, ni ningún otro. Pero he leido los que parecen ser 4 de sus mas representativos relatos de terror, entre antologías y eBooks de kindle, y este es el que volúmen es el que mas se acerca, creo. Asi que es mas bien una review de los relatos individualmente.

-Fat Face (eBook Amazon): Uno de sus relatos mas celebrados, donde mezcla un decadente entorno urbano de San Francisco con los mitos de Cthulhu. Esta muy bien escrito, pero reconozco que el último tercio de la historia me ha dejado algo frío, no tengo del todo claro si la idea de fondo me acaba de convencer. Los primeros 2/3 (incluyendo una brillante carta) son estupendos. 3.5/5

-The autopsy (eBook The Weird Compendium): Este no tiene que ver con los mitos, y es un relato de terror quizá algo mas convencional, pero tremendamente efectivo. Tiene una gran parte inicial, un buen desarrollo, y todo el último acto es sorprendentemente eficaz con algunos toques bastante macabros. Gran relato. 5/5

-Copping squid (Libro Black wings of Cthulhu I): Si Fat Face (y el siguiente) creo que adolecen bastante de meterse demasiado explícitamente en los Mitos de Cthulhu, Copping Squid encuentra un equilibrio casi perfecto. Es, una vez mas, un ambiente urbano nocturno, que se desarrolla como si fuese un sueño febril, descendiendo a los secretos y cultos mas oscuros de la ciudad. Es muy atípico, y esta escrito en un estilo muy poético. 4.5/5

-Beneath the Beardmore (eBook A mountain Walked): Claro homenaje a En las montañas de la locura... donde em ha gustado la primera mitad, pero creo que cae en picado en la segunda. No me suele gustar cuando los Mitos son tan explícitamente claros, y aqui hay un personaje que se tira páginas completas de Exposición pura contando detalladamente el tema. Bastante decepcionante. 2/5

Si leo algún relado adicional suyo, lo añadiré aqui.

[Sandra M Permanian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my style of writing.

[Andreas Valentin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anden læsning:
Det er ikke ofte, at jeg genlæser bøger - der går i hvert fald, normalt, ret lang tid før det sker. Men jeg blev nødt til at få læst Copping Squid igen, for den har bare noget helt særligt, når det gælder både "moderne" mythos og form.
Novellerne i samlingen hænger sammen, og, og ved anden løsning går det op for mig hvor elegant det er gjort. Karakterer går igen, bliver nævnt eller bevæger sig i periferien af historien på en virkelig fin måde. Det virker hverken tvunget eller unaturligt, men tilføjer vildt meget til hele oplevelsen, og forståelsen af hvad Shea prøver at gøre.
Ved anden læsning er det stadig Tsathoggua og Dagoniad, springer i øjnene først, med deres meget flashy monsterhistorier.
I anden læsning er jeg især på røven over The Presentation, som jeg faktisk havde glemt en smule, selvom jeg også kan se at jeg har fremhævet den i min oprindelige anmeldelse. Den er sindsygt god, og det kosmiske gys er meget velopbygget.
Shea er pissegod.

Første læsning:
Endelig fik jeg den læst. Denne novellesamling har stået øverst på min ønskeliste meget længe, efter anbefaling fra podcaten 'H. P. Podcraft' samt komiker og Mythos-elsker Patton Oswalt.

Samlingen levede op til alle forventningerne. Michael Shea er skiftevis og samtidig både præcis, opfindsom og drømmende i hans sprog. Det er vildt fedt at prøve at læse noget straight-up Cthulhu/Lovecraft-mythos der foregår i en næsten nutidig kontekst, med nutidige karakterer.

Shea beskriver dagligdagssituationer, dog ofte fra mennesker på kanten af samfundets synsvinkel, og udvisker grænsen mellem det mondæne og utrolige når han tilføjer overnaturlige hendelser, gys og direkte splat. Mega forfriskende læsning for en gyser-nørd, og mega mega underholdende.

Højdepunkterne var:
Tsathoggua
Dagoniad
The Presentation
Fat Face

Jeg skal have fat i noget mere af Michael Shea, selvom det desværre er svært at skaffe i Danmark.

[Henrik]

MARCH 31, 2010:
"Tsathoggua":

Review coming.

[Chthe’Ilist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Table of Contents :

- Foreword by S.T. Joshi
- Tsathoggua
- Dagoniad
- Copping Squid
- Nemo Me Impune Lacessir
- The Pool
- The Battery
- The Presentation
- Fat Face