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groovyjenni's review
4.0
As someone who has never been immersed in the horror genre, this book captivated me. There was a wide array of all sorts of tales, and not all of them were the type of horror that many people think of today. It's got this good creep factor that at the end of each story makes you shiver and your skin crawl. If you're looming for a good read to keep you up at night, check out the tales in this book and you won't be disappointed. I took a class on horror fiction, as I am wanting to attempt to write horror, and this was one of our assigned books. I'll admit, I usually skip around with some literature but this is a book that I wanted to read for class. A must read for horror fans!
sofijakryz's review against another edition
Downgraded from 3 to 2 stars as I read another book and realised it I liked it way more than this one despite the stars.
Gave up 2/3 way into the book. There is something about Lovecraft and his followers for sure. Isolation, unknown forces, ancient artefacts, mysterious cults. And it has effect. Just like the knowledge that Apocrypha or Hermeus Mora from TES: Skyrim absolutely follows the lovecraftian tradition. Or RDR2, for that matter. Lovecraft and his followers inspired so many Hollywood tropes, too. Knowing the base for cultural references and Easter eggs in so many stories I love is great. But...
But I did find this book boring. Hellishly so. First of all, it's so repetitive. Me, a young stupid man went to see me friend/mentor/boss/father figure who happens to be a writer/curiosity collector/lecturer/wannabe magician. Weird things happen or we trigger them to happen. Or we find an artefact and fuck around with it because someone told not to. And then shit happens because it has to happen.
Tbf, the more interesting ones were not the Lovecraft's original stories but derivatives by his followers, e.g. "The Black Stone" by Conan the barbarian's author and another I forgot the title but it had brain suckers, action and explosions. The former was atmospheric and the latter - different. The rest were ok - masterful at imitation and following Lovecraft's canon, but too repetitive for my liking. If you read one, you read the rest.
Secondly - they could not resist a nasty habbit inherited from the 19th century writers. Just because you write and repeat that something is eerie or awful, or horrible, it doesn't make it eerie or awful, or horrible.
Me no like.
Thirdly - I did not like the circle jerking. I understand nods to the original, but to keep refering to Lovecraft and his geniality/whatever in every story, very directly (along the lines of "a character was reading Lovecraft, that genial hermit,BS, BS, BS) is a bit much even if you write fan art.
Fourthly - I heard Lovecraft was racist but when you literally read about some ethnicities being called mongrels, it is repulsive. Even if you adjust for times, cultural practices and eugenics. In honour of Lovecraft's followers, most tried to avoid it. Some more successfully, others - less.
So all in all - yes, cultural impact but, honestly, I did not enjoy this. Maybe will touch some Lovecraft in future for the sake of education but atm not inclined to do so.
Gave up 2/3 way into the book. There is something about Lovecraft and his followers for sure. Isolation, unknown forces, ancient artefacts, mysterious cults. And it has effect. Just like the knowledge that Apocrypha or Hermeus Mora from TES: Skyrim absolutely follows the lovecraftian tradition. Or RDR2, for that matter. Lovecraft and his followers inspired so many Hollywood tropes, too. Knowing the base for cultural references and Easter eggs in so many stories I love is great. But...
But I did find this book boring. Hellishly so. First of all, it's so repetitive. Me, a young stupid man went to see me friend/mentor/boss/father figure who happens to be a writer/curiosity collector/lecturer/wannabe magician. Weird things happen or we trigger them to happen. Or we find an artefact and fuck around with it because someone told not to. And then shit happens because it has to happen.
Tbf, the more interesting ones were not the Lovecraft's original stories but derivatives by his followers, e.g. "The Black Stone" by Conan the barbarian's author and another I forgot the title but it had brain suckers, action and explosions. The former was atmospheric and the latter - different. The rest were ok - masterful at imitation and following Lovecraft's canon, but too repetitive for my liking. If you read one, you read the rest.
Secondly - they could not resist a nasty habbit inherited from the 19th century writers. Just because you write and repeat that something is eerie or awful, or horrible, it doesn't make it eerie or awful, or horrible.
Me no like.
Thirdly - I did not like the circle jerking. I understand nods to the original, but to keep refering to Lovecraft and his geniality/whatever in every story, very directly (along the lines of "a character was reading Lovecraft, that genial hermit,BS, BS, BS) is a bit much even if you write fan art.
Fourthly - I heard Lovecraft was racist but when you literally read about some ethnicities being called mongrels, it is repulsive. Even if you adjust for times, cultural practices and eugenics. In honour of Lovecraft's followers, most tried to avoid it. Some more successfully, others - less.
So all in all - yes, cultural impact but, honestly, I did not enjoy this. Maybe will touch some Lovecraft in future for the sake of education but atm not inclined to do so.
danielv64's review
5.0
True Horror written by a man with a dark soul for the multitudes that enjoy a good chill down their spine. Beautiful prose unlike anything written today.
chmccann's review
4.0
This is a great anthology for anyone interested in both some damn fine entertainment and the historical development of Lovecraftian fiction. It kicks off with the famous "The Call of Cthulhu" by the man himself, and wends its way through Lovecraft collaborators and contemporaries, all the way to modern authors like Stephen King and Brian Lumley, finishing off with a hyper-futuristic tale, "Discovery of the Ghooric Zone."
Favorites for me were:
"Notebook Found in a Deserted House," by Robert Bloch
"The Salem Horror," by Henry Kuttner
"Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner
"Jerusalem's Lot," by Stephen King
Also of note:
"The Black Stone" shows how hard-core eldritch Robert E. Howard could be. He's known for Conan the Barbarian, but he was part of the Lovecraft Circle, and this story shows that he was inclined to handle some implications of Lovecraft's cults in a much less oblique and squeamish way. One moment is truly not for the faint of heart.
"My Boat," by Joanna Russ. This was Lovecraftian, but not really part of the Mythos - it instead links to the dream cycle stories. This made me seek out more of Russ's work. I really enjoyed the way she melded magical realism and frank social commentary, all in a humorous-but-poignant frame tale.
"Discovery of the Ghooric Zone," by Richard A. Lupoff. What did I just read? I don't think this was terribly good, but it had the charm of being very original. It was a nice balance to start the collection with the classic 1920s search through scholarly papers, and end here, a thousand years in the future and voyaging beyond the orbit of Pluto.
Favorites for me were:
"Notebook Found in a Deserted House," by Robert Bloch
"The Salem Horror," by Henry Kuttner
"Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner
"Jerusalem's Lot," by Stephen King
Also of note:
"The Black Stone" shows how hard-core eldritch Robert E. Howard could be. He's known for Conan the Barbarian, but he was part of the Lovecraft Circle, and this story shows that he was inclined to handle some implications of Lovecraft's cults in a much less oblique and squeamish way. One moment is truly not for the faint of heart.
"My Boat," by Joanna Russ. This was Lovecraftian, but not really part of the Mythos - it instead links to the dream cycle stories. This made me seek out more of Russ's work. I really enjoyed the way she melded magical realism and frank social commentary, all in a humorous-but-poignant frame tale.
"Discovery of the Ghooric Zone," by Richard A. Lupoff. What did I just read? I don't think this was terribly good, but it had the charm of being very original. It was a nice balance to start the collection with the classic 1920s search through scholarly papers, and end here, a thousand years in the future and voyaging beyond the orbit of Pluto.
erichart's review against another edition
5.0
A collection of great stories influenced by Lovecraft, from contemporaries to later authors inspired by him.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
5.0
Jim Turner's revision of the classic Cthulhu Mythos anthology shows significant improvements over the earlier version of the collection as edited by August Derleth: some stories Derleth had included which were decidedly substandard are trimmed, and the additional stories are excellent, showing just how imaginative the shared cosmos can get whilst staying true to its horror roots.
Making sure to include at least one story written by a woman is also improvement over the original configuration, which took a "no girls allowed" approach.
Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/tales-of-the-cthulhu-mythos-and-its-imitators-part-1/
Making sure to include at least one story written by a woman is also improvement over the original configuration, which took a "no girls allowed" approach.
Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/tales-of-the-cthulhu-mythos-and-its-imitators-part-1/
onceandfuturelaura's review
3.0
Took me weeks to finish this book. And I really wanted to read it. Cthulhu is fundamental, and every time I read Call of Cthulhu I want to read Terry Pratchett's Jingo. And I think about Buffy. And Hellboy. And Ozzy. And Girl Genius. And Sandman. And Merciful Fate. And Darkover. And The Eternals. And Metallica. [And I could go on]. But all of the overt and unconscious racism and sexism makes it tough going.
There’s a lot of good writing here. Not just Lovecraft, but Fritz Leiber! Stephen King! Joanna Russ!
But reading this excellent compilation makes me realize that unmitigated horror just doesn’t hold my attention. Yeah yeah eldritch, yeah yeah mucous. Yeah yeah, seminal texts of my genre. But horror unmitigated by humor and/or radical feminist agenda just doesn’t hold my attention. HPL put his thumb on the terror that lurks just past what we can see. But it’s the terrors I can see that worry me. Hail unknown! There might be Vulcans.
There’s a lot of good writing here. Not just Lovecraft, but Fritz Leiber! Stephen King! Joanna Russ!
But reading this excellent compilation makes me realize that unmitigated horror just doesn’t hold my attention. Yeah yeah eldritch, yeah yeah mucous. Yeah yeah, seminal texts of my genre. But horror unmitigated by humor and/or radical feminist agenda just doesn’t hold my attention. HPL put his thumb on the terror that lurks just past what we can see. But it’s the terrors I can see that worry me. Hail unknown! There might be Vulcans.
rssulliv's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
jk0323's review
5.0
Finally! I have completed the entirety of the mythos, a huge breadth of work comprising 8 short stories and four novellas. Loved it. His writing definitely improved in his later years.
I think a couple more King books, Frankenstein, and Dracula, +/- haunting of hill house, should round out this horror tour quite nicely.
I think a couple more King books, Frankenstein, and Dracula, +/- haunting of hill house, should round out this horror tour quite nicely.