Scan barcode
otterno11's review
3.0
In the anthology Children of Lovecraft, a variety of prominent sci-fi and fantasy authors write original short stories reflecting on Lovecraft’s influence in their own genres, to mixed results.
In her introduction the collection, editor Ellen Datlow writes that these stories are inspired by the themes and philosophies of Lovecraft’s fiction, though not his style or mythology, offering tales with a cosmic scope in the weird horror tradition, rather than pastiches of the Cthulhu Mythos that has become his most well known addition to pulp culture. The jaunty and slightly cheeky cover by comic artist Mike Mignola matches the mood of this collection of contemporary takes on Lovecraft’s vision of horror literature.
For the most part, the stories are engrossing and take on their influences in unique and contemporary ways. However, Datlow’s description is only somewhat accurate and, like other anthologies of Lovecraftian fiction, a good number of these stories are explicit pastiches of Lovecraft stories and drop in references to his mythology while others seem to have just an ephemeral connection to the theme at best. It is interesting how the stories included compare and contrast to another similar anthology from more than a decade before, [b: Children of Cthulhu|669460|The Children of Cthulhu Chilling New Tales Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft|John Pelan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1176953615l/669460._SX50_.jpg|655500], which is explicitly a contemporary “Cthulhu Mythos” collection.
I discuss this and other books focusing on the current relevance of H.P. Lovecraft at Harris' Tome Corner, The Lurking Fear.
In her introduction the collection, editor Ellen Datlow writes that these stories are inspired by the themes and philosophies of Lovecraft’s fiction, though not his style or mythology, offering tales with a cosmic scope in the weird horror tradition, rather than pastiches of the Cthulhu Mythos that has become his most well known addition to pulp culture. The jaunty and slightly cheeky cover by comic artist Mike Mignola matches the mood of this collection of contemporary takes on Lovecraft’s vision of horror literature.
For the most part, the stories are engrossing and take on their influences in unique and contemporary ways. However, Datlow’s description is only somewhat accurate and, like other anthologies of Lovecraftian fiction, a good number of these stories are explicit pastiches of Lovecraft stories and drop in references to his mythology while others seem to have just an ephemeral connection to the theme at best. It is interesting how the stories included compare and contrast to another similar anthology from more than a decade before, [b: Children of Cthulhu|669460|The Children of Cthulhu Chilling New Tales Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft|John Pelan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1176953615l/669460._SX50_.jpg|655500], which is explicitly a contemporary “Cthulhu Mythos” collection.
I discuss this and other books focusing on the current relevance of H.P. Lovecraft at Harris' Tome Corner, The Lurking Fear.
More...