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mattycakesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Probably as good a collection as you're going to get from the Cthulhu mythos. The quality varies wildly, with some of it being truly awesome and creepy -- "The Events at Poroth Farm," pretty much all of the Clark Ashton Smith, and, of course, all of the HP Lovecraft -- while some of it basically reads like mediocre fanfic. The only one I couldn't get through was "Dark Destroyer," which had way too many characters and way too little of interest going on: it read to me like a not-so-great middle issue of a episodic comic book.
A few thoughts, though:
First, what was surprising to me was how much Lovecraft's race anxiety pervades throughout the entire Cthulhu Mythos, even in pieces that weren't written by him. The man was a towering racist, but you'd expect that the dozens of people who have built on his universe in the decades since he died to not spend as much time as he did on "mongrel races" and weird comments about degenerates. I still enjoy the writing and the universe, but I was surprised at how frequently I had to be like, "really? Do we have to have another evil inbred character in these stories?"
Second: the stuff that was infinitely better was the stuff that ended in a bleak, "and now I descend into insanity" type way. I really wasn't a fan of the couple of stories that were written in a more "Conan the Barbarian" type style -- I'm thinking specifically of the Robert Howard story and "The Spawn of Dagon," -- gladiators and machismo just don't have any place in what's supposed to be a universe where the humans who come into the contact with its reality end in gibbering terror.
Third: "Dagon and Jill" was hilarious, and was the perfect way to end this book.
And finally: where in god's name are all the women? There are very few women in these stories, and they are virtually all damsel's in distress or peripheral passersby.
A few thoughts, though:
First, what was surprising to me was how much Lovecraft's race anxiety pervades throughout the entire Cthulhu Mythos, even in pieces that weren't written by him. The man was a towering racist, but you'd expect that the dozens of people who have built on his universe in the decades since he died to not spend as much time as he did on "mongrel races" and weird comments about degenerates. I still enjoy the writing and the universe, but I was surprised at how frequently I had to be like, "really? Do we have to have another evil inbred character in these stories?"
Second: the stuff that was infinitely better was the stuff that ended in a bleak, "and now I descend into insanity" type way. I really wasn't a fan of the couple of stories that were written in a more "Conan the Barbarian" type style -- I'm thinking specifically of the Robert Howard story and "The Spawn of Dagon," -- gladiators and machismo just don't have any place in what's supposed to be a universe where the humans who come into the contact with its reality end in gibbering terror.
Third: "Dagon and Jill" was hilarious, and was the perfect way to end this book.
And finally: where in god's name are all the women? There are very few women in these stories, and they are virtually all damsel's in distress or peripheral passersby.
mike_brough's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent and diverse collection - well, as diverse as an HPL-inspired collection can be.
If you like Lovecraft, you'll like most of these stories. I've spent so long reading them (about 7 years since I bought it!) that I can't recall which stories I liked best but, of the recently read tales, Ghoulmaster and The Dark Boatman stand out.
If you like Lovecraft, you'll like most of these stories. I've spent so long reading them (about 7 years since I bought it!) that I can't recall which stories I liked best but, of the recently read tales, Ghoulmaster and The Dark Boatman stand out.
jonmhansen's review
4.0
It's a good collection, with classics and originals. My favorite of the lot was "Ghoulmaster," by Brian McNaughton. There's a sort of vague sorting by theme, each anchored by a classic Lovecraft story, but it's not an absolutely formal arrangement. I've actually read so much Cthulhu mythos stories, I've had to start tracking anthology TOCs to make sure I'm not hitting too many duplicates. </sadbrag> This one, I had read almost half the stories before. But the the price certainly hit my sweet spot, and I bet it will for you too.
erichart's review
4.0
An excellent selection of Lovecraftian tales. The sheer size could lead one to think this could be one of those carelessly put together cheap ebooks. But there's actually a thematic unity to stories that riff off of Lovecraft's themes and creations, such as some really interesting variations on The Shadows Over Innsmouth, with the originals provided for comparison.
dark_reader's review
5.0
Excellent collection which you can probably get at a great price. This is an excellent introduction to the Cthulhu myths for the curious but uninitiated, but even a seasoned fan will find much delight in the stories from this massive collection. Contains all of the foundational Lovecraft stories (Call of Cthulhu, Shadow over Innsmouth, At the Mountains of Madness, the Dunwich Horror and many more) along with many stories from the 'Lovecraft circle' contemporaries like Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard and a lot of modern stories as well. I don't think there is a dud in the bunch, though you will enjoy some stories more than others, naturally. Many of my favorites were placed late in the book, so please keep reading, Of course, you could jump around, grouping stories by author, chronologically or however else you choose. Personally, I have read much Lovecraft and some collections of modern tales based in the mythos, but had not encountered stories from his contemporaries, and later authors such as T. E.D. Klein, though I have heard much about them. Imagine my joy at having these all assembled in one mighty tome! I became especially excited to read Robert Howard's tales. My favorite stories in the end included Ghoulmaster, The Doom that came to Innsmouth, the Dark Boatman, and the terrifyingly understated Events at Poroth Farm. Unless you have been scouring the earth for years collecting all of the mythos stories you could find, you are sure to find something new and delicious in this collection of top-notch tales of terror.
gitzlaff's review
2.0
Contains a few excellent stories by HP Lovecraft himself (albeit stories which are available in many other volumes) and a lot of other nonsense that felt like second rate fanfic-level writing. They kept putting me (literally) to sleep while reading in bed. I got about 1/3 of the way through the volume and eventually got turned off irrevocably by a rape fantasy piece that doesn’t feel remotely of the same tone as HPL’s original material. I’ll give the book 2 stars because of the HPL stories, but the rest has completely put me off the idea of reading any other “mythos” material from here on out.
besha's review
2.0
My three favorite Lovecraft mythos stories are Elizabeth Bear's "Shoggoths in Bloom," Ruthanna Emrys's "The Litany of Earth," and Caitlín Kiernan's "Pickman's Other Model."
None are in this collection. Nor are any other women writers. Nor any real interrogation of the deeper (and nastier) themes of Lovecraft's work.
I was, however, glad to reread "The Events at Poroth Farm."
None are in this collection. Nor are any other women writers. Nor any real interrogation of the deeper (and nastier) themes of Lovecraft's work.
I was, however, glad to reread "The Events at Poroth Farm."
jessyhere's review
5.0
A very good mix of Lovecraftian stories. There was a lot of variety, from classic to modern, and from horror to humor. The only downside to this collection was that as a Lovecraft fan, I have read many of these stories elsewhere. But if you are new to Lovecraft, or don't mind rereading or skipping stories, this is an excellent collection, well worth the price.
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