Cthulhu 2000
by Various
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Book Reviews of Cthulhu 2000
Book Review: Lovecraftian Horror At Its Finest, NOT Cthulhu Mythos
Summary: 5 Stars
Jim Turner had a queer relationship with the sub-genre that is known as the Cthulhu Mythos -- and this book is an excellent example of that. Indeed, this is not an anthology of Cthulhu Mythos tales at all, but rather a book of Lovecraftian horror. As such, it is superb. Why he called the book by its stupid title I have no idea, unless he thought it would sell more briskly by having that magick name in its title. Some of the stories are weak and dull, such as "Pickman's Modem" and the absurd "Love's Eldritch Ichor" (which, rather than paying homage to Lovecraft seem more intent on making fun of him). But the book contains some masterpieces of weird fiction. My favourite tale is "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" by Poppy Z. Brite. It is an authentic homage to HPL (thus the narrator's name is Howard), and it is Brite's re-vision of Lovecraft's decadent tale, "The Hound." In updating Lovecraft's story, Brite has gone beyond him in detailing the debauchery of her two horror-hunting males; but the atmosphere is Gothic in a truly Lovecraftian way, and it is deliciously tainted by Brite's personal experience in the Goth scene. It's brilliant, that wee tale. The anthology also includes my favourite tale by the fantastic Thomas Ligotti, his "The Last Feast of Harlequin." Again, like Brite's tale, this story has absolutely nothing to do with the Cthulhu Mythos -- rather, it evokes the spirit of HPL in a story and a style that is uniquely its own. Ligotti is as much a modern master of the genre as Lovecraft was, and in fact he may be superior to Lovecraft in every way. One story that may indeed be classified as Cthulhu Mythos is T. E. D. Klein's "Black Man with a Horn," and it shews what can be done with the Mythos in the hand of a writer who has a unique imagination and a gift for fine writing. Michael Shea has brought the Mythos completely into our modern age, and his newest book as I write, COPPING SQUID (Perilous Press 2009, edited and with an introduction by S. T. Joshi) is one of the finest collections of intensely modern Mythos fiction. His tale herein, "Fat Face," is a classic of its kind, a brilliant play on Lovecraft's concept of the shoggoth. This anthology, combined with Jim's final such anthology, ETERNAL LOVECRAFT, showcase excellent modern fiction that is authentic tribute to the eternal genius of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Esq.
Contents of the book:
Introduction by Jim Turner
The Barrens by F. Paul Wilson
Pickman's Modem by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Shaft Number 247 by Basil Copper
His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite
The Adder by Fred Chappell (a brilliant story!)
Fat Face by Michael Shea
The Big Fish by Kim Newman
"I Had Vacantly Crumpled It into My Pocket...But by God, Eliot, IT WAS A PHOTOGRAPH FROM LIFE!" by Joanna Russ
H.P.L. by Gahan Wilson
The Unthinkable by Bruce Sterling
Black Man with a Horn by T. E. D. Klein
Love's Eldritch Ichor by Esther M. Friesner
The Last Feast of Harlequin by Thomas Ligotti
The Shadow on the Doorstep by James P. Blaylock
Lord of the Land by Gene Wolf (excellent!)
The Faces at Pine Dunes by Ramsey Campbell (an eerie tale by a Master of modern horror)
On the Slab by Harlan Ellison
24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai by Roger Zelanzny
Book Review: A Lot of Talent Between two covers
Summary: 4 Stars
The trouble with most Cthulhu collections (meaning Lovecraft pastiche) is that the authors don't really know what they're imitating. Usually you see an invocation of the Necronomicon, some chanting (in italics! Ia!), and the summoning of some unpronounceable god. This at least approaches the game that HPL and his friends played, to make an ancient tome and monster and then to share them in a common literary world. To recycle what already has been done, though, takes out the spirit of fun and creativity that was the point of the game to begin with. Some of the humorous pieces in the genre, like "It's Only the End of the World, Again" can at least tap into that spirit of conviviality. Typical Lovecraft pastiche can almost be done by Mad Lib.
It's even harder to get at the real spirit of what Lovecraft was writing about. Most folks think it's about horror; Lovecraft, himself, said that was not what his stories were about. In a letter, he said that he tried to evoke a sense of wonder and awe about the universe. And since he didn't believe in anything but cold nature, he felt that man's proper response to wonder and awe is fear and horror. Think about it.
Fortunately, CTHULHU 2000 is not bad pastiche or shallow horror (mostly). There are some gag stories that fall flat, and some that try to redo a Lovecraft story in the modern day and lose all that made it worth remembering. And I'll even admit that the offering from Zelazny was over my head. But there is some astonishingly good writing here, like "The Barrens", or "The Last Feast of Harlequin", or "The Faces at Pine Dunes". A lot of that quality is that the writers are already accomplished authors, but the excellence comes from telling an authentic story, without trying to copy a style. There's a sense of awe and wonder at discovering something bigger and deeper and more ancient than we can imagine, and being changed by that. And that's how you find Cthulhu at the end.
Contents:
"The Barrens" F. Paul Wilson
"Pickman's Modem" Lawrence Watt-Evans
"Shaft Number 247" Basil Copper
"His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" Poppy Z Brite
"The Adder" Fred Chappell
"Fat Face" Michael Shea
"The Big Fish" Kim Newman
"I had Vacantly Crumpled It into My Pocket..." Joanna Russ
"H.P.L." Gahan Wilson
"The Unthinkable" Bruce Sterling
"Black Man With a Horn" T.E.D. Klein
"Love's Eldritch Ichor" Esther M. Friesner
"The Last Feast of Harlequin" Thomas Ligotti
"The Shadow on the Doorstep" James P. Blaylock
"Lord of the Land" Gene Wolfe
"The Faces at Pine Dunes" Ramsey Campbell
"On the Slab" Harlan Ellison
"24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" Roger Zelazny
Book Review: Don't judge this book by its cover...
Summary: 3 Stars
Okay, let me tell you something right off the bat. This is a pretty well put together book. Even the stories that I didn't like as much held my interest.Why did I only give it three stars? The editor is willing to do this book a disservice, by giving it a cover that tries way to hard and assumes we're gullible and stupid. Why should I reward that type of behavior?
Lets look at the cover, what do we see? Well, the first thing your eye is drawn to is the large, bright white text that says "H.P. LOVECRAFT", a quarter inch taller then the more subdued green title, drowning out the fine print like "A spine tingling collection of the macabre inspired by".
Some of the stories in this book are about as "inspired by" as the Evil Dead trilogy. The only thing in them that is inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos was the name for the evil book that people are foolish enough to read out loud from. (In fact, from what I've read, Sam Raimi hardly knows/remembers who Lovecraft is or what he wrote...If Sam remembers that HPL wrote anything at all.) Does that make them bad movies? No! Does the fact that the connection is tenuous at best mean that if you like old school mythos you won't like these movies? Heck no!
This is a collection, each of the 18 stories is by a different writer, do not expect consistency in the level of Lovecraftianess. (If it wasn't a word before, it is now.)
Some of them make a valiant effort to write in the style and voice of the original Mythos writers. ("The Last Feast of Harlequin" and "I had vacantly crumpled it into my pocket...")
Some try to bring the old school into the present day.
("The Barrens")
Some gather it all up and take it out to left field where they start lobbing bits at you, trying to bean you in the head.
("Love's Eldritch Ichor")
Some take a few things and place them within a different genre to give it something of a new spin.
("The Big Fish")
And others will leave you wondering if perhaps you haven't picked up a White Wolf fiction novel by mistake.
("His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood")
I'm not saying to raise your expectations.
I'm not saying to lower your expectations.
I'm telling you to chuck your expectations out the window and nail the bugger shut so it can't slither back in.
You'll be glad you did.
Book Review: This is not Cthulhu
Summary: 3 Stars
Judging by the amount of negative feedback I received about my first review of Cthulhu 2000 in such a short period of time (please, e-mail with suggestons rather than press that button), that particular review was not particularly helpful. Sigh. Therefore I would like to clarify myself:First of all, this is not Cthulhu. It lacks the rich Lovecraftian vocabulary (the only few words the authors picked up from Lovecraft's writing seem to be "eldritch" and "foetor") that allowed the original Cthulhu books to become such dark, sophisticated masterpieces. Second of all, few of the stories in this volume actually tie in with the Cthulhu mythos. Yes, there is plenty of voodoo, witchcraft, and forbidden magics, but it rarely goes beyond that to tap into the mysteries of the Elder Gods and the Ones Who Fell from the Stars. And that is quite sad, because the topics that these authors do use have long since become hackneyed and cliche. Thirdly, and most important of all, the stories in Cthulhu 2000 all diverge from Lovecraftian ideology to become standard blood/ichor/sex-filled stuff of modern "horror". Whereas Lovecraft above all desired to let humankind take notice that there are secrets innumerable and forces unfathomable beyond the stars, Cthulhu 2000 is simple horror, easily classifiable and as easily forgotten.
Book Review: Ever Hear Tell of a ~Shoggoth~?
Summary: 4 Stars
I highly recommend this collection to all fans of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. This is quality stuff -- some of the best Mythos stories I've ever read, and I've read many.I have not yet read all of the stories in this collection, but standouts thus far are "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood," "Fat Face," "Black Man with a Horn," and "The Barrens." The latter tale has the nice feature of adding the New Jersey pine barrens and the Jersey Devil to the Cthulhu Mythos! This is a welcome bit of local color for Philadelphians like me, who have driven through the pine barrens year after year on the way to the South Jersey shore points. Now you don't have to go to New England to be in Cthulhu country! "Fat Face" has a ~very~ frightening look at what the ~shoggoths~ have been up to lately.
The book includes some stories I'd read before in other collections, like "Black Man With a Horn," and "Shaft Number 247," but since they are excellent tales it is nice to have them all together.
This book would make excellent beach reading for the Jersey shore... but you may not want to drive through the pine barrens on your way back.