The Children of Cthulhu
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Book Summary Information
Editor: John PelanEditor: Benjamin Adams
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-04-29
ISBN: 0345441087
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of The Children of Cthulhu
Book Review: A Mixed Bag- Some Gems, some still Rough
Summary: 4 Stars
It's nice to pay homage to Lovecraft. Given his contribution to the horror genre, such consideration is well deserved. Lovecraft's approach to the supernatural, his contribution to what has become called the Cthulhu Mythos and his embrace of the weird has enhanced our collection of horror. So it's nice that people pay him the honor he merits as what many consider second only to Poe in macabre fiction.
There's a lot that can be done with Lovecraft offers. People turning into hybrid amphibian creatures, the opening of dimensional doors to strange vistas, self-destructive ennui, the nature of dreams and lost civilizations, one's own sense of alientation and dread, and perhaps most of all the existential idea that our religions are false and that the real Gods either don't like us, or don't care and our fate is to be little more than food. That's a lot to work with. The Children of Cthulhu tries to work with all of it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
Too much homage is not a good thing. As a collection of work dedicated or based on Lovecraft's Mythos this has some real fine stories. But it also suffers some fairly weak ones which is unfortunate. This could have been a finer volume of fiction than was finally published. It suffers for falling short of it's possibilities.
The first three stories are quite good. Details, by Mieville gets the collection off to a good start. I believe this is also available in his collection 'Looking for Jake'. Visitation, is also a fine story and I liked the historical fiction in The Invisible Empire.
Other enjoyable stories?
Foster's A Fatal Exception has Occurred, Dorr's Dark Side of the Moon. Patterson's Principles and Parameters suggest some modern horrors on the edge of science and academic exploration. Hodge's The Firebrand Symphony returns us to the idea that the arts can touch the horror within us in ways that philosophy and science cannot, and is perhaps the best story of the collection. Cardin's teeth reminds of the dangers of too much philosophy, that the monsters we seek may turn against us.
I found Kiernan's Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea to be spooky and enjoyable, invoking for me the dread of a haunted house. Ochse's Spectacle of a Man brought back good old urban dread. Chadbourn's Sour Places reminds us that there are places in decay that might be subject to more primal forces.
But many of the other stories just don't work as well as they could. Many stories are either weak in chills, low on atmosphere or seem to be trying to hard to be modern Lovecraft. This suggests that a bit more edit, better selection and polishing might have made this a better collection. Laymon's and Brite's contributions are just not that remarkable, which is true of others. It's hard to identify where the problem is. Pelan and Adams write a nice introductory essay to the volume and perhaps it's just difficult to appeal to every taste in a collected volume.
So expect a few gems along with a few rocks.
Summary of The Children of Cthulhu
Descend to the depths of primal horror with this chilling collection of original stories drawn from H. P. Lovecraft?s shocking, terrifying, and eerily prescient Cthulhu Mythos. In twenty-one dark visions, a host of outstanding contemporary writers tap into our innermost fears, with tales set in a misbegotten new world that could have been spawned only by the master of the macabre himself, H. P. Lovecraft. Inside you?ll find:DETAILS by China Miéville: A curious boy discovers that within the splinters of cracked wood or the tangle of tree branches, the devil is in the details.
VISITATION by James Robert Smith: When Edgar Allan Poe arrives, a callow man finally gets what he always wanted?and what he may eternally despise.
MEET ME ON THE OTHER SIDE by Yvonne Navarro: A couple in love with terror travels beyond their wildest dreams?and into their nightmares.
A FATAL EXCEPTION HAS OCCURRED AT . . . by Alan Dean Foster: Internet terrorism extends far beyond transmitting threats of evil.
AND SEVENTEEN MORE HARROWING TALES
While H.P. Lovecraft himself encouraged other authors to expand his horrific universe with stories of their own, the Cthulhu mythos has spawned so many slavish imitators that it tends not to seem so scary these days. Editors John Pelan and Benjamin Adams seek to remedy that with The Children of Cthulhu, an anthology of 21 stories by modern macabre masters. Contributors were asked to avoid trotting out old Lovecraftian clichés and instead to write stories that bring the true horror of Cthulhu right into the modern world. The results are mostly terrific. Offerings from Poppy Z. Brite ("Are You Loathsome Tonight?"), Caitlín R. Kiernan ("Nor the Demons Down Under the Sea"), China Miéville ("Details"), and L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims ("A Victorian Pot Dresser") are the best of the bunch. Many of the stories are reminiscent of the Vertigo line of DC Comics, with dark, urban settings and gross-out violence, so the book is more likely to appeal to readers of contemporary horror than to fans of classic Lovecraft. --Therese Littleton
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