The New Lovecraft Circle
by Robert M. Price
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert M. PriceEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03-30
ISBN: 034544406X
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of The New Lovecraft Circle
Book Review: Excellent Tales for the Cthulhu Mythos Afficionado
Summary: 5 Stars
My relationship with the Cthulhu Mythos has been on-going for many decades. There was a time I no longer wanted to de identify'd as a Mythos writer, and (as Bob Price mentions in his introduction to this book) when I was editing TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN HORROR my editorial policy was that my magazine would contain no Mythos stories of any kind -- I wanted tales of pure Lovecraftian horror. I was being a boorish snob, and it is thanks to the really cool books of Mythos fiction edited by Bob Price that I outgrew this tiresome prejudice. I now call myself "a professional Cthulhu Mythos writer" at every opportunity, and I define my books as collections of Mythos tales. THE NEW LOVECRAFT CIRCLE is one of the collections that helped me to find a new fondness for the Mythos genre.
The original Lovecraft Circle were those friends and correspondents of Lovecraft's who fell under the spell of his fiction and wrote their own stories influenced by it. The finest representation of the Lovecraft Circle and HPL's influence on them is TALES OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS, edited by August Derleth. There was, in Lovecraft's day, a sense of fun, almost of play, when it came to writing tales influenced by Lovecraft. Even Lovecraft seems far more playful than serious in his revision story, "The Horror in the Museum." I am usually violently turned-off when writers approach the Mythos as little more than an amusement, a jest. One writer who can convey that sense of playful humor and yet write a dead cool Mythos story is Peter H. Cannon, and his tale herein is a wonderful celebration of Lovecraftian madness.
I find it difficult to understand why someone would find this anthology "hugely disappointing," there are so many delightful and very good stories in this book. The complete contents are:
Preface, by Ramsey Campbell
Introduction, by Robert M. Price
"The Plain of Sound", by Ramsey Campbell
"The Stone on the Island," by Ramsey Campbell
"The Statement of One John Gibson," by Brian Lumley
"Demoniacal," by David Sutton
"The Kiss of Bugg-Shash," by Brian Lumley
"The Slitherer from the Slime." by H. P. Lowcraft
"The Doom of Yakthoob," by Lin Carter
"The Fishers from Outside," by Lin Carter
"The Keeper of the Flame," by Gary Myers
"Dead Giveaway," by J. Vernon Shea [who was also a member of the original Lovecraft Circle & a pen pal of HPL's!]
"Those Who Wait," by James Wade
"The Keeper of Dark Point," by John Glasby
"The Black Mirror," by John Glasby
"I've Come to Talk with You Again," by Karl Edward Wagner
"The Howler in the Dark," by Richard L. Tierney
"The Horror on the Beach," by Alan Dean Foster
"The Whisperers," by Richard A. Lupoff
"Lights! Camera! Shub-Niggurath!," by Richard A. Lupoff
"Saucers from Yaddith," by Robert M. Price
"Vastarien," by Thomas Ligotti
"The Madness out of Space," by Peter H. Cannon
"Aliah Warden," by Roger Johnson
"The Last Supper," by Donald R. Burleson
"The Church at Garlock's Bend," by David Kaufman
""The Spheres Beyond Sound (Threnody)", by Mark Rainey.
That's a LOT of Lovecraftian lore! Some of the tales are, admittedly, extremely minor and not very good, others are masterpieces of the weird tale. Mark Rainey's story is as much a masterpiece as is Ligotti's. This is a great book of fiction, some of it remarkably original in its approach to the Lovecraftian tale, others totally Cthulhu Mythos to the max. It's a great read, and an inspiration to those of us who strive to write our own Mythos fiction.
Summary of The New Lovecraft Circle
H. P. Lovecraft was the eerily prescient genius who first electrified readers in Weird Tales magazine. His tales changed the face of horror forever and inspired the bloodcurdling offerings of a new generation. These brilliant dark visionaries forge grisly trails through previously uncharted realms of mortal terror.THE PLAIN OF SOUND by Ramsey Campbell: In the beginning they could find no source for the throbbing vibrations; in the end they could find no escape.
THE HORROR ON THE BEACH by Alan Dean Foster: Along the coast of Santa Barbara, the mighty Pacific Ocean can no longer contain?or conceal?an ancient, insatiable evil stirring in its depths.
THE KISS OF BUGG-SHASH by Brian Lumley: It mattered not how innocent the students? motives seemed; the demon had been summoned, and the price had to be paid?every last red drop of it.
THE FISHERS FROM OUTSIDE by Lin Carter: A man obsessed with unlocking the secrets of a race older than time would not be disappointed? doomed perhaps, devoured possibly, but definitely not disappointed.
AND TWENTY-ONE MORE TALES OF FEAR
Price invokes Susan Sontag on camp, and Jacques Derrida on writing, to support his incisive view of what works and what doesn't work in contemporary Lovecraftian fiction.
The basic idea of a Mythos tale . . . is an interior skeleton like a mammal's, a frame on which to grow . . . It forms the baseline against which the new variations may be measured. It is not a denial of flexibility; it is something to be flexible with.Preface by Ramsey Campbell, fascinating introduction by Price, beautiful cover art by Gahan Wilson, and 26 tales by Campbell, Lumley, Sutton, Wagner, Tierney, Lupoff, Ligotti, Burleson, Rainey and others. No overlap with previous anthologies.
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