Salomé Jones

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Cthulhu Lies Dreaming
Series: Cthulhu Anthology #2
Editor: Salome Jones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Cosmic Horror
Pages: 389
Words: 134.5K

Synopsis:

Table of Contents

Foreword: Cthulhu, Lies, Dreaming by Kenneth Hite

Nikukinchaku by Matthew J. Hockey

Babatunde by Ayobami Leeman Kessler

The Myth of Proof by Greg Stolze

Service by Lynnea Glasser

The Star that is Not a Star (The Statement of Natasha Klein, April 1996) by Lucy Brady

August Lokken by Yma Johnson

Wake My Lord by M. S. Swift

Puddles by Thord D. Hedengren

Sometimes, the Void Stares Back by Marc Reichardt

Beyond the Shore by Lynne Hardy

Bleak Mathematics by Brian Fatah Steele

Father of Dread by Matthew Chabin

He Sees You in His Dreams by Samuel Morningstar

Isophase Light by Daniel Marc Chant

Icebound by Morris Kenyon

Seven Nights in a Sleep Clinic by Saul Quint

Mykes Reach by William Couper

Notes for a Life of Nightmares: A Retrospective on the Work of Henry Anthony Wilcox by Pete Rawlik

Offspring by Evey Brett

Out on Route 22 by E. Dane Anderson

The Red Brick Building by Mike Davis

The Lullaby of Erich Zann by G. K. Lomax

Cymothoa Cthulhii by Gethin A. Lynes

My Thoughts:

I am finding that the Cosmic Horror genre is my weakness. Mostly in the sense I would naturally abhor everything contained within it (hopelessness, dread, despair, the absolute insignificance of man) but that within these stories not only do I NOT abhor them, I practically revel in them. I was thinking about this as I was nearing the end of my read trying to figure out why this was. When I read Hard Day's Knight the other month, the very mention of Jesus not being strong enough to combat the powers of Hell sent me into a frenzy of practically calling down fire on the authors unbelieving head. Yet in this collection when God is simply dismissed as a non-entity in the face of the elder gods, I didn't blink. Why? I don't know yet but I'm keeping that question in the forefront of my mind as I continue reading this genre. Once I figure it out I'll be mentioning it in one of the reviews.

This collection started out fantastically with “Nikukinchaku”. A story about a school teacher facing budget cuts and how she cuts costs by buying nikukinchaku, a cheap food source that everybody loves. The story ends with the things eating a teacher, the dealer drowning himself in a toilet and everyone who has eaten the nikukinchaku heading out to see to answer “a call” they all can hear, including the teacher. This story had the perfect sense of dread and psychological horror. It was almost literally delicious to read. While some of the other stories had more horror, this was a great way to start.

Sadly, every collection has a low point and this one's was “Father of Dread”. Incest fantasy between adopted siblings and teen hormones. I don't need or want to read about a teen boy masturbating to thoughts of his adopted sister. This story is the main reason this was 3.5stars instead of 4.

Salome Jones has done another great job with this anthology and I'm really impressed. To the point where I'll be looking her up to see what else she has put together. That's pretty high praise coming from me. That's if I can figure out how to search for editors instead of authors of course.

I had mentioned in the previous Cthulhu Anthology that I was wanting to space these out a bit more so as to lessen the impact on myself from these soul destroying stories. After reading this my desire is intensified all the more. So instead of reading nothing but Cthulhu Lore, I'll be spacing it out with a couple of King in Yellow anthologies. Brilliant or what?!?

★★★✬☆… (meer)

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Cthulhu Lives!
Series: Cthulhu Anthology #1
Editor: Salome Jones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Cosmic Horror
Pages: 235
Words: 80K

Synopsis:

Table of Contents

FOREWORD by Leeman Kessler

UNIVERSAL CONSTANTS by Piers Beckley

1884 by Michael Grey

ELMWOOD by Tim Dedopulos

HOBSTONE by G. K. Lomax

ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER JORDAN by John Reppion

DARK WATERS by Adam Vidler

INK by Iain Lowson

DEMON IN GLASS by E. Dane Anderson

SCALES FROM BALOR’S EYE by Helmer Gorman

OF THE FACELESS CROWD by Gábor Csigás

SCRITCH, SCRATCH by Lynne Hardy

ICKE by Greg Stolze

CODING TIME by Marc Reichardt

THE THING IN THE PRINTER by Peter Tupper

THE OLD ONES by Jeremy Clymer

VISITING RIGHTS by Joff Brown

AFTERWORD

My Thoughts:

I rather enjoyed this anthology. Going into Cosmic Horror though, you have to have the proper mindset. There are no heroes overcoming great odds but ordinary people being overcome with hopeless despair and being devoured (whether physically, psychologically or spiritually depends on the story). Madness, mayhem and murder are the key phrases of the day. Finally, the elder gods are dark gods, uncaring, unmoral and barely able to even interact in this reality without destroying it.

If any of those “rules” are broken, it makes for a very unsatisfactory cosmic horror story. Rites of Azathoth was such a book that just didn't work for me. On the other hand, The Private Lives of Elder Things was fantastic and everything you'd want from cosmic horror. I went into this book wondering which course on the path it was going to take. I'm glad to announce it took the better (errr, worse?) path and was truly horrific and terrifying as only good cosmic horror can be!

I did stay up late a couple of nights because I got caught up in the “one more story” syndrome which has come to represent, to me, the pinnacle of the short story collection. If you can't put the book down, it has done its job perfectly.

Salome Jones has done a fantastic job of putting together stories and while some are pushing the edge of graphic, either violently or sexually, none of them go into what I'd classify as gratuitous. After the couple of short story collections at the end of November, I am thankful for an editor who has dash of good taste in what stories are chosen.

The reasons this was 3 ½ stars instead of higher is because in one story the writer specifically states how the puny god of the christians is as nothing before the darkness of the elder gods. It was the specificity that irked me. I probably wouldn't have minded nearly so much if all the religions were lumped together in that statement, but nope, had to specifically talk about Christianity. sigh.

I've got another couple of volumes of cosmic horror anthologies after this one but I might stretch them out a bit. Too much darkness isn't good for the soul after all. Just like eating a whole bag of cheetos isn't good for the body.

★★★✬☆… (meer)