I’ve read over a dozen Ellen Datlow anthologies. In her “Introduction” Datlow claims “most of the stories collected here are infused with cosmic dread” (p. 8). Wrong! All of the stories–except one–are infused with dullness. Only one of the 19 stories captures the essence of a Lovecraft pastiche. That one story is Caitlin R. Kiernan’s “The Beholder’s Share.”
“The Beholder’s Share” starts out conventionally. The narrator’s friend Maggie buys a box of books at an estate sale. Maggie leaves the box of books with the narrator claiming she’s planning to sell the books on Ebay. As you can guess in a Lovecraft pastiche, the books in that box are not just any books.
The books have a history full of dread–the kind that Datlow claimed infused the stories in Lovecraft’s Brood (2026). Kiernan takes the reader through the strange history of the books and the implications that the books have the power to control human actions…in a Bad Way.
Other than “The Beholder’s Share,” I found the rest of the stories of Lovecraft’s Brood disappointing. This anthology is not a brood, but just an only child. GRADE: D (for dull)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION by Ellen Datlow — 7
“Once Seen” by Conrad Williams — 11
“Mister Ainsley” by Steve Rasnic Tem — 27
“Sideways” by Ray Cluley — 37
“Empty Shells on a Cold Shore” by Jacob Steven Mohr — 65
“The Keep Quiet” by Aaron Dries — 73
“Agent of Chaos” by T. Kingfisher — 95
“The Beholder’s Share” by Caitlín R. Kiernan — 105
“Backbite” by Norman Partridge — 133
“Eat the Wyrm” by Elisabeth Hand — 153
“The Note” by Paul Tremblay — 159
“A strange form of life” by Laird Barron –179
“Call of the Void—L’appel du Vide” by Carol Gyzander — 191
“Hypnopompia” by L. Marie Wood — 203
“Volcano” by Livia Llewellyn — 207
“Halogen Sky” by Wendy N. Wagner — 233
“Wind Come Down the Mountain” by A. C. Wise — 247
“Infantum” by Ian Rogers — 261
“Diving Deep” by Gary McMahon — 275
“One Possible Shape of Things to Come” by Brian Hodge — 289
About the Authors — 310
About. the Editor — 315
As you note, George, it is very hard to imitate Lovecraft. Few writers have been able to capture his sense of cosmic horror. A few early stories by Frank Belknap Long and Robert Bloch, but not many others; even August Derleth, who tried to pick up Lovecraft’s mantle, fell flat. Far more successful are those writers who were influenced by Lovecraft in one way or another: Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, and E. Hoffmann Price from back in the day, and more recently F. Paul Wilson, Fred Chappell, and Ramsay Campbell, among others. Imitating Lovecraft is a mug’s game; drawing on the Lovecraft tradition is not. Sadly, too many writers cannot discern the difference.