I’m a fan of H. P. Lovecraft and one of my guilty pleasures is to read stories by authors inspired by Lovecraft. ACOLYTES OF CTHULHU presents a chronological anthology of stories inspired by Lovecraft’s creepy world. My favorite stories in ACOLYTES OF CTHULHU are Manley Wade Wellman’s “The Letters of Cold Fire,” and Neil Gaiman’s “Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar.” This anthology is 468 pages and there’s something here for just about every taste: adventures, psychological suspense, noir, etc. I have a half dozen more Lovecraft-inspired anthologies on my shelf, most of them with stories by contemporary writers. This historical anthology includes plenty of old stories I wasn’t familiar with. A great value for $10! GRADE: B+
Introduction”, by Robert M. Price
“Doom of the House of Duryea”, by Earl Pierce, Jr. (1936)
“The Seventh Incantation”, by Joseph Payne Brennan (1963)
“From the Pits of Elder Blasphemy,” by Hugh B. Cave & Robert M. Price (2014)
“Black Noon”, by C. M. Eddy, Jr. (1967)
“The Jewels of Charlotte”, by Duane Rimel (1935)
“The Letters of Cold Fire”, by Manly Wade Wellman (1944)
“Horror at Vecra”, by Henry Hasse (1943)
“Out of the Jar”, by Charles R. Tanner (1940)
“The Earth-Brain”, by Edmond Hamilton (1932)
“Through the Alien Angle”, by Elwin G. Powers (1941)
“Legacy in Crystal”, by James Causey (1943)
“The Will of Claude Ashur”, by C. Hall Thompson (1947)
“The Final War”, by David H. Keller, M.D. (1949)
“The Dunstable Horror”, by Arthur Pendragon (1964)
“The Crib of Hell”, by Arthur Pendragon (1965)
“The Last Work of Pietro of Apono”, by Steffan B. Aletti (1969)
“The Eye of Horus”, by Steffan B. Aletti (1968)
“The Cellar Room”, by Steffan B. Aletti ((1969)
“Mythos”, by John Glasby (1961)
“There Are More Things”, by Jorge Luis Borges (1975)
“The Horror Out of Time”, by Randall Garrett (1978)
“The Recurring Doom”, by S. T. Joshi (1980)
“Necrotic Knowledge”, by Dirk W. Mosig (1976)
“Night Bus”, by Donald R. Burleson (1985)
“The Pewter Ring”, by Peter Cannon (1989)
“John Lehmann Alone”, by David Kaufman (1987)
“The Purple Death”, by Gustav Meyrink, translated by Kathleen Houlihan & Robert M. Price (1997)
“Mists of Death”, by Richard F. & Franklyn Searight (1999)
“Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar”, by Neil Gaiman (1998)
As I’m sure Bill Crider will point out, Acolytes of Cthulhu would be a good name for a rock band.
Sounds like one worth checking out. I agree with you about liking the older stories.
Jeff, I found the stories in ACOLYTES OF CTHULHU like kettle potato chips: I couldn’t stop at one!
See you in two weeks, George. Off to Montreal, QC and then Traverse City.
Patti, you and Phil certainly get around. Hurry back online!
Have a great time, Patti! Hope the weather is good. And take notes – Jackie is talking about a possible future trip to Montreal.
Jeff, the weather the next two weeks is supposed to be hot and dry. Typical July/August weather. A good time to travel!
It is cooler than normal here for the moment but is stupposed to warm up by mid-week. We’ve hardly had to use our air conditioners this susmmer so far!
Jeff, the Polar Vortex cooled us off this week with temperatures 10 degrees below normal. But the heat returns this weekend and we’ll be cooking next week with temps near 90.
I like a Cthulhu story every now and then. I see Amazon price is $11.41, so as usual, you found a bargain.
Patti, if you come back to read this, have fun!
Rick, Titan Books–who published ACOLYTES OF CTHULHU–is also publishes BLACK WINGS OF CTHULHU and WEIRD SHADOWS OVER INNESMOUTH. It’s like a niche market for them.
Glad to see that Titan is republishing these books. ACOLYTES and WEIRD SHADOWS were originally published by Fedogan & Bremer, a firm that had been inactive until recently.
Jerry, Titan is also continuing the WEIRD SHADOWS series with WEIRDER SHADOWS OVER INNESMOUTH out in October.