Shakespeare vs. Cthulhu is a Kickstarter project that gets some things Right and some things Wrong. My favorite stories in this uneven anthology blend elements from Shakespeare’s plays and some Lovecraftean menace. I liked “Once More Unto the Breach” by C. L. Werner that features Henry V at Agincourt. Henry is vastly outnumbered by the French forces, but the appearance of one of Cthulhu’s minions changes everything. Guy Haley’s “A Reckoning” reveals the dark bargain between the Lovecraftean dwellers of the sea and evil humans. James Lovegrove’s “Exit, Pursed By…?” captures some of the style of Lovecraft in his tale. The best realization of Shakespeare as a character can be found in Josh Reynolds’s “A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide.” The other stories either didn’t capture the essence of Lovecraft or Shakespeare. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: That Way Madness Lies, by Mr Jonathan Green 1
Prologue: Star-Crossed, by Mr Jonathan Oliver 3
Act One
A Madness Most Discreet, by Mr Michael Carroll 33
Something Rotten, by Mr Adrian Tchaikovsky 57
Once More Unto the Breach, by Mr C L Werner 69
A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide, by Mr Josh Reynolds 93
Interlude: What Dreams May Come, by Mistress Nimue Brown 117
Act Two
The Ia’s of March, by Mr Andrew Lane 121
The Undiscovered Country, by Mr Ian Edginton 147
The Suns of York, by Mr Adrian Chamberlin 161
A Reckoning, by Mr Guy Haley 191
Interlude: The Green-Ey’d Monster, by Mistress Danie Ware 215
Act Three
Exit, pursued by…?, by Mr James Lovegrove 219
The King in Yellow Stockings, by Mr Ed Fortune 245
The Terrors of the Earth, by Mr Pat Kelleher 251
Exeunt, by Mr John Reppion 277
Epilogue: Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Mr Graham McNeill 303
Curtain: #Tempest, by Mistress Jan Siegel 331
Dramatis Personae
About the Authors
About the Illustrators
About the Editor
Acknowledgements
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