Cthulhu 2000: Stories

This is the classic anthology of mythos fiction to me. I know there are older collections of stories but I keep coming back to this one. I love the cover of the rather bird-like Cthulhu, and I love (most) of the stories. The collection starts off strong with "The Barrens", a tale I can read over and over. "The big Fish", a mythos/Marlowe mash-up is a classic, and "Shaft Number 247" should be one, it's a delicate little tale, lowkey and slightly unsettling. I'm no fan of M. Shea's "Fat Face", but I will admit that it's an original approach - not always the case with mythos fiction. "Love's eldritch ichor" is a little gem, and deserves to be carefully read so that none of the puns and references to HPL go amiss. It took me a while to appreciate "Black man with a horn", but now I enjoy this disturbing but not graphic tale. "The faces of Pine Dunes" is a good one by Ramsey Campbell, who does mythos so well. He should appear more in these anthologies.I can recommend this collection of mythos fiction to the new fan and the experienced one alike. It's one of those books one can go back over and over, and still find enjoyable.

This is a really great collection of Lovecraftian works. From the very beginning with "The Barrens," by F. Paul Wilson (similar to "The Color Out of Space"), the anthology grips the reader tight. The very first tale is, in my opinion, the second best in the book. It's exactly what Lovecraft would have wanted, not something imitating another Cthulhu story, but a tale which leaves the reader guessing, feeling uneasy because of the atmospheric quality, and ends in a climactic way. "The Last Feast of Harlequinn," by Thomas Ligotti, is to me the best in the book. It is very reminiscent of Lovecraft's "The Festival." The story has an underlying sense of dread and anticipation of what is to come, always finding out new things and getting lost in the drama which unfolds.While these stories and several others are very unique and make this book worthy of purchase, I had to give it four stars because the stories in between the ones mentioned above, save a few, are mediocre in their telling. Some are Cthulhu based or the narrator is meeting Lovecraft Clark Ashton Smith in the afterlife and talking to them. Lovecraft even sacrifices himself to one of his deities. These stories left me feeling dull and ready to get to the next.However, the stories that are good in this book are absolutely excellent.

There are some good stories here that have been previously published elsewhere but the majority are just so-so fantasy tales with an "insert Lovecraft reference here" to justify their inclusion. If you think Cthulhu lounging in a bathtub while bemoaning the Romance Novel industry are lows you can get through, buy it used.

The trouble with most Cthulhu collections (meaning Lovecraft pastiche) is that the authors don't really know what they're imitating. Usually you see an invocation of the Necronomicon, some chanting (in italics! Ia!), and the summoning of some unpronounceable god. This at least approaches the game that HPL and his friends played, to make an ancient tome and monster and then to share them in a common literary world. To recycle what already has been done, though, takes out the spirit of fun and creativity that was the point of the game to begin with. Some of the humorous pieces in the genre, like "It's Only the End of the World, Again" can at least tap into that spirit of conviviality. Typical Lovecraft pastiche can almost be done by Mad Lib.It's even harder to get at the real spirit of what Lovecraft was writing about. Most folks think it's about horror; Lovecraft, himself, said that was not what his stories were about. In a letter, he said that he tried to evoke a sense of wonder and awe about the universe. And since he didn't believe in anything but cold nature, he felt that man's proper response to wonder and awe is fear and horror. Think about it.Fortunately, CTHULHU 2000 is not bad pastiche or shallow horror (mostly). There are some gag stories that fall flat, and some that try to redo a Lovecraft story in the modern day and lose all that made it worth remembering. And I'll even admit that the offering from Zelazny was over my head. But there is some astonishingly good writing here, like "The Barrens", or "The Last Feast of Harlequin", or "The Faces at Pine Dunes". A lot of that quality is that the writers are already accomplished authors, but the excellence comes from telling an authentic story, without trying to copy a style. There's a sense of awe and wonder at discovering something bigger and deeper and more ancient than we can imagine, and being changed by that. And that's how you find Cthulhu at the end.Contents:"The Barrens" F. Paul Wilson"Pickman's Modem" Lawrence Watt-Evans"Shaft Number 247" Basil Copper"His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" Poppy Z Brite"The Adder" Fred Chappell"Fat Face" Michael Shea"The Big Fish" Kim Newman"I had Vacantly Crumpled It into My Pocket..." Joanna Russ"H.P.L." Gahan Wilson"The Unthinkable" Bruce Sterling"Black Man With a Horn" T.E.D. Klein"Love's Eldritch Ichor" Esther M. Friesner"The Last Feast of Harlequin" Thomas Ligotti"The Shadow on the Doorstep" James P. Blaylock"Lord of the Land" Gene Wolfe"The Faces at Pine Dunes" Ramsey Campbell"On the Slab" Harlan Ellison"24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" Roger Zelazny

Gift

Really good collection. A couple that I didn't really sync with the story or the author's style, but also a few that I loved. Like any multi-author anthology, there'll be variances, but if you're into Lovecraftian stories, the Mythos, or just a good, short horror tale, there are more than enough in here to make this collection worth your while. Overall I'd give this a 4.5.

A wonderful anthology of modern Cthulhu tales. Like any anthology it is uneven, but this is one of the better ones I've read. The fact that modern authors incorporate modern technologies into their stories of which HPL never dreamed is worth the price of admission.

Some good stories here. Nothing that will blow your mind to any really messy extent, but much that will entertain (amongst a few throwaways). Some rather top-end genre authors, too.Notables are: The Barrens by F Paul Wilson (excellent sense of location -the North American Pine Barrens - very much a place hiding secrets- coupled with a well-executed plot); Shaft Number 247 by Basil Copper (vaguely Stanislaw Lem in its cold, claustrophobic style, and probably the most Science Fictional tale here); Fat Face by Michael Shea (gritty prostitute with a heart story, affecting enough with just her grim day-to-day life... but then shoggoths get rolled into proceedings); The Unthinkable by Bruce Sterling (short, punchy - the practicalities of a Mythos-run world); Love's Eldrith Ichor by Esther M Friesner (started off as an annoying piss-take, but by the end of it I was smiling); The Last Feast of Harlequin by Thomas Ligotti (bleak, almost emotionless, and quite, QUITE chilling); 24 Views of Mount Fuji, by Hokusai by Roger Zelazny (only really Lovecraftian by occasional reference, this remains a beautifully written ghost-in-the-machine tale made all the more wonderful by its -mainly- rural Japanese setting).Overall, a very enjoyable collection (it should be noted, though, that appreciation is improved by some prior understanding of Lovecraft and his fiction).

A great collection of Lovecraftian short stories, most are well written and I only disliked a couple of them. I’d read some of the stories previously in other collections, but I still enjoyed re-reading them such as "Black Man with a Horn" by TED Klein and "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" by Poppy Z. Brite. Each writer brings their own style to this anthology and it’s interesting to see how Lovecraft influences everyone differently. If you’re a new to Lovecraft or have been a fan for a while I’d recommend this.

La grande creazione letteraria di H.P. Lovecraft, il Grande Cthulhu, è ormai entrata nella cultura di massa quale simbolo di un universo in cui l'uomo è solo insignificante frammento di un universo in cui i suoi valori non hanno alcun significato. Riuscirà Jim Turner, con questa raccolta di racconti di cui è editore, a risvegliare l'orrore cosmico? Secondo me no, per almeno due buoni motivi:Innanzitutto, la qualità dei racconti è un po' altalenante: belli "The Barrens" di F. Paul Wilson, "Black Man with a Horn" di T.E.D. Klein, "The Faces at Pine Dunes" di Ramsey Campbell, e "24 views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" di Roger Zelazny. Questo però è normale, per una raccolta che include contributi di molti autori.Il secondo problema, è che alcune delle storie sono legate ai Miti di Cthulhu solo in maniera marginale: è il caso della storia di Zelazny, o di "The Unthinkable" di Bruce Sterling, dove le creature dell'altro mondo potrebbero anche essere i demoni del videogioco Doom, e non cambierebbe nulla.Chi, come me, ha la fortuna di essere in possesso di una copia della bellissima e (quasi) introvabile raccolta di racconti Cold Print, in cui Ramsey Campbell dà veramente nuova vita ai Miti di Cthulhu, potrebbe concludere (come faccio io qui) che il gioco non valga la candela. Per tutti gli altri, potrebbe essere una buona lettura estiva, a patto di non avere aspettative troppo elevate.

This is one of my favourite collections of Lovecraft inspired tales, highly recommended.