Lovecraft Unbound
4 journalers for this copy...
I'm a fan of Lovecraft's work, and I've also enjoyed quite a few stories written by others, as homage or simply to expand on his Mythos. I got this fair-condition softcover at a local Savers thrift shop, and was glad of another release copy.
There's a good mix of stories here, with notes on each by the authors (placed *after* the stories, luckily, which helps avoid spoilers). My favorites include:
"The Crevasse" by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud is set in Antarctica and deals with a sledging accident with increasingly bleak consequences.
"Sincerely, Petrified" by Anna Tambour deals with the Petrified Forest National Park, where the ongoing problem of people nabbing bits of petrified wood as souvenirs gathers increasing amounts of superstitious dread. Based in part on actual letters from guilty tourists who eventually send the stolen samples back, the story goes into an interesting direction.
"The Tenderness of Jackals" by Amanda Downum is more of a love story than one finds in Lovecraftian tales, yet it works quite well.
"Cold Water Survival" by Holly Phillips is another Antarctic story, but this one deals with what might lie in the deepest, coldest waters.
"In the Black Mill" by Michael Chabon has a researcher visiting a remote village in 1948 Pennsylvania, looking for information on indigenous tribes but discovering some very disturbing things about the local mill...
"Vernon, Driving" by Simon Kurt Unsworth takes a look at the monsters inside.
"Mongoose" by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear is one of their tales about "boojums", sentient, organic spaceships with many aspects of Lovecraftian monstrosities to them. The Mongoose of the title is of a species known as cheshire cats (yes, there's a strong Lewis Carroll influence to this setting, in addition to the Lovecraftian one), and are bizarre beings with tentacles and multiple eyes - and a knack for hunting the equally bizarre creatures that infest and damage the boojums. For all the weirdness and potential mayhem, this is one of the more charming stories {wry grin}. [There's a TV Tropes page on this "boojumverse".]
And there's more. Good anthology!
There's a good mix of stories here, with notes on each by the authors (placed *after* the stories, luckily, which helps avoid spoilers). My favorites include:
"The Crevasse" by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud is set in Antarctica and deals with a sledging accident with increasingly bleak consequences.
"Sincerely, Petrified" by Anna Tambour deals with the Petrified Forest National Park, where the ongoing problem of people nabbing bits of petrified wood as souvenirs gathers increasing amounts of superstitious dread. Based in part on actual letters from guilty tourists who eventually send the stolen samples back, the story goes into an interesting direction.
"The Tenderness of Jackals" by Amanda Downum is more of a love story than one finds in Lovecraftian tales, yet it works quite well.
"Cold Water Survival" by Holly Phillips is another Antarctic story, but this one deals with what might lie in the deepest, coldest waters.
"In the Black Mill" by Michael Chabon has a researcher visiting a remote village in 1948 Pennsylvania, looking for information on indigenous tribes but discovering some very disturbing things about the local mill...
"Vernon, Driving" by Simon Kurt Unsworth takes a look at the monsters inside.
"Mongoose" by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear is one of their tales about "boojums", sentient, organic spaceships with many aspects of Lovecraftian monstrosities to them. The Mongoose of the title is of a species known as cheshire cats (yes, there's a strong Lewis Carroll influence to this setting, in addition to the Lovecraftian one), and are bizarre beings with tentacles and multiple eyes - and a knack for hunting the equally bizarre creatures that infest and damage the boojums. For all the weirdness and potential mayhem, this is one of the more charming stories {wry grin}. [There's a TV Tropes page on this "boojumverse".]
And there's more. Good anthology!
I'm putting this into the Otherworldly bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop soon. Enjoy!
Took out of the Otherworldly bookbox.
Not a fan of the stories, so will pass along.
I've enjoyed several Lovecraftian style stories recently so chose from the ABC Bookbox. Thanks for sharing!
Some really interesting stories but many more that just weren’t for me.
The ones that I really enjoyed:
The Crevasse by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud was just the right amount of creepy/spooky to make me question myself about choosing to continue with this anthology or not! Poor Atka. *cringe*
The Tenderness of Jackals by Amanda Downum creepy on many levels but done so well!
Mongoose by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear was a fun story set in space with some touches of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and, strangely enough, Winnie the Pooh. I’ll leave you there to try to wrap your mind around that image! 😉 IN SPACE!!!!!
The ones that I really enjoyed:
The Crevasse by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud was just the right amount of creepy/spooky to make me question myself about choosing to continue with this anthology or not! Poor Atka. *cringe*
The Tenderness of Jackals by Amanda Downum creepy on many levels but done so well!
Mongoose by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear was a fun story set in space with some touches of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and, strangely enough, Winnie the Pooh. I’ll leave you there to try to wrap your mind around that image! 😉 IN SPACE!!!!!
Journal Entry 7 by 
Spatial
at Halloween, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Spatial at Halloween, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Removed from the Halloween bookbox.
