New Lovecraft Anthology

[GOLLUM]

Courtesy of SFScope.....Black Wings - Lovecraft Antholgoy ed. S.T. Joshi. Not sure of the date yet.

There's several good authors listed here but I'ver not heard of at least half of them so.......no idea if it's any good except with Joshi involved it won't be crap either.

PS (publishing) will be publishing Black Wings, a "new volume of Lovecraftian horror edited by leading Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi." The following line-up for the book may have additions made to it, but so far, Joshi has taken:
"Pickman's Other Model (1929)" by Caitlín R. Kiernan
"Desert Dreams" by Donald R. Burleson
"Engravings" by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
"Copping Squid" by Michael Shea
"Passing Spirits" by Sam Gafford
"The Broadsword" by Laird Barron
"Usurped" by William Browning Spencer
"Denker's Book" by David J. Schow
"Inhabitants of Wraithwood" by W.H. Pugmire
"The Dome" by Mollie L. Burleson
"Rotterdam" by Nicholas Royle
"Tempting Providence" by Jonathan Thomas
"Howling in the Dark" by Darrell Schweitzer
"The Truth about Pickman" by Brian Stableford
"Tunnels" by Philip Haldeman
"Violence, Child of Trust" by Michael Cisco
"Lesser Demons" by Norman Partridge
"Black Brat of Dunwich" by Stanley C. Sargent
"An Eldritch Matter" by Adam Niswander
"Susie" by Jason Van Hollander

 

[j d worthington]

I've read at least something by nearly all of them, though it's not always been fiction. A very good crew indeed, from what I see. Definitely one I'll be snatching up ASAP....

 

[Nesacat]

I like the work of quite a few of those writers ... like JD I'd like to snap this up as soon as I can but given the reality, I'll have to see if it makes it here at all. Or try to get it when in the UK.

 

[Ningauble]

I like the work of quite a few of those writers ... like JD I'd like to snap this up as soon as I can but given the reality, I'll have to see if it makes it here at all. Or try to get it when in the UK.

I picked up from Laird Barron's livejournal (in the comments for his announcement of this book) that there will be 500 regular copies and 200 signed ones, so it'll most likely disappear fast.

I also heard the other day (from John Goodrich at alt.horror.cthulhu) that Ellen datlow is editing Lovecraft Unbound for M Press.

 

[Ningauble]

I just learned from STJ himself that Black Wings has been postponed till March 2010 (it will apparently be released at the World Horror Convention in Brighton).

 

[j d worthington]

Thanks for the information, Martin. I'm still hoping to lay my hands on a copy of this, but it's all up in the air until the last moment, I suppose....

 

[w h pugmire esq]

S. T. sent all of us contributors the book in, what's it called, pdf? It is flipping amazing! I thought Ellen's Lovecraft Unbound was really good, but Black Wings strikes me as even more powerful and amazing! I cannot tell you what a thrill it is to have a story in this book. I consider "Inhabitants of Wraithwood" the best thing I've ever done. No word yet on an American publisher for the book,but hopefully that will happen as well.

 

[j d worthington]

Well, my order for the thing has been in for a while now, so I look forward anxiously to its release. It is to be hoped that, with enough interest showing up on the web, some American publisher will get the idea it is worth investing in. Certainly, given the cachet that Lovecraft's name (and the Mythos) has these days, it isn't likely to be a losing proposition.....

By the way, I want to thank you for your comments on your vlog about Ellen Datlow's anthology, which got me off the fence and buying it. I've not yet had a chance to read it, but it certainly looks promising!

 

[Ningauble]

S. T. sent all of us contributors the book in, what's it called, pdf? It is flipping amazing! I thought Ellen's Lovecraft Unbound was really good, but Black Wings strikes me as even more powerful and amazing! I cannot tell you what a thrill it is to have a story in this book. I consider "Inhabitants of Wraithwood" the best thing I've ever done. No word yet on an American publisher for the book,but hopefully that will happen as well.

I've got that pdf too -- an early version, with Stan Sargent's "The Black Brat of Dunwich" in it -- and I quite agree; it is great. Now I only need to wrap up my review of it...

 

[w h pugmire esq]

I was wondering why so many others seem to have copies of the book by now -- but not we, ye authors -- and then I remembered that World Horror Convention just happened in Brighton, so that's where a number of people must have purchased the book. I'm mystified that no one has yet started a thread on World Horror to record their impressions of the convention here at ye Chronicles -- unless I'm just clueless at finding such a thread....

 

[Ningauble]

I was wondering why so many others seem to have copies of the book by now -- but not we, ye authors -- and then I remembered that World Horror Convention just happened in Brighton, so that's where a number of people must have purchased the book.

I'm going to take a look at it at Odyssey 2010 at Heathrow tomorrow.

 

[w h pugmire esq]

Just heard from S. T., and he hasn't seen the book either! He said the book has gotten three favorable reviews thus far, one in Publisher's Weekly. The PW review mentioned that some of the stories probably wouldn't be understandable to those who are not intimate with Lovecraft's fiction, but I don't remember reading any such stories in the book myself. I must say I really love that cover but have yet to see anything but a small reproduction of it. I long to see it book-size. I've reread Caitlin's story again, and it is wonderful -- she is such a superb writer, so imaginative and in control. She hopes to be one of the main guests this year at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon.

I am also looking forward to S. T.'s anthology of Cthulhu Mythos fiction, Spawn of the Green Abyss, hopefully to be published this year by Mythos Books. It's been decades since I read "Far Below," and I don't remember that it was a Mythos tale, so I am curious to read it again. I had it in what I remember as being a wonderful book, Far Below and other Horrors, edited by the amazing Robert Weinberg (who is now one of the new main editors working with Arkham House). Y'all know about Spawn of the Green Abyss, the anthology of S. T.'s "favorite" Cthulhu Mythos tales? Ye contents is: (or is it the Contents are?):
"The House of the Worm," by Mearle Prout
"Far Below," by Robert Barbour Johnson
"Spawn of the Green Abyss," by C. Hall Thompson
"The Deep Ones," by James Wade
"The Franklyn Papers," by Ramsey Campbell
"Where Yidhra Walks," by Walter C, DeBill, Jr.
"Black Man with a Horn," by T. E. D. Klein
"Nethescurial," by Thomas Ligotti
"Black Brat of Dunwich," by Stanley C. Sargent
"The Phantom of Beguilement," by W. H. Pugmire
"...Hungry...Rats," by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (original to this edition)
"Virgin's Island," by Donald Tyson (original to this edition)
"In the Shadow of Swords," by Cody Goodfellow (original to this edition)

 

[j d worthington]

An interesting selection, that (at least, those which have seen print before). I'm sorry to ask this, as I am sure it has been mentioned before, but... is there any more specific indication of when the anthology is due out? Even though I have all but the new items in other anthologies or single-author collections, I look forward to getting a copy of this one... if for nothing else, for S.T.'s introductory material....

At any rate... I'm puzzled that some of us have received copies of Black Wings before the writers; certainly, I wasn't expecting to receive my copy until late March or early April (at the very least). (Mind you, I'm not complaining about having received it earlier than that... just surprised.)

It also looks as if there are quite a few things coming out from STJ in the coming months. One I am anxiously awaiting is that collection of Lovecraft's atheistical writings, with the intro by Christopher Hitchens. I also note that Joshi says he and Schultz have gained back the rights for their anthology of critical essays, An Epicure in the Terrible, and that it is supposed to be reprinted in a revised paperback edition through Hippocampus Press. That, to me, is wonderful news. Though I have the original, I'd love to have the new edition, plus I am always suggesting this as a very good set of critical essays on HPL (some of the best I've read, which is saying considerable); yet it is darned hard to come by, making it all the less likely the recipients of my suggestion will ever get a chance to read it. Now they will be able to... and oh, what a treat is in store for those who do!

Yep. Definitely a great time to be a Lovecraftian....

 

[w h pugmire esq]

Spawn of the Green Abyss will be publish'd by Mythos Books -- so it's anyone's guess as to when the book will be out -- although S. T. is good at encouraging Dave to release books on time. I don't know if any specific date has been set, but I know that S. T. wants it out this year.

 

[w h pugmire esq]

I finished reading Laird Barron's "The Broadsword" yesterday and it is amazing. That man writes weird fiction that is really scary!!! Just now I've finished "Rotterdam" by Nicholas Royle and I loved this story inspired by Lovecraft's "The Hound." I had read Caitlin Kiernan's "Pickman's Other Model (1929)" in the PDF file that S. T. sent to us, but read it once more from the actual book. I was so impressed, again, by her power as a writer that I have ordered two of her short story collections. The only two stories that bored me were "Usurped" by William Browning Spencer and "The Dome" by dear Mollie L. Burleson. It really bums me out that I didn't care for "Usurped" because Spencer is usually so good, his stories so intriguing. All of the rest of the tales will be first-time reads except for "The Truth about Pickman" by Brian Stableford, which I read in file. It is difficult, now, to set the book aside and begin work on my new tale, "This Terrible Relic" (a sequel of sorts to "The Haunter of the Dark").

 

[j d worthington]

Well, I've been posting my thoughts on some of these stories in the April reading thread, but as there may be some who are interested in this particular book but not in that particular thread, thought I'd go ahead and provide some links to those comments here:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/foru...s-at-assailing-avenues-of-12.html#post1386598

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/foru...s-at-assailing-avenues-of-13.html#post1386940

More thoughts will be posted as I have a chance to get further along....

 

[w h pugmire esq]

Spawn of the Green Abyss will now be published by Centipede Press, probably in the summer or fall of 2012. The title will probably be changed, and they are considering A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Jerad will be bringing the book out in both a trade edition and a signed limited edition.

Black Wings II will also be out next year, so that's two S. T.-edited Lovecraftian anthologies. It will be interesting to see if this current trend of new Mythos anthologies continues throughout next year. New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird comes out next month.

 

[j d worthington]

I must admit that I prefer the original title. Much as I love (well-done) Mythos fiction I, too, am grown tired of the ubiquitous "Cthulhu" label on everydamnthing which bears even a faint resemblance to "Lovecraftian" work (whether involving the mythos or not). It simply saps the color out of things when it all becomes so bloody repetitious. "Spawn of the Green Abyss" may not be a stunning literary achievement as far as titles goes, but it darned sure beats yet another reiteration of "Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos" sort of thing... No offense to Jerad (who does marvelous work, and I applaud him for it), but even A Mountain Walked (though I think it should include the somehow even more disturbing "or Stumbled"which would be a fine title in and of itself, and, for anyone in the least familiar with HPL, quite enough to clue them in this is mythos fiction) is lessened with that subtitle....

On the other hand, I am by no means against the plethora of mythos fiction which seems to be appearing -- even though I can't possibly keep up with it all. There is a fair amount of dreck, yes, but we also have some really fine achievements using this material to go in their own direction....

 

[w h pugmire esq]

I have received my contributor's copy of Black Wings of Cthulhu, which will be officially released next month. It is a handsome sturdy trade paperback and retains the wonderful jacket illustration of the hardcover, with just the change in title marring the image. I am delighted to have the book available in Amerika as trade pb and hope this results in it being read by many more Lovecraft fans. I haven't read too many reviews of it, but I think the fans prefer it to Lovecraft Unbound (a book that I love, but many complained that its tales were not sufficiently "Lovecraftian"). P. S. Publishing should be releasing Black Wings II in hardcover next month, and then Titan Books will reprint it in England and ye USA as trade pb.

S. T. will also be editing another Lovecraft-themed anthology for Titan, for which he is soliciting original stories. He's becoming a very busy Mythos editor! The new Derleth!