Modern Lovecraftian tales?

[Brian G Turner]

I'm just wondering - considering the popularity of the Cthulhu Mythos, are there any modern authors who are seeking to explore this?

I remember Brian Lumley writing about Cthonians, and I remember seeing Cthulhu in an episode of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon.

However, I remain surprised that I've not heard of any modern books that aim to take the mythos into the mainstream?

Or am I simply showing my ignorance?

 

[Stewart Hotston]

Charlie Stross and the laundry series. Starts as a pastiche but has grown increasingly interesting and has certainly got a voice of its very own. I'd highly recommend it. It has the plus of being set in the UK as well.

 

[Stewart Hotston]

In fact he's one author who i think deserves his own thread. How can that happen?

 

[Randy M.]

Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard (fun romp, more urban fantasy than horror)
We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory (World Fantasy Award winner)
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (wrestles with Lovecraft's racism, but not in any pedantic way)
Southern Gods by John Horner Jacobs (not a favorite, but not bad for a first novel)
The Croning by Laird Barron (see also his story collections, Occultation and The Imago Sequence)
The Red Tree & The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan (two of the most complex fantasy/horror novels I've come across; her short fiction often shows a great deal of Lovecraftian influence, too)
The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell (a little older than these others)


Just picked up I am Providence by Nick Mamatas (sp?) but haven't read it yet.


Randy M.

 

[Stewart Hotston]

I like'd Southern Gods. Have you read the next one - the incorruptibles?

 

[Randy M.]

Hi, Stewart.

I haven't read that one. Have you? If so, what did you think?


Randy M.

 

[Stewart Hotston]

I really enjoyed the Incorruptibles - seemed to have a decent world behind it and a really different take on alternate history. I'd recommend it

 

[Randy M.]

I was in a hurry the other day so I missed some things I haven't read yet besides Mamatas' book.

There have been 4 (?) volumes of Black Wings of Cthulhu, and 2 vols. of The Madness of Cthulhu, both series edited by S. T. Joshi; Ellen Datlow has edited Lovecraft Unbound, Lovecraft's Monsters and Children of Cthulhu; Ross Lockhart edited 2 vols of The Book of Cthulhu; Prime recently put out a collection, Cthulhu's Daughters edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula Stiles. This is the tip of the iceberg, though.

Brian, over the last 20 years or so a clutch of writers have dived into the Mythos pool. Where previous writers had largely imitated Lovecraft's style and approach, these more recent writers for the most part are working off Lovecraft's intentions. One of the first, starting more than 30 years ago, was Ramsey Campbell, whose teenage writings were published by Arkham House and who, as he matured, broke away from trying to write like HPL, finding his own voice but not quite severing his connection to a Lovecraftian frame of mind. His collection Cold Print begins with some of his early stories leading to his later stories and its kind of a revelation of the growth of a writer. And besides The Grin of the Dark, his Midnight Sun strikes me as Lovecraftian, though some critics have said Arthur Machen's influence seems foremost.


Randy M.

 

[Ningauble]

There have been 4 (?) volumes of Black Wings of Cthulhu, and 2 vols. of The Madness of Cthulhu, both series edited by S. T. Joshi; Ellen Datlow has edited Lovecraft Unbound, Lovecraft's Monsters and Children of Cthulhu; Ross Lockhart edited 2 vols of The Book of Cthulhu; Prime recently put out a collection, Cthulhu's Daughters edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula Stiles. This is the tip of the iceberg, though.

Some minor corrections: There have been 5 volumes of Black Wings (I got the hardcover of #5 in June), with a sixth coming late (?) next year (I suppose the pb of #5 will be out next year as well); the Datlow anthology is Children of Lovecraft (there was a Children of Cthulhu as well edited by John Pelan & Benjamin Adams -- excellent book).

 

[Randy M.]

Some minor corrections: There have been 5 volumes of Black Wings (I got the hardcover of #5 in June), with a sixth coming late (?) next year (I suppose the pb of #5 will be out next year as well); the Datlow anthology is Children of Lovecraft (there was a Children of Cthulhu as well edited by John Pelan & Benjamin Adams -- excellent book).

Thanks, Ningauble. With Joshi I was thinking about the pbs and forgetting they come out in hardcover first. As for the other oops ... Oops.


Randy M.

 

[BAYLOR]

I'm just wondering - considering the popularity of the Cthulhu Mythos, are there any modern authors who are seeking to explore this?

I remember Brian Lumley writing about Cthonians, and I remember seeing Cthulhu in an episode of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon.

However, I remain surprised that I've not heard of any modern books that aim to take the mythos into the mainstream?

Or am I simply showing my ignorance?

They are not quite what you had in mind but you might find these two books to be of interest. They're quite good.

Reanimators by Pete Rawlik

The Weird Company by Pete Rawlik

 

[Ningauble]

They are not quite what you had in mind but you might find these two books to be of interest. They're quite good.

Reanimators by Pete Rawlik

The Weird Company by Pete Rawlik

I'll second that. A third one, Reanimatrix, was just released.