Anyone know any modern takes on the Cthulhu Mythos in book form?

JJewel

JJewel

Douglas Morrison
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As a fan of the man and a writer of Mythos novels I can never find many more modern interpretations of the Mythos, they all hark to the original style and theme even Ramsey Campbell and the second crop of writers. I have been writing and publishing modern variants of the theme with Outlaw Bikers, Secret Gov Organisations, Mad artists and so forth but their must be more than just me in this field.
Anyone got any suggested good books on the subject other than the Laundry files?
 
Have you tried Laird Barron -- short stories in particular, though The Croning is pretty good? Caitlin R. Kiernan is another; her recent Agents of Dreamland and Black Helicopters would be of interest and The Red Tree and The Dreaming Girl are seriously good novels. Maybe Nick Mamatas, too. Haven't read him, just heard of him. For a laugh you might find The Mall of Cthulhu entertaining. It's by Seamus Cooper, which I suspect is a pseudonym.
 
Randy M. said:
Have you tried Laird Barron -- short stories in particular, though The Croning is pretty good? Caitlin R. Kiernan is another; her recent Agents of Dreamland and Black Helicopters would be of interest and The Red Tree and The Dreaming Girl are seriously good novels. Maybe Nick Mamatas, too. Haven't read him, just heard of him. For a laugh you might find The Mall of Cthulhu entertaining. It's by Seamus Cooper, which I suspect is a pseudonym.
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No I havent will add them to my must read list, I am close to finishing my second Mythos book so I am way behind in my reading.
 
JJewel said:
No I havent will add them to my must read list, I am close to finishing my second Mythos book so I am way behind in my reading.
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I didn't think to mention John Langan. Some short stories like "Mr. Gaunt" and "On Skua Island" if not exactly Lovecraftian are certainly Weird Tales-like. His novels House of Windows and The Fisherman are definitely Lovecraftian.

Randy M.
 
Randy M. said:
I didn't think to mention John Langan. Some short stories like "Mr. Gaunt" and "On Skua Island" if not exactly Lovecraftian are certainly Weird Tales-like. His novels House of Windows and The Fisherman are definitely Lovecraftian.

Randy M.
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Sounds good, I am stalled on the last story of my book, but one more push over the hill and today it dies!!!... then the artwork to follow... Damn! Have a pile of books to read once done, starting with Zelaznys nine princes again, again, again!
 
"A Study in Emerald" in Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman combines Sherlock Holmes and the Cthulhu mythos.


Edit: Oops. Misread the question. My bad.
 
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Guttersnipe, in his short stories Gaiman dances around the edges of the mythos occasionally. Besides "A Study in Emerald" there's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" and "Only the End of the World Again". There may be others.

Randy M.
 
Ruthanna Emrys has written a couple of very fine novels using the Lovecraft mythos: Wintertide and Deep Roots. But though I found them admirable myself, I rather think that Lovecraft himself would have hated them.
 
In the words of Cherie Priest, Winter Tide is "turns Lovecraft on his head."

Emrys takes one of Lovecraft's most xenophobic works and tells it from the point of view of the Other. The book is dark and grim, for sure, but it also has an element of heart and humanity that is notably absent in almost all of Lovecraft's own stories.
 
The Hungry Moon by Ramsey Campbell
Cold Print by Ramsey Campbell
The Shadow at the Bottom of the World by Thomas Liggotti
The 37th Mandala by Mark Laidlaw
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
In the words of Cherie Priest, Winter Tide is "turns Lovecraft on his head."

Emrys takes one of Lovecraft's most xenophobic works and tells it from the point of view of the Other. The book is dark and grim, for sure, but it also has an element of heart and humanity that is notably absent in almost all of Lovecraft's own stories.
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Okay that makes it an interesting read I suspect need to scribble that onto my list.
 
It's not exactly modern, but Brian Lumley's series about the sorcerer Titus Crow is set in the Mythos and, IIRC, takes place in the 70s and 80s.

There's also The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, which is a reworking of one of Lovecraft's weaker stories, "The Horror at Red Hook", and, while setting it in the same period, is a more modern version.
 
I have read Lumleys material and I found it quite repetitious in the end.

The Ballad of Black Tom, have read something about that already. Involved weirdly minted calls that I remember?
 
The Shoggoth Conspiracy by David Conyers is quite good. I wasn't expecting very much from it but was pleasantly surprised by some of his plot ideas.

Declare by Tim Powers is amazing, but wont be to everyone's taste.
 
Randy M. said:
Have you tried Laird Barron -- short stories in particular, though The Croning is pretty good? Caitlin R. Kiernan is another; her recent Agents of Dreamland and Black Helicopters would be of interest and The Red Tree and The Dreaming Girl are seriously good novels. Maybe Nick Mamatas, too. Haven't read him, just heard of him. For a laugh you might find The Mall of Cthulhu entertaining. It's by Seamus Cooper, which I suspect is a pseudonym.
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I would second the recommendation for Laird Barron. His story collections Occultation and The Beautiful Thing Which Awaits Us All are great, but Swift To Chase is only for diehard fans.
 

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