The Book of Cthulhu II

Lovecraft and the Mythos he created are a hot commodity these days.  There is a never ending production based on his work, which varies wildley from good, to bad, and to use a Lovecraftian term, too unspeakable to mention.  The problem is most are played to be jokey, with no respect for what Lovecraft envisioned for his stories.  Chibi Cthulhu, c'mon.  Ross E. Lockhart, the editor of the The Book of Cthulhu 2, is an obvious devotee of Lovecraft and the tales he chose for the book represent a diverse slice of how to use the Mythos to tell a good story.

     The book itself tops in at 421 pages with a total of 24 stories that range from a couple pages to longer novelettes.  The direction the various authors take in exploring the Mythos are diverse; we have traditional Lovecraftian stories complete with fainting scholarly protagonists, a far future sci-fi story where the space travel is done inside giant living organisms, a noir fiction with a hard-boild detective at the height of WWII, an action packed tale set in the Delata Green universe, and the list goes on.  This is not just the bookish scholar wandering around the Miskatonic Valley, although we do have some of that, here we have variety of not only tone but scenery as well.  Each author brings the quality as well, there is no leftover shoggoth slush to be found here.

     The cover for the paperback edition displays "Tales isnspired by H.P. Lovecraft," and each author takes that seriously.  Sure there is some fun to be had, the story set in The Laundry universe comes to mind, but each author pays his dues to Lovecraft.  There is no Chibi Cthulhu or Plush Hastur to be found.  Story elements that Lovecraft often employed are here a well, the unavoidable curse, the forgotten and dangerous tombs of forbidden knowledge, the bad endings of protagonists, the insanity, and of course, the fainting.  The authors, as Lovecraft himself did and encouraged others to do, borrow various aspects of his work to craft  some good stories.  Lovecraft would approve.

Who will like this: Any fan of Lovecraft, Horror story lovers, anyone who can't help but love a fainting protagonist.

Who will not like this: Romance fans (although there is a rather racy story buried in the middle), short story haters, people who just do not "get" Lovecraft.

Solid book, high quality stories, diverse application of the Mythos.  8 out of 10 forbidden tombs.