Cthulhu Fhtagn, Baby! and Other Cosmic Insolence (Paperback)

by Will Ludwigsen (Author), Matthew Warner (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Disturbing is the first word that comes to mind with Cthulhu Fhtagn, and I don't mean it in a bad way! Ludwigsen manages to create an anthology of short-short stories that stretch the imagination and at times, blow it entirely. It is a fantastic collection by a brilliantly twisted author. I also have to note that it is one of the best anthologies I've read. I highly recommend it to any enthusiast of the macabre. --Bitten by Books

I have never had more fun reading a collection of horror stories than I did with Cthulhu Fhtagn, Baby & Other Cosmic Insolence by Will Ludwigsen. Do not get me wrong, these stories are horror but Ludwigsen tackles each tale with a freshly amusing outlook that creates a body of work that shines with an originality that is hard to come by in the horror genre. With these thirteen original tales, Ludwigsen takes on the all too familiar staples of horror, like zombies, aliens and Cthulhu mythos, with an inventive viewpoint that shows his readers the lighter side of horror. --Horror World, Joe Kroeger

Product Description
Oscar Wilde wrote that "the real tragedies of life occur in such an inartistic manner that they hurt us by their entire lack of style." Not satisfied with that, Will Ludwigsen chooses instead to add humor and flair to the horrors that surround us. Why settle for the lesser of evils in your newspaper when you can read an entire book of stories about zombie-exploiting, plesiosaur-chopping, alien-dissecting, robotically-enhanced, lunatics instead? This premiere collection by Will Ludwigsen brings together thirteen of his best horror, mystery, and science fiction stories from magazines such as Weird Tales, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Cemetery Dance, plus three originals. Though the work of a single deranged author, these varied tales share a flippant disdain for common decency, courtesy, and sense. Witty and irreverent, they remind us that we have more hope than we think--if only because we have wit and irreverence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: Lethe Press (January 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590210522
• ISBN-13: 978-1590210529
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #938,254 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Macabre, Gruesome, and Delightful!, October 10, 2008

By	Jennifer Black (Wyoming) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This fantastic collections by a brilliantly twisted author is one of the best anthologies I've read. Highly recommended to any enthusiast of the macabre.

Anomie
An ill-mannered bum gets a comeuppance in the face of a philosophical teenager.
3.5/5

And Justice for Doll
A child's playworld becomes the fertile breeding ground for a court case of her own invention.
4.0/5

Nessmas
A loch ness monster turns up on the lawn of a Scottish couple.
3.5/5

Speaking Mouth Dog
An allegory for modern art, "Seeing Mouth Dog" is the tale of a blind, mute, and deaf man still able to create "literature".
4.0/5

The Trespasser
An old-style autopsy takes a supernatural turn.
4.0/5

Billy
Set in what some animal activists would call the ideal future, a young girl comes to love a -- literal -- mindless hunk of meat.
4.0/5

Cthulhu Fhtagn, Baby!
The book's namesake is a scathing "review" of "musical" Cthulhu Fhtagn, Baby!. One of the most imaginative pieces I have ever read.
5.0/5

Soured
A child's dislike of milk proves to be well-founded.
4.5/5

Portrait of the Horror Artist as a Young Man
An "N" in art goes from worse to better.
3.5/5

Raw Recruits
An early attempt at spirit-channeling goes eerily wrong. This is one of my favorite stories in the volume.
5.0/5

Representational Sample
A collection of many strangely gathered items grows, brought together for a mysterious purpose.
5.0/5

Bingo
A retired, drug-sniffing police dog finds a new home with two apartment-bound college students.
4.5/5

You're Welcome
A childhood romance ends tragically -- or does it?
4.5/5

Solidity
Bums have a special place in the fabric of reality -- do we all?
4.5/5

Exit Laughing
A roadtrip through Florida takes a disastrous turn.
4.0/5

Grandpa, What Happens When We Die?
A final, parting poem reminds readers to live for the day.
3.5/5

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4.5/5

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IA! IA!, March 14, 2007

By	Shakes McJunkie (Jacksonville, Fl.) - See all my reviews

I've searched desperately for more short stories by Will Ludwigsen ever since reading one of his stories in Weird Tales. I found another in Alfred Hitchcock's Magazine and relished it as well. Now I have 13 tales of... I'm not quite sure I can cover these stories with a one word genre name. And that's what I enjoy most about Will's writing.

Reading the stories is like walking through a darkened hallway in an old abondoned house and not knowing, as one turns the corner, whether one will be torn apart by some loathesome creature or hit over the head by a rubber chicken thrown by a dancing zombie. You can always bet there's something oozing though.

I've read a great many books in my time and my favorites have always been the ones where I'm not sure if I've read western, fantasy, SF, or fiction. I'm really looking forward to Will's next publication, whether it be short stories or a novel.

I'd hate to be the guy at the bookstore that has to put Will's book on the correct shelf. That's going to be one tough job.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever bit of rugose snark, April 19, 2007

By	Steve Berman "s_berman_8" (Maple Shade, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

So Will Ludwigsen is not the sort of fellow you want leading a troop of Boy Scouts. Or maybe he is, if you are a parent who is open-minded to dark urban (and suburban) fantasy. Care for a cephalopods in your milk? Apparently Will does. According to Wikipedia he has a tattoo of the Yellow Sign on his bicep and can recite the rhyming couplets from The Book of Eibon. He also cares enough to write very witty stories with a dark, fantastical edge. This is his first short story collection. I look forward to reading the next.