Customer Reviews

The Disciples of Cthulhu (Call of Cthulhu Fiction S.)

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In my constant search to find more Lumley and Lovecraft I happened upon this little collection from Choasium. What I found were some excellent stories accompanied with some bland ones. The stories contained in this collection are: The Fairground Horror, by Brian Lumley The Silence of Erika Zann, by James Wade All-Eye, by Bob van Laerhoven The Tugging, by Ramsey Campbell Where Yidhra Walks, by Walter C. DeBill, Jr. Glimpses, by A.A. Attanasio Dope War of the Black Tong, by Robert M. Price Darkness, My Name is, by Eddy C. Bertin The Terror from the Depths, by Fritz Leiber Lumley's The Fairground Horror was a smooth flowing excellent story. The Silence of Erika Zann was surprising. I loved it. Dope War of the Black Tong was a cool action packed tough guy story which I found extremely entertaining, and finally Darkness, My Name is, was pretty good too. The other stories were easily forgotten. I'm not saying anything against them, I love Ramsey Campbell and the others, but the ones I mentioned earlier really stick out in my mind and were really entertaining. A couple of the stories I found not interesting at all though. Overall if you are an H.P. Lovecraft fan it is a pretty good collection I'm happy I got it.

When I first picked up this book, I was merely going out to replace something I had read long ago and had enjoyed immensely. Still, when I started going through it, I saw some noticeable changes that actually helped it out and are worth noting. See, while this is the second revised edition of this book and many have already checked out the first, there were some changes in the lineup that made it different from the original. First, the stories by Ramsey Campbell and Brain Lumley were slightly revised, making them flow more appropriately. Next, "Zoth-Ommog," by Lin Carter, was dropped and replaced with Robert Price's "Dope War of the Blank Tong," a change that would be upsetting if it weren't for Lin's own set of stories being published and, lastly, "The Feaster from Afar," by Joseph Brennan, was left out and replaced with A.A. Attansio's "Glimpses."

In this edition of the continual homage paid to Lovecraftian lore, there are two above average tales and five standout pieces that bring this 258 page edition to life, making it well worth buying. Briefly breaking some of them down and leaving out two well-crafted pieces, ( "Darkness, my name is," by Eddie Bertin, and The Terror from the Depths," by Fritz Leber, which spatial constrains keep me from going into detail about) and one above average tale ("Where Yidhra Walks, "by Walter Debill, Jr.) they are:

"The Fairground Horror," by Brain Lumley, deals with the great tentacled one's priests and the mark they bare. It begins by focusing on Hodgson's Funfair and a man named Anderson Tharpe who has recently added a new freak-house frontage called "Tomb Of The Great Old Ones." Within it are the normal oddities that freakshows like to use, the cons that have been sold throughout the ages, but there are also some other things, pieces taken from his younger brother, Hamiliton. Without delving too much into it, this is basically a lesson in why you should try to play with things belonging to the sleeping old one.

"The Silence of Erika Zann," by James Wade, plays off of a previously introduced idea by modernizing it, placing Erich Zann's granddaughter in a Rock Band that delves into some odd forums. Any time they play, there is a strange roar that seems to come from nowhere, and it seems to be taking its toll on her. What is it, the main character asks over and over? Well, its an above average tale that is good but loses some ground when compared to the works around it.

"All-Eye," by Bob Laerhoven, is an odd mixture of story with a surprise ending. Initially, I wasn't certain I would like it at all because it seemed like the basic forum introduced, the "found a book, it had a map, I went looking and something happened" story design, but that quickly changed when I read all the way through. Its hard to say that much about it without ruining the story, so I'll simply state that the style used pleasantly different.

"The Tugging," by Ramsey Campbell, shows exactly how talented this word painter actually is, with his analogies and comparisons actually deserving a bit of acclaim. It focuses on Ingels, a man plagued by dreams that he and his father seem to share. When he sleeps he dreams of a city beneath the waves and that the clouds in the sky are becoming something, but he always awakens before he find out exactly what that is. The dreams provoke a dread for sleep, an insomnia that begins to interrupt reality, and before Ingels knows he sees a correlation between both realms as they mesh together. Again, without giving away too much, this story is well worth you time to read.

Glimpse, by A.A. Attansio, is an odd tale involving the Lord of Holes himself, Yog-Sothoth, revolving around an oddly pierced stone that defies description. Sometimes it seems like a simple stone, other times it seems like a strange congammeration of ribbons. Our initial main character, Gene Mirandola, is given it when he goes to meet with his uncle, an oddly eclectic individual that tells him to take it to a Dr. Marc Souvate. Well, he does, and finds out the oddities of the One-in-All and All-in-One, things that deal directly with his uncle and that deal with Souvate's odd history as well. The story takes a strange turn in the center, taking a simple threat to one soul by Yog and his followers to one that threatens the entirety of the world. It's actually really well done.

The next, by Robert Price, is entitled "Dope War of the Black Tong," Its a story revolving around the Tcho-Tcho and their worshipping habits, reminding me very much of something Robert E. Howard would have done. It has all the essentials; a storyline, some tentacles, a bit of death, and Asian oddities.

Again, this set of stories is well worth checking out because their focus is not uniformed and their styles certainly differ. It is in this variety that you gain something, something wonderfully evil, and evil meshing with all-encompassing madness is always a wonderful thing.

Usually when I review Chaosium products, I grade their material on innovativeness, an eye-catching twist, or some original element added to an otherwise-typical pastiche. For DISCIPLES OF CTHULHU, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to say that all these stories are excellent due to the quality of writing. These are some of the best Mythos stories that I have read to date, and I appreciate that they have been compiled together. It would be more appropriate to title this collection THE DISCIPLES OF LOVECRAFT, since few have to do with Cthulhu himself.

"The Fairground Horror": An unscrupulous carny worker wishes to learn the full power of his ancient artifacts so that he can use them for financial gain. Dreams come to him from an underground island of basaltic rock to warn him to take proper respect. Knowledge has its price...

"The silence of Erika Zann": A modern retelling of "The music of Erich Zann".

"All-eye": a story from the Great White North. A student tries to escape the clutches of a wendigo-spirit. What he finds is even worse.

"The Tugging": A story about a man's investigation of his past. As he learns more of his family's part in an unfolding story that he is reporting on, his investigation becomes an obsession. He learns the truth, but like Cassandra, his knowledge does not save him.

"Where Yidhra Walks": Set in the American West, describes an encounter with a different kind of Mythos being.

"Glimpses": An intriguing story about the investigation of time and space. The first part takes place in the past, as an initiate and his master investigate the mysteries of Yog-Sothoth. The second half deals with a future military research lab that attempts to use that knowledge to build a weapon. Of course, tampering with Things Man Was Not Meant To Know (tm) brings terrible results.

"Dope War of the Black Tong": A yellow peril story, in the same vein as some of Robert E. Howard's work. An enjoyable change of pace.

"Darkness, My Name is": It begins as a typical story about a skeptical mystical researcher dropped into a cult town and interfering with the ritual activities. Then we learn that the skeptical resrearcher has a much deeper past and is more intimately tied to the events than we thought.

"The Terror From The Depths": This story deals with one man's struggle with his true nature. It's actually a little difficult to follow, and more is hinted at than is spelled out clearly. The setting is California, which is a change of scenery for most.

This was a very enjoyable collection for me. Well-written stories are usually worth reading, and the pleasure is doubled when the subject is one that you follow.

I first read a version of this volume in 1976, and the stories within have had a hold on me since then (especially the Erika Zann story). Well-edited volume with an eye for quality fiction, no clinkers here, and the quality isn't as uneven as some of the Chaosium anthologies seem to be. If you're an HPL fan, this book is a must. If you're not-a really good place to start. Most of he stories here are couched in contemporary language and are very accessible to the novice Cthuvian. This updated volume is as good as the original volume...which is high praise indeed.

I tried to read Lovecraft when I was 12 and hated it. I got this book (in it's first edition) when I was about 17 and absolutely loved it. The good guys always die or go crazy in the end - I can't think of a better way for a horror story to end.

Now I'm 29 and Lovecraft is tied with Tanith Lee and Anne Rice for my favorite author. The story didn't end but I'm already crazy (probably from reading these twisted tales).

This is a reprint of a DAW original anthology from the mid-70s. I read the book back then and thought it was so-so. The Fritz Leiber "Terror from the Depths" was very good, and Leiber brought his usual skill to the Cthulhu Mythos. The Eddy Bertin story and the Lumley stories were good as well, but they stood out like stars amid the rest of the pieces.

all-eye(wendigo-story) and glimpses (sorcery/yog-s.) were the two i really liked here. they had enough suspence. as for the rest.... there are no truly bad stories here. and they are surely professionally written. my problem with them is that they spend too much time "building". telling the complete life story of someone, is utterly unnecessary. there were too much building here. i wish there was more invested in descriptions, endings and good old-fashioned suspence. they simply didn't give me enough while i read them.