New Lovecraft Circle (Hardcover)

by Robert M. Price (Editor) "When Frank Nuttall, Tony Roles, and I reached the Inn at Severnford, we found that it was closed..." (more)
Key Phrases: pallid mask, gadget bag, black mirror, Old Ones, Tarquin Armbruster, Satan's Ledge (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Price invokes Susan Sontag on camp, and Jacques Derrida on writing, to support his incisive view of what works and what doesn't work in contemporary Lovecraftian fiction.

The basic idea of a Mythos tale . . . is an interior skeleton like a mammal's, a frame on which to grow . . . It forms the baseline against which the new variations may be measured. It is not a denial of flexibility; it is something to be flexible with.

Preface by Ramsey Campbell, fascinating introduction by Price, beautiful cover art by Gahan Wilson, and 26 tales by Campbell, Lumley, Sutton, Wagner, Tierney, Lupoff, Ligotti, Burleson, Rainey and others. No overlap with previous anthologies.

Product Description
H. P. Lovecraft was the eerily prescient genius who first electrified readers in Weird Tales magazine. His tales changed the face of horror forever and inspired the bloodcurdling offerings of a new generation. These brilliant dark visionaries forge grisly trails through previously uncharted realms of mortal terror.

THE PLAIN OF SOUND by Ramsey Campbell: In the beginning they could find no source for the throbbing vibrations; in the end they could find no escape.
THE HORROR ON THE BEACH by Alan Dean Foster: Along the coast of Santa Barbara, the mighty Pacific Ocean can no longer contain—or conceal—an ancient, insatiable evil stirring in its depths.
THE KISS OF BUGG-SHASH by Brian Lumley: It mattered not how innocent the students’ motives seemed; the demon had been summoned, and the price had to be paid—every last red drop of it.
THE FISHERS FROM OUTSIDE by Lin Carter: A man obsessed with unlocking the secrets of a race older than time would not be disappointed— doomed perhaps, devoured possibly, but definitely not disappointed.

AND TWENTY-ONE MORE TALES OF FEAR --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 389 pages
• Publisher: Fedogan & Bremer; 1st edition (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 187825216X
• ISBN-13: 978-1878252166
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,451,898 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven but plenty of chills for horror aficionados, May 17, 2004

By	klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The New Lovecraft Circle (Paperback)

The world that Howard Phillips Lovecraft created continues to exert its spell decades after his death. This collection brings together twenty-five tales by authors spinning their own variations and extrapolations of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which postulates the existence of an ancient, evil race of beings outside the generally known dimensions of time and space that lurks in the shadows, constantly waiting and watching for its chance to reconquer the earth and destroy humanity.

It's a creepy thought, and the best tales in this collection are those that filter this paranoia in new and unexpected ways: "The Horror on the Beach," by Alan Dean Foster, for example, transplants the monster to the sunny California coast. "The Stone on the Island" by Ramsey Campbell is a masterpiece of understatement, all the more terrifying for its low-key, economical prose. "The Kiss of Bugg-Shash" by Brian Lumley is more in the classic Lovecraftian vein of the disgusting, slimy, implacable enemy, but chilling for all of that. Less successful are entries that ape Lovecraft's over-the-top and frankly dated writing style, or that stick too closely to his original concepts and geographical settings. Nevertheless, as a whole this collection offers plenty of skin-crawling reading. Don't read it when you're alone, or during a power outage.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hugely disappointing, January 31, 2007

By	Donal Buckley (Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The New Lovecraft Circle (Paperback)

I've been trying lots of the new Lovecraft inspired anthologies over the last year, having been a Lovecraft fan for more than 25 years, and have just finished this most recent.
Now unlike the majority of the Lovecraft fan world, I think R.M. Price is hugely over-rated. Yes he knows Lovecraft, and literature but he is pompous, self-absorbed and a turgid writer. As editor of by far the worst of the Lovecraft anthologies, The Tsatoggua Cycle, he made me know fear; fear of Lovecraft pastiche and his overblown literary criticism. But I loved his reading of The Dunwich Horror, and based on positive reviews of this book I tried it, and am deeply sorry I've wasted my time on it.
While at least it stays away from the Clarke Ashton Smith type of fantastical imitations, I ploughed through exactly half the book before I came on something good in The Keeper of Dark Point, by John Glasby. By good, unfortunately I mean in comparison to the drivel before it. So many of the stories here finish with the dreaded <last line of horror in italics> that you realize just how poor Price's editorial skills are. (Not to mention his writing in his own story). There are average stories, bad stories, awful stories, attempts to do something different that completely fail ( Richard Lupoff's Lights! Camera! Shub-Niggurath! great title, unbelievingly long and unfunny lead-in)and by my count 2 out of 25 very good stories, Thomas Ligotti's Vastarien and David Kaufman's The Church at Garlock's Bend.
Skip this, save your money. "Cthulhu 2000" is the best of the Lovecraftian anthologies with "The New Mythos Circle", "Shadows Over Baker Street" * "Shadows Over Innsmouth" seems ok so far but I've read little of it yet.
Go back and buy the new Penguin releases of Lovecraft with editorial by ST Joshi, a better editor and writer.

3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, April 10, 2003

By	jan erik storebø (norway) - See all my reviews

price follows up his tales of the lovecraft mythos, going to the newer pulp writers. still excellent. great stories. especially good as an introduction to pulp: good plots, not too weird, great descriptions. great stories. the best of the best. loved glasby and rainey. loved a lot.