Customer Reviews

The Taint of Lovecraft

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I've been reading Mythos and Lovecraftian pastiche since the late 70s. I've read it in book collections, magazines and fanzines. I've read it on the net and people have sent me their personal works through snail- and e-mail. After two and a half decades of reading this material my conclusion is that most of it really is drek. When I was a kid and saw a movie that I really liked, I would go home and try to recapture those memories by drawing what I had seen in the theater. Those drawings were crude and poorly thought out, with the attempt being to just catch those visceral moments of inspiring imagery. It got my jollies going but it didn't for anyone looking at the "artwork". That is what most Lovecraft pastiche is; a quick regurgitation of what a reader liked about his writings in the first place, but without a clear and thought out structure to their imitations. Just monster names and adjectives.

This is not what Sargent does, not in the slightest. He has taken the form known as "Mythos Fiction" and turned it on its ear. There is no multi-page spewage to name terrible tomes in a crazed professor's library or recitations of the long list of Great Old Ones which will likely show up at the end of the tale. There are no final tableaus that read "My God! I can hear it clawing at the window! It's going to....." .

But what there is in Sargent's writing which makes it so fascinating and satisfying to read is that he takes a seed of Lovecraftiana and grows his own tale out of it. He does not luridly imitate or ape Lovecraft (except in moments of satire) in any way, but instead uses a Lovecraftian idea or subject as the premise of a story and then playfully builds something completely new and different out of it.

There are several forms his Lovecraft inspired writings take and each are on display in THE TAINT OF LOVECRAFT. What we have in front of us with this book is horror/science fiction ("The Love of Their Craft"), satire ("The Insider"), dark humor ("An End to Worry", "Double Screecher"), we have fiction based off of clever, original and untraditional analysis ("Black Brat of Dunwitch") and even some true horror ("Live Bait") which has the best horrorific and twist-ending that I have personally read in 25 years of Mythos reading. I'd dare say it has a better twist ending than anything the 'Old Gent' ever came up with himself. We also find a thoroughly and thoughtfully researched historic novella, "Nyarlatophis: A Fable of Ancient Egypt" which takes place within Sargent's true playground of knowledge; archeology, especially within Egypt and the reign of Ahkenaten in the 18th Dynasty.

Sargent does not write in order to just hear the same old Mythos names called out again and again, he writes to further a body of work based on knowledge, research, wit, humor and a passion to write the best and most entertaining story possible. Why do I know this to be so? Because I've read this book and it is not written by a lazy fan who wants to relive a simple Lovecraftian thrill! You'll understand this too when you read it and you'll be glad you did.

I've also read his first collection ANCIENT EXHUMATIONS which includes more of Sargent's clever wit, dark humor and intelligent writing. So if you like TAINT you will want to look up ANCIENT EXHUMATIONS +2, which is a reprint with some new art and two of Sargent's latest stories (one based in the world of Clark Ashton Smith ("The Black Massif") and a chilling non-Mythos tale ("Famine Wood").

PS., As an adult I no longer draw pictures based off of movies I have seen, but I will do illustrations based off of literature that truly inspires me. That means that within the world of Lovecraftian fiction I do not illustrate very much, but I will gladly illustrate for Stanley Sargent because his writing is truly worth the time and effort. I am proud to decorate his tales with my art. -D.A.R.

What a wonderful book. If you are not familiar with the work of Stanley Sargent, I heartily recommend this book. For once Cthulhu Mythos aficionados can revel in a new, individual voice. Indeed, it is the distinct "voice" of each of the selections in this book that remains so impressive. That and the fact that Sargent (like Robert Bloch before him) is one of the few Mythos writers that successfully mixes horror and humor.

Probably one of the most satisfying aspects about the "Taint" is that the reader gets to sample Sargent in various aspects of his craft - from straight, Mythos horror, to subtle humor, to irreverent poetry and well-researched analysis. (The central novella, Nyarlatophis, set in ancient Egypt, is also superbly researched and delivered.) His range is as varied as is his manner of delivery - from a creepy "Live Bait," a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft's famous (and disturbing) "Shadow Over Innsmouth," to a thought provoking "Black Brat of Dunwich"-- a different interpretation of Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror." The two should be read side by side for the remarkable insights and conclusions Sargent manages to draw from Lovecraft's original story. To be honest, I found all the stories in this volume interesting and surpirsingly successful - despite their different construction and delivery. In the last story: "Double Screecher" Sargent manages to perfectly capture the claustrophobic paranoia of an insecure man in a movie theater. But don't be misled, you will think the story is going one way but then Sargent will pull the rug out from under you and go in an entirely different direction. Fabulous!

Another aspect of Sargent's savvy work that I found most appealing was his fluid style - and the individual timbre of each story which had a distinct feeling and "voice" all their own. Part of this is due to his gift of knowing how to give the reader just enough detail to prompt their mind into its own tangents of description. In other words, instead of describing something in complete detail, he gives the reader just enough key words or phrases which then propels their mind into creating its own mental scenarios. A rare gift. I found this especially impressive in such stories as "Live Bait."

If all that were not enough, the book has illustrations by D. L. Hutchinson, Allen Koszowski, Daniel Alan Ross, Peter Worthy, Jeffrey Thomas and Stanley Sargent himself! The book is also given a superb introduction by Richard A. Lupoff, which immediately establishes the quality of entertainment that will be found between the book's covers, and each story is prefaced by comments from none other than Robert M. Price - the respected and veteran Lovecraft scholar.

Do yourself a favor and get this book. Sargent is a vivid, colorful writer. It is most unfortunate that his first volume of stories, Ancient Exhumations, is now out of print.

Experts from "Cemetery Dance" magazine's review (Issue 45, 2003, pg. 108, authored by Garrett Peck):

"Stanley C. Saregent is the most intelligent of the current crop of Mythos-inspired authors, as admirably demonstrated in his first collection, ANCIENT EXHUMATIONS. This second collection of Lovecraftian works is likely his last, however, as Richard A. Lupoff informs us in his introduction. ... Having studied Lovecraft's fiction in great depth, Sargent has found clues toward deeper meanings and hidden agendas that have inspired his fresh takes on some of Lovecraft's best-known work. ... 'Live Bait' revisits 'The Shadow over Innsmouth,' pulling a stunning reversal. ... Three short-shorts ... are hysterically funny takes on the sometimes overly serious Mythos. ... The centerpiece is the astounding novella "Nyarlatophis, A Fable of Ancient Egypt," the author's longest piece to date. ... Sargent has the uncanny ability to make a world lost in antiquity come vividly to life on the page. ... Readers of this book who haven't read Sargent's previous collection will certainly clamor to. ..."
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The story "The Black Brat of Dunwich" won the Origins award for Best Short Story of the Year in 1999 and received an honorable mention from Ellen Datlow in THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR. S.T. Joshi praised the story as a "clever deconstruction" of the original Lovecraftian tale in "Weird Tales" magazine, and Thomas Ligotti has also praised the tale (in a private communication to the author). Lovecraft scholar Ken Faig has also praised THE TAINT OF LOVECRAFT highly in print, and the late Hugh B. Cave praised the book highly as well.

In this, his second collection of tales inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's writing, Stanley C. Sargent firmly establishes himself as a master of his craft--a compelling storyteller in his own right and an important torchbearer for the legacy of Lovecraft's Mythos. The best tale in this collection is "The Black Brat of Dunwich," an insightful reinterpretation of Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" that meshes so well with the original one cannot help but think Sargent found the key for cracking a sinister code Lovecraft intentionally wrote as a hidden subtext. It almost begins to feel that one needs Sargent's later work in order to appreciate the antecedent text on all of its multi-faceted levels. I don't want to overstate the point, but I wish future collections reprinting Lovecraft's original tale could all include "Black Brat" side-by-side with it. That being said, Sargent's story may lose some of its relevance for the uninitiated.

Most good Mythos fiction is not only steeped in a sense of otherworldly terror and the macabre, but is also solidly grounded in real-world history. "Nyarlatophis" is no exception; Sargent's knowledge of ancient Egyptian history and mythology appears exhaustive, and this tale--the longest in the collection--was obviously well researched. In some ways, it may actually have been too well researched, as the first third of the story is rather ponderous as the reader wades through what often feels more like an historical essay than a novella. But again, readers who stick with this tale will be glad they did, as the pace picks up significantly half-way through, and the dark, cataclysmic ending is all the more powerful for the grounding in history Sargent provided earlier on.

As for the remainder of this collection, it is a varied mix: an effectively disturbing science fiction tale that brings the Mythos to the stars, a prequel and a sequel to two other Lovecraft classics that also stand on their own as powerfully creepy narratives, a handful of comic takes on HPL themes (fun but probably my own least favorite pieces in this bunch), and one or two twilight-zone style horror pieces with only very loose connections to the Mythos per se. These stories are handsomely illustrated throughout, including a drawing or two by Sargent himself. The author also throws in nine of his whimsical poems, written in a style that blends Edward Gorey with Shel Silversetein. Two of Sargent's non-fiction essays complete this set, one that is really little more than a collection of anecdotes about the possible influences of Lovecraft on the EVIL DEAD films, and the other of which provides some fascinating insights into Lovecraft's biographical self by finding clues in his stories.

For all those enthusiastic minions of things Lovecraftian out there (among whom I count myself one), THE TAINT OF LVOECRAFT is a book that should have a prominent place on your shelf. For the rest of you, TAINT might well serve as a good introduction to the expanded Mythos, but if nothing else, it offers a handful of diverting tales.

These days one of the hardest problems facing Cthulhu Mythos authors is to be able to write exciting tales within Lovecraft's framework, and yet tell these tales in a new and exciting voice. A fresh approach unfortunately seems to be something that numerous authors who've recently contributed to the cannon have been unable to do. So it is refreshing when an author such as Stanley C. Sargent succeeds to do just that, bringing a new perspective to the worlds of cosmic nihilism.

The Taint of Lovecraft is Sargent's second collection of Mythos tales, the first was <Ancient Exhumations>, also published by Mythos Books LLC. This later collection contains nine tales, nine poems, two essays and numerous illustrations, including interiors and a cover illustration by the author of H.P. Lovecraft dressed up as a Pharaoh.

The standout tale in this collection would have to be "Nyarlatophis, A Fable of Ancient Egypt" which draws us back to the life of Pharaoh Amenemhat I, founder of the Twelfth Dynasty, and his encounter with Nyarlathotep (in the form of Nyarlatophis). The Outer God once more attempts to destroy humanity as we would expect, but this time in a land and culture nearly three thousand years distance from the time when Lovecraft penned his first tale. It is evident that Sargent knows his subject, both Cthulhu Mythos and Egyptian history, and so is able to take us lovingly back to this splendid age so often referred to, but rarely visited by other cannon authors.

One of Stanley C. Sargent's great strengths as a storyteller is his ability to adapt Lovecraft's style, yet make it his own. Stories such as "Live Bait" and "Double Screetcher" incorporate those horrific twists readers expect at conclusion, a trait Lovecraft used so well. But these stories also allow us to see the comic side of the mythos, and to see that our perceptions of what is right and wrong is based purely on our `humanness', and that sometimes we are no better than the horrors we ourselves fight against. Sargent's favourite of his own work, "The Black Brat of Dunwich" likewise has a similar theme. This story tells "The Dunwich Horror" from a completely different perspective, in this case from the viewpoint of Wilbur Whateley, and makes for interesting reading, especially if we consider that Lovecraft's protagonist Armitage is seen as the antagonist here.

The end of the collection contains two essays, the latter of which provides an interesting analysis of "The Dunwich Horror" offering a rarely discussed insight into what self-inflicted and societal-inflicted demons Lovecraft might have been fighting against all his life, but demons that also allowed his fevered artistic expression to flourish. Lastly, each story is introduced by steadfast scholar Robert M. Price (I can see this guy on his own Mythos Collectable Card), who provides his own special touch to the collection providing insights on each story for those who like to know how and where such tales originate.

In summary The Taint of Lovecraft doesn't take the Cthulhu Mythos into new places and new times, rather the reader is drawn back to Lovecraft Country - be that Arkham, Dunwich, Innsmouth or Ancient Egypt - and once arriving there, Sargent turns everything on its head. Nothing it seems, is what it seems, but isn't that what the Mythos is all about?

The Taint of Lovecraft is a joy on many levels. Stanley C. Sargent writes with wit and insight that are equally incisive in crafting the tales collected here. These brilliantly original takes on the Mythos fiction created by H.P. Lovecraft will undoubtedly please fans of horror fiction in general and Mythos readers especially. Sargent labors over the historical research that forms the backbone of many of his tales, and the results show in the authenticity and accuracy of his work.

This mix of stories, poems, and two highly entertaining essays is an important contribution to Mythos fiction. More importantly, though, it is a highly satisfying read.

The centerpiece of the book, "Nyarlatophis, A Fable of Ancient Egypt" is one of the most impressive Mythos-inspired stories I've ever read, and achieves the almost unheard of feat of rivaling the work of HPL in its sense of dread and eerieness, even though it is set in time period far removed from that in which HPL wrote.

What may stand out most about Sargent's tales in this collection, though, is their unerring capacity for nurturing the humor and sense of irony that is native to HPL's work but is often lost or overlooked among other Mythos fiction efforts, and bringing it to the forefront.

In short, this is a beautifully written, fantastic book.

A devoted student of the Lovecraftian writing, Stanley Sargent has brought fresh and exciting blood to this art form in his book TAINT OF LOVECRAFT. His stories grab you at the beginning and hold you spellbound to the final words, often those that are unexpected and surprising.

You need not be a student of ancient history to understand Mr. Sargent's stories. He brings everything to life for you, keeping you on an exciting journey through words that are alive and ready to leap out at you as you turn each page. If you are ready to be shocked, surprised, thrilled, and mystified, this book is for you.

This is what a Lovcraftian collection should be. Almost all the stories are spot on good. While one or two stories in the collection fell flat for me, most were excellent. I will not go into each story in the collection, as others have done that justice already; but "The Insider" was so good that it still gives me a shiver thinking about it.

Any fan of the "mythos" needs to have this collection. While dovetailing closely with HPL's writing, it has originality and freshness that made it a joy (or horror) to read. And you have to love the cover.