Customer Reviews

The Trail of Cthulhu

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H.P. Lovecraft posthumously owes a great debt to August Derleth. Derleth is responsible for the fact that Lovecraft's work is still available today. Derleth created a publishing house to help keep this work in print. Derleth also attempted to continue Lovecraft's tradition of horror by writing new tales himself, many created from one or two sentences of Lovecraft's. Derleth's reputation as a writer has suffered (deservedly) from this. The present book builds on some of Lovecraft's concepts. However, where other works of Derleth's are the worst sort of hack work, I actually found this book to be both fun and interesting. This book would never be considered literary in the way Lovecraft's work is, but it is a fun read for fans of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

I bought this book second hand about 15 years ago and it still continues to be a favoutite. As a life-long HPL fan and a formerly avid Call of Cthulhu player, this book really does a wonderful job of giving some life to all the places that HPL only names. How many times has HPL made reference to Irem of te Pillars or the Rub al Khali or any of the multitude of place-names that are associated wit the Mythos? The great thing about this book is that Derleth actually takes you to some of these places and sket ches them out in vivid detail.

I have always felt that while Derleth may not have had the dark, cosmic vision of HPL, he did manage to find a way to give his stories a more human element, with clearer imagery and detail.

Along with Trail, I also recommend Masks of Cthulhu, a collection of short stories and The Lurker at the Threshold, a solid Mythos novel from top to bottom.

After Howard Lovecraft's untimely death in 1937, August Derleth fought to keep the man's work and Mythos alive. In addition to republishing the original tales, Derleth also completed unfinished stories and created others from Lovecraft's notes and outlines. The Trail of Cthulhu is a series of linked stories regarding the efforts of Dr. Laban Shrewsbury, Andrew Phelan, and others to thwart the awakening of the mighty sleeping Cthulhu. Derleth imitates Lovecraft's verbose writing style so poorly that it reads almost as a parody rather than the well intentioned expansion of the Mythos that was intended. Derleth also goes into such detail, leaves so little to the imagination, and is so repetitive in his narratives, that it robs the stories of any real suspense, foreboding, or fear. As big a fan of Lovecraft as I am, this book was a disappointment and a real chore to finish. I can only recommend this to other Cthulhu enthusiasts, and then only to those that, after having emptied the well completely, still find themselves thristing for more of the shunned Old Ones. Otherwise skip it, you will not miss it, believe me.

The Writing style of August Derleth is such that you can read and feel as if you are participating in the story being told. The stories are all linked together to provide the reader with a sense of eerie completed tasks. If you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you will also enjoy this book. If you are new to this style and content, BEWARE... and enjoy!

While August Derleth is a man of most honorable mention for his keeping alive of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's well known fiction, the fact that the man was fit to continue the Cthulhu Mythos is entirely disputable. Derleth is a talented author by any standards, but his style of writing is not necessarily one that compliments the Mythos. In this novel he avoids, intentionally or otherwise, the very emotions that Lovecraft fought to establish. Derleth takes a less emotional and more matter-of-fact approach in describing the horrors of Arkham, while Lovecraft utilizes an approach that is mysterious and open ended among other traits.


It is made apparent in this paragraph that Lovecraft plays heavily on human emotion while speaking of the monster.

"Johansen, thank God, did not know quite all, even though he saw the city and the Thing, but I shall never sleep calmly again when I think of the horrors that lurk ceaselessly behind life in time and in space, and of those unhallowed blasphemies from elder stars which dream beneath the sea, known and favoured by a nightmare cult ready and eager to loose them on the world whenever another earthquake shall heave their monstrous stone city again to the sun and air."


An example of Derleth's style is well represented in his description of Cthulhu.

"...a mass of doughy flesh filling the entire doorway; then suddenly a great, malign eye appeared in its mass; and at the same time a amorphous mass began to ooze out around the doorway..."


Having said this, the novel is an enjoyable read. The author has effectively written a science fiction novel that dabbles in horror and the supernatural which makes for a darkly alluring work. I would not advise reading this novel without a prior understanding of the Cthulhu Mythos and its deities.