New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird

H. P. Lovecraft’s influence on fiction, music and film has never been as strong as it is today – his thoughts, ideas and mythos have permeated into all corners of modern culture, often unbeknownst to many. This cleverly chosen collection of stories from Prime Books and edited by Paula Guran shows that the influence of the “dark and baroque prince” is still strong in the literary medium. The tales in the collection, in their different ways, all use Lovecraft’s themes and motifs of cosmic dread, universal indifference and the insignificance of mankind to inspired effect. The collection runs to some 27 tales and there isn’t really a bad one in the bunch with the majority ranging from the very good to the exotically excellent. show more The tales, without exception, all capture something of the famous “Lovecraftian atmosphere” in subtly different ways. Although it is subjective, to a degree, as to what exactly that “Lovecraftian atmosphere” may be, I would certainly use words like eldritch and evocative; outre and other-wordly; melancholic and psychological in my own personal definitions – and all these tales definitely fit into these definitions. If forced to select favourites I would probably say Caitlin Kiernan's atmospheric and moody "Pickman's Other Model (1929)"; "The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft" by Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt; “The Fungal Stain” by W, H. Pugmire; "Bringing Helena Back” by Sarah Monette and Kim Newman’s clever and culturally savvy “Another Fish Story”. Paula Guran provides an excellent introduction, which questions and probes at modern Lovecraftania and is as readable as any story in the book. “New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird” is an excellent collection that can be delved into again-and again, the quality of the tales within are that high. show less

Picked this up for the excellent Neil Gaiman pastiche of Conan Doyle, "A Study in Emerald", which I never tire of. An entertainingly wide range of interpretations of and responses to Lovecraft: stories that are sympathetic in tone (Don Webb's "The Great White Bed"), humorous (William Browning Spencer's "The Essayist in the Wilderness"), utterly contemporary (Michael Marshall Smith's "Fair Exchange"), overly-affected crypto-Lovecraft (W.H. Pugmire's "The Fungal Stain"), and meta (Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt's "The Dude who Collected Lovecraft"). Some pretty good stuff in here, and the less-good is at least short.

I haven't read Lovecraft's work in decades--I haven't read the word "squamous" in years and years and years! But I'm glad I decided to pick this volume up as it brings him into the 21st Century (and beyond). Sometimes kicking and screaming, as in the case of two short stories that respond to Lovecraft's racial politics (to say "Lovecraft was a racist" is kind of like saying "Duke Ellington was a musician"). If you've been recently introduced to the Chtulu mythos, or if like me it's been a long time, I'd pick it up. If you're into weird horror, I'd do so as well.

Inspired by the impact of the groundbreaking horror works of H.P. Lovecraft in the 20th century, this collection of 27 short works is a sampling of what is being referred to as "the new weird". The stories are not necessarily Lovecraftian in style -- although some have strong hints of that -- but they are modern, up-to-date takes on the kinds of themes and ideas that Lovecraft's stories touched upon 100 years ago. The stories in this collection vary in quality, but even at their weakest, they still exude a sense of otherworldieness -- humanity is still a small speck in the greater cosmos, and we appear to be sharing our small planet with fascinating and terrifying creatures beyond our imaginings. I highly recommend this collection, in show more part, due to the reputations of many of its contributors. The stories are all reprints from other sources, but you'd be hard pressed to find as good a collection featuring such an esteemed variety of contributors, including: Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Charles Stross, Elizabeth Bear, Kim Newman, John Shirley and Sarah Monette. If you have even the slightest interest in contemporary horror fiction, you'll want to try this one on for size!
Originally reviewed for my local library's website:
http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec13-04.htm show less

I am generally not a big fan of story collections, and I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy this book (a gift), especially as, while I truly enjoy Lovecraft, I tend to be picky about horror fiction. I was extremely pleasantly surprised! Almost without exception, I felt these stories were faithful to Lovecraft's ideas - and yet diverse from each other, and highly entertaining! Not every story will please every reader, but I think anyone who enjoys Lovecraft will enjoy at least some of the stories herein, and I'd recommend it strongly to all of those people! High marks for the editing selection and for almost all of the content!

A good collection but like all short story collections, there are some gems, some good premises, some disappointments & some howlers. I think overall, this is a good collection with Cherie Priest & Neil Gaiman standing out in particular. Just don't expect a brilliant tale every time

Okay, so I can't say that horror is my favourite genre and most of these stories are not what I may in my favourites lists but there are a number thyat were great while keeping to the ideal of the collection and some that have used the cthulhonic background to inform their own tales.