That Ain't Right: Historical Accounts of the Miskatonic Valley (Mad Scientist Journal Presents) (Volume 1)

by Emily C. Skaftun (Contributor), Dawn Vogel (Editor), Jeremy Zimmerman (Editor)

Series:Mad Scientist Journal Presents (1)

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"Growing up in Arkham, you hear things. Ghost stories wrapped in magickal moon lore with a heaping helping of elder gods and forbidden books, all swapped between boys and girls over dwindling campfires. We collected alternate histories like kids on TV traded baseball cards. As a child of Arkham, you just took for granted you lived in a special town, but seeing that difference up close and personal, in the place where you gave up evenings and weekends so college admissions might think you show more were well-rounded and responsible, well, seeing that kind of truth was an awful big shock."-- "Arkquarium" by Folly BlaineMad Scientist Journal has brought together eighteen tales of people who have either lived in this strange corner of New England or had the misfortune of visiting. Mixed in with nods to classic Lovecraft icons are stories that bring a new eye to the genre. Tales of horse drawn carriages share space with orbital shuttles, alternate worlds, and football.Included in this collection are Sanford Allen, Brandon Barrows, Folly Blaine, Darin M. Bush, Kelda Crich, Nathan Crowder, Erik Scott de Bie, Sean Frost, Phil Gonzales, Brian Hamilton, Samuel Marzioli, Erick Mertz, Craig D. B. Patton, Jenna M. Pitman, Evan Purcell, Damir Salkovic, Emily C. Skaftun, and Cliff Winnig. show less

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JohnNienart 277 reviews

Disclaimer: I am friends with the editors as well as some of the authors, and also backed the book's Kickstarter.

This is a really solid collection of Lovecraftian or Lovecraft-inspired stories, assembled by the editors of the Mad Scientist Journal e-zine. For me it gets off to bit of a rocky start, with a couple tales that suffer from a flaw common to a lot of so-so horror fiction; describing the flaw would constitute spoilers, so I'll refrain. Then again, it could be just me that is bothered by this particular narrative choice.

However, many of the later stories are excellent. The ones that stick out in my memory include "The Laughing Book" by Cliff Winnig, "In Defense of Professor Falcrovet" by Darin M. Bush, and "The Ghost Circus" by show more Phillip C. Gonzales. And the final tale in the collection, "Come Down, Ma Evenin' Star" by Sanford Allen, is a masterwork! Seamlessly blending far-future science fiction with magnificent, eldritch horror, all by itself it is worth the price of admission.

In short, I'm extremely happy that the MSJ editors put together this printed volume, and I'm looking forward to supporting the Kickstarter for their next volume. show less

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