Crypt of Cthulhu #68

Dr. Bantham

Dr. Bantham

Town Manager
Staff member
Front CoverBook DetailsBack Cover

GenreHorror
PublisherCryptic Publications
Publication DateOctober 1989
FormatWraps
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Cover ArtistS. Thomas Brown
IllustratorS. Thomas Brown
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Personal Details
TLO ArchiveIn Collection
Index41
Read ItYes
Product Details
Issue Nr68
Stories
TitleAuthorPagePages
The Prodigy of DreamsThomas Ligotti37
Allan and Adelaide - An ArabesqueThomas Ligotti810
Ghost Stories for the DeadThomas Ligotti318
Studies in HorrorThomas Ligotti1221
Order of IllusionThomas Ligotti233
Charnelhouse of the MoonThomas Ligotti22
Ten Steps to Thin MountainThomas Ligotti137
Selections of LovecraftThomas Ligotti438
The Consolations of HorrorThomas Ligotti842
Illustrations
 
To uninformed readers (however few):

Several of the stories in this magazine/collection are relative Ligotti rarities, three of them almost impossible to find otherwise. Hence, this is the obsessive (read: fairly ordinary) Ligotti collector's must-have. As one might expect, it is not an easy find, although relative to many of these small-press editions, is a piece of cake to locate; As I lack it, I have sought it out with great vigour.... And failed.
 
I bought a copy of this on EBay a year or two back. Finding the likes of back issues of Crypt is inevitably a hit and miss affair, but it may be worth watching those auctions. I think I paid about fifteen pounds for my copy -- there was at least one other bidder but (luckily) no last minute deployment of sniping software. :D
 
The Silent One said:
To uninformed readers (however few):

Several of the stories in this magazine/collection are relative Ligotti rarities, three of them almost impossible to find otherwise. Hence, this is the obsessive (read: fairly ordinary) Ligotti collector's must-have. As one might expect, it is not an easy find, although relative to many of these small-press editions, is a piece of cake to locate; As I lack it, I have sought it out with great vigour.... And failed.
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Private message me your mailing address and I'll give you my copy as a gift after I xerox its contents. I am grown old & plagued with ill-health & it is senseless for me to hang on to things when they cou'd be in younger hands.
 
Rare...and getting rarer, it seems. I haven't seen a copy on e-bay or elsewhere for awhile. As I mentioned in another thread, I recently got a copy of Tekeli-li No. 4, and it has made me hunger more than ever for the Ligotti issues of Crypt and Dagon.
 
starrysothoth said:
Rare...and getting rarer, it seems. I haven't seen a copy on e-bay or elsewhere for awhile. As I mentioned in another thread, I recently got a copy of Tekeli-li No. 4, and it has made me hunger more than ever for the Ligotti issues of Crypt and Dagon.
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I have the Ligotti issue of Dagon, actually, somewhere... It's an interesting piece of work, but I really think most notable for the fact that it has, on the back-cover, a piece of photo art containing one of the clearest photographic images available of Ligotti, and the only one I know of from the 1980s....
 
The Silent One said:
starrysothoth said:
Rare...and getting rarer, it seems. I haven't seen a copy on e-bay or elsewhere for awhile. As I mentioned in another thread, I recently got a copy of Tekeli-li No. 4, and it has made me hunger more than ever for the Ligotti issues of Crypt and Dagon.
Click to expand...

I have the Ligotti issue of Dagon, actually, somewhere... It's an interesting piece of work, but I really think most notable for the fact that it has, on the back-cover, a piece of photo art containing one of the clearest photographic images available of Ligotti, and the only one I know of from the 1980s....
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Funny you should mention it, I just acquired a copy of Dagon the other week. I was also struck by the back cover. The Ligotti photo in question shows the author's face clearer than any other I've seen in recent times, with the added artistic distortion to his left, as though a weird second Ligotti face is being reflected back. It's nicely done.

I feel really fortunate to have added this one to my collection. The art inside is truly excellent, and Ligotti photos are exceedingly rare. It's great to have an easily visible one in hard copy.
 
Speaking of CoC #68, here is Tom's copy that he gave me as a gift several years ago. Oddly enough, as you can see by the inscription, he has mixed feelings about some of the contents of this "early publication". I think it's really a reflection of Tom's perfectionist nature more than anything else. He tends to be very critical of some of his earlier stuff, and as Tom would say, "There's a reason why some stuff never gets included in later collections". While I don't agree with that sentiment entirely, and I know that some of what's in CoC# 68 made it into later publications and some did not, I understand his point. That being said, I am happy to own this increasingly rare item for all it is, and much of the reason it's so desired is that there are early writings of his that can't be found elsewhere.
Tim

 
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Thanks for sharing, Tim. It's too bad some of the earlier small press fragments are unlikely to be reprinted anytime soon. I heard good things about "Ten Steps to Thin Mountain." I'm hoping to procure a copy of Crypt of Cthulhu 68 the next time one surfaces. It's the last Ligotti "special" magazine I need.
 
starrysothoth said:
Thanks for sharing, Tim. It's too bad some of the earlier small press fragments are unlikely to be reprinted anytime soon. I heard good things about "Ten Steps to Thin Mountain." I'm hoping to procure a copy of Crypt of Cthulhu 68 the next time one surfaces. It's the last Ligotti "special" magazine I need.
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"Ten Steps to Thin Mountain" is utterly marvelous. Why it was not included in "Notebook of the Night", I do not know, as it is almost certainly Ligotti's most effective and disturbing vignette.

As for the other uncollected work, it is quite worthwhile, though I can understand why Tom would be inclined to keep them out-of-print. "Charnel House of the Moon", in particular, is just too odd to fit anywhere. It is almost something one might find in a magazine of satire and wry humour, if such a periodical were published by, say, Clark Ashton Smith; which is not too far off from what little I've read of his work as Charles Miguel Riaz.
 
Jerad Walters has a dream of publishing a Ligotti MASTERS OF THE WEIRD TALE edition, and he is really good at finding obscure stuff. Of course, if this omnibus happens, it is a thing of the deep time future. Jerad will be publishing a new revised edition of THE AGONIZING RESURRECTION OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN & OTHER GOTHIC TALES, as he has announced in his new catalog, probably next year.
 
New Member here Just 2 weeks ago I picked up a mint copy of CoC 68 on The UK Ebay for a total of 21$ including shipping. I had been looking for a copy for some time.
 
Ligrotesque said:
New Member here Just 2 weeks ago I picked up a mint copy of CoC 68 on The UK Ebay for a total of 21$ including shipping. I had been looking for a copy for some time.
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Congrats! That's a great price. I have seen it sell for over $200 on eBay. My copy cost me about $2 but I have been buying Ligotti stuff for a long time. I even have a hardcover copy of it. It was made in India. But someone put a stop to that. No doubt for copyright reasons.
 
Brought my copy years ago. Can't remember what price or where I brought it from, but wouldn't have paid more then £20 for it at the time. I didn't realize it had become scarce...
 
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