Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

It's 2.30 in ye morning -- what am I doing in front of my laptop?
I did a very strange thing to-day -- or, rather, yesterd-day. I joined brianlumley.com! And it's run by his wife, Silky. So I sent her a private message in which I told her that I never meant to hurt Brian's feelings by growing up and seeing my tastes mature to the point where I simply cannot enjoy his fiction. Pretty flipping weird. I have felt guilty ever since he insulted me in front of all of those hundreds of Lovecraftians, because the gist of his message about me was ,"you used to love my work and now you've forsaken me." And I thought, aww, I've really hurt the wanker's feelings. So, I've made the first step and told him I'm sorry that I said some really awful things about him. I expect that their reply will be "Piss off"and they'll have my membership on the web-site canceled. Guess I'm getting mellow in my old age.

I found a Lovecraft site on Facebook that has over 14,900 members! Moft of yem are inactive.

I discovered I can use my bank card to order from amazon.com! Cthulhu help me! I've ordered an audio reading of Oscar Wilde's DE PROFUNDUS -- and -- TEATRO GROTTESCO! I've got a feeling that when I get my next check from my patrons I'll be using a portion of it to complete my Ligotti library.

The really amusing (in a sad, pathetic way) thing about the Blumley site is that, first, moft of ye members are inactive, unlike ye whut are obsess'd with Thomas Ligotti; and -- my gawd, judging from the way they spell in their postings, they are not very -- um -- "literary". I know that sounds snobbish, but the comparison between the intellect of Ligotti admirers and Lumley fans is extremely illuminating. It takes a certain genius, I guess, to appreciate Tom's work. :-}

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I have now completed my reading of Frank Belknap Long's THE HORROR FROM THE HILLS, and I found it a rather good short Mythos novels. I was rather shocked by the first section, in which a man's face is -- transfigur'd -- by way of his encounter with Chaugnar Faugn. It's been perhaps two decades since I last read this tale, and I had forgotten most of its details; but the image stay'd with me, in my subconscious; & thus, years ago, when I was writing my book of tales in which I pay tribute to those gentlemen who were a part of the Lovecraft Circle, I wrote a tale in memory of Belknap that had a character whose face had been alter'd because she was an offspring of the Great Old One. I had no memory of the image of a face with a trunk being used by Frank (although I remember that T. E. D. Klein used this image, in an exceptionally brilliant and chilling fashion, in his tale [also written in tribute to Long] "Black Man with a Horn," whut Jim Turner included in his interesting but poorly named anthology, CTHULHU 2000. (The anthology also includes "The Last Feast of Harlequin" by Thomas Ligotti, "Lord of the Land" by Gene Wolfe, "On the Slab" by Harlan Ellison, "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" by Roger Zelanzy, "Fat Face" by Michael Shea, "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" by Poppy Z. Brite, "The Big Fish" by Kim Newman, "The Unthinkable" by Bruce Sterling and "I Had Vacantly Crumbled It into My Pocket....But by God, Eliot, IT WAS A PHOTOGRAPH FROM LIFE!" by Joanna Russ. There has been a bit of controversy over the role that Turner played in the course that Arkham House took after Derleth's death; some feel that he was responsible for driving away hardcore collectors and AH fans with his preference for publishing science fiction authors. However, his selection in this anthology and in ETERNAL LOVECRAFT [whut also includes tales by Ligotti, Ellison, Wolfe, and serv'd as my introduction to the wondrous short fiction of William Browning Spencer] shews Lovecraft's huge influence on writers in the sf genre. It has yet to be thoroughly explor'd, the effect of Lovecraft's cosmic fiction, his blending of supernatural horror with science fiction tropes, on modern science fiction authors.)

Centipede Press will be reprinting THE HORROR FROM THE HILLS in their forthcoming omnibus of Belknap's work, which will be a part of Centipede's Masters of the Weird Tale series of books. I have finally order'd and am awaiting my copy of their Lovecraft edition in that series.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

From Enter the Octopus, an H.P. Lovecraft expert on "Masterminds":

http://entertheoctopus.wordpress.com...n-masterminds/

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Thank you for that. I used to exchange letters with Brian Lumley in the 1980s. I no longer recall why the correspondence lapsed, but I don't think that we ever had a definite falling out. Your post about the B Lumley site reminded me that his wife was a literary agent, a class of person for whom I'm currently looking. I've sent her message via the B Lumley site. I don't hold out any very great hopes from that quarter, but one never knows. Worth a try, anyway.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

It can only be "The Dunwich Horror". You never forget your first.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Thanks, my dear. Life is too short to be nasty and stupid and insulting, and I did feel a bit of guilt about hurting his feelings. I've order'd HAGGOPIAN in hardcover, and I find that I still love those Titus Crow stories. I really enjoy'd reading that book, so I got a hardcover of TITUS CROW VOL. I, with the first two Crow novels included. Silky was extremely kind to me when she replied to my private message, telling me that they did not mind my being there, but that Brian insists that "watch what you say!" I sent them a note of thanx, as they are being very gracious after all the wanker-crap I spouted in anger over things Brian has said about me. It feels really great to try and be a gentleman, a nice person, especially when it comes to dealing with other writers and Lovecraftians. There are so many stupid assholes in the world, people who are mean-spirited and go out of their way to condemn others -- and I never want to be numbered among those losers.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Wow! I just finished reading this thread and what a ride! Great stories, cool old zine art, a well thought out critique and things I never thought I would know.
A Blumley.
How unfortunate is that? Sounds like it follows a Filthy Sanchez.
No wonder I was intimidated by you guys!
You're so old!
Er..um...I mean...experienced. Yeah, that's it. ;E
And you've pretty well covered my choices. I'm a big Chaugnar Faugn fan. Made a statue.
There was a story that has stuck with me by David Hensler called Teacher's Pet. It was published in an issue of Cthulhu Sex (21?) that I also had a story in. I liked the idea and spirit of that magazine, but I can't say I cared much for a good portion of its contents. This story had a quality that stood out, even if I don't recall it being especially good.
It basically involved a pretty college student who had slept her way through, is about to graduate, but can't seem to interest her folklore teacher in that sort of deal.
There is a scene where the professor berates her for thinking she could tempt him with her insignificant flesh that plays out in an unsettling way. The end was a bit silly, but the journey was fun.
Speaking of silly, I was working on an erotic mythos piece called (get this) CUNTHULHU! Three 'foreign' sisters Cun, Thu and (you guessed it) Lhu seduce a man and hold him captive, forcing him to grow strange appendages until he becomes a sort of giant anemone, first fed dreams of pleasure, later visions of necrophilic horror and ultimately used as the key device in an orgiastic ritual designed to open the gate.
Not the worst idea ever, but it still makes me laugh.
As far as Lovecraft goes, I'm a Shadow Over Innsmouth (born in Portsmouth) Shadow Out of Time kinda guy, I think. Makes me feel like I might be a part of it.
Nihilistic optimism and all that.
And I can't leave this thread without recommending a couple of Mythos Movies.
In The Mouth of Madness- The John Carpenter Lovecraft tribute of which you likely already know, but is still a damn scary movie!
And one you might not have heard of called Cast A Deadly Spell.
An HBO Original. It's 1948. Everybody uses magic. Everybody, that is, but Private Detective Phil Lovecraft (Fred Ward). An alternate history, an all star cast, a search for the Necronomicon, a virgin sacrifice and Yog Sothoth comin up outta the ground!
You'll thank me for it.
And thank you once again, TLO, for filling my insomniatic hours with the trivialities of infinity.
Sin cerely,
The Black Ferris

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I used to see CTHULHU SEX in our Borders book store, but haven't seen it there for a couple years at least. I used to try and think of some nasty Cthulhu idea to write for yem, but never found enough interest. The only time I was tempted to write Cthulhu porn was when I was working on the story for John Pelan's THE CHILDREN OF CTHULHU, cos I knew that John liked the sleazy stuff, and so I was gonna have some Deep Ones sodomy -- but then John told us that Del Rey wanted to sell the book to a young Mythos audience and so we couldn't have anything too extreme.

As far as I know, Robert M. Price's TINDALOS CYCLE is still being planned by either Chaosium or Hippocampus, and it will include all of Frank Belknap Long's Mythos fiction, including HORROR FROM THE HILLS, as well as stories by others that touch on Belknap's Mythos inventions. I recently re-read TALES OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS (the newer edition edited by Jim Turner) and Belknap's two stories therein still entertain me. S. T. Joshi likes to rant about whut an awful story "The Space-Eaters" is, but I've always loved it. I think dear S. T. hates the use of the Christian symbol at the end of the tale -- but it's interesting that Belknap used the cross to ward of Cosmic Terror before Lovecraft used the exact same symbol in "The Dreams in the Witch House."

Too bad that H. P. LOVECRAFT'S MAGAZINE OF HORROR gave up ye ghost and closed. It was nice to have one pro magazine in which, every issue, one could find a new Mythos tale. I cannot really understand why the magazine fail'd, as there are so many Mythos fans out there, so many Lovecraftians, that I would have thought a prozine dedicated to such fiction would have a readership. I don't think the publisher was behind the magazine after the first two issues, and their erratic publication schedule didn't help. Too bad, as Marvin Kaye is one of my favourite weird fiction editors.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Pet,

It's not Lumley's current wife, Silky, who's an agent (at least not that I know of) but his ex-wife Dot (Dorothy). I think she runs the Dorian Literary Agency.

All best
Mark S.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Drat! :( Thanks for letting me know, Mark. :)

Still, I might check out the Dorian Literary agency. It might, at least, be a starting point.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

And how could I have forgotten dear Kenneth Grant?
Nightside of Eden. Non Lovecraft, Mythos Non Fiction.
Dig it.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I have several favorites. "The Hounds of Tindalos". Klein's "Black Man w/ A Horn". Stan Sargent's "Black Brat of Dunwich". W. B. Spencer's Resume With Monsters.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Hippocampus is doing Bob's Tindalos Cycle book. Contents below --

• Introduction: Chock Full o' Mutts
• The Maker of Moons, Robert W. Chambers
• The Death of Halpin Frayser, Ambrose Bierce
• The Space-Eaters, Frank Belknap Long
• he Hounds of Tindalos, Frank Belknap Long
• The Letters of Halpin Chalmers, Peter Cannon
• The Death of Halpin Chalmers, Perry M. Grayson
• The Madness out of Time, Lin Carter
• The Hound of the Partridgevilles, Peter Cannon
• Through Outrageous Angles, David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Ronald McDowell
• Firebrands of Torment, Michael Cisco
• The20Shore of Madness, Ann K. Schwader
• Gateway To Forever, Frank Belknap Long
• The Gift of Lycanthropy, Frank Belknap Long
• The War Among the Gods, Adrian Cole
• he Ways of Chaos, Ramsey Campbell
• Juggernaut, C. J. Henderson
• Scarlet Obeisance, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
• The Horror from the Hills, Frank Belknap Long
• Pompelo's Doom, Ann K. Schwader
• Confession of the White Acolyte, Ann K. Schwader
• When Chaugnar Wakes, Frank Belknap Long
• The Elephant God of Leng, Robert M. Price
• Death Is an Elephant, Robert Bloch
• The Dweller in the Pot (OR, THE PASTA OUT OF SPACE EATERS) By Frank Chimesleep Short, Robert M. Price
• But It's A Long Dark Road, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
• Nyarlatophis, A Fable of Ancient Egypt, Stanley C. Sargent
• Mind-Pilot, William Laughlin

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I've been waiting for The Tindalos Cycle for many, many years. I look forward to it. I hope I still have something called money when it finally comes out. :eek:

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

And Hippocampus will also be doing Bob's "Exham Priory" cycle as well . . . As to money, none of us have any left

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I think if you're broke when the book is releas'd I have a nameless feeling that ye eldritch Cthulhu Fairy may be persuaded to grant you a copy, have no fear. She does not like her children to go without. I really want the Centipede Press Belknap edition, but if it's one of his $395 books -- hmm.....

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Thanks, Wilum, but I haven't quite resorted to knocking over banks... yet. It's perhaps a good thing that I've read my share of crime fiction, though.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I had a boyfriend who did time in federal prison for five counts of bank robbery, but they let him out after only two years for good behavior. I wonder how Boy George is coping with prison. I think I could survive it as long as I had an edition of Shakespeare as my bedfellow.

Bob Price had so many of those Cycle books planned. I remember him asking if he could reprint an old tale of mine for THE YITH CYCLE (the story was so awful I declined), and I know there was supposed to be a YIG CYCLE. My favourite is THE NYARLATHOTEP CYCLE, yet it isn't very popular with some Cthulhu folk. The books are a fascinating blend of the old and new, and some of the fiction is definately what Bob would term "the Fan Mythos." THE DUNWICH CYCLE was the first book in which I was on the same contents page as HPL, and that was groovy. Hippocampus is publishing more and more Mythos collections and anthologies, ironically since S. T. is working so closely with Derrick. S. T. assures me that books of Mythos fiction sell quite well, so I think we have many more to look forward to. I'm dipping into LAIR OF THE DREAMER by Franklyn Searight; it's quite enjoyable, & it's Robert Knox cover is really weird-eldritch.

I was sad to see the demise of H. P. LOVECRAFT'S MAGAZINE OF HORROR, especially as Marvin Kaye is one of my favourite genre editors. It was delightful to have a weird zine with HPL's name in the title. But they weren't sure of its direction. Their idea of publishing something by Lovecraft in every issue was soon discarded, wisely so I thought. I enjoy'd knowing there was one professional magazine that wou'd have a new Mythos tale in each and every issue. I don't think the creator/publisher was really behind the zine, and it's erratic schedule killed it more than anything. Too bad.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

"The Hounds of Tindalos" is certainly one of my personal favourites (even if I have always thought it would have worked a little better placed in a more modern setting).

Perhaps not strictly Mythos, but "Final Draft" by David Annandale (Dead But Dreaming, edited by Ross & Herber) is a marvelous tale too; it's mix of the Lovecraftian and Escher-ish atmosphere really cathing my breath.

The complete oeuvre of Mr. Pugmire is worth its essential saltes too!;)

Last, but not least, I must say that a story like "One Thousand and One Words" by Paul S. Kemp in my own recently published anthology ELDRITCH HORRORS: DARK TALES (hplmythos.com Vol. 1) to me is an efficient Mythos tale; one of those that both stays true to the "rules" of the sub-genre and still shows the author's own tone of voice and style.

(Sorry if the last paragraph sounds like a shameless plug; that's not the intention.)

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Not many candidates beyond Lovecraft. My favourites would be Lovecraft's 'The Whisperer in Darkness' and 'The Shadow out of Time', Bloch's 'Notebook Found in a Deserted House', Klein's 'Black Man With a Horn', Campbell's 'The Voice of the Beach' and Wagner's 'Sticks' (if the last counts). Always liked Bloch's novel STRANGE EONS as well.

Long's 'The Hounds of Tindalos' is also very good, though the journal entry won the Alonzo Typer Award for Least Plausible Last Written Words.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Actually, my dear fellow, "The Hounds of Tindalos" was set in an entirely modern setting, in that it was set in the year in which it was written. Judging from Lovecraft's letters, Belknap wrote the tale in September or October of 1928.

There is nothing at all "wrong" about "plugging" one's writing and the books of friends, &c. The only people who complain about such things are snobs and toxic yobs, & they are so easily ignor'd. I always appreciate knowing about what my weird tale writer friends are working on or about to have publish'd, and this is most certainly a proper place for such information.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I agree, Wilum. We write to be read. And in venues like this one, passing along information on works we feel the members might enjoy seems completely proper.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

Oh, I know "The Hounds of Tindalos" was set in a modern setting, when it was written. What I meant was that I think it would have been more plausible in times closer to ours. My reasoning is, briefly, that to me it would seem more plausible if we, the readers, were witnessing the situation through a webcam or some other filming device.

But it's a matter of detail, really. It remains one of my all-time favourites:)

I am glad to hear that it was not inappropriate that I mentioned ELDRITCH HORRORS: DARK TALES. Thank you.

Re: Your Favorite Cthulhu Mythos Story
 

I absolutely agree. I only have that and the one in Joshi's (ed.) American Supernatural Tales. Is his other horror fiction that good?