Black Wings

Black Wings: new tales of Lovecraftian horror, 427 pages

Black Wings is a collection on Lovecraftian short stories that I found on a table here in the library. Having read other Lovecraftian collections I decided to give this one a try. While some authors seemed to follow in the footsteps of Lovecraft more than others, the overall collection was quite good. Like every collection of short stories some stood out while others were more lifeless and did not hold my interest. Some of my favorites included Copping Squid by Michael Shea, Correspondences of Cemeron Thaddeus Nash annotated by Ramsey Campbell and Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge.

If you liked Lovecraft’s work, namely some of his calmer less macabre stories I think you would also enjoy this.


I really like this book cover, even if it is not the classic Cthulhu.

Shadows over Baker Street

Shadows over Baker Street, 446 pages

Shadows over Baker Street is everything it advertises itself as, which is Sherlock Holmes with Lovecraftian themes. Of course by Lovecrafitan it means Cthulhu, Innsmouthians and other macabre themes. Much like the original Holmes collection, this book is a collection of short stories, though these are written by a collaboration of different authors.

What I really liked about Shadows over Baker Street is that each and every story holds up. Where before with collections like this I would highlight the ones that I really liked and shame the ones I thought fell short here they were all good, for a Holmes novella. By that I mean they all rely on Holmes knowing more than everyone else and in some cases more than it seems likely he should know. But that is what makes a Holmes novel, well that and the brilliant deductions he comes up with. That being said I think these could have been better with the clues to the ending or what was going on spaced through the novella so that the reader could solve the case as well.

If you like the writings of Lovecraft I think you would enjoy this book though it is not as dark. If you like the Sherlock Holmes series and at least can tolerate some of the bizarre then I would say give this a try.

Neonomicon

Neonomicon by Alan Moore and others, 176 pages

With Halloween quickly approaching the display shelves thankfully change over to the strange and creepy books. This one caught my eye and it was interestingly described as Lovecraftian. Knowing that I was well braced for weird and strange. I wasn't however expecting so much adult material from such a shot graphic novel.

The plot is basically serial killers keep turning up that are killing their victims the same way. The only difference is in what trophy they keep. As the investigation continues it spirals down past weird and into what truly can only be described as Lovecraftian.

If you can make it past the weird language, the same that Cthulhu followers use in Lovecraft's books, and the graphic adult imagery this book is pretty good. It still has the cheesy horror story vibe to it but not enough to make me not want to continue reading.