Cthulhu 2000

Cthulhu 2000
by Various

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Book Summary Information

Author: Various
Edition: Paperback
Published: 1999-05-25
ISBN: 0345422031
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Del Rey

Book Reviews of Cthulhu 2000

Book Review: A Lot of Talent Between two covers
Summary: 4 Stars

The trouble with most Cthulhu collections (meaning Lovecraft pastiche) is that the authors don't really know what they're imitating. Usually you see an invocation of the Necronomicon, some chanting (in italics! Ia!), and the summoning of some unpronounceable god. This at least approaches the game that HPL and his friends played, to make an ancient tome and monster and then to share them in a common literary world. To recycle what already has been done, though, takes out the spirit of fun and creativity that was the point of the game to begin with. Some of the humorous pieces in the genre, like "It's Only the End of the World, Again" can at least tap into that spirit of conviviality. Typical Lovecraft pastiche can almost be done by Mad Lib.

It's even harder to get at the real spirit of what Lovecraft was writing about. Most folks think it's about horror; Lovecraft, himself, said that was not what his stories were about. In a letter, he said that he tried to evoke a sense of wonder and awe about the universe. And since he didn't believe in anything but cold nature, he felt that man's proper response to wonder and awe is fear and horror. Think about it.

Fortunately, CTHULHU 2000 is not bad pastiche or shallow horror (mostly). There are some gag stories that fall flat, and some that try to redo a Lovecraft story in the modern day and lose all that made it worth remembering. And I'll even admit that the offering from Zelazny was over my head. But there is some astonishingly good writing here, like "The Barrens", or "The Last Feast of Harlequin", or "The Faces at Pine Dunes". A lot of that quality is that the writers are already accomplished authors, but the excellence comes from telling an authentic story, without trying to copy a style. There's a sense of awe and wonder at discovering something bigger and deeper and more ancient than we can imagine, and being changed by that. And that's how you find Cthulhu at the end.

Contents:
"The Barrens" F. Paul Wilson
"Pickman's Modem" Lawrence Watt-Evans
"Shaft Number 247" Basil Copper
"His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" Poppy Z Brite
"The Adder" Fred Chappell
"Fat Face" Michael Shea
"The Big Fish" Kim Newman
"I had Vacantly Crumpled It into My Pocket..." Joanna Russ
"H.P.L." Gahan Wilson
"The Unthinkable" Bruce Sterling
"Black Man With a Horn" T.E.D. Klein
"Love's Eldritch Ichor" Esther M. Friesner
"The Last Feast of Harlequin" Thomas Ligotti
"The Shadow on the Doorstep" James P. Blaylock
"Lord of the Land" Gene Wolfe
"The Faces at Pine Dunes" Ramsey Campbell
"On the Slab" Harlan Ellison
"24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" Roger Zelazny

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All Cthulhu 2000 Customer Reviews

Summary of Cthulhu 2000

Editor Jim Turner has compiled a real page turner in Cthulhu 2000. His anthology of short stories based on the works of horrorist H.P. Lovecraft is a dark gem, and of superior stuff. Although they all have the coppery tang of the eldritch, the tales aren't strictly in the horror mien. Some of them are an alloy of horror with a sci-fi, humor, detective, vampire or even romance slant.

The very best are truly horrible, in the most complimentary sense of that word. "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" (Poppy Z. Brite), "The Adder" (Fred Chappell), "Fat Face" (Michael Shea), "The Unthinkable" (Bruce Sterling), "Love's Eldritch Ichor" (Esther M. Friesner) and "On the Slab" (Harlan Ellison) are the keen standouts, but all the rest, practically, are of almost equal quality. However, there are a couple of tales that do not deserve to be amongst this company, and the tome would have been better and tighter by their absence. Certainly, at 398 pages, there's no lack of material.

In "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood," Poppy Z. Brite deftly invokes a vampric flavor to themes of decay and the forbidden, his writing style as ornate and refined as rococo and in the real spirit of the master. Fred Chappell's "The Adder" draws the dangerous and inimical from the ordinary in a tale delightful for its originality. Bruce Sterling also slings some fresh ideas around in "The Unthinkable," melding modernity and necromancy in a brief, effective story.

Horror gourmands will find a good meal here, but Cthulhu 2000 should have a bit of life outside its traditional genre, for the writing is strong, imaginative and entertaining. --Tamara Hladik

In Cthulhu 2000, a host of horror and fantasy's top authors captures the spirit of supreme supernatural storyteller H. P. Lovecraft--with eighteen chilling contemporary tales that would have made the master proud.

- The Barrens by F. Paul Wilson: In a tangled wilderness, unearthly lights lead the way to a world no human was meant to see.
- His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite: Two dabblers in black magic encounter a maestro of evil enchantment.
- On the Slab by Harlan Ellison: The corpse of a one-eyed giant brings untold fortune--and unspeakable fear--to whoever possesses it.
- Pickman's Modem by Lawrence Watt-Evans: Horror is a keystroke away, when an ancient evil lurks in modern technology.

PLUS FOURTEEN MORE BLOOD-CURDLING STORIES

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