This is an uncommonly strong anthology of recent(ish) Cthulhu Mythos stories. Anthologies of this nature often fall prey to Lovecraft pastiche, but for the most part the stories here offer fresh and imaginative takes on the source material and span a wide variety of time periods.
While the average quality is high, a number of stories stand out in particular. Although I had read it before, “A Colder War” by Charles Stross remains a masterful melding of Cold War paranoia with the Mythos. “The Men from Porlock” by Laird Barron and “The Crawling Sky” by Joe R. Lansdale are particularly creepy and effective tales of rural folk encountering the otherworldly. “Fat Face” by Michael Shea offers a fun update of a classic Lovecraftian creature.
Lovecraft has attracted a great deal of negative attention in recent years for his vehement racism, to the extent that some argue that he should be excluded from the horror/science fiction canon. I think that would be a terrible shame, however, as a number of writers have combined Lovecraftian inspiration with more palatable views on race. “Shoggoths in Bloom” by Elizabeth Bear and “Jeroboam Henley’s Debt” by Charles Saunders are both very Lovecraftian stories that benefit greatly by centering race and starring black protagonists. Outside of this anthology, a number of other recent stories and novels have worked with a Lovecraftian foundation while dealing with race-related issues to good effect.
Overall, this is an easy book to recommend to Lovecraft fans curious about recent Mythos-related fiction.
The best stories in this collection could be labeled “rustic horror.” Many of them take place in the Pacific Northwest, in the deepest forests and shadowy valleys. The protagonists are often rough and tumble men who are nevertheless set on edge by a variety of creepy occurrences. Imagine Jack London writing spooky stories and you'd be on the right track.
While the rustic horror stories are great, the ones set in more modern and more urban locales were much less engaging. These stories tended to be longer and also more obscure (probably with the intent of creating a phantasmagorical atmosphere), which made matters worse.
One thing I found interesting was the use of Old Scratch himself, the Devil, as the prime supernatural threat in many of the tales. While this might seem cliched to some, I actually found it delightfully retro, reminding me of the “Satanic Panic” stories from the 70s and 80s. There's some Lovecraft homage in here too, but more an appreciative acknowledgement than slavish devotion.
While I didn't love every story in this volume, I came away with a strong interest in Laird Barron's work. Recommended for horror fans, especially those who enjoy the classics of the genre and rural settings.
This anthology collects more unsettling weird tales by Laird Barron. The overall quality is high, but a couple of the stories suffer from being too obscure (“Procession of the Black Sloth,” which has a great atmosphere otherwise) or a little slight plot-wise (“The Royal Zoo is Closed”). “Old Virginia,” “Parallax,” and the title story are particularly strong and creepy. I continue to enjoy Laird Barron's brand of thoroughly modern Lovecraftian fiction that doesn't rely on Lovecraft's monsters.