Cthulhus Reign

Cthulhu's Reign Mass Market Paperback – April 6, Darrell Schweitzer is a writer, editor, and critic of speculative fiction. While he has focused in dark fantasy and horror, he also works in science fiction and fantasy.
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Z-Man Games via EscapistMagazine. Tags board games , Lovecraft , pandemic , Pandemic Legacy , Pandemic: Reign of Cthulu , Z-Man Games. Who the Heck is Drizzt Do'Urden? Spellslingers Season 5 Teaser. Instagram has returned invalid data. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. The Teeming Brain explores news, trends, and developments in religion, horror, science fiction, fantasy, the paranormal, creativity, consciousness, and culture. It also tracks apocalyptic and dystopian trends in science, technology, politics, ecology, economics, the media, the arts, education, and society at large.

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Cardin's tales are rich with references to Lovecraft, Nietzsche, and other writers whose work gives them unusual philosophic depth. The lyrical prose is often at a higher level than usual presentations of otherworldly demons and malevolent forces. His richly textured style, deft character portrayal, and powerful horrific conceptions make every one of his tales a pleasure to read. As with Machen and Blackwood at their best, an epiphany or illumination is achieved, though Gavin's mysticism is darker and distinctly his own.


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Proudly powered by WordPress. Skip to navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to secondary sidebar Skip to footer The Teeming Brain Channeling the multiverse of ideas. However, it felt more like the start of a novel than a self-contained novella, since I kept waiting for some sort of dark twist that would snatch victory away from the protagonists. Plus, it's depiction of autism was, well, pretty bad.

I also feel that a lot of these stories suffer from ignoring Lovecraft's idea that when the Great Old Ones returning, humanity will have become as violent, depraved, and deprived of morality as they are. Overall, while there were a few clever ideas here and there, this collection overall didn't wow me the way I had expected it to. I think the idea of writing about what happens when Cthulhu rises for good is a neat one, but if I want good stories about that, I'll have to keep looking.

Aug 27, Zare rated it really liked it Shelves: As one reviewer noted basic of all Lovecraft's stories was about horros beyond the dark, lurking madness from dimensions that can never be understood by humans, so incomprehensible that it drives people utterly mad. It is always a spooky story, shadows moving in the night, crazy cultists walking in the pitch black while attending their ceremonies. Or dreams and nightmares. It is not hack and slash horror, but again what can humankind expect from these dark invaders if they materialized all of a As one reviewer noted basic of all Lovecraft's stories was about horros beyond the dark, lurking madness from dimensions that can never be understood by humans, so incomprehensible that it drives people utterly mad.

It is not hack and slash horror, but again what can humankind expect from these dark invaders if they materialized all of a sudden? This is question book tries to answer - what if great horrors woke up and took over earth? As expected majority of stories are rather depressing in lack of better word because no matter what humans do they get thwarted in the most hideous ways.

Only at the end some light shines through that gives at least some hope. Otherwise depression would set in and make stories a little bit unbearable imagine reading whole anthology of depressive thoughts Quality varies but overall I think that stories are good. Some are outright weird Japanese one with spherical geometry was If you like dark fantasy, spooky stories or mix of SF and fantasy give it ago. Apr 21, Nicholas rated it liked it. If you replaced the Mythos connections with generic or brand new monsters, these are effective little stories.

Humans, helpless, or at least in dire straits, in the face of unknown, largely actively malevolent monsters. Most of these stories are wr First thing: Most of these stories are written as if the assorted Mythos entities are actively out to "get" or torment humanity, and that. As I noted, only a couple of the stories remember this basic truth of the Lovecraftverse. That hurts the collection. Feb 05, Edric Unsane rated it really liked it Shelves: I really enjoyed a great deal of the short stories contained within Cthulhu's Reign.

I had indeed read some of them from different Lovecraftian related anthologies, but that just goes to show how great some of the short stories are. If you are a fan of H. Lovecraft, you may well enjoy reading Cthulhu's Reign. May 05, John R. Hello, a box of chocolates here. Some good caramels, but a whole lot of them funky flavored creamy things that everyone spits out.

Sep 13, Timothy Pitkin rated it did not like it Shelves: I tried several times to read this book but each time I just couldn't get through them. I might try again because I really liked the idea behind them but I don't know if it was the writing style or just me but maybe I will try again later. May 15, Jeff Davis rated it liked it. A couple of the stories were pretty good but overall the collection is short and doesn't live up to its premise. Aug 31, S. Don't read this if you're looking for horror.

I'm not saying it's a bad collection of short stories; as most short story collections you'll like some and maybe not like others. All in all, though, this isn't group of horror stories. They're all themed around the Lovecraft mythos and they all deal with the end of the world, but the tone of the stories vary widely.

Thus, I've chosen to give the collection as a whole 3 stars. The rest of the review I'm splitting up to be about each story and I'm ma Don't read this if you're looking for horror.

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The rest of the review I'm splitting up to be about each story and I'm marking those short reviews as spoilers just in case. Why must there always be tentacle rape and alien pregrenancies in new! I didn't find this story very creepy just squicky and I didn't click with the characters. And again, tentacle rape! Now this is more like it! The world is falling apart, likeable characters and despair aplenty.

Her Acres of Pastoral Playground. The mystery, the insanity, the answer, all so great! Liked the play with angles and the curves, but I didn't connect with any of the characters. What Brings the Void. I sort of liked the twist at the end, though I saw it coming. But the description and reactions of the characters felt too matter of fact.

Cthulhu's Reign

Simply saying "it was terrible" doesn't make it so. The New Pauline Corpus. I like the fragmented story and the vision of it all. Learned a few new words as well.


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Interesting look at what the cultists might do when the time comes. Liked the numb sarcasm. This is How the World Ends. More creepy pregnancies, but at least there was no tentacle rape this time nor was it the main plot. A little rambly and unfocused, but I liked the ending and the characters. Again with the sex. I tried to focus on the actual resistance part of the story, but the very demonstrative penis that kept popping up was too silly for the mood to keep.

The Seeals of New R'lyeh. More goofieness than horror. End of the world shrugged aside as "oops". The Holocaust of Ecstasy. Apparently we all evolve into fruit. That was a mess. Too many apocalypses and no basis as to who the main character is, why they do what they do or why I should care.

Cthulhu's Reign

Interesting though being so short it was rather sudden. I liked the characters, though I was in the mood for more horror tha sad and bittersweet. Aug 30, Harris rated it did not like it Shelves: Wow, this anthology may have been among the least successful collections of Cthulhu Mythos stories I have ever subjected myself to. Nearly every story was awful, cliched, and unpleasant, in a surprisingly repetitive way. Generally, for the most part the stories themselves lumber along until their own dumb, unsatisfying conclusions. Sep 08, David rated it liked it Shelves: As with most anthologies, there are mixed levels of quality and enjoyment to be gotten from these short stories.

This anthology's particular theme caught my attention, having started reading Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. I must say that the first story, by Ian Watson, gave the wrong impression of the rest of the book. I found Ian's story to be the best of the bunch, having succinctly caught the feeling of dread, despair, and horror. The majority of the other stories didn't really manage to hit the As with most anthologies, there are mixed levels of quality and enjoyment to be gotten from these short stories.

The majority of the other stories didn't really manage to hit the right notes. Most were well-written enough, if looked at from a horror point of view. But that Lovecraftian feeling of dread is missing from a few of them. Granted, I suppose the primary draw of the Cthulhu mythos lies in the horrible unknown. Once exposed, it sort of loses a bit of that which made it alluring.

Another short story I found myself particularly liking was the one by Brian Stableford. It was sufficiently weird enough to be quite interesting. Here's how I found each of the short stories, your mileage may vary of course: Dec 16, Moonglum rated it liked it Shelves: Its a good idea for an anthology, but also one that is given to much silliness, and that the theme gets a little repetitious because a number of writers take it very literally with chtulhu monsters laying waste to coastal cities, etc..

However, there are some very weird and cool tales. As far as the silly but creepy stories were concerned, I liked Mile Allen's 'Her Acres of Pastoral Playground', which is set in Austin, and has an curmudgeonly cynical take on aspects of Texas culture, 'Sanctuary' Its a good idea for an anthology, but also one that is given to much silliness, and that the theme gets a little repetitious because a number of writers take it very literally with chtulhu monsters laying waste to coastal cities, etc..

As far as the silly but creepy stories were concerned, I liked Mile Allen's 'Her Acres of Pastoral Playground', which is set in Austin, and has an curmudgeonly cynical take on aspects of Texas culture, 'Sanctuary' by Don Webb, which features min-Cthulhu's playing a game of cat and mouse with tourists in a cemetery, and 'What Brings the Void' by Will Murray, which has some eeries scenes of people walking into oblivion.

The weirder stories were more enjoyable for me, however. Laird Barron has a Olaf Stapledon style 'Last and First Men' thing happening with a time loop, elderitch fungi, and much mad piping from the chaotic center of the cosmos, Jay Lake writes wonderfully and makes the last days both mythical and filled with personal pain, and Fred Chappel is excellent at running with the theme, turning the 'Old Ones' vs.

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But my favorite story was 'Holocaust of Ecstasy' by Brian Stableford, which gave me exactly what I hoped to find in the anthology-- visions of a world ruled that is weird and horrific beyond recognition. All in all a fun anthology with an interesting theme, but not incredible like, say, 'Paper Cities', or 'The Steampunk Anthology'. After several years of the most excellent BPRD comic series, though, the idea isn't so new anymore. The stories in this collection are pretty mixed, some BPRD esque and not terribly inspired, but a few really stand out and impress For the obsessive or detail oriented, h very mixed but with a few gems I bought this collection a few years ago when the concept seemed new For the obsessive or detail oriented, here's my one to five star rating for each story: Lupoff - 4 "Remnants" Fred Chappell - Mar 18, Marc Lalonde rated it liked it.

Not a bad collection of stories from expeienced mythos writers though no stand-out big names, to my mind. Clearly, these tales were all commissioned specifically for this volume. Most of them take place very shortly after the world-changing event, which I guess makes sense given that humanity will not persist for long once that happens, though I would Not a bad collection of stories from expeienced mythos writers though no stand-out big names, to my mind.

Most of them take place very shortly after the world-changing event, which I guess makes sense given that humanity will not persist for long once that happens, though I would not have minded a more chronologically-extended layout of stories, i. I actively disliked only one story, and actively enjoyed maybe a half-dozen, with a couple of 'meh's thrown in.

This collection is only for experienced Cthulhu Mythos readers, since the beings and events that are referenced stem from decades of prior works, so this is not an entry point to Cthulhu. Overall, it will be of passing interest to established Mythos fans, but can be passed over as well. Aug 03, Joshtafari rated it it was ok Shelves: When you have a story collection with such a specific theme, it's probable that there's going to be a sameness to the stories. This is the case here, with fifteen stories of post-Lovecraftian-apocalypse.

It's also unfortunate that the weaker stories start off the book, with the better ones in the second half.

The stories I enjoyed: Doesn't make much sense, but I rolled with it. Overall, would recommended only to hardcore fans of Cthulhu mythos fiction. Nov 30, Holden Attradies rated it really liked it Shelves: This was one of the best anthologies I've ever read. Going into it I was expecting most if not all of the stories to be set in earlier time periods, most Mythos stuff I've read has not just used Lovecrafts style and setting but the time period. I would say that pretty much or in fact all of these stories were set in modern times or even in the distant future.

There were a few that were pretty sci-fi s This was one of the best anthologies I've ever read.

Cthulhu's Reign - Wikipedia

There were a few that were pretty sci-fi space adventure types, but with ancient ones. The quality of the stories was pretty consistent and only one or two duds in my opinion, something above par for an anthology in my opinion. Over all I'd say this is a must read for fans of the Cthulhu mythos, but if can into the short story not being familiar with what that entails you would probably be pretty lost.

Apr 09, Mark rated it liked it Shelves: This book is like most horror collections. There's some good and there's some not so good. Saying that I wasn't really disappointed with any of the story's in here. Some were just a bit boring, and some of them were just flippn' odd, even for a book about Cthulhu.

The idea behind this collection is Cthulhu in present day or the future. I don't care much about all the scientific talk in some of the stories as it's takes away a bit of the mystery behind it. Aug 08, Lianne Burwell rated it liked it Shelves: This anothology started from an interesting premise: Life after the Old Ones Cthulhu, et al return to take the world as their's again. It does lead to a very dark set of stories, since when you get down to it, nothing is going to have a happy ending.

They cover all sorts of scenarios, from humans summoning the old ones forth, the old ones as aliens from a rogue planet, etc As with all anthologies, some are good, some are great, and some are weak. Unfortunately, the one I found the weakest wa This anothology started from an interesting premise: Unfortunately, the one I found the weakest was both the longest story, and the last one in the book.