I enjoyed this book overall. As an exploration of Lovecraftian horror it was a fun experience, and one I do not regret taking the time to read. The stories contained the horror and mystery that so defined Lovecraft's work, but for me they just seemed to lack a certain quality.As much as I enjoyed the process of reading, few of the stories have truly lingered in my mind; they are, despite their individual merits, fairly forgettable. Some also proved entirely confusing in a frustrating rather than...

There were a couple of short pieces I didn't connect with, but it's a very strong collection. The editorial choices demonstrate an impressive breadth, the stories share thematic concerns or build on one of Lovecraft's idiosyncricies. None fall into pastiche.

I love every single writing piece in this anthology.

Overall, a great selection of stories, several particularly interesting. I'd read a couple of them in other collections or online, so this was a slightly quicker read than it otherwise would have been. Enjoyable for Lovecraftian enthusiasts in particular.

As with any anthology, some entries will be more to taste than others, but I found this volume to be particularly uneven. Standouts, though, include ‘It’s All the Same Road,’ ‘I Do Not Count the Hours,’ ‘Deep Eden,’ and the essential final selection, an essay entitled ‘Variations on Lovecraftian Themes,’ which examines frankly Lovecraft’s abhorrent racism and anti-Semitism. The author does well to remind us (and the editor by including the piece) that while we may enjoy the strange fictions that...

2.75 A deeply average collection of new Lovecraftian fiction featuring a number of decently-written short stories and a number of terrible ones.I have less of an issue with the stories themselves and more with the collection as a whole – there was no coherence, no underlying theme, no degree of connectedness between the tales that made me feel like I was reading a carefully-selected, carefully-curated short story collection. It just felt like a hodgepodge of low to medium quality short stories t...

Sub-par Cthulu DetriusSo I bought this as an intended guilty pleasure - but there was little pleasure for me in this lazy knock-off of Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror. Can't say I read them all; can't even say that I read the ones I started fully - it is that kind of book.

“In Syllables of Elder Seas” by Lisa L. Hannett - ***“The Peddler’s Tale, or, Isobel’s Revenge” by Caitlín R. Kiernan - ****“It’s All the Same Road in the End” by Brian Hodge - ****1/2“Caro in Carno” by Helen Marshall - ***“The Cthulhu Navy Wife” by Sandra McDonald - **1/2 (Meh!)“Those Who Watch” by Ruthanna Emrys - ****“A Clutch” by Laird Barron - ****½“Just Beyond the Trailer Park” by John Shirley - ***“The Sea Inside” by Amanda Downum - ***“Outside the House, Watching for the Crows” by John L...

As a follow-up to 2015's New Cthulhu 2: More Recent Weird , Prime Books and editor Paula Guran released this latest Lovecraftian anthology of new short stories. This is a very even collection with few outshining the rest and none spoiling the bunch. The best tales each earned 4 of 5 stars:--"In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro" by Usman T. Malik weaves an elaborate tale of terrorism, religion, sexism and urban legend in the modern world.--"Caro in Carno" by Helen Marshall images a fantastical landsc...

very interesting book that kept me on hold for the creature that lives under the sea

Nice short story collection, set from a variety of perspectives and types. There were a few five stars for me in here (especially I Believe That We Will Win--fantastic short story, my favorite out of all of them, should be a book). And as one author (Veronica Schanoes) puts it: " The true threat is never external - it's not the dreadful non-Aryan immigrants flooding into the Unites States; it's not the inhuman alien beings, worshiped as gods, who would barely notice humanity as they crushed it.

Why it was such an amazing and fulfilling read!?!Because almost all of the stories were original to this Anthology.Because I liked a lot of them and even for those that I didn`t enjoy as much I could see the point of them been here.Because of Laird Barron. [Usually it has some long and intricate stories and here isn`t so far from his style, but in a few pages it`s imagining a brand new dark fantasy world that let me wanting for more.]Because of John Lanagan that usually doesn`t impress me, oh we...

Some really good stories in here, but also some pretty average ones I struggled to keep my attention on. Still, I'm glad I got it

This book is a load of rubbish which deserves a 'zero' star rating. To begin with the title 'The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu' is a cheat. The editor, Paula Guran, admits this in her introduction: 'This anthology has little to do specifically with Cthulhu ... but ... one does what one can to sell books!' So basically she's saying, 'Sucker!' The stories are a mixed lot, none of them very good and only a handful of them interesting. The editor calls them 'New Lovecraftian' fiction. Which I take to mean...

I received this book free for an unbiased review.So, I think that I have mentioned before that horror really isn't my thing. Having said that, I have seen numerous recent releases and many authors referencing the Cthulhu mythos and Lovecraft's amazing talent, and was interested in seeing what it was all about. Now that I'm done, I'm pretty much as confused as I was before. I was looking for some sort of over arching theme in these stories... but with these novice eyes... I was not able to discer...

Really good collection. I had to skip some stories because they didn't hold my interest or the titles/intros promised things that aren't for me, but that's the great thing about a big anthology like this -- different things for different readers.Favorite stories: It's All the Same Road in the End by Brian Hodge Caro in Carno by Helen Marshall I Believe That We Will Win by Nadia BulkinOutside the House, Watching for the Crows by John LanganI Dress My Lover in Yellow by A. C. WiseBackbite by Norma...

This is a nice read for a rainy day. But the editor has failed to realize that just because its a weird fiction it doesn't mean it belongs in the Lovecraft universe. Half of the short stories here I found are just weird, not Lovecraft weird.

“The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu” is indeed mammoth, but bigger is not always better, as they say. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by S.T. Joshi’s amazing “Black Wings” series, or maybe I’ve just read too much Lovecraftian fiction. Either way, most of these stories come off as being pretty bland.There are notable exceptions. “The Peddler’s Tale…” by the always wonderful Caitlin R. Kiernan; “An Open Letter to Mr. Edgar Allan Poe…” by the late Michael Shea, just to give two examples. But overall the stories s...

Collections of stories by a variety of authors typically only have one or two that stick out for me. This is a good thing though, as different readers look for different things in their reads. Collections can provide a bit of exposure for a new author. I love the fantasy genre and I've enjoyed a few of Lovecrafts stories so I had a good idea what to expect with this collection. Some stories stood out as better crafted and developed than others and a few I just couldn't finish. It's my personal o...

Great, great, scary stories by contemporary writers inspired by Lovecraft. They turn his racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic views on their heads but keep all the truly terrifying bits.