Couple of clunkers, but a few really good stories, some of the best tribute fiction I have read.

Not an outstanding Anthology, but a very good start in this series of six volumes and counting!Usually I`m not into Caitlin R. Kieran work, but this time she nails it big time with "Pickman’s Other Model". This is an interesting & attractive story. Our central character is mesmerized by a old actress now, a movie starlet in her 20`s, and her unexplainable (horror/ cultist) short films. This has some erotic content to it, but it`s more intriguing, strange and scary, than anything else. "Engravin...

Great stories, must of them. Faithful to the lovecraftian storytelling or Mythos. Nice reading if you are a Lovecraft fan but wish for a more modern twist. Avoid if you are a lovecraftian-purist.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD30/8 - 200 pages in and I've read about 8 of the stories. So far while none of them have truly horrified me (in fact last night, after reading 4 or 5 of the stories I dreamed about a dessert buffet table where I searched for and found scones with jam and cream), they were differently weird and a bit spooky. The monsters (where applicable) were well described, I could imagine them without difficulty despite the fact that most of them were not humanoid. So far my favourite has b...

a mixed bag: a lot that interested and a lot that annoyed. not a keeper overall, but certainly a few gems in the collection. 4 stars"Violence, Child of Trust" by Michael Cisco"The Correspondence of Cameron Thaddeus Nash" by Ramsey Campbell"Lesser Demons" by Norman Partridge"Tempting Providence" by Jonathan ThomasIn "Violence, Child of Trust,"Cisco ingeniously and horribly reimagines Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury as a squirmy tale of a family of very different brothers, the kidnapped women...

Reading this anthology in 2021.16/Jul/21: #2 Desert Dreams: Up next...16/Jul/21: #1: Pickman's Other Model (1929) An atmospheric piece where the real horror is kept firmly off stage and merely hinted at. Well told, but kinda unfulfilling. 3 'Where's the horror,' stars.

Pickman's Other Model - Caitlín R. Kiernan – 5* – Just awesome, the atmosphere here is so thick you can slice it with a knife, I could literally feel and see the era. Not to mention that the story itself is pretty intriguing, the history of some obscure films and one mysterious actress alone made this a unique experience through and through and the images Kiernan creates are very vivid.Desert Dreams - Donald R. Burleson – 3,5* – Rather typical lovecraftian tale which was not badly written but br...

I had been seeing this anthology in bookstores for some time, and finally decided to pick it up. I love a good Lovecraftian anthology and looked forward to reading this. As with any anthology, there are good stories, as well as ones that are less so. I'll talk about a few of the stories below.Pickman's Other Model (1929) by Caitlin R. Kiernan is easily one of the better stories in this anthology, if not the best. Well written, Kiernan captures a lot of the Lovecraftian theme alongside the very s...

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)It's true that I don't much care for story collections, although I do have a softer spot in my heart for the related story compilation format; and I just had a chance to read two better-than-average ones, actually, Mark Brand's Thank You, Death Robot and S.T. Joshi's Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian...

This is just a quick opinion on this magnificent book.Joshi really outdid himself with this one.It was worth the $60 I payed for it.The stories are wonderful and don't fall into that trap of using too many thoughts and words from the Mythos of Lovecraft.There is a little similarity in the stories in that they are all interesting and well thought out.I will write more later but for now if you can afford this book-it's $43 at Bookfinders.com -then buy it!

My heart generally sinks when I pick up a genre anthology - I usually end up severely disappointed and not a little resentful at the pot-boilers I have had to wade through - but this is a wonderful exception.Not that it is perfect. Lovecraftian stories do not easily translate to the American South West and California and it is usually, though not always, a mistake to set such stories in deserts and sunshine.We can also do without literary experimentation in a genre where the forms are well set,

The problem with some Lovecraftian anthologies is either they adhere too close to the formula and try for the old school verbiage, plots and situations, or they try too hard to go modern and a new spin on the mythos. This collection is somewhere in the middle, giving you fresh takes on a Lovecraftian story. It keeps you reading to see what comes next. Several very good stories and only one I couldn't finish. Overall recommended, and I will be reading the next installments in the future.

October 28:"Pickman's Other Model (1929)" by Caitlín R. Kiernan:Excellent story, but with a too vague/unclear ending, for my taste. But, truth be told, that may be because I was quite tired (because of RL business, not because of the story!)...A strong story opening the collection, that's for sure.I look forward to reading the rest, as time permits.October 30:"Passing Spirits" by Sam Gafford:A man is dying from cancer. In this tale we follow the process as he experiences it--which means reality

I admit I didn't read all those stories (which is typical of my anthology reading habits), but those I did read were pretty good stories in the key of Lovecraft. I was surprised and pleased by how many of them were set in the American Southwest, which, despite the sunshine, can be eldritch places indeed.

Some of the stories captured the Lovecraftian feel of cosmic horror and dread. However, most of them felt like homages to Lovecraft rather than his style or genre. Overall, a decent compilation of short stories by authors who are more in love with Lovecraft than his craft.

Looking forward to the second one. Must read more of W.Pugmire's works.

In The Rise and Fall of the Cthulhu Mythos , S.T. Joshi accomplishes two primary things. First off, he gives us probably the best summation of H.P. Lovecraft and his "successors" (some more literal than others...I think pun intended) that has ever been put to pages and secondly, he manages to convey his great dissatisfaction with the majority of anything ever referred to as Lovecraftian. For those without much time to read but a desire to take in something a bit "bile-ridden", look up the cha...

Unless every selection is absolutely abysmal (not in the dreadful Lovecraftian sense of the word), I'm generally lenient with fiction compilations. The editor knows that I have a penchant for the subject matter, and if I'm not moved by a particular story or feel that it was poorly written, I can at least say "they published this garbage, so why can't I be published?" I found only two or three of the twenty-one offerings in S.T. Joshi's "Black Wings of Cthulhu" that fell into this category, the r...

Wonderful. A Lovecraftian anthology that stands among the best in the field. This belongs with Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos and New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos as one of the greatest collections of stories in tribute to Lovecraft.

I've rounded my rating to 4 on this one from about 3.8; while pretty well written, some of the stories just didn't do it for me. I have a longer review here; feel free to bounce over and take a look. In Joshi's anthology, Black Wings of Cthulhu, although the stories are not all limited to the dreaming god himself, he does make an appearance or two. For the most part, the cosmic horror Lovecraft was able to convey so well is maintained, as is his focus on the utter helplessness of human beings in...