Tales of Yog-Sothoth

Loved the stories. Some of them were better than others of course, but over all they were great. Would tell my friends and family to purchase.

I’m an avid reader of Lovecraft but have never read anyone else’s lovecraftian work. I wasn’t sure how I would like it. I’m so glad I did! I loved all the stories included.

The reader is immersed in the world of the Elder Gods, Yog-Sothoth, Innsmouth and Arkham. For readers who have read Lovecraft’s tales, most of the setting, language and even characters will be familiar. It’s like coming home to your favorite fuzzy socks and blanket...although in a strange and alien way.

Some of my highlights:

The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J Diggs and the Dun What? Horror by David Niall Wilson was a solid combination of magic, eldritch horror and comedy. The friendship between the characters of Cletus and Desmond was unique and their dialogue was sometimes hilarious. There was also some animal characters who were as well written as the humans. Dog and Osmodeus; a bird and a dog. Familiars to the main characters. The Whateley clan were evil and powerful villains. The action kept up until the very end!

The Final Gate by C.T. Phipps was almost a family saga, complete with birth, betrayal and Yog-Sothoth? John, Mercury, Jackie and Baby John...just your ordinary, not quite human, family trying to make it in a post apocalyptic world. This also had some moments of hilarity. Horror and humor go so well together. And I couldn’t help but notice a reference to another world written by Stephen King. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it...

I enjoyed how all the stories wove together to form a fantastic narrative! 5 stars!

Collectively, these stories are vivid and a little more than a little disturbing – but in a good way – who knew eldritch horrors could be such fun . . .

The True Name of God, C.T. Phipps
Possessing even a fraction of God's true name grants great power – those with that knowledge must be obliterated before the wrath of gods is unleashed through them.  An awesome story, set around The Crusades, great characters and interesting use of current, real life religions in conjunction with eldritch mythology. A thoroughly engrossing story.

The Haunter of the Wheel, David J. West
The wild west gets a little weird in this story. With gunslinging lawmen, highway bandits, a crooked sheriff, and mutant demon spawn, seems kinda wrong to call it a fun read but it kinda really is. Excellent story.

The Ghost Door, David Hambling
I really love this story, great characters and fun dialogue – particularly between Arthur and Harry.  But but I couldn't quite puzzle out what actually happened in the space-time continuum with the portal-hopping. It may just be me, but it feels like the author changed his mind about how things would resolve, but forgot to go back and make all the necessary adjustments. Still enjoyed it thoroughly, excellent story.

Andrew Doran and the Forever Gate, Matthew Davenport
More portal-hopping in this story, with a few tenuous connections to a couple of the other stories – both in this collection and other stories in this universe (which I love).  A very enjoyable story, we get a little more of the interesting eldritch mythos, One thing to note, most of the villains in this anthology are female, and quite nasty too.

The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J. Diggs & The Dun WHAT? David Niall Wilson
David Niall Wilson is one of my favourite authors, moreso with every book of his that I read. This book is dark and fun, with intriguing, cleverly written characters and dialogue.  He pulls no punches and everything just works.

Final Gate, C.T Phipps
Don't betray the betrayer is the moral of this story, and if you need a zero-day old baby for your ritual, expect a little kickback from his ghoulish mama.  Weird west philosophising might just be what the world needs – what remains of it.  Great story, basically set in a post-apocalyptic universe, very clever, fun, dark and characters that makes you go "wait, what???"

As a huge Lovecraft fan, I'm always interested in seeing new transfigurations of his stories, as there is a wealth of mythology to work with. This is the first time I've read a collection dedicated singularly to one specific elder god, and I think that is the downfall of the collection.

Only having stories revolving around the manifestation of Yog-Sothoth means that inevitably they're repetitive. I also struggled with the. pace of the stories, and a story that would normally take me 30 minutes to read took hours. I just couldn't connect. Having not read any of these authors before, and I feel like I really missed out by not having sentimental feelings to characters that are clearly lovingly featured.

For me the two stories I liked the most were "The Ghost Door" and "The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J. Diggs & the Dun WHAT? Horror."

2.5 Stars rounded up to 3.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Crossroads Press/Macabre Ink for this advanced readers copy.