This past weekend was the HP Lovecraft Film Festival here in Portland, Oregon. As I've done for the bast 5 years, I attended the whole weekend. Got to hang out with my old boss Ken and his son Mason. I always get the Micofiction collection the festival puts out, and this year (for the first in over a decade), I did buy some actual books.
While travelling back and forth on the train to the Theater, I'd read on my kindle app on my phone. To keep in the right mindset, I was reading various short stories (or story collections) of Mythos and/or Weird Fiction. Since I don't use this blog as often as I normally do (as my rpg publishing efforts has been spotty the past 2-3 years), I thought I'd do some short (pun intended) reviews. So here goes!
This story revolves around a man who is hunting a supposed homeless serial killer he believes took his sister a few years before the start of the story. The killer is the subject of a manhunt, and the protagonist is trying to avoid them, as he wants to confront the killer on his own.
While this seems like a typical crime story, there's more to it, as the killer's motives are tied to "Gee", some form of entity trapped in the mountain the story takes place on. It tells a decent story in 12 pages.
I've read one of Klu's other stories (At the Tower of Midnight, which I got via a giveaway), and remember liking it (I might have to go back and re-read it now). This was no different. You can pick this up on kindle for $0.99 here.
This story is currently free on Amazon. It's longer at 47 pages, and is set in the 1920's. The protagonist of this story has it all, then suddenly loses everything. In desperation, he decides to rob the house of an elderly man who he knows has a lot of cash on hand. Needless to say, his plans don't go the way he expected them to.
I liked this one, though I'm not sure the Mythos elements were as good as could be. Still it's free, so not all I did was invest the time it took to read. This appears to be the only Mythos fiction the author has written; the other two titles they have appear to be part of a fantasy setting. If you want to check this one out, you can grab it here.
Discovered this one when the author posted about it on reddit. Something supposedly dead washed up on the shore of a lake in Wyoming in the late 1970's, and the horror it caused. The narrator is someone writing this down in the modern day, as they are still haunted by these events.
Being a narration of an event that happened a few decades ago, there's things left out of the story, because the narrator details how this continues to affect them. This one was one of my two favorites of all the stories I'm reviewing in this post. The author has a full novel out, which I plan on getting as well. This is only $0.99 at 28 pages, and totally worth it. You can pick it up here.
I have these two together, because they share the same narrator/protagonist. They are part of a larger collection, which is sadly not available on Amazon currently.
The Dulwich Horror of 1927 is a take on The Dunwich Horror. A group of young intellectuals discover said horror in this small town, and it affects them in different ways. One decides it has to be stopped, and it all falls apart from there.
While the group of intellectuals are interesting, the story doesn't really come across as good as The Dunwich Horror. Not for lack of trying though. If you've never read Dunwich Horror, I'd suggest reading this first, because it might be more enjoyable if you read Lovecraft's tale second. The story does go into some dimensional science which was cool, but still, something seemed missing.
One of the female characters becomes the lead in a novel that kicks off a series. I haven't picked that up yet, but plan on doing so down the road.
The Monsters in the Park takes place ten years later, and our narrator/protagonist is called in by someone who was part of the outer group of friends to the characters from the first story. Something seems wrong with his son, and he thinks the protagonist, having experienced strange events a decade prior, could help. There's some weird science in this one, and a few entities known from other stories by Lovecraft.
While I liked Dulwich Horror better, Monsters in the Park rates higher because it's not retreading another story like Dulwich did.
Hambling knows the Mythos well; he has an entire series based around his character Harry Stubbs to prove it. These stories are a good intro into his work, which hopefully leads readers to check out more.
Both are $0.99 on Amazon; Dulwich is
here, and Monsters in the Park is
here.
I saved the best for last. This story really appealed to me. Set in the modern day, it features a broken Marine veteran discovering that a homeless man he knows dead, with his body covered in ritualistic carvings. Having encountered the same thing in Afghanistan, he decides to deal with things on his own.
Action and the Mythos don't always mesh. This isn't cinematic action; think more Dirty Harry level, but it fits the story being told. I also liked the use of a lesser known entity instead of one of the usual suspects. As a military veteran myself, I've had a friend who had PTSD after the first Gulf War. The author does a reasonable job showcasing that in his protagonist. Given the story is only 28 pages, that didn't leave a lot of room to set something like up. I felt they did so well enough given the page count. The author does have a full length novel, which has more action in it from the description. I definitely want to check it out, as this story had me wanting more.
This is also $0.99, and you can pick it up
here.
There you have it. Six quick and dirty reviews of various Mythos stories. Hopefully I wrote enough to pique your interest in one of more of the stories I covered. I'll likely do some reviews in a few days, as I have a few more stories I'm reading.
Until next time!
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