REVIEW: Lair of the Crystal Fang by S. A. Sidor

Lair of the Crystal Fang is another entry in the excellent series pulpy novels based on the board game adapted from Fantasy Flight games’ Arkham Horror as well as the works of H.P. Lovecraft. It is the third of the “Andy Van Notwick” books by S.A. Sidor. The Last Ritual and The Cult of the Spider Queen loosely follow cub reporter Andy Van Notwick in his attempt to find the big scoop that will propel him to fame as an investigative journalist. These stories inevitably take him into Arkham, Massachusetts’s seedy occult underbelly and are unprintable by the end.

Lair of the Crystal Fang deals with Andy having gotten his employment terminated after his attempt to sell his story with insufficient evidence. He’s now reduced to cleaning up dirty apartments in the worst part of the city. His former associate, Jake Williams, has lost one of his legs and is struggling to recover as a former adventurer. Maud Brion, former actress turned director, has been assigned to an asylum but finds herself a subject of investigation by unscrupulous doctors. There’s no sign of Ursula Downs, though. Lair of the Crystal Fang introduces several characters from the board game as regular characters. Wendy Adams, the amulet wielding street urchin, is one. So is Doctor Fern, the only Arkham medical professional who deserves their license. Mayor Sinclair also shows up, being more concerned with trying to repair the city’s sewer system despite being aware of the existence of the supernatural.

The premise for Lair of the Crystal Fang is that there is a serial killer stalking the streets of Arkham. It hasn’t killed many people, only a handful, but it has already caused a panic in the streets. The Lamprey, as he’ll eventually be known, uses the city’s sewer system to carry out its
assassinations while collecting blood for a mysterious crystal formation underground. This crystal is tied to the city’s history of witches and may contain an imprisoned elder god. I think the serial killer is perhaps a bit obvious for Arkham Horror, being less odd than the previous two stories. However, the story is competently told, and Lair of the Crystal Fang uses its villain well. The thing is that the Cthulhu Mythos isn’t really about villains and more cosmic
impersonal forces. While cultists and bad guys do exist, especially in the Arkham Horror series, it is a bit removed from the more cosmic horror of other works.

In conclusion, this is a solid example of horror adventure writing. Lair of the Crystal Fang is a work that has a lot of appeal for a grimdark fan. Its characters are heroic but flawed and believable with a world that has no forces of “good” to counterbalance the evil. I recommend the Arkham Horror books overall and this.

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