The Fiddle is the Devil's Instrument by Brett J. Talley

Mar 18, 2018 Panagiotis rated it liked it

Shelves: horror

Ύστερα από δύο εξαιρετικές νουβέλες που απέτιαν φόρο τιμής στον Λάβκραφτ, κλείνοντας το μάτι και σε άλλα θεμελιώδη ονόματα της λογοτεχνίας τρόμου, ο Τάλλευ εδώ παραδίδει μια συλλογή ιστοριών.

Η συνεπής και μελετημένη γραφή του που ενώ ποτέ δεν αποκλίνει από το όραμά της, δεν κάνει εκπτώσεις στην ποιότητα είναι εδώ. Είναι, όμως, και ένα βιβλίο θεωρώ για τον θιασώτη του είδους και ακόλουθο το Talley. Τρεις εκτενείς ιστορίες έχουν παρουσιαστεί ως ένθετες αφηγήσεις στο τελευταίο μυθιστόρημά του. Ύστερα από δύο εξαιρετικές νουβέλες που απέτιαν φόρο τιμής στον Λάβκραφτ, κλείνοντας το μάτι και σε άλλα θεμελιώδη ονόματα της λογοτεχνίας τρόμου, ο Τάλλευ εδώ παραδίδει μια συλλογή ιστοριών.

Η συνεπής και μελετημένη γραφή του που ενώ ποτέ δεν αποκλίνει από το όραμά της, δεν κάνει εκπτώσεις στην ποιότητα είναι εδώ. Είναι, όμως, και ένα βιβλίο θεωρώ για τον θιασώτη του είδους και ακόλουθο το Talley. Τρεις εκτενείς ιστορίες έχουν παρουσιαστεί ως ένθετες αφηγήσεις στο τελευταίο μυθιστόρημά του. Ακόμα κι αν παραμένουν απολαυστικά αναγνώσματα, στερούν κάτι από την αξία ενός βιβλίου που το αντιμετώπισα ως συλλογή αυθεντικών ιστοριών. Το υπόλοιπο σύνολο είναι άλλοτε διασκεδαστικό, άλλοτε απλά ικανοποιητικό - η μικρή φόρμα στο Λαβρακραφικού σύμπαν, όπου κάτι μονίμως ελλοχεύει για να οπσιθοχωρήσει με τους χειρότερους οιωνούς, έχει μια προβλέψιμη "συνέπεια" που υπερβαίνει τις αντοχές μου.

Ο αναγνώστης που έχει ακούσει για τον Talley και θέλει να τον γνωρίσει -και τον προτρέπω να το κάνει, αν έχει τα ανάλογα γούστα-, αξίζει να ξεκινήσει από τα μυθιστορήματά του. Είναι ευφάνταστα, εξαιρετικά γραμμένα, εμφορούνται από αγάπη όχι μόνο στο είδος που υπηρετεί ο Talley, αλλά γενικά στην καλή μυθοπλασία, και είναι ένα ταξίδι στην φρίκη των κόσμων του Λαβκραφτ. ...more

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Apr 21, 2017 Darrell Grizzle rated it it was amazing

One of the best collections of Lovecraftian short stories since the days of Lovecraft and the original Weird Tales. Those of us who loved Brett Talley’s novels That Which Should Not Be and its sequel, He Who Walks in Shadow, will be delighted to see Carter Weston again in this collection. There’s true cosmic horror here, not just in the stories set at Miskatonic University but in the stories set in other worlds, Worlds Which Should Not Be. Highly recommended to all who love creepy weird horrific ...more

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Nov 23, 2017 Andrew “The Weirdling” Glos rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cthulhu-mythos, lovecraftian, weird-fiction, 2017, horror

Talley's Lovecraftian work is some of the best in the business these days. This is no exception. A few of the stories can be found as chapters in his other books. Some I've never seen before, but they are all worth it, every one. The author of the intro mentions his preference for modern Lovecraftian writers over the master of Providence himself. I think he's not alone in this. If you share that sentiment, then this is definitely are great book and well worth your time.

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Sep 25, 2017 Michael Parrish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

More great Lovecraftian goodness crafted by the skilled Talley. It's always great to spend more time with Carter Weston even if it was but a single story in the bunch. Each tale was spun with care to pay out in the weird tradition, and were rich character studies. I can't wait for more from the author.

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Jun 20, 2017 Linda Epach rated it really liked it

Shelves: won

The 13 short stories in Brett J. Talley’s “The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument and Other Forbidden Knowledge” instantly took me back years in time when I first read H.P. Lovecraft. Though the times have been updated, the feeling is still there in these tales. Dark horrific terror from which there is no escape. Highly recommended to readers of dark creepy fiction.

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May 03, 2017 Stormcrow rated it liked it

It's difficult to write in another author's well established universe, in this case Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, and really stand out. To that end, this collection of stories both succeeds and occasionally fails.

First, it succeeds at the most essential level: its writing. The stories are all interesting and certainly draw you in. Talley's modern style could easily attract readers into the Cthulhu mythos who might find Lovecraft's original stories too archaic and his lengthy descriptions tedious It's difficult to write in another author's well established universe, in this case Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, and really stand out. To that end, this collection of stories both succeeds and occasionally fails.

First, it succeeds at the most essential level: its writing. The stories are all interesting and certainly draw you in. Talley's modern style could easily attract readers into the Cthulhu mythos who might find Lovecraft's original stories too archaic and his lengthy descriptions tedious or too difficult. To that end, these stories are much more accessible to modern readers than the original source material. The problem is this: as a teenager, I noticed that all of Lovecraft's characters either die or go mad and most modern Cthulhu stories continue this trend so that the stories become predictable. Talley is frequently guilty of this (as an author, I confess I am guilty of this as well), but when he strays from the formula, his stories stand out. Indeed, our first story, "The Fiddle is the Devil's Instrument," is a strong start to this collection. Talley creates a strong and eerie mood that captures the feel of Lovecraft nicely, but then takes a turn in a different direction. My only criticism here is that it didn't feel self-contained, instead it felt like the opening chapter to a novel and to that end, I would have enjoyed reading more. But leave them wanting more is an old showbiz adage and so I happily continued.

The second story, though not my favorite, stands out because it's so outlandishly different from anything else I've read in the genre. Our protagonist is a rodeo clown! Again, Talley creates an interesting situation, but this time he falls into the predictable pattern of most Lovecraftian horror. In fact, the dramatic sting of the story's ending relies on the reader being familiar with Cthulhuian mythology, but to anyone already familiar with it, the second half of the story will also feel all too familiar.

Our third story, "What the Dead Can Tell" is one of my favorites in the collection. Talley seems like he writes best when he escapes the standard conventions of Lovecraft and updates the mythos to our modern times (well, more modern anyway). I don't want to reveal too much, but this story takes place during the final days of the Cold War as special agent Crowley (no comment) interrogates a KGB agent about the strange satellite findings deep in the country's interior.

Even though "The Space Between Spaces" follows the traditional Lovecraftian formula almost to a fault, draping it modern science (it takes place at the Large Hadron Collider) somehow makes it more fun and for that reason I enjoyed it even though I knew exactly where it was going.

I don't wish to summarize each of the stories, so suffice to say that there's no doubt Talley can write well and pull you through his stories, but it's what he does within that structure that decides if they will stay with you or not. Unfortunately, he ends too many stories with either someone's last words or the dramatic sting of a final line. Sometimes it works, but other times it doesn't and in the case of "The Piper in Yellow" I thought it completely unnecessary as it erases any subtlety to an otherwise enjoyable story.

Despite these problems, this is nevertheless a collection of mostly satisfying stories that traipse through the dark shadows of cosmic horror and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre.
...more

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Apr 03, 2018 Lele rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the first book by this author I've read, but certainly not the last. I adored the subtle, creeping sense of horror that Brett J. Talley creates. As any horror fan can tell you, there's an (over) abundance of shock value gore to choose from, but finding an author who crafts tales to tingle the spine and imbue the reader with unease... now that is much, much harder. And yet, Mr. Talley manages to do precisely that. I was simultaneously discomforted and fascinated by his stories. In fact, I ...more

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Aug 30, 2017 William Tea rated it liked it

***this review originally appeared on The Ginger Nuts of Horror website***

In genre fiction circles, the name H.P. Lovecraft has long been revered. These days, the most noteworthy of the many, many writers who invoke that name tend to take influence from the man’s more “literary” qualities. They craft subtle, atmospheric, often quite poetic tales of philosophical horror with cosmic implications and an emphasis on suggestion over explication. It’s worth remembering, though, that Lovecraft’s legacy ***this review originally appeared on The Ginger Nuts of Horror website***

In genre fiction circles, the name H.P. Lovecraft has long been revered. These days, the most noteworthy of the many, many writers who invoke that name tend to take influence from the man’s more “literary” qualities. They craft subtle, atmospheric, often quite poetic tales of philosophical horror with cosmic implications and an emphasis on suggestion over explication. It’s worth remembering, though, that Lovecraft’s legacy is equally rooted in the realm of pulp fiction.

Indeed, what originally attracted both readers and writers to Lovecraft’s output was not so much his style or worldview (as largely seems the case today), but rather the open-source mythology he created as a background for his tales. From pantheons of alien gods to whole bookshelves stuffed with arcane grimoires, Lovecraft’s sandbox has always been flush with toys practically begging storytellers to jump in and play with them.

No one had to beg Brett J. Talley, it seems. His latest collection, The Fiddle is the Devils Instrument and Other Forbidden Knowledge, is classic Lovecraftian fiction in full-on no-frills pulp mode: Straightforward horror yarns about unsuspecting mortals stumbling into conflict with ancient, apocalyptic entities. And sometimes they even survive!

Over the course of 13 tales, Talley injects Cthulhu Mythos tropes into a wide range of well-realized historical settings, often finding ways to make Lovecraftian narratives reflect the grimmer aspects of the spirits of each age.

In the rugged days of the North American fur trade, paranoia consumes a party of trappers when one among them becomes possessed by a wendigo-esque Old One. Nineteenth century voodoo queen Marie Laveau leads a swamp-dwelling cult on a campaign of bloody sacrifice in service of Nyarlathotep. In the trenches of “No Man’s Land” during the Battle of Verdun, a creature that feeds on death is roused from its centuries-long slumber, and it is hungry.

A WWII soldier searching for meaning after enduring the horrors of combat attends a gathering of spiritualists who, upon broaching the veil between worlds, are confronted not by the ghosts of their loved ones but rather something far less comforting. At the close of the Cold War, the CIA interrogates a KGB operative about just what surprises are hiding in a secret Soviet facility, and why even the Reds themselves have fled the place. In the present day, a massacre at the Large Hadron Collider raises questions about what experiments the scientists there might actually be performing, and what they might unleash.

Despite the dark and sometimes lurid subject matter, there is a lightness to Talley’s fiction, an “everyone gather ‘round the campfire” ghost-story warmth that admittedly undercuts the terror every now and then, even flirting with outright absurdity on occasion (one memorable story features a rodeo clown using the tricks of his trade to escape the wrath of Tsathoggua!). Nevertheless, it is this lightness that makes Talley’s tales so eminently readable, so easy to enjoy.

Talley isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel; weird fiction readers in search of material with a more self-aware, deconstructionist, or genre-bending flavor are better off looking elsewhere. But for those who still enjoy the Mythos-inspired stories of Frank Belknap Long, Brian Lumley, or even August Derleth, The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument offers the literary equivalent of comfort food: Good, solid Lovecraftian pulp that’s light on all that purple-prose philosophizing and heavy on macabre monster action. ...more

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Nov 20, 2018 Michael rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, audio

A short collection of Lovecraftian fiction by an excellent writer. Some of the stories will be familiar to those who have read other collections, but they are good enough for a second read.

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Mar 12, 2017 Christopher Payne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: journalstone

From Brett J. Talley, the master of Lovecraftian terror, comes thirteen tales of the dark forces that lurk just beyond man’s understanding.

A scientist who opens a door between dimensions. A creature that devours the dead in World War I’s no man’s land. A fiddler who can bring forth the gods of old. These are but a few of the horrors retold in The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument and Other Forbidden Knowledge.

Read them if you must but do not forget: there are some things mankind was never meant ...more

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Aug 30, 2017 William Tea rated it liked it · review of another edition

***this review originally appeared on The Ginger Nuts of Horror website***

In genre fiction circles, the name H.P. Lovecraft has long been revered. These days, the most noteworthy of the many, many writers who invoke that name tend to take influence from the man’s more “literary” qualities. They craft subtle, atmospheric, often quite poetic tales of philosophical horror with cosmic implications and an emphasis on suggestion over explication. It’s worth remembering, though, that Lovecraft’s legacy ***this review originally appeared on The Ginger Nuts of Horror website***

In genre fiction circles, the name H.P. Lovecraft has long been revered. These days, the most noteworthy of the many, many writers who invoke that name tend to take influence from the man’s more “literary” qualities. They craft subtle, atmospheric, often quite poetic tales of philosophical horror with cosmic implications and an emphasis on suggestion over explication. It’s worth remembering, though, that Lovecraft’s legacy is equally rooted in the realm of pulp fiction.

Indeed, what originally attracted both readers and writers to Lovecraft’s output was not so much his style or worldview (as largely seems the case today), but rather the open-source mythology he created as a background for his tales. From pantheons of alien gods to whole bookshelves stuffed with arcane grimoires, Lovecraft’s sandbox has always been flush with toys practically begging storytellers to jump in and play with them.

No one had to beg Brett J. Talley, it seems. His latest collection, The Fiddle is the Devils Instrument and Other Forbidden Knowledge, is classic Lovecraftian fiction in full-on no-frills pulp mode: Straightforward horror yarns about unsuspecting mortals stumbling into conflict with ancient, apocalyptic entities. And sometimes they even survive!

Over the course of 13 tales, Talley injects Cthulhu Mythos tropes into a wide range of well-realized historical settings, often finding ways to make Lovecraftian narratives reflect the grimmer aspects of the spirits of each age.

In the rugged days of the North American fur trade, paranoia consumes a party of trappers when one among them becomes possessed by a wendigo-esque Old One. Nineteenth century voodoo queen Marie Laveau leads a swamp-dwelling cult on a campaign of bloody sacrifice in service of Nyarlathotep. In the trenches of “No Man’s Land” during the Battle of Verdun, a creature that feeds on death is roused from its centuries-long slumber, and it is hungry.

A WWII soldier searching for meaning after enduring the horrors of combat attends a gathering of spiritualists who, upon broaching the veil between worlds, are confronted not by the ghosts of their loved ones but rather something far less comforting. At the close of the Cold War, the CIA interrogates a KGB operative about just what surprises are hiding in a secret Soviet facility, and why even the Reds themselves have fled the place. In the present day, a massacre at the Large Hadron Collider raises questions about what experiments the scientists there might actually be performing, and what they might unleash.

Despite the dark and sometimes lurid subject matter, there is a lightness to Talley’s fiction, an “everyone gather ‘round the campfire” ghost-story warmth that admittedly undercuts the terror every now and then, even flirting with outright absurdity on occasion (one memorable story features a rodeo clown using the tricks of his trade to escape the wrath of Tsathoggua!). Nevertheless, it is this lightness that makes Talley’s tales so eminently readable, so easy to enjoy.

Talley isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel; weird fiction readers in search of material with a more self-aware, deconstructionist, or genre-bending flavor are better off looking elsewhere. But for those who still enjoy the Mythos-inspired stories of Frank Belknap Long, Brian Lumley, or even August Derleth, The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument offers the literary equivalent of comfort food: Good, solid Lovecraftian pulp that’s light on all that purple-prose philosophizing and heavy on macabre monster action. ...more

flag Like · see review