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House of the Toad
Cover art by Harry O. Morris.
247 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 14, 2021
Retro review*
This is definitely a pulpy piece of trash horror, complete with ancient Meso-American cults, paranoid archaeologists, evil New Age occultists, and shoggoths swarming out of the Mississippi River. It has a bit of a 1970s late night movie vibe that I found oddly likable and is way over the top and about as far from Lovecraft's vision as possible, though it is certainly not the worst Lovecraft pastiche I've read. Though the characters were wooden, the Mythos was used only as an excuse for sex and violence, and the plot was incomprehensible, it was a bit of a guilty pleasure, despite having not much to recommend it. The most interesting aspect for me was the Midwestern setting of the Quad Cities, about the last place you would expect Cthulhoid horrors.
*Read this some years back, details may be sketchy
This is definitely a pulpy piece of trash horror, complete with ancient Meso-American cults, paranoid archaeologists, evil New Age occultists, and shoggoths swarming out of the Mississippi River. It has a bit of a 1970s late night movie vibe that I found oddly likable and is way over the top and about as far from Lovecraft's vision as possible, though it is certainly not the worst Lovecraft pastiche I've read. Though the characters were wooden, the Mythos was used only as an excuse for sex and violence, and the plot was incomprehensible, it was a bit of a guilty pleasure, despite having not much to recommend it. The most interesting aspect for me was the Midwestern setting of the Quad Cities, about the last place you would expect Cthulhoid horrors.
*Read this some years back, details may be sketchy
December 6, 2017
I love Richard Tierney, and this is hardly his best work, but for what it is, it's really fun. Imagine Indiana Jones meets Lovecraft meets the 1970s Nightstalker TV show...set in 1980s Quad Cities, Iowa.
So pulpy you can smell the smashed trees, with a fun take on the Deep Ones and homages to several well-known horror writers, from Lovecraft to Matheson. It ain't art, but it IS fun.
So pulpy you can smell the smashed trees, with a fun take on the Deep Ones and homages to several well-known horror writers, from Lovecraft to Matheson. It ain't art, but it IS fun.
May 7, 2024
A 20 page short story stretched to 300 pages.
April 12, 2017
Cthulhu Mythos meets Indian Jones. This story has dark cults, international conspiracies, secret organizations, cosmic terror, ancient gods and past lives. Reminds me of a B-Movie but that isn't necessary a bad thing with me. I have to wonder if Tierney planned a squeal.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews