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In the Belly of the Beast and Other Tales of Cthulhu Wars: A Cthulhu Wars Novel
“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests...”
–H.P. Lovecraft
In the Belly of the Beast is inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft and the epic tabletop game Cthulhu Wars, published by Petersen Games.
Contained in this book are eight short stories and a compete novel. The short stories are all inspired by the factions and cults of the “Cthulhu Wars” game, and the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and his collaborators.
The novel, In the Belly of the Beast, tells the story of a small group of human survivors trying to find a safe haven amidst the ruins of civilization. While traveling through a treacherous mountain pass, they find themselves caught between rival cults, and discover there are worse things in the cold places of the world than frostbite.
“This novel vividly brings my setting of Cthulhu Wars to life. I am impressed by Ben Monroe’s skill in evoking cosmic despair and horror.” – Sandy Petersen, Author of Call of Cthulhu
–H.P. Lovecraft
In the Belly of the Beast is inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft and the epic tabletop game Cthulhu Wars, published by Petersen Games.
Contained in this book are eight short stories and a compete novel. The short stories are all inspired by the factions and cults of the “Cthulhu Wars” game, and the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and his collaborators.
The novel, In the Belly of the Beast, tells the story of a small group of human survivors trying to find a safe haven amidst the ruins of civilization. While traveling through a treacherous mountain pass, they find themselves caught between rival cults, and discover there are worse things in the cold places of the world than frostbite.
“This novel vividly brings my setting of Cthulhu Wars to life. I am impressed by Ben Monroe’s skill in evoking cosmic despair and horror.” – Sandy Petersen, Author of Call of Cthulhu
349 pages, Paperback
Published September 10, 2018
89 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Ben Monroe
23 books20 followersBen Monroe has spent most of his life in Northern California, where he lives in the East Bay Area with his wife and two children. He is the author of In the Belly of the Beast and Other Tales of Cthulhu Wars, the Seething (coming in 2023 from Brigids Gate Press), the graphic novel Planet Apocalypse, and short stories in several anthologies.
When not writing about slimy lake monsters, cosmic horrors, or other malevolent entities, Ben spends time with his family, reads a lot, works a perfectly normal day job, builds models of classic monsters, and enjoys hiking and running in the East Bay hills.
You can find more information about him and his work at www.benmonroe.com
When not writing about slimy lake monsters, cosmic horrors, or other malevolent entities, Ben spends time with his family, reads a lot, works a perfectly normal day job, builds models of classic monsters, and enjoys hiking and running in the East Bay hills.
You can find more information about him and his work at www.benmonroe.com
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 9, 2018
This is one of the most addictive page-turners I have read in a very long time. I love horror novels, especially Cthulhu mythos ones, and this one did not disappoint. I had read some of Ben Monroe's short stories, which were also fantastic horror, and was looking forward to this novel for quite some time. It was even better than I had hoped for. If you want to lose a lot of sleep because you don't want to put a book down, then buy this one. The world and characters were believable and immersive, with the many horrors and monstrous gods described in loving detail. Looking forward to more novels from Monroe.
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November 25, 2018The book of the game (no, not that one. Or that one. No, that one either) of the universe loosely assembled around the books of the early 20th century's answer to Morrissey – a man whose sensitivity, unworldly demeanour, anachronistic affectations and love of the unexpected word are inseparable from his being a bit of a racist shithead. True, there's a case to be made that unlike Stephen Patrick, who solidified from a maybe into a definitely, Howard Philips was headed the other way, but still, these days if one speaks of the monstrous and obscene in connection with him, it's as likely to concern his attitudes as his creations. And similarly, Cthulhu Wars seems to be a game designed so that other Lovecraftian adjectives – monstrous, cyclopean – can be applied to its enormous pieces. Hell, by some accounts you even need a bit of non-Euclidean geometry to play it, given the difficulty of getting the bastards into a contested area on the board under normal spatial rules. And there's even a certain blasphemous quality in using so much plastic for such determinedly frivolous purposes just as we've finally realised it's killing the planet. Which, again, circles around to being oddly apt, especially when you remember that at least one thinker prefers to label our current apocalyptic epoch not as the Anthropocene but the Cthulhucene.
I've never played Cthulhu Wars, by the way. Though on one occasion the sheer scale of the boxes – plural, because they had loads of the expansions too – distracted me from exactly the sort of unnamable rites which gave Lovecraft such heebie-jeebies. Whether he'd count that as a win, who can say?
To call Ben Monroe's tie-in book a collection seems iffy; it recalls that distinction between the mean and the median, and the example of the class where one kid gets more pocket money than the rest combined (aka modern capitalism). The book opens with a short story, emphasis on short, for each faction in the game – one corollary to that being that they don't need to cohere with each other, since a game by definition should play out differently each time. Each faction, it should be emphasised, is monstrous: this is not one of the Cthulhu games where you play the heroic humans struggling against the monsters, it's one where you play the cults and monsters bickering over the spoils once the stars are right and mankind's day is already done. Still, there's a general sense of escalation, from signs and portents to full-blown apocalypse, as you read through them all. And then the remainder of the book, which is to say nearly 90% of it, is In the Belly of the Beast proper. Which, after the unusual perspectives of the shorts, can't help but feel rather staid. The focus returns to regular people, trying to make their way in the changed world. And yes, it has nice touches, like the way our initial POV character seems to be doing pretty well, until something as mundane as a cut thumb puts him well on the way to being utterly fucked. This is exactly the sort of corrective survival horror should include, when you think about the way a certain sort of pillock almost longs for the apocalypse as a chance to prove their own badassery. But set against that, a lot of it just feels very obvious. Has something smelled the blood? You bet it has. Are all the survivors so nice as the first ones he meets thereafter? They are not. What sort of survivor has turned to cannibalism already? A backwoods clan, you say? Imagine my surprise! They're even surnamed Beane, for pity's sake. This ties back to the monster from whose perspective we get the most, the wendigo – which feels like a missed opportunity when they're pretty much just fast zombies, and zombie apocalypse stories are so common, and so many more peculiar critters are available here. And that's even before you consider their other regular geek media appearances as what happens if you eat a bad burger in Marvel Canada. Other beasties do feature, but mainly as the sort of random encounter a novice GM throws in when the players are getting bored, and if at least the characters aren't playing Mythos bingo with them, the reader familiar with this stuff can hardly help it. Underlying all this, there's that thing which stands out so much in so-so horror, where the writer has registered how the masters of the form use everyday detail to ground and contrast the terror, and so tries to do likewise – but what works for Aickman, James or King too easily comes across cluttered and bathetic in other hands. There are occasional lovely lines when Monroe gets back to the weird stuff - "The miserable cabin squatted in the forest like a toad dying of a slow, lingering infection" - but too few to make up for the generic characters and repetitive dialogue. I'd read more of Monroe's shorts, but the slog of the novel too accurately captures just how boring it would be to survive the end of the world.
I've never played Cthulhu Wars, by the way. Though on one occasion the sheer scale of the boxes – plural, because they had loads of the expansions too – distracted me from exactly the sort of unnamable rites which gave Lovecraft such heebie-jeebies. Whether he'd count that as a win, who can say?
To call Ben Monroe's tie-in book a collection seems iffy; it recalls that distinction between the mean and the median, and the example of the class where one kid gets more pocket money than the rest combined (aka modern capitalism). The book opens with a short story, emphasis on short, for each faction in the game – one corollary to that being that they don't need to cohere with each other, since a game by definition should play out differently each time. Each faction, it should be emphasised, is monstrous: this is not one of the Cthulhu games where you play the heroic humans struggling against the monsters, it's one where you play the cults and monsters bickering over the spoils once the stars are right and mankind's day is already done. Still, there's a general sense of escalation, from signs and portents to full-blown apocalypse, as you read through them all. And then the remainder of the book, which is to say nearly 90% of it, is In the Belly of the Beast proper. Which, after the unusual perspectives of the shorts, can't help but feel rather staid. The focus returns to regular people, trying to make their way in the changed world. And yes, it has nice touches, like the way our initial POV character seems to be doing pretty well, until something as mundane as a cut thumb puts him well on the way to being utterly fucked. This is exactly the sort of corrective survival horror should include, when you think about the way a certain sort of pillock almost longs for the apocalypse as a chance to prove their own badassery. But set against that, a lot of it just feels very obvious. Has something smelled the blood? You bet it has. Are all the survivors so nice as the first ones he meets thereafter? They are not. What sort of survivor has turned to cannibalism already? A backwoods clan, you say? Imagine my surprise! They're even surnamed Beane, for pity's sake. This ties back to the monster from whose perspective we get the most, the wendigo – which feels like a missed opportunity when they're pretty much just fast zombies, and zombie apocalypse stories are so common, and so many more peculiar critters are available here. And that's even before you consider their other regular geek media appearances as what happens if you eat a bad burger in Marvel Canada. Other beasties do feature, but mainly as the sort of random encounter a novice GM throws in when the players are getting bored, and if at least the characters aren't playing Mythos bingo with them, the reader familiar with this stuff can hardly help it. Underlying all this, there's that thing which stands out so much in so-so horror, where the writer has registered how the masters of the form use everyday detail to ground and contrast the terror, and so tries to do likewise – but what works for Aickman, James or King too easily comes across cluttered and bathetic in other hands. There are occasional lovely lines when Monroe gets back to the weird stuff - "The miserable cabin squatted in the forest like a toad dying of a slow, lingering infection" - but too few to make up for the generic characters and repetitive dialogue. I'd read more of Monroe's shorts, but the slog of the novel too accurately captures just how boring it would be to survive the end of the world.
May 15, 2019
Glad I got this as a free copy. OK, but not especially well-written. The first part of the book is several (unrelated) Mythos-based short stories, not really connected with the main novella. The rest of the book is "In the Belly of the Beast", a post-apocalyptic Cthulhu novella. Again, nothing special. Author does get points for the Sawney Beane reference. 2 stars. Maybe 2.5 as it was a quick read.
November 5, 2018
A number of short stories, and a novel greet you in this new take on Cthulhu mythos tales, but based in Petersen Games Cthulhu Wars. Each short story has punch and grit, and this reader wished for more of them. The novel had engaging characters that are stuck in the end of the world times when Cthulhu and other Outer gods have returned to the planet. Looking forward to this becoming the first in a series of novels in Cthulhu Wars universe.
October 26, 2018
Horror is not my usual genre. But a friend highly recommended this one, so I decided to give it a try. The book is a selection of short stories followed by a novella, all very well written. The stories drew me right in, and I enjoyed the read. Surprise! Definitely recommend!
July 5, 2019
Wow! I really enjoyed this. I didn't really know what to expect when I started it, and the short stories in the beginning didn't necessarily click with me, but I'm very glad I stuck with it and read the novel.
This is going to sound totally cliché, but I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed it, and now I want more. Maybe another novel from another perspective on a different part of the world?
Seriously though, if you enjoy the Cthulhu Mythos, and The Walking Dead, give this a shot. You'll probably like it. 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
This is going to sound totally cliché, but I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed it, and now I want more. Maybe another novel from another perspective on a different part of the world?
Seriously though, if you enjoy the Cthulhu Mythos, and The Walking Dead, give this a shot. You'll probably like it. 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
February 2, 2020
Overall a good read. The initial short stories were a bit of a mixed bag, some interesting, others not as much. The main story though was very good, became quite the page turner at times, with some good twists in it. Captured quite well what a potential future would be like if the beings of the Cthulhu mythos managed to 'conquer' Earth as such.
November 10, 2018
The writing is a bit amateurish, but still an interesting mix of post-apocalypse and Lovecraft. Worth a read if you're a fan of the Cthulhu Wars game.
March 13, 2019
Fun read, light and entertaining
Part one of this book was the best, if you're interested in Sandy Peterson's Cthulhu Wars, you'll appreciate it I'm sure
Part one of this book was the best, if you're interested in Sandy Peterson's Cthulhu Wars, you'll appreciate it I'm sure
March 22, 2019
More like 2 1/2 stars.
July 4, 2019
The novel was good, short stories were lacking
January 5, 2025
Does it's best, but the problem with writing about the post-apocalypse is that eventually you run out of apocalypse.
March 15, 2021
Well, I bought this book and started reading right away. The reason is that I enjoy lovecraftian tales and since this was based on Cthulhu Wars I started to read and thought that this makes no sense being labed as Cthulhu Wars.
Cthulhu Wars is a game where 2 or more players battle for victory. Each faction has it's own weakness and strengths. I knew this could not be done since it would be impossible to make a book on Cthulhu perspective or other any other Old Ones... Well it could be done via the cultists but it would be hard. What I found was 9 tales, each one with 3/5 pages. Each page focused on one Faction available in Cthulhu Wars (interesting none was about Cthulhu). Each one is non-connected to the other.
In the other tale takes almost 300 pages and we follow three survivors in a post-apocalytic environment where several Old Ones come to be... Unfortunately the author doesn't spent that much time in this focusing on our 3 protagonists. There are a couple of chapters dedicated to other beings (including Wendigo). But what disappoint me it was the lack of connection between the novel and Cthulhu Wars. There was no battles between old ones (although there were a couple of pages where we see some cultists fighting other faction.
But that was it...
I wrote this in when I was at 250 pages or so but in the last 40 pages there are some action between two Old Ones (Cthulhu vs Ithaqua) but it's so brief and just a note that it was insufficient for me.
It's a book that can be read very fast no doubt about it but bear in mind that it doesn't do justice to the Cthulhu Wars franchise. I would prefer a Planet Apocalpyse novel since it would be better suited because since the world is burning and daemons are appearing there are survivors and they are fighting. Novels could be written by it. Let us see...
Beautiful cover
Cthulhu Wars is a game where 2 or more players battle for victory. Each faction has it's own weakness and strengths. I knew this could not be done since it would be impossible to make a book on Cthulhu perspective or other any other Old Ones... Well it could be done via the cultists but it would be hard. What I found was 9 tales, each one with 3/5 pages. Each page focused on one Faction available in Cthulhu Wars (interesting none was about Cthulhu). Each one is non-connected to the other.
In the other tale takes almost 300 pages and we follow three survivors in a post-apocalytic environment where several Old Ones come to be... Unfortunately the author doesn't spent that much time in this focusing on our 3 protagonists. There are a couple of chapters dedicated to other beings (including Wendigo). But what disappoint me it was the lack of connection between the novel and Cthulhu Wars. There was no battles between old ones (although there were a couple of pages where we see some cultists fighting other faction.
But that was it...
I wrote this in when I was at 250 pages or so but in the last 40 pages there are some action between two Old Ones (Cthulhu vs Ithaqua) but it's so brief and just a note that it was insufficient for me.
It's a book that can be read very fast no doubt about it but bear in mind that it doesn't do justice to the Cthulhu Wars franchise. I would prefer a Planet Apocalpyse novel since it would be better suited because since the world is burning and daemons are appearing there are survivors and they are fighting. Novels could be written by it. Let us see...
Beautiful cover
October 16, 2018
A TALE OF A NEW OLD ONE IT IS....
Hello, I liked this set of stories and I really liked the short novel at the end. Great, a new old one. I'm sorry, but ole squid face would have kicked his butt. Good job. Thanks.
Hello, I liked this set of stories and I really liked the short novel at the end. Great, a new old one. I'm sorry, but ole squid face would have kicked his butt. Good job. Thanks.
June 4, 2019
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