The Hounds of Tindalos

by Frank Belknap Long

This 1963 Belmont Books paperback edition contains nine stories from the original Arkham House hardcover edition of 1946.
Dark Vision (1939) story
Golden Child (1945) novelette
The Black Druid (1930) story
The Space-Eaters (1928) novelette
Grab Bags Are Dangerous (1942) story
Fisherman's Luck (1940) story
The Elemental (1939) story
The Peeper (1944) story
The Hounds of Tindalos (1929) story

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Lovecraftian, Fantasy, Short Stories

173 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Aka Lyda Belknap Long.

Frank Belknap Long was a prolific American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including early contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos. During his life, Long received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (at the 1978 World Fantasy Convention), the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement (in 1987, from the Horror Writers Association), and the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award (1977).

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 2 out of 5]

ugh it's so boring having to write about an uninteresting book. Frank Belknap Long wrote hundreds of stories in many genres (and nearly as many essays), but is best known for following H.P. Lovecraft's path into the cosmic horror of Weird Fiction. indeed, Lovecraft himself features in perhaps the worst story in the collection "The Space-Eaters" - where he comes across as a hysterical, entirely self-absorbed dick. Long was perhaps not the most devoted of acolytes LOL. anyway, these stories were so blah and often maudlin, corny, eye-rolling. and numbingly tedious... I often felt like I was forgetting what I was reading as I read them. I suppose that is its own kind of cosmic horror, writ very small.

the sole exception, and the only reason this isn't 1 star, is the title story, a classic of the genre. "Hounds of Tindalos" does do a great job getting right to the heart of Lovecraftian ultra-dimensional horror, with its drug-taking central character mentally traveling beyond the barrier of time, only to find horrific, hungry non-beings that travel through the curves of space-time via angles. the scene where the protagonist and his acquaintance the astral traveler frenziedly attempt to use plaster of Paris to cover up the angles in the latter's room so that these hounds can't burst through was something else. if only the rest of the collection were anywhere near as entertaining as this tale. alas!

I'll give Long another shot, if only because I have one more collection of his. I shouldn't have listened to that person on Ebay who convinced me that the author was worth looking into. I'll not forget this, seller 184u - you led me astray!

[Jed Mayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

How Long attained his near-legendary status as a fantasist and visionary is beyond me: much of these stories read like a parody of Lovecraft or a poor pastiche of the kind of "gotcha-ending" speculative fiction associated with Matheson, Collier and others who shaped the entrepreneurial imagination of Rod Serling. I struggle to find a single positive quality to discuss in these tales so I'll stop right here.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This slim little volume my brother lent me is my first exposure to Mr. Long. It was a widely varied experience. Some stories I found to be rather juvenile and/or dated. Others like the title stores were quite well told, erudite even at times. Far from my favorite weird writer. But one I'd love to explore further.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes bonechilling, sometimes clever, always otherworldly. Threading throughout the short stories is the idea of otherworldly layers, whether of the solar system, dimensions, or human minds, that the worst thing for us is catching a glimpse of.

[Durant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might give this 2.5 stars but that’s it. I expected something great from such a classic. Instead, what I got was two or three decent stories and a lot of bad writing that was just damned silly at times. Perhaps he meant for it to be that way. I don’t know. I do know that I am thus far very disappointed in Long.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, individually published between 1929 and 1945, in the science fiction & horror genres. The author was a friend of H.P. Lovecraft.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Belknap Long's "The Hounds of Tindalos" and H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space" may be the only two horror stories that have really scared me. Indeed, even the cover of the paperback edition featured here creeped me out--and this even before I had an idea of what "non-Euclidean space" was.

Woof!