Status Updates From The Shub-Niggurath Cycle: T...

When I read a thorough critical introduction like the one Robert M. Price has here, I wonder "what the heck did you do all day?" I wish I had enough time (and residual income?) to pontificate and document, at length, the many threads that may or may not (Price is clear that all is inconclusive) make up the mythology of Shub-Niggurath.

Must be nice.

To Clear the Earth by Will Murray. Something has appeared in the depths of Antarctica, something forseen by Alhazred’s al-Azif. A little story of action-horror to end the anthology.

Grossie by David Kaufman. An old lady reminisces about a strange happening when she was young. A subtle story, full of implications of inhuman and very human evils.

The Curate of Temphill by Robert M. Price and Peter H. Cannon. A young priest is sent to take over the parish of Temphill after some difficulties with his predecessor. A creepy a d unsettling little story that only hints at the Mythos and is all the stronger for it. Proof that a good story does not need to be peppered with the names of Old Ones and references to dreadful tomes created by HPL.

Sabbath of the Black Goat by Stephen M Rainey. The sabbath comes and Buck Withers is all for letting folks have their religions, but he’s sure something unholy is going on. An enjoyable modernisation of Lovecraft’s dread witch cults with a nuanced nod to Wicca rather than painting everything as monstrous.

Prey of the Goat by Lin Carter. An unexpected gift leads to contact with the Black Goat. This one fell flat aside from the string in the tail, the Mythos names peppering a fairly generic possession story. It’s like a cheap knockoff of the Exorcist whose writer used Shub-Niggurath rather than Pazuzu be a he was a fan of Lovecraft.

Visions from Yaddith by Lin Carter. An excerpt of the weird poetry referenced in the previous story.

Dreams of Yaddith by Lin Carter. A scholar seeks a quiet residence to carry out his work and finds himself dreaming of another world.

Harold’s Blues by Glen Singer. An young musician makes a deal with strange power for the skill and music he desires. A classic sort of deal with the devil story with a little Mythos added in.

Seed of the Star-God by Richard L. Tierney. Simon of Gitta attempts to stop an unholy union that will spell doom to the world. My first experience of Tierney’s Simon of Gitta stories, enjoyable Lovecraft lite with a side of sword and sandal adventure.

A Thousand Young by Robert M. Price. An indolent young student is drawn down the path of the Libertine into depths even his jaded mind could not imagine. A disturbing story of sex and perversity with a sharp Mythos ending.

The Ring of the Hayden’s by John Glasby. A student of the occult seeks a way to hide from the ire of Hastur the Unspeakable. This was bad. Trite and amateurish attempts at horror full of things told rather than shown and overloaded with Mythos references. This anthology gets one more chance, another stinker like this and it’s getting DNF.

The Moon-Lens by Ramsey Campbell. An unfortunate traveller finds himself in Goatswood at a most auspice time. One of Campbell’s early works, it treads a fine line between charming fan pastiche and genuine Mythos tale, and is very enjoyable for it.

The Ghostly Goat of Glaramara by J.S. Leatherbarrow. A tale within a tale of an old woman decried as a witch and her caprine companion. The last of the demonic goat stories in the anthology, and probably the best of the three even of its story within a stipulated within a story framework was a bit frustrating.

The Demoniac Goat by M.P. Dare. Two archaeologists follow news of a coin trove and meet a strange priest and his stranger companion. Possibly the blandest short story I’ve read in a long while, the flat prose and matter of fact nature of things felt like the work of a writer starting out and in need of a strong editor. The brief blurb about the author was far more interesting than the story.

The Horn of Vapula by Lewis Spence. A new arrival in a village notices something sinister that the locals pointedly ignore in the hopes of not drawing its attention. A story about the sinister goat-demon trope rather than anything eldritch, but an enjoyable enough tale aside from its abrupt end.

The introduction with its discussion of the mythopoeia of Shub-Niggurath and the paucity of information about her is interesting and reminds me that I have to read more books about the Mythos along stories of all shades.