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'The Braining of Mother Lamprey'

Not what I would ordinarily think of as New Weird, that. The Third World War sounds much like any other, with the same debasement and horrors, albeit almost anachronistic in its amalgam of both current-ish and dependably ancient trappings.

'Crossing into Cambodia'

'Crossing into Cambodia'

'In the Hills, the Cities' was also in the Books of Blood which I recently read. Even amongst other Baker stories of incredible oddity it stood out as memorable. Provincial cities whose occupants lash themselves together in the form of giants to do battle? That's one thing. It's the moments of insight into the City as an organism that are truly striking.

'The Luck in the Head' reminded me somewhat of an Ambergris story, whose names escape me. It gives a feel for the city almost exclusively through curious flashes of insight. I'm left interested in reading more stories from the cycle.

I'm in book 3 chapter 2 and... just... I don't know if I can be bothered continuing with the novel. I've just grown tired of the sustained blandness. I'll probably retire The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and sink my teeth into something a bit more bitesized next.

It's striking that Murakami can write so eloquently about what amounts to the normal intricacies of daily life, and yet extracts from it some mysterious essence that transcends age and culture to expose the deeper truths existence. It leaves me feeling so melancholy.

'The Alien Thoughts That Continued To Course Through Ted Gallatin's Brain Subsequent to His Clinical Death' was, as the title would suggest, an extension or post-script of the first poem-like story of the collection. I preferred its predecessor.

'After Math' is a story of the End Times. It can be tricky for an apocalypse story to be good, but by remaining firmly personal I think this one's managed it.

'Witch Hunt' is foreshadowing because, unlike most DG content which is set in the past or almost-present, this story is set in the near future. From what I could piece together, word of Delta Green gets out somehow and serious damage control is being undertaken to try and ensure that the Group lives on beyond this.

'Drowning in Sand' is another story I've read before. Possibly from one of the DG RPG books? Anyway, it's brilliant. It touches on some of the most pivotal events in the Conspiracy and shows things from a point of view that could otherwise be all top easy to overlook.

'Philosophy' was very short - almost flash fiction. As such it didn't contain much or really go anywhere, so I'm pretty meh about it.

'Drowning in Sand' is another story I've read before. Possibly from one of the DG RPG books? Anyway, it's brilliant. It touches on some of the most pivotal events in the Conspiracy and shows things from a point of view that could otherwise be all top easy to overlook.

'Contingencies' was great! It ties itself into the existing mythos logically, explores an existing and popular thought exercise deftly, and is personable enough to stay engaging through it all. Just brilliant.

'The Thing in The Pit' was enjoyable, and with a few morsels of fresh idea or novel implementation, but ultimately less than amazing. The old man Ghoul conversing with his prey about the inevitability of his consumption was nifty though.

Lepus! It's been a long time but I think I remember him being kind of a big deal in a couple of DG novels. Anyway, 'Coming Home' was an absolutely fantastic depiction of the specific flavour of insanity experienced by someone who'd been confronted with the Horror and later found themselves back in normal life. I loved it.

'The Secrets No One Knows' was very brief, but it held an air about it that was satisfying. The ending undermines its dignity, however, in being too overt and much too contrite. It felt like the sort of ending a novice might produce - it lacks finesse.

I'm not sure just what to make of 'Punching'. It's ripe with what I take to be double meaning, considering it's context. If it weren't appearing alongside other DG stories, and if it shirked its single overt reference to the Horrors, one could easily mistake this as concerning nothing but one man's troubled time at college and it's fallout. Surprisingly subtle. I appreciate that.

'Dead, Death, Dying' felt a little bit shallow, like it could have had more to say. Still, it contained a rather fresh take on what seems to have been a shoggoth.

'Night and Water' was included in another DG anthology that I've read, but I read it again anyway. It's a fairly good story concerning the Karotechia and the thwarting of one or two of their schemes by Allied forces.

'The File' was interesting, though while it includes a rather pivotal moment in DG history, the story itself only skirts the edges of the Conspiracy.

'Intelligences' was fairly standard modern method fair - a deep one hybrid awakening to his nature after a brush with grander Truth.

'The Alien Thoughts That Obtruded on the Consciousness of Agent Ted Gallatin, 35, as He Lay Slowly Dying in a Stairwell on Valley Centre, KS' is a flowing sort of poem forward to the rest of the stories. It's difficult to make too much sense of it, but it seems most likely to be speaking from some semi-anthropomorphized perspective of Azethoth.

These damn books go by way too quickly :(

How could it ever have ended any other way?

Both stories are so strange and interesting that, while reading either, I lament having to return to the other. I'm curious to see which narrative takes my fancy once they've further progressed.

Note to self: vol 1 is The Book of Blood to In The Hills, The Cities, vol 2 is Dread to New Murders in the Rue Morgue, and vol 3 is Son of Celluloid to Human Remains. Where the hell are The Inhuman Condition to Twilight at the Towers from?!

'The Book of Blood (a Postscript): On Jerusalem Street' was an unfortunately uninspired ending to the anthology that illustrates what happened to the living Book of Blood from the introduction story.