Black Wings of Cthulhu (Volume 5): Tales of Lovecraftian Horror

This is volume 5 of an ongoing short story anthologies based on the Cthulhu / Lovecraft mythos. HP Lovecraft was an amateur journalist and fantasy/horror writer who lived in Providence, Rhode Island for most of his life but did venture out into other parts of New England and even briefly into New York City. He is notable for creating several memorable stories and themes and having sparked several other creators. His best known creation is the Cthulhu mythos - a series of tales, loosely interlocked about a vast alien race of beings that once ruled the planet but now lie slumbering but may return. One aspect that distinguishes his stories from other creators is that the vast scale of these beings is such that they really don't care about humanity. Humanity is an accidental bystander that gets brushed aside if they are lucky or trampled if they are not. The tales in this volume follow along these themes. A few are more straight forward horror tales with only a tenuous link to the mythos but overall a good read. Some of the tales are secondary or meta tales that focus on the nature of effect of the mythos. The editor Joshi is an expert on Lovecraft and is a good curator.

So far I have read all of the volumes in this series and have yet to be disappointed. True, some stories are stronger than others, but the overall anthology is among the best you'll find. I hope you ejnoy it as much as I have, and will continue to!

Just what you expect from contemporary authors following in HPL's footsteps. All the stories are not perfect. But they are entertaining.

have all 5 volumes and love the way the mythos has been used in new stories very creative have many other books of Lovecraftian stories these are among the best