During
a recent trip home, that mostly consisted of visiting friends and family and
watching minor league baseball, I had time to go through some of my old
books that are still lingering in my parent’s attic. Among these
half-forgotten tomes, I found one entitled Cthulhu 2000, which I don’t remember
purchasing. It comes from Arkham House, that legendary publisher of the weird.
I had been disappointed by the book I had brought with me to read, so, despite
the miserable title, which makes it sound like ‘Retro Cthulhu in Space!!!’, I picked up
this anthology instead. The first story, ‘The Barrens’ by F. Paul Wilson sucked
me right in. It’s a fantastic example of a modern Lovecraftian story, and opens
with a couple of the best opening lines I’ve seen in a long time:
‘I
shot my answering machine today. Took out the old twelve gauge my father left
me, and blew it to pieces’
In
fact, I would rate the whole book as an above average collection of weird
tales. Most are ‘Lovecraftian’ in one way or another, but not all of them.
There are a few duds, as there always are, but a few real gems as well.
More
important than the stories themselves, was the effect the book had on me. For a
while now I have been feeling the urge to write some fiction, and reading
Cthulhu 2000 helped kick me into gear.
Last
week, I wrote my first fiction story in several years. Okay, it’s a piece of
flash fiction that doesn’t even make it
to 500 words, but that is of no matter. It is a complete story, and I am proud
to have written it. Now I need to start looking for places to submit it so I
can start collecting rejection letters again! Because that, more than anything
else, is how you really know you are writer!
Anyway,
although my copy of Cthulhu 2000 is an Arkham House hardback, I see the book is
also available as a cheap paperback. I didn’t realize that Arkham House
licensed their books out for paperback. Anyway, if you are in the mood for some
weird fiction, it’s got some good reads.
1p second hand ....
ReplyDeleteWorth st least 3p!
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