Black Wings Of Cthulhu 3 edited by S.T. Joshi, part 2
Underneath An Arkham Moon
A self-conscious copy of Lovecraft. This was grubby, rough, raw and bad.
Spiderwebs In The Dark
A mildly incredulous tale of the lack of fixity of reality and the concordant perils thereof. Okay.
One Tree Hill (The World As Cataclysm)
A failing reporter who is not a social being wonders what lives on the hill. Whatever it is is irreconcilable with logic and therefore reality is a ghost. Okay.
Best Lines:
“What is it that skies eat?”
The Man With The Horn
A woman is curious about her reclusive neighbour. Mildly incredulous.
Hotel Del Lago
A short tale of a man who stops at a seedy motel and resignedly has a cosmic experience. Dull.
Waller
A man falls into an alternate world. This was a tasteless non-innovation.
The Megalith Plague
A recalcitrant doctor learns something strange is happening in his small Texas town. Okay.
Best Line:
“I left grad school because I thought my clay was talking to me.”
Down A Black Staircase
A man does stream of consciousness ranting. Terrible.
China Holiday
In the 90s a couple go on holiday. A complete sham.
Necrotic Cove
A dying woman travels to a mysterious cove. Unappetising.
The Turn Of The Table
A beach holiday goes awry as horrible changes take place. Lacks all spontaneity and is epically awful.
Weltschmetz
A boring unhappy man embraces the outré. This was a yawner with a false threat.
Best Lines:
“Jesus loves you, but I’m not Jesus.”
“I’ve come to realize that my life is marked by remembering where things used to be.”
Thistle’s End
A loser goes to see what his weird friend ‘found’. A worthless perambulation.
Further Beyond
This sequel to ‘From Beyond' has misplaced social norms, ignorance and hysteria. This was misplaced, dodgy and fungible. In fact the ineffective Book 3 took a drubbing and not one story had deep unease.
Best Line:
“Nothing was coming because it had been here all along.”
