Cthulhu Lies Dreaming: Twenty-three Tales of the Weird and Cosmic

by Salomé Jones (Editor), Pete Rawlik (Contributor), Lynnea Glasser (Contributor)

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.”

The classic American horror author H. P. Lovecraft coined the term ‘weird fiction’ in the 1920s. Even today, in our rational world of wonder, his legacy of cosmic horror slumbers on. Deep in the recesses of our unconscious minds, we suspect it to be the truth – that we begin to glance the shape of true reality, and it is not to our liking. Not at all.

Modern science, with its experts and specialities, is a fragmentary thing. In this, it reflects the human mind. We keep our thoughts in boxes, broken into digestible shards. It is safer. Cosmic horror warns us that what we fondly imagine to be reality is just a thin skin of light and substance over endless gulfs of insanity. Gather too much knowledge, make the wrong connections, and the truth can no longer be denied.

The amazing tales lovingly collected in Cthulhu Lies Dreaming are fragments of that truth. Treat them with the caution that they deserve. Each will offer you glimpses behind the skin of the world, leading you closer and closer to the edge of the abyss. Knowledge may bring wisdom, but it also offers far darker gifts to the curious.

The truth is indeed out there – and it hungers.

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian, Anthologies, Weird Fiction, Cthulhu Mythos, Fiction, Short Stories

388 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 2016

About the author

Salomé Jones lives in London with her husband and three adorable cats, Chilly, Thena and Hermes. They are planning to live happily ever after.

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very strong collection! Bulk I think are non US stories, but even though Cthulhu is very New England based origin wise, still works. I enjoyed the spate of England and Europe takes before drifting back to the isolated coastal hamlets or gas stations on the way (though UK/EUR still predominates in this omnibus). I was somewhat concerned when I got the book in the mail, because for 23 short stories, a little on the thin side at first (just 378 pages), but the print is somewhat smaller than most and for the material, a rather dense book.

None of the stories I disliked, many I enjoyed quite a bit, and the very first story in the collection, Nikukinchaku, might have been my favorite. Reminded me a lot of Stephen King's Suffer the Children story, though obviously with a very different ending.

[Theresa Nowaczyk]

Yay! Won a copy of Cthulhu Lies Dreaming: Twenty-three Tales of the Weird and Cosmic (Paperback)
by Salomé Jones in a giveaway for free on Goodreads First Reads. Really excited to see what this is all about. Thank you! Will post a review once received and read. :) Woohoo! That cover is pretty awesome, can't wait to see it in person.

[Timothy Crane · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most anthologies, there are good, bad and indifferent stories, depending on your own taste as well as preference for Lovecraft's stories themselves. My favorites of this one were Bleak Mathematics, Offspring and best, I thought, was The Lullaby of Erich Zann.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another one I need to revisit, but I do feel the need to point out something. As I've been looking through these collections it's given me a bit of a thrill to recognize names in these books that meant nothing to me at the time of writing. Names such as Kenneth Hite, Leeman Kessler and Nick Mamatas (in Lovecraft Unbound, not this collection) make me incredibly excited to revisit this and other Lovecraft tribute collections sitting on my shelves.

[Brian Greiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book.
The writing is decent enough, but there is a boring sameness to the stories. It is almost as if all the authors were told to write a modern Lovecraft story in the old style. That is, lots of atmosphere and described feelings of dread, but told in a languid and flowery language.
I'd have to say this is a collection of stories for fans only.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good anthology of Cthulhu Mythos stories

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book through Goodreads. Wow, these stories were all amazingly, scary, eerie. weird. Really great reading.

[Blythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid read. Each story was unique, yet tied in beautifully with the theme. I would definitely recommend!