Keyport Cthulhu

Keyport Cthulhu #1

by Armand Rosamilia, Katelynn Rosamilia, Chuck Buda

Keyport Cthulhu Revised and Expanded Edition for 2017! "The painting forced him to move back with such suddenness, he nearly fell over the side of the old wooden railing. It depicted a grisly scene, as if your worst nightmare had been splattered on canvas. Despite his mind screaming to look away, he could not avert his eyes" - Ancient Set in the New Jersey fishing village of Keyport, where the Esoteric Order of Dagon has been planning for the awakening of the Deep One all these years… Who can survive when Cthulhu rises? Includes several bonus the steampunk tale "Rats In The Cellars" "Cthulhunicorn" co-written with Katelynn Rosamilia “Lockbox” previously unreleased And two Lovecraftian tales from author Chuck “The Terrible Old Man of Keyport” and “Dark Waters of Sin”

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian, Cthulhu Mythos, Audiobook

182 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 6, 2013

About the author

Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life...

He's written over 150 stories that are currently available, including horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.

He not only runs two successful podcasts...

Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast - interviewing fellow authors as well as filmmakers, musicians, etc.

The Mando Method Podcast with co-host Chuck Buda - talking about writing and publishing

But he owns the network they're on, too! Project Entertainment Network


He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool.

You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes!

and e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal:

armandrosamilia@gmail.com

Reviews

[Zain]

Lovecraftian!

Armand Rosamilia, with help from his buddy Chuck Buda and daughter Katelynn, is a lover of Lovecraft’s horror and this pastiche collection does a good job of representing the mythos here.

The stories are all about the same theme as the stories follow each other from a beginning to a conclusion.

Using the town of Keyport (a real New Jersey town), as the setting for these Cthulhu stories makes the horror of the book more enjoyable and carrying the characters through story from story makes everything more interesting and scary.

For Lovecraftian horror, a strong four stars.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

I'd gone too long without a Cthulhu mythos fix, and this scratched that purulent itch wonderfully. The author has adapted the bayside town of Keyport, New Jersey into an Innsmouth-worthy setting full of suspicious natives, inescapable family legacies, creepy deformed children, and the pervading miasma of dead fish and rot.

It's a collection of short stories, and let me tell you how excited I was when, part-way through the second of these, I learned that they were strongly linked. And that painting, and it's role in the stories, magnificent. This is an updated edition, adding an adorable story by the author's then-tween daughter about Cthulhu and a unicorn falling in love, three other stories from the elder Rosamilia in this setting from different time periods (one of them is referred to as a 'steampunk' tale, but other than a mention of dirigibles and an interest in pocket watches, I didn't get a steampunk vibe from this one, just an early twentieth century period thing), and two stories from "Keyport Cthulhu superfan" Chuck Buda, which were almost as good as the main author's own.

This reminds me not to go so long again without Cthulhu in my life.

[Latasha]

I enjoyed this Lovecratian tale set in the town of Keyport, NJ. There's easter eggs through out for the HPL fans. I listened to the audio book. It's narrated by Mike Chadwick. He does a good job. I enjoyed listening to him bring this weird tale to life.
I requested this audio book in exchange for a honest review.

[Jason Meuschke]

I was originally not at all interested in trying this as I'm not a big fan of Lovecraft. But I am a fan of these guys and their Mando Method podcast and eventually decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did. The manner in which each tale is written as both standalone and yet still a part of the whole was masterful. At the heart is the main story by Armand which successfully sucks the reader in and with Cthulhu-like powers and absorbs all your energy to do anything else but to read what happens next. Chuck Buda's entries are as equally entertaining and enthralling as worthy additions to the collective while Katelynn's Cthulhunicorn story is troubling with how cute it is. Well worth my time and yours and I look forward to the upcoming sequel.

[Joan]

I had this book on my Kindle for awhile and with the release of book 2 decided to move it up my list and wow, so happy I did. The fishing town of Keyport has been hiding a terrifying secret for years and that is now going to explode. I love how each new short brings in new characters to add to this tale. I've never been a fan of water or cellars and this horrific book didn't change my feelings at all. Well done Armand Rosamilia, Katelyn Rosamilia and Chuck Buda, now reading the second book. For fans of horror.

[Sharon]

CW: emotional abuse, incest, gore, child death, animal death
Read for the "Read the States" challenge for: New Jersey!

I received this book for free on Kindle via Goodreads giveaway - all opinions are my own!

I really enjoyed this take on Lovecraft. The interconnected storytelling style was very cool - it definitely played into the classic forms of Lovecraft stories.
I was a little disappointed that the "bad guys" were revealed so early on. Personally, I love the guessing game of figuring out which cosmic being or story is being discussed in mythos retellings. Even with Cthulhu in the title, we didn't have to learn quite so early.
I was also a bit surprised at the prevalence of Christian themes and characters. I like to look towards cosmic horror when I'm trying to get away from Christian overtones in horror.

There's one story in here that feels very out of place. After I read the author's notes at the end, I learned it was co/primarily written by his daughter, who was I think 11 at the time. If the collection had been longer, it would have been very funny to get more non-traditional pieces in there, but I felt like it came at a point where the stories were trying to take themselves much more seriously than the piece warranted. Hard to say! It was just a bit of a jolt to find a piece about a unicorn sticking out in the middle there, between all the blood and fish-people and hellhounds and motorcyclists on the run for murder!

[Richard Schwindt]

Wow, creepy enough for you? Keyport, New Jersey is, I gather, a real place and horror lovers will recognize the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. So Armand Rosamilia has crafted a series of stories that represent Keyport as home and haven for the Cthulhu cult of extremely unpleasant individuals. You don't want to wander into town just for the hell of it; it is not a nice place. Characters, good and bad, all discover this truth the hard way. Keyport Cthulhu is quite well done and leaves you with a coating of slime as a souvenir. Best read by candlelight, with fermented milk and raw octopus.

[Pheebz]

Keyport Cthulhu is a dark and suspenseful story. Harry inherited an old house in a small fishing town on the New Jersey coast. He was hoping his wife Nichole would fall in love with the house and the quaint little town. The house was hiding the dark secrets of the town of Keyport and the people who were born there. Their first night there Nichole was taken in the night to be the sacrifice lead to the sea by Harry’s dead grandfather who was laid to rest in a room upstairs. This is where the story begins. In the course of Harry trying to find his wife he meets Father Rocko,who is able to shed some light on the unfriendly town folks.
Some families had moved away when their children were young, yet sooner or later those who were born in this town find themselves pulled back to this fishing town without knowing why. There are several really interesting characters in this story, a few of my favorites are Harry, Father Rocko and Bobby "Bones”. The idea of a painting found in the upstairs hall that can suck people into it and deposit them into the depths of darkness was brilliant. The pace of the story was steady never lacking in the action department and the monstrous creatures Armand Rosamilian describes are frightening. He is a wonderful storyteller. Pick up this book to find out more.

[Christy Thornbrugh]

This was a great story a little town with the Evil with in they had new comers if you were not born here your not welcome. Once Harrison come back town to get his dead grandpas house and sale it, He got a bad feeling of the house its self.all but anything good happen it was his worst fears the town people were against him and wanted his wife as a sacrifice he woke up with the sound of his wife screaming and watching his grandpa his dead grandpa row off with his wife in the lake can her get her back is she dead or alive and what of his grandpa....... its a must read for any one Armand really knows how to write how to tell the story's and how to get your imagination working

[Kelly Rickard]

Really good collection of short stories plus the last story was written by Armand's daughter and I really looked forward to reading

[Diane Johnson]

A nice little addition to anyone fond of Lovecraft inspired stories

This was a great read, especially for a .99 cent ebook. It’s a series of short stories about, as the title says, Cthulhu, if he resided off the coast of Keyport NJ.

I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the homage. Each short story had its own tone, from children’s story (yes, you read that right) to steampunk, to something in the realm of hard boiled detective with a hint of Burroughs.

I have to be honest, though and mention that I felt the main story (the meat of the collection and maybe long enough to be considered a novella) felt incomplete. I was hoping for a more solid end to that one before I was thrown into the next chapter, which wasn’t a chapter but a new short story.

As a whole, though this collection of Cthulhu inspired stories was a fun read.

[Lara Giesbers]

An interesting Cthulhu branch

I am a sucker for all things Lovecraft, so I couldn't resist the title. These tails are interesting and just long enough to give you the creeps. I think the only thing that I didn't like was the gore of the stories. Granted, in modern horror you have it dished out gratuitously, but Lovecraft didn't use it, and it almost made the stories creepier and more horrific by refusing to describe what is best left in the dark. The Statement Of Randolph Carter is my favorite Lovecraft story for that very reason. When you can chill people with just the idea of a voice you've really got something. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the originality of each story...Bones and Father Rocco being the most interesting by far. This is definitely a worthwhile read for the serious horror fan.

[Stephanie]

I very rarely give five star reviews but Keyport Cthulhu definitely deserves it! I have always loved Lovecraft's works...in theory. His novels can be difficult to follow. However, this novel gives you the Lovecraftian feel but keeps it interesting. I love that this is a compilation of short stories because you never know how each "chapter" is going to end. Every story gives you just a little more mythos into Keyport and Cthulhu! I took my time reading it because I didn't want it to end. I'm definitely going to be checking out the rest of the series.

[Alan Loewen]

A Braided Novel

A braided novel is a collection of short stories that tell a more complete story when read in chronological order. The tales have a similar setting as well as share some of the same characters, but I need more.

The set of stories ends with a major cliffhanger that I hope is resolved in the other books in the series.

Well written by a man who knows his tropes and can play creatively with them. I only found two or three typos.

[robin page]

Cthulhu has always been my favorite

I grew up reading H.P. Lovecraft, and I loved all the creatures he created, Cthulhu the water god captured my imagination and the stories by the author fit right in!
A must read for horror fans!

[Alisha Jackson]

A chilling, Lovecraftian descent into coastal horror, *Keyport Cthulhu* delivers an expanded collection of nightmares from the deep, where ancient cults and cosmic terrors lurk just beneath the surface.

[Ilene G>]

A good collection of stories.

I enjoyed these stories. All the stories are connected. My favorite was a Cthulunicorn . I will read the next anthology.

[Sarah Ehinger]

I won this book as a Goodreads giveaway. This was a fun anthology of Cthulhu stories. These were bit as cerebral as other Cthulhu short stories that I've read, but still enjoyable.

[Norman Miller]

Really fun book that made me crave pork roll and I don't know if I even know what pork roll is!

[Craig Brownlie]

I seem to be starting on my beach reading early this year. Keyport Cthulhu is the perfect complement to a day in Manasquan under an umbrella, wondering what might rise from the surf.

[The Smoog]

The beginning of a mostly enjoyable story cycle set in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Be warned though, it is not a stand-alone book and neither are the stories within, so if you’re not prepared to read only a single story or just the one book of the series, you’ll likely be left feeling pretty unsatisfied.

[Nick Zinn]

A creepy interwoven tale of individuals overtaken by the fishy familiars of Keyport. A few short stories that lean to a bigger picture and extra afters that only color more of the city and it's past. Solid recommendation for modern Lovecraft with one tale that walked out of the 1930's. Hope it's the first of many woes in Keyport, New Jersey.

[Lancejen]

First story: The characters were great and interesting. Armand kept you guessing as to wether he would keep them alive or not. The story is vivid and drags you in. It is surprising how much happens in the book in such a short amount of time.
Second story: a big change from the first. I thought it was fine, a bit dull from the cliff that the first left on. It kicked up a bit as you followed along the guys break in psyche.
Third story: the best. It is a quick read about Cthulhu and a unicorn and there relation with one other. Simple but nice read.