Chthulu’s Copacetic Covers Extravaganza

Still Not Dead Then…

♦ It’s a funny thing. Here’s old HPL, celebrating his 79th year of being deceased. The World Fantasy Awards have people like China Miéville trying to get the “Howard” (their Oscar. No, I didn’t know either) changed for something more right on (Howard being a teeny bit racist). Yet there’s life in the old dog yet. Alan Moore, having made a career of reinventing other people’s ideas has turned his attention to helping Howard with his legacy. And, if you put Chthulu into Amazon’s search box you get hundreds of pages of toys, ski masks, games (Monopoly!). Oh, and some books as well.

Well, a hell of a lot of books actually. For the elder gods the time has come, it seems. So here are a few of them, in the first HPL cover shootout.

The Broken Hours by Jacqueline Baker, Talos | April 5, 2016 | Cover illustration artist: Jeffrey Alan Love.

In the cold spring of 1936, Arthor Crandle, down-on-his luck and desperate for work, accepts a position in Providence, Rhode Island, as a live-in secretary/assistant for an unnamed shut-in.He arrives at the gloomy colonial-style house to discover that his strange employer is an author of disturbing, bizarre fiction. Health issues have confined him to his bedroom, where he is never to be disturbed. But the writer, who Crandle knows only as “Ech-Pi,” refuses to meet him, communicating only by letters left on a table outside his room. Soon the home reveals other unnerving peculiarities. There is an ominous presence Crandle feels on the main stairwell. Light shines out underneath the door of the writer’s room, but is invisible from the street. It becomes increasingly clear there is something not right about the house or its occupant.Haunting visions of a young girl in a white nightgown wandering the walled-in garden behind the house motivate Crandle to investigate the circumstances of his employer’s dark family history. Meanwhile, the unsettling aura of the house pulls him into a world increasingly cut off from reality, into black depths, where an unspeakable secret lies waiting.

That’s all very well, you say, but what about the cover? Well, to my eyes it’s all a bit “meh.” A little too arty and lacking in tentacles for my tastes, but Jeffrey Allen Love has a nice line in HPL’s chin.

The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu edited by Paula Guran, Robinson | 14 April 2016 | Cover Artist: Unknown

For more than 80 years H. P. Lovecraft has inspired writers of horror and supernatural fiction with his dark vision of humankind’s insignificant place in a vast, uncaring cosmos. At the time of his death in 1937, Lovecraft was virtually unknown, but
from early cult status his readership expanded exponentially; his nightmarish visions laying down roots in the collective imagination of his readers. Now this master of the macabre is accepted as part of the literary mainstream, as an American author of note, and the impact of his work on modern popular culture – in literature, film, television, music, the graphic arts, gaming and theatre – has been profound. As Stephen King wrote in Danse Macabre, the shadow of H. P. Lovecraft ‘underlies almost all of the important horror fiction that has come since.’

Today, Lovecraft’s themes of cosmic indifference, the utter insignificance of humankind, minds invaded by the alien, and the horrors of history remain not only viable motifs for modern speculative fiction, but are more relevant than ever as we explore the mysteries of a universe in which our planet is infinitesimal.

This outstanding anthology of original stories – from both established award-winning authors and exciting new voices – collects tales of cosmic horror inspired by Lovecraft from authors who do not merely imitate, but reimagine, re-energize, and renew the best of his concepts in ways relevant to today’s readers, to create fresh new fiction that explores our modern fears and nightmares. From the depths of R’lyeh to the heights of the Mountains of Madness, some of today’s best weird fiction writers traverse terrain created by Lovecraft and create new eldritch geographies to explore . . .

With stories by: Laird Barron, Nadia Bulkin, Amanda Downum, Ruthanna Emrys, Richard Gavin, Lois H. Gresh, Lisa L. Hannett, Brian Hodge, Caitlín R. Kiernan, John Langan, Yoon Ha Lee, Usman T. Malik, Helen Marshall, Silvia Moreno, Norman Partridge, W. H. Pugmire, Veronica Schanoes, Michael Shea, John Shirley, Simon Strantzas, Sandra McDonald, Damien Angelica Walters, Don Webb, Michael Wehunt and A.C. Wise

This is more like it! Huge monster arising from the deep to bring about the end of what passes for civilisation. Wishful thinking, frankly, but the cover has a great Tom Sutton vibe going for it.

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, Harper | February 16, 2016 | Cover Artist: Unknown

The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide—and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite—heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors—they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn—led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb—which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his—and the whole Turner clan’s—destruction.A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism—the terrifying
specter that continues to haunt us today.

Hmmm, “cult novelist” eh? Well, we all know how that goes. Mr Cover Artist Unknown brings his “A” game to this one – faux “aged” effect, nice handmade type lettering and scary Ku Klux klan types emulating flames at the bottom of the cover.  Cool, and reminiscent of the US cover to Kavalier and Clay.  Here, take a look:

The Age of Lovecraft edited by Carl H. Sederholm & Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Univ Of Minnesota Press | April 1, 2016 | Cover Artist: Unknown

The Age of Lovecraft is the first sustained analysis of Lovecraft in relation to twenty-first-century critical theory and culture, delving into troubling aspects of his thought and writings. With contributions from scholars including Gothic expert David Punter, historian W. Scott Poole, musicologist Isabella van Elferen, and philosopher of the posthuman Patricia MacCormack, this wide-ranging volume brings together thinkers from an array of disciplines to consider Lovecraft’s contemporary cultural presence and its implications. Bookended by a preface from horror fiction luminary Ramsey Campbell and an extended interview with the central author of the New Weird, China Miéville, the collection addresses the question of “why Lovecraft, why now?” through a variety of approaches and angles.

A must for scholars, students, and theoretically inclined readers interested in Lovecraft, popular culture, and intellectual trends, The Age of Lovecraft offers the most thorough examination of Lovecraft’s place in contemporary philosophy and critical theory to date as it seeks to shed light on the larger phenomenon of the dominance of weird fiction in the twenty-first century.

Contributors: Jessica George; Brian Johnson, Carleton U; James Kneale, U College London; Patricia MacCormack, Anglia Ruskin U, Cambridge; Jed Mayer, SUNY New Paltz; China Miéville, Warwick U; W. Scott Poole, College of Charleston; David Punter, U of Bristol; David Simmons, Northampton U; Isabella van Elferen, Kingston U London.

Cover – just mediocre, which might be what you’d expect from this. It’s about the phenomenon of Lovecraft, the aforementioned plush Cthulhus and Alan Moore comics. The giveaway is the price – it’s over £60 for the hardback. This is what in my house is known as a “gold book”, full of essays academics write to keep their credentials, and college libraries buy because they have to. The money from this will be writers=0 publishers=Everything else. At least Moore will give you Avatar-endorsed rapey-ness for your cash.

If any of the publishers care to send copies they will get a full-on review. In the meantime, the award for best cover is won by Cover Artist Unknown for the Mammoth collection. Adios!

Peter Mann

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