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Book Review: The New Annotated Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham edited with notes by Leslie S. Klinger

The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham edited with notes by Leslie S. Klinger

Liveright Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1631492631

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

 

The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham is a handsome volume of the master’s short stories. This volume collects 25 of the prolific author’s stories, including such famous titles as “The Music of Erich Zann”, “Pickman’s Models”, “The Tomb”, and “The Horror at Red Hook”. It is a heavy book, and I would definitely recommend making sure you have a clean, clear table to read it on.

When you consider an annotated book, the most important thing is of course the annotations, or notes. These notes are printed in an appropriate and easily readable shade of red. They are clear, and they explain fully each and every detail the reader might not have been previously aware of. Leslie Klinger has clearly done extensive research, hunting all manner of information down to provide us thorough, precise explanations of all sorts of short hand descriptions of things in Lovecraft’s stories.

This is a big, beautiful book. If you are a fan of Lovecraft, or you just like short stories that discuss strange, otherwordly monsters, this is highly recommended. This is definitely for ADULT readers.

 

Reviewed by Ben Franz

 

Posted on January 19, 2020 by , Reply

Musings: The Same Old Arguments About H.P. Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft was a racist.

It’s not an argument we are going to have here. He was a racist, and it’s clear as it can be from his writing that he was racist, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic.

I often hear apologists say “He wasn’t any worse than anyone else at the time.”  That’s a terrible argument. Other people being racists at the same time doesn’t excuse Lovecraft– it just shows that an appalling number of people were racist.

I’ve actually seen someone compare him to Abraham Lincoln (I’m totally willing to say that Lincoln was not an angel, and he certainly held racist beliefs. But that’s one of the most bizarre comparisons I’ve ever come across). Lincoln’s racism isn’t an excuse for anyone else’s racist beliefs, either.

Also, can we please get past the idea that people who object to Lovecraft’s racism are destroying literature? Or that any literature belongs to any one person?  Lovecraftian fiction is more popular than it’s ever been, and his racism isn’t stopping a lot of people from reading and enjoying it, or even writing it.  And authors and publishers who address the problematic nature of Lovecraft’s work are producing some amazing work. Victor Lavalle’s The Ballad of Black Tom, a response to The Horror at Red Hook, received rave reviews.  Silvia Moreno-Garcia at Innsmouth Free Press, published and co-edited She Walks in Shadows, an award-winning anthology of Lovecraftian fiction.

I’m not a fan of Lovecraft at all, but I don’t think Lovecraft’s work should be banned, or shoved under the table. Just because he wrote about shadowy creatures doesn’t mean he and his work should be hidden. He existed, and regardless of what you, or I, or anyone else, think of him,  he made tremendous contributions to horror literature, and his mythos, at least, has solidly embedded itself in mainstream culture.  As individuals, we can each decide whether his problematic attitudes toward race, women, and Jews are enough to keep us from reading his work or even loving it. But they shouldn’t be forced on anyone.

But this back-and-forth on “is Lovecraft a racist” is taking the focus away from some really brilliant writers who have already recognized that he is problematic, and are facing that head-on. Let’s see how far-reaching the diversity and creativity of today’s writers of Lovecraftian fiction can take us as we acknowledge his racist past.

 

 

Posted on September 3, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavelle

Tor Books, 2016

ISBN-13: 978-0765387868

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, Audio

 

This could be one of the most important books of the year, maybe in quite some time. The cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft, especially his stories of the “Old Ones”, the Cthulhu Mythos, has been a driving force for decades: however, most of the recent books standing in the shadow that he has cast, have been disappointing.

Lovecraft’s virulent racism has been the topic of considerable controversy over the last several years. The question of how to reconcile his problematic views with his genius has been a difficult one for readers and lovers of horror to wrestle with. In The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor Lavelle responds to Lovecraft’s racism by re-visioning of one of his most racist stories, “The Horror at Red Hook”, bringing it up to date by presenting it from a fresh point of view. Excellent on its own, The Ballad of Black Tom is easily one of the finest horror stories bridging the racism of our dreadful past to our present-day troubles.

The story features an African-American musician and hustler, Charles Thomas Tester, living in downtrodden Harlem in 1920s New York. He travels to Flushing Meadows, delivering dangerous occult items, always hunted by gangs and bigoted cops, knowing each trip might be his end. One evening, he meets up with the mysterious Robert Suydam, who promises Charles a fine payday to play at his party. Charles is unaware that the man seeks to awaken the “Sleeping King.” After suffering daily, with the threats of street life in jazz-age New York, the otherworldly doesn’t frighten him much… but it should.

Lavelle is a strong, talented writer with a voice I would like to hear more often. His style is as smooth as the notes of the forbidden song Charles plays, which transforms 1920’s New York into the living, breathing organism it needs to be for this novella. The Ballad of Black Tom is a twisting tale of the Lovecraft mythos that is both refreshing and suspenseful. I could easily have read more of Charles’ journey, which ends with a surprising, but utterly satisfying conclusion. If this book is not claiming awards next season, there’s something wrong with the system. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on September 30, 2016 by , 1 comment