Usually anthologies have one or two good offerings and the rest are poor. This was just the opposite with a lot of quality work. I particularly liked the work by Jonathan Wood and I'm definitely reading more of him. ( )

I bought this on a whim, as the ebook was on sale and I was interested in reading the story by Neil Gaiman. To my surprise, it ended up being an enthralling series of stories that I could not put down. They were all well-written, with lots of suspense, plot twists, and spooky vibes. Some of the stories have really stuck with me. I'll consider myself lucky if I find another collection this good. ( )

Favorite stories:
Take Your Daughters to Work by Livia Llewellyn
The Big Fish by Kim Newman
Boojum by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
The Black Brat of Dunwich by Stanley C. Sargent ( )

A first-rate themed anthology is hard to find. Oh, there are tons of them available, but too often editors seem to simply throw together a couple dozen stories that loosely fit the appropriate theme without giving thought to how well the stories fit with one another. Having suffered through many such anthologies, it came as a pleasant surprise to find Ross E. Lockhart’s The Book of Cthulhu II, a recent anthology from Night Shade Books which combines good storytelling with good editing.

There are many collections inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, but few of them standout simply because the editors choose stories that are little more than Lovecraft pastiche. In The Book of Cthulhu II, editor Lockhart gathers twenty-four tales that, while inspired by the Mythos, feature the unique voice of each author and work together to create the mood of madness and despair that is the hallmark of good Mythos stories.

Lockhart has included stories by noted fantasy and sci-fi authors Neil Gaiman, Fritz Leiber, and Kim Newman but the true gems of the anthology are from the lesser known writers. Paul Tobin’s “The Drowning at Lake Henpin,” Christopher Reynaga’s “I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee,” both original to the anthology, Stanley C. Sargent’s “The Black Brat of Dunwich,” and A. Scott Glancy’s “Once More, from the Top” alone justify the cover price.

If the book has a flaw, it’s that Lockhart places too many stories inspired by Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” in the first half of the anthology. This makes the book seem a little repetitive when reading the stories in the order they are printed.

Whether new to the Mythos or a longtime fan, readers will find Ross E. Lockhart’s The Book of Cthulhu II a worthy addition to the Lovecraft world.

Received via NetGalley.

I originally wrote this review for thechantonline.com. It is reposted with permission. ( )