Brian Hodge

February 12, 2015

Get Ellen Datlow’s must-have anthology LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS for $2.99!

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, Brian Hodge, Caitlín R. Kiernan, cthulhu, Elizabeth Bear, Ellen Datlow, Fred Chappell, Gemma Files, horror, howard waldrop, Joe R. Lansdale, john coulthart, John Langan, karl edward wagner, Kim Newman, kindle, kindle daily deal, Laird Barron, lovecraft, lovecraft's monsters, mythos, Nadia Bulkin, neil gaiman, Nick Mamatas, short stories, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Steve Rasnic Tem, Steven Utley, thomas ligotti, William Browning Spencer

Ellen Datlow’s acclaimed anthology LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS is a Kindle Daily Deal for Thursday, February 12, 2015.

For today only, the ebook is available for just $2.99!

“Some of the best Lovecraftian short fiction of the past 30 years.”
—Washington Post

Behold these newly-illustrated legends of modern horror’s most wicked progeny. In Lovecraft’s Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft’s famous creations—Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, and more—are celebrated in all their terrifying glory. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas. The monsters are lovingly rendered in spectacular original art by World Fantasy Award–winning artist John Coulthart (The Steampunk Bible).

“If you like Lovecraft even a little bit, this collection is a must.”
—Book Riot

“Ellen Datlow’s second editorial outing into the realm of Lovecraft proves even more fruitful than the first. Focusing on Lovecraftian monsters, Datlow offers readers sixteen stories and two poems of a variety that should please any fans of the genre.”
—The Arkham Digest

A Creature Feature Top Ten Book of 2014
“Fans of the HBO True Detective series (and those who are not) will love this new themed anthology from acclaimed genre editor, Ellen Datlow.

—Creature Feature

“There’s no need to have previously read Lovecraft’s work to enjoy Lovecraft’s Monsters, but the collection will surely leave you with the desire to acquaint or reacquaint you with HPL canon.”
—Rue Morgue

“In the case of Lovecraft’s Monsters, edited by the great Ellen Datlow, the quality of the stories is both a celebration of HPL’s legacy and a reminder of the wealth of talent the genre has to offer…. It’s simple: if you like Lovecraftian fiction, you need to get this.”
—Horror Talk

“[T]he queen of anthologies, Ellen Datlow, has brought together the usual outstanding group of writers…. This is a must-have anthology for fans of things that go squick in the night.”
—Lit/Rant

“Each story is a dark wonder and the volume itself is absolutely gorgeous, sumptuously illustrated throughout with steampunky-baroque original art by World Fantasy Award-winning artist John Coulthart. Lovecraft’s Monsters is a must-have for every fan of dark speculative fiction, so click on the cover graphic and grab it!”
—Count Gore

“…amazing and creative tales each with a striking illustration by John Coulthart…I fully recommend adding this nice anthology for all fans of Lovecraft.”
—Dark Corner

“The result is a delightful array of little pieces that range in mood and subject. Unholy sacrifice, forbidden love, a private dick on the trail of a murderer—there’s something there for everyone.”
—The Jaded Consumer

“Editor Ellen Datlow has put together an anthology that will rock your liquid fantasies. Tachyon Publications has produced an excellent themed anthology. Lovecraft enthusiasts will plunge into the volume and be happily immersed in the content.”
—Diabolique Magazine

“Where else, in one anthology, can a reader jump from roman noir werewolves to steampunk tanks in the Amazon to tales of forbidden love on the Innsmouth shore to Pinkerton agents in the Wild West?… Fortunately, we have Ellen Datlow to lead the way.”
—Hellnotes

“With Ellen Datlow at the helm, there was never really any doubt about the quality of the selections on hand … .Lovecraft’s Monsters is certainly a worthy addition to any horror library.”
—Innsmouth Free Press

“Lovecraft’s Monsters is a must-read for any fans of the Cthulhu Mythos.”
—Geek Smash

“[A] delightful array of little pieces that range in mood and subject…. Unholy sacrifice, forbidden love, a private dick on the trail of a murderer—there’s something there for everyone.”
—The Jaded Consumer

“So I am telling you now, in the name of Yog-Sothoth, get this book, and prepare to lose some sleep.”
—The Bookend Family

“Lovecraft’s Monsters, edited by Ellen Datlow and published by Tachyon Publications, is a reprint anthology of some carefully chosen and mighty fine Lovecraftian short stories, novellas and poems…. All in all it is a terrific selection of works, and one that any fan of Lovecratian works should add to their collection.”
—Fear.net

“…an entirely enjoyable read… for Mythos devotees I would highly recommend picking it up”
—Seattle Geekly

“There’s a lot to love in Lovecraft’s Monsters, an anthology which is both faithful and inventive at the same time. Unafraid to take risks and snazzily illustrated, this collection is proof that the Cthulhu cult remains as strong as ever.”
—Starburst

“Datlow brings together some of the top SF/F and horror writers working today and has them play in Lovecraft’s bizarre world. And that’s a delight.”
—January Magazine

“For Lovecraft’s Monsters, each writer had the same agenda: come up with a fresh take on one of the legendary author’s otherworldly creatures, like Cthulhu, the Shoggoths, the Elder Things and Yog-Sothoth. (Trust, they’re scarier than those tongue-twisting names suggest.) Adding to the book’s excellence, illustrator John Coulthart provided gorgeous new black-and-white artwork for each story.”
—Complex

“Lovecraft’s Monsters will appeal to fans of Lovecraft’s work, particularly his Mythos stories, and to readers of dark fiction everywhere. Datlow is an experienced and keen editor of dark fiction and has assembled a truly impressive list of stories.”
—LitReactor

“[A]n amazing and diverse treasure trove of stories. As an avid fan of Lovecraft’s monstrous creations, THIS is the anthology I’ve been waiting for.”
—Shattered Ravings

Introduction by Ellen Datlow
Foreword by Stefan Dziemianowicz

“Only the End of the World Again” by Neil Gaiman
“The Bleeding Shadow” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Love Is Forbidden, We Croak and Howl” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
“Bulldozer” by Laird Barron
“A Quarter to Three” by Kim Newman
“Inelastic Collisions” by Elizabeth Bear
“That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable” by Nick Mamatas
“Red Goat Black Goat” by Nadia Bulkin
“Jar of Salts” and “Haruspicy” by Gemma Files
“Black as the Pit From Pole to Pole” by Howard Waldrop and Steven Utley
“I’ve Come to Talk With You Again” by Karl Edward Wagner
“The Sect of the Idiot” by Thomas Ligotti
“The Dappled Thing” by William Browning Spencer
“The Same Deep Waters as You” by Brian Hodge
“Remnants” by Fred Chappell
“Waiting at the Cross Roads Motel” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Children of the Fang” by John Langan

For more information on LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS, visit the Tachyon site.

Cover and illustration by John Coulthart.

January 15, 2015

LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS is one of the top ten books of 2014

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, best of 2014, Brian Hodge, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Creature Feature, cthulhu, Elizabeth Bear, Ellen Datlow, Gemma Files, horror, howard waldrop, hpl, Innsmouth, Joe R. Lansdale, john coulthart, John Langan, karl edward wagner, Kim Newman, Laird Barron, lovecraft, lovecraft's monsters, mythos, neil gaiman, nic pizzolatto, Steve Rasnic Tem, steve utley, thomas ligotti, tomb, true detective

The Creature Feature included two Ellen Datlow-edited books among their top ten books of 2014: Nightmare Carnival and Lovecraft’s Monsters.

Fans of the HBO True Detective series (and those who are not) will love this new themed anthology from acclaimed genre editor, Ellen Datlow. There are several selections written by authors whom Nic Pizzolatto cited as influential to the series, so let’s look at them first: Laird Barron’s “Bulldozer”, features a rough, resilient Pinkerton Man and a traveling circus strong-man enmeshed in cosmic mystery; Karl Edward Wagner’s “I’ve Come to Talk With You Again” tells of an American author of Lovecraftian tales on holiday in London who invokes the Yellow King himself; Thomas Ligotti crafts a narrative nightmare about a man who unwittingly locates a hidden world, and John Langan contributes a brand new and spectacular dark tale, “Children of the Fang” about an old woman who returns to her grandfather’s home to reveal secrets she and her brother stumbled upon as children. The rest of the stories contained in this anthology stake new territory in the Lovecraft mythos as well, several of them set in Lovecraft’s fictional town of Innsmouth by Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, Brian Hodge and Catlin R. Kiernan. Elizabeth Bear’s darkly humorous “Inelastic Collisions” finds a pair of exiled (and very hungry) creatures marooned in attractive female human bodies shooting pool in a bar while hunting prey; Steve Rasnic Tem goes full dark with his tale of a hybrid human/monster traveling with his human wife and hybrid children; Howard Waldrop and Steven Utley collaborate on a lively weird tale set in the Old West; Gemma Files contributes two disturbing poems, and much more. There are eighteen varied and marvelous pieces included in this anthology and, strangely enough, the one story I felt most closely aligned with the True Detective series is written by the inimitable Joe R. Lansdale, a hard-boiled noir detective story titled “The Bleeding Shadow” set in mid-1950s Texas, in which an unlicensed and unorthodox private detective who is on the trail of his ex-lover’s missing brother finds a darker world than he ever imagined possible. As Editor Ellen Datlow states in her Introduction, she sought stories that bring something new to the mythos of Lovecraft’s Old Ones and their minions rather than pastiches that cover well-trodden tropes. Mission accomplished! Each story is a dark wonder and the volume itself is absolutely gorgeous, sumptuously illustrated throughout with steampunky-baroque original art by World Fantasy Award-winning artist John Coulthart. LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS is a must-have for every fan of dark speculative fiction, so click on the cover graphic and grab it!

Check out the rest of the Creature Feature selections at the Tomb.

For more information on Lovecraft’s Monsters, visit the Tachyon site.

Cover by John Coulthart.

July 7, 2014

The acclaimed best seller LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS to be reprinted

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized announcement, anthology, Brian Hodge, Caitlín R. Kiernan, cthulhu, Elizabeth Bear, Ellen Datlow, Fred Chappell, Gemma Files, horror, howard waldrop, Joe R. Lansdale, john coulthart, John Langan, karl edward wagner, kiom newman, Laird Barron, lovecraft, lovecraft's monsters, mythos, Nadia Bulkin, neil gaiman, news, Nick Mamatas, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Steve Rasnic Tem, Steven Utley, thomas ligotti, William Browning Spencer

Tachyon Publications is proud to announce a SECOND printing of Ellen Datlow’s acclaimed anthology Lovecraft’s Monsters.

Featuring a cover and interior illustrations from the award-winning John Coulthart, Lovecraft’s Monsters has received abundant praise from a variety of outlets.

“…amazing and creative tales each with a striking illustration by John Coulthart…I fully recommend adding this nice anthology for all fans of Lovecraft.”
—Dark Corner

“Lovecraft’s Monsters, edited by Ellen Datlow and published by Tachyon Publications, is a reprint anthology of some carefully chosen and mighty fine Lovecraftian short stories, novellas and poems…. All in all it is a terrific selection of works, and one that any fan of Lovecratian works should add to their collection.”
—Fear.net

“[A]n amazing and diverse treasure trove of stories. As an avid fan of Lovecraft’s monstrous creations, THIS is the anthology I’ve been waiting for.”
—Shattered Ravings

—Diabolique Magazine

“Each story is a dark wonder and the volume itself is absolutely gorgeous, sumptuously illustrated throughout with steampunky-baroque original art by World Fantasy Award-winning artist John Coulthart. Lovecraft’s Monsters is a must-have for every fan of dark speculative fiction, so click on the cover graphic and grab it!”
—The Tomb of Dark Delights

“So I am telling you now, in the name of Yog-Sothoth, get this book, and prepare to lose some sleep.”
—The Bookend Family

“…an entirely enjoyable read… for Mythos devotees I would highly recommend picking it up”
—Seattle Geekly

“For Lovecraft’s Monsters, each writer had the same agenda: come up with a fresh take on one of the legendary author’s otherworldly creatures, like Cthulhu, the Shoggoths, the Elder Things and Yog-Sothoth. (Trust, they’re scarier than those tongue-twisting names suggest.) Adding to the book’s excellence, illustrator John Coulthart provided gorgeous new black-and-white artwork for each story.”
—Complex

“Lovecraft’s Monsters will appeal to fans of Lovecraft’s work, particularly his Mythos stories, and to readers of dark fiction everywhere. Datlow is an experienced and keen editor of dark fiction and has assembled a truly impressive list of stories.”
—LitReactor

“Datlow brings together some of the top SF/F and horror writers working today and has them play in Lovecraft’s bizarre world. And that’s a delight.”
—January Magazine

“There’s a lot to love in Lovecraft’s Monsters, an anthology which is both faithful and inventive at the same time. Unafraid to take risks and snazzily illustrated, this collection is proof that the Cthulhu cult remains as strong as ever.”
—Starburst

Table of Contents

Introduction by Ellen Datlow

Foreword by Stefan Dziemianowicz

“Only the End of the World Again” by Neil Gaiman
“The Bleeding Shadow” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Love Is Forbidden, We Croak and Howl” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
“Bulldozer” by Laird Barron
“A Quarter to Three” by Kim Newman
“Inelastic Collisions” by Elizabeth Bear
“That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable” by Nick Mamatas
“Red Goat Black Goat” by Nadia Bulkin
“Jar of Salts” and “Haruspicy” by Gemma Files
“Black as the Pit From Pole to Pole” by Howard Waldrop and Steven Utley
“I’ve Come to Talk With You Again” by Karl Edward Wagner
“The Sect of the Idiot” by Thomas Ligotti
“The Dappled Thing” by William Browning Spencer
“The Same Deep Waters as You” by Brian Hodge
“Remnants” by Fred Chappell
“Waiting at the Cross Roads Motel” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Children of the Fang” by John Langan

For more information on Lovecraft’s Monsters, visit the Tachyon site.

Cover and illustration by John Coulthart.

April 11, 2014

Here’s your chance to get a FREE copy of Ellen Datlow’s acclaimed anthology LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, Brian Hodge, Caitlín R. Kiernan, cthulhu, Elizabeth Bear, Ellen Datlow, Fred Chappell, Gemma Files, giveaway, goodreads, horror, howard waldrop, Joe R. Lansdale, John Langan, karl edward wagner, Kim Newman, Laird Barron, lovecraft, lovecraft's monsters, mythos, Nadia Bulkin, neil gaiman, Nick Mamatas, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Steve Rasnic Tem, Steven Utley, thomas ligotti, William Browning Spencer

With the aide of the fine folks at Goodreads, we’re giving away a copy of Lovecraft’s Monsters, a book “that should please any fans of the genre.” The latest anthology from the award-winning Ellen Datlow is “a must-have for every fan of dark speculative fiction.”

Introduction by Ellen Datlow

Foreword by Stefan Dziemianowicz

“…amazing and creative tales each with a striking illustration by John Coulthart…I fully recommend adding this nice anthology for all fans of Lovecraft.”
—Dark Corner

“So I am telling you now, in the name of Yog-Sothoth, get this book, and prepare to lose some sleep.”
—The Bookend Family

For more information on Lovecraft’s Monsters, visit the Tachyon site.

Cover by John Coulthart

April 4, 2014

LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS preview: “The Same Deep Waters as You” by Brian Hodge

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, Brian Hodge, cthulhu, Ellen Datlow, horror, Innsmouth, john coulthart, lovecraft, lovecraft's monsters, mythos, preview, short stories

Over the next two weeks in celebration of the forthcoming Lovecraft’s Monsters, Tachyon and editor Ellen Datlow present excerpts from a selection of the volume’s horrifying tales.

Today’s selection comes from “The Same Deep Waters as You” by Brian Hodge.

“What you see there is what you get,” he said. “Have you ever heard of a town in Massachusetts called Innsmouth?”

Kerry shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“No reason you should’ve. It’s a little pisshole seaport whose best days were already behind it by the time of the Civil War. In the winter of 1927–28, there was a series of raids there, jointly conducted by the FBI and U.S. Army, with naval support. Officially—remember, this was during Prohibition—it was to shut down bootlegging operations bringing whiskey down the coast from Canada. The truth…” He took back the iPad from her nerveless fingers. “Nothing explains the truth better than seeing it with your own eyes.”

“You can’t talk to them. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” she said. “You can’t communicate with them, and you think I can.”

Escovedo smiled, and until now, she didn’t think he had it in him. “It must be true about you, then. You’re psychic after all.”

“Is it that they can’t talk, or won’t?”

“That’s never been satisfactorily determined,” he said. “The ones who still looked more or less human when they were taken prisoner, they could, and did. But they didn’t stay that way. Human, I mean. That’s the way this mutation works.” He tapped the iPad. “What you saw there is the result of decades of change. Most of them were brought in like that already. The rest eventually got there. And the changes go more than skin deep. Their throats are different now. On the inside. Maybe this keeps them from speaking in a way that you and I would find intelligible, or maybe it doesn’t but they’re really consistent about pretending it does, because they’re all on the same page. They do communicate with each other, that’s a given. They’ve been recorded extensively doing that, and the sounds have been analyzed to exhaustion, and the consensus is that these sounds have their own syntax. The same way bird songs do. Just not as nice to listen to.”

“If they’ve been under your roof all this time, they’ve spent almost a century away from whatever culture they had where they came from. All that would be gone now, wouldn’t it? The world’s changed so much since then they wouldn’t even recognize it,” she said. “You’re not doing science. You’re doing national security. What I don’t understand is why it’s so important to communicate with them after all this time.”

“All those changes you’re talking about, that stops at the seashore. Drop them in the ocean and they’d feel right at home.” He zipped the iPad back into his valise. “Whatever they might’ve had to say in 1928, that doesn’t matter. Or ’48, or ’88. It’s what we need to know now that’s created a sense of urgency.”

Once the helicopter had set down on the island, Kerry hadn’t even left the cabin before thinking she’d never been to a more miserable place in her life. Rocky and rain-lashed, miles off the mainland, it was buffeted by winds that snapped from one direction and then another, so that the pines that grew here didn’t know which way to go, twisted until they seemed to lean and leer with ill intent.

“It’s not always like this,” Escovedo assured her. “Sometimes there’s sleet, too.”

It was the size of a large shopping plaza, a skewed triangular shape, with a helipad and boat dock on one point, and a scattering of outbuildings clustered along another, including what she assumed were offices and barracks for those unfortunate enough to have been assigned to duty here, everything laced together by a network of roads and pathways.

It was dominated, though, by a hulking brick monstrosity that looked exactly like what it was—a vintage relic of a prison—although it could pass for other things, too: an old factory or power plant, or, more likely, a wartime fortress, a leftover outpost from an era when the west coast feared the Japanese fleet. It had been built in 1942, Escovedo told her. No one would have questioned the need for it at the time, and since then, people were simply used to it, if they even knew it was there. Boaters might be curious, but the shoreline was studded at intervals with signs, and she imagined that whatever they said was enough to repel the inquisitive—that, and the triple rows of fencing crowned with loops of razor wire.

Inside her rain slicker, Kerry yanked the hood’s drawstring tight and leaned into the needles of rain. October—it was only October. Imagine this place in January. Of course it didn’t bother the colonel one bit. They were halfway along the path to the outbuildings when she turned to him and tugged the edge of her hood aside.

“I’m not psychic,” she told him. “You called me that in the helicopter. That’s not how I look at what I do.”

“Noted,” he said, noncommittal and unconcerned.

“I’m serious. If you’re going to bring me out here, to this place, it’s important to me that you understand what I do, and aren’t snickering about it behind my back.”

“You’re here, aren’t you? Obviously somebody high up the chain of command has faith in you.”

For more information on Lovecraft’s Monsters, visit the Tachyon site.

Cover and illustration by John Coulthart.

March 17, 2014

Dark Corners declares LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS “an excellent homage”

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, Brian Hodge, cthulhu, dark corners, Ellen Datlow, horror, john coulthart, lovecraft, lovecraft's monsters, mythos, Nadia Bulkin, review, short stories, shub-niggurath

Dark Corner reviews Ellen Datlow’s newest anthology Lovecraft’s Monsters.

Although, an excellent homage to Lovecraft’s Mythos, the quality of the stories are a little unbalanced. “The Same Deep Waters as You” by Brian Hodge, outshines the other tales, it’s the story of a man recruited by the US military to establish communication with the strange fish-men of Innsmouth. “Red Goat Black Goat” by Nadia Bulkin it is also a great story inspired by the deity Shub-Niggurath, “Lord of the Wood”.

<snip>

“Lovecraft’s Monsters” is a good and well written book, it features some amazing and creative tales each with a striking illustration by John Coulthart.

For more information on Lovecraft’s Monsters, visit the Tachyon site.

Cover by John Coulthart.

February 14, 2014

We’re giving away LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized Brian Hodge, Caitlín R. Kiernan, cthulhu, Elizabeth Bear, Ellen Datlow, Fred Chappell, Gemma Files, giveaway, goodreads, horror, howard waldrop, Joe R. Lansdale, john coulthart, John Langan, karl edward wagner, Kim Newman, Laird Barron, lovecraft, lovecraft's monsters, mythos, Nadia Bulkin, neil gaiman, Nick Mamatas, short stories, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Steve Rasnic Tem, Steven Utley, thomas ligotti, William Browning Spencer

With the aide of the fine folks at Goodreads, we’re giving away an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) of Lovecraft’s Monsters, the latest anthology from the award-winning Ellen Datlow.

Introduction by Ellen Datlow

Foreword by Stefan Dziemianowicz

For more information on Lovecraft’s Monsters, visit the Tachyon site.

Cover by John Coulthart.

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