The award-winning Ellen Datlow’s anthology LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS  continues to fascinate critics and reviewers.

At the University of Stirling’s THE GOTHIC IMAGINATION, Chloe Buckley delivers a lengthy critical analysis of LOVECRAFT’S MONSTERS.

[T]he collection foregrounds its commitment to exploring the radical Alterity of Lovecraft’s monsters, but shows no desire to police the borders of the genre. Familiarity has not lessened the horror inherent in the material universe as imagined by Lovecraft in the original tales. At the same time, the Weird monster can manifest as playful hybridity, offering an adaptability to writers wishing to explore horror’s Affectivity beyond the madness inducing terror experienced by the typical Lovecraftian protagonist.

The design of the volume Thus embraces a commingling of high art with popular commodity, as well blurring the subcultural and the mainstream. Within the novel The illustrations are appropriately for each different story, but all are black and white line drawings with the appearance of delicate pen and ink illustrations That We now associated with expensive late-Victorian print publications.

There is an ambivalence here, though, about the appropriation of this material, and the collection overall Seems indecisive about Whether it wants to preserve the subcultural capital and modernist art aesthetic conferred upon Lovecraft’s original tales, or Whether it wants to embrace the possibilities That Pop -cultural mash-ups and spectacular proliferations of Weird monsters might offer. Ultimately, I think this indecision and ambivalence is rather productive; each story offers a very different view of function and for the Weird monster. This alone attests to the imaginative power That Lovecraft’s monsters continue to wield.

Read the rest of Buckley’s essay at THE GOTHIC IMAGINATION.

Over at the Russian site DARKER, Артём Агеев praises the anthology.

In 2014 came “Monsters Lovecraft” (Lovecraft’s Monsters), has put together on a different principle. Firstly, new stories are much less – only one. Others were written in all previous Decades, since the 1970s, Although the 2010s are still dominated. Secondly, there there is striking That Datlou tried to expand all over, wherever possible. The authors of the anthology presents different levels – from the acknowledged masters like Neil Gaiman and Joe R. Lansdale To Those Whose names have nothing to say, the average fan of the genre. Stories of possessing a different perception – from strange dreams in the “Church of God, an idiot” (TheSect of the Idiot) Thomas Ligotti to the unpretentious narrative in the spirit of the Arabian Nights in “Love can not we croak and howling ”(Love is Forbidden, We Croak & Howl) Caitlin Kiernan. And different size – from novels are not inferior to other works by John Hodge and Brian Lengana to two-page poems Gemma Faylz.

By cons anthology is the repute of the many stories previously published in anthologies lavkraftianskih, Which, However, is not so noticeable for the Russian-speaking reader – Majority of them still has not Been published in Russia. But its main charm must say whoever takes it in his hands, as everyone who has Already managed to penetrate the world of HP Lovecraft, there are sure to find something close.

(Clumsily translated from Russian by Google)

Read the rest of Агеев’s review at DARKER.

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

Cover and illustrations by John Coulthart .