Selected Book
Arkham Tales: Stories of the Legend Haunted City
- Paperback
- Author: William Jones
- Publisher: Chaosium Inc.
- Release Date: July 2006
- ISBN-10: 1568821859
- ISBN-13: 9781568821856
- List Price: $15.95
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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon
SummaryNestled along the Massachusetts coast, the small town of Arkham has existed for centuries. It is the source of countless rumors and legends. Those who have visited it each telling a different and remarkable account, whisper tales of Arkham. Reports of impossible occurrences, peculiar happenings and bizarre events, tales that test the sanity of the reader are to be found here. Magic, mysteries, monsters, mayhem, and ancient malignancies form the foundation of this unforgettable centuries' old town. Collected in this volume are the strange and terrifying stories of the legend-haunted city. |
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Disappointing
Rating:
I have read many, many of Chaosium's Cthulhu Mythos anthologies and have always loved the thematic approach and Robert M. Price's introductions to the stories. Sure, his lengthy background analyses often were a bit over the top and seem to force religious subjects into the context but a collection edited by Price was always a guarantee for classic and often rare material. With "Arkham Tales" Chaosium have taken a different approach and it started to dawn on me after reading a couple of stories. I started noticing that with the exception of James Ambuehl and C.J. Henderson none of the other authors really rang a bell. An I noticed how most of the stories seemed to have exactly 18 pages. A quick google search confirmed my suspicion that this collection was a series of commissioned pieces. Chaosium had invited writers to write 5000 word stories based on the "shared world" of Lovecraft's Arkham. Writers were asked to base their material on Chaosium's Arkham guidebook and use different time settings instead of just Lovecraft's twenties. Payment: 2 copies.
Well, that explains the rather dodgy quality of most of these stories. Rarely have I read a collection of Mythos tales that was - on average - so poorly written both stylistically as well as plot-wise, so full of typos, so enormously predicatble, downright silly (a Mythos entity called Hasad the Horrible?!) and in some cases so incredibly forcefully inserted in the Arkham surroundings. I mean, come on ... a Japanese deligation holding a weird tea ritual at the Miskatonic University? Can things get any sillier?
Most of the writers seem to be rather inexperienced, using quite a few pages for character and athmosphere building only to find out that they haven't got enough words left for a decent plot development and interesting twists. Some stories conclude in rushed endings and only rarely did they leave me with a satisfied feeling.
Of the 17 stories in this collection there were only five I considered worthy of being included in a collection for fans of the genre: Harrigan's 'Worms', Ambuehl's 'Arkham Pets', Minnis' 'Small Ghost', Henderson's 'The Idea of Fear' and Sammons 'Disconnected'. These either take a fresh and original approach to the Lovecraft universe or hint at bigger, cosmic things outside the limits of the stories. They also use interesting story structures and sometimes offer interesting sequals to Lovecraft's classic stories. Overall though this collection is not really worth picking up with so much other quality anthologies to choose from.
Miss this!
Rating:
Once when I visiting H.P.'s grave, I found a maunscript left by a fan. The enclosed letter said that the author knew his work was poor, but he was leaving it as a fan, and hoped it was appreciated. I read it, sitting by that grave. And he was correct; the work had promise, but needed a lot of work.
That's what this collection reminded me of. A bunch of works left at the grave of H.P.L. with very little to encourage them. There is a certain amount of promise in this work, but it is quickly buried under stories that never seem to go anywhere. The writing is cliched in most of the tales, and sometimes the mythos seems to be an afterthought to what's going on.
Poor editing contributed to the poor effect, but really, the quality of the stories does not match most of the "fan work" that has come before. It reads like a bunch of adventure intros for the "Call of Cthulhu" RPG, and not like a series of genre stories.
A WASTE OF MY TIME AND MONEY!
Rating:
I couldn't believe how bad this book was on so many different levels...especially after reading the glowing customer reviews, here!
First, there were unintentional bad syntax and misspellings throughout...which was both irritating and distracting. Did anyone even proofread or edit this collection before it went to press? I really wonder!
Second, most of the stories...with (if I remember correctly!) only two notable exceptions...were simply poor. The plots and writing "styles" reminded me of something straight out of a high-school campus magazine...and most were too predictable and not at all frightening. The rich imagery of Lovecraft and his best inheritors was totally absent. The results were, mostly, dull and unimaginative.
Third, too many of the stories dealt with different private detectives dealing with Arkham horrors...and these were written in a very corny, dated style that read like bad Mickey Spillane. I think that the Old Master, Lovecraft, would have cringed at some crap!
If you are a true Lovecraft Mythos fan who has enjoyed some of the really good spinoffs from some of the first generation of Lovecraft's inheritors, I would recommend that you bypass this book altogether.
SOLID LOVECRAFTIAN STORIES
Rating:
Almost 70 years after his death, H.P.Lovecraft continues to cast a giant shadow over the horror genre with new books, films, and comics coming out every year that are inspired by his works. Chaosium is best known as the published of the outstanding "Call of Cthulhu" role-playing game but they also put out some great Lovecraftian fiction as well and their latest offering features 17 stories set in his fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts. One of the most difficult things for modern writers to capture is that overall sense of dread, and the feeling of something dark and disturbing lurking just out of the way of your glance that Lovecraft was able to convey so well. While not all of the writers in this collection succeed, I'm happy to say that many of them do and contribute some fantastic stories. "Mysterious Dan's Legacy" by Matthew Baugh is set in 1873. Daniel Hawkins as traveled to Arkham from Dodge City to collect an inheritance left behind by a cousin, an old and very rare book. When Hawkins turns down an offer to sell the book, he'll find that there are strange people in town who will do anything to get their hands on this prize.
"They Thrive in Darkness" by Ron Shiflet is perhaps the best example of a book that captures that true Lovecraft feel and sense of helplessness. Owen Blake makes acquaintances with a jovial man in an Arkham pub who invites him to his home to see the mysterious door in his basement. It's what's behind the door that Owen should be concerned about.
In John Goodrich's "Arkham Rain" a man learns the horrific history of his family and the gruesome fate that awaits his brother, when he visits the accursed town of Innsmouth.
Other stand-out stories include "What Sorrows May Come" by Lee Clark Zumpe and "The Idea of Fear" by C.J. Henderson. My only reservation is that a few too many stories conclude with a rather clichéd happy ending. Overall, however, a very solid collection of Lovecraft-inspired stories.
reviewed by Tim Janson
Typical Chaosium Cthulhu Collection
Rating:
There are good stories and bad stories in this book, but fortunately, like most Call of Cthulhu fiction, there are more good than bad. I won't review story by story, since so much of that is subjective to the reader, but this collection is easily good enough to buy and the price is very reasonable.
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