Cthulhu Mythos Anthologies

[saraswati27]

I am new to collecting Lovecraft, although have read quite a bit.

Reading through this thread I am wondering if any of the mentioned anthologies make a distinction between stories in the mythos penned during Lovecraft's lifetime, and those created after.

I have read several recent mythos stories that were quite good. But I'm very interested in the Mythos that developed between Lovecraft and the writers that he knew and whose work he read.

Does anyone here have any suggestions first of all for a reference work that gives info on the contemporaneous mythos stories? And second, are there any anthologies (either the ones listed here or others) which focus on the contemporary mythos stories?

Thanks!

 

[j d worthington]

Several of the anthologies make note of which were published when, either in introductory notes to the individual tales, comments on the writers, or general introductions. Not too many, though, actually are devoted to just those during HPL's lifetime. Among the closest I can think of is the original Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, ed. by August Derleth (1969), a little more than half of which is devoted to that sort of thing (with the exception of Derleth's own two entries, which were published in the 40s, or Kuttner's "The Salem Horror", published shortly after HPL's death, though Lovecraft had given him critiques on earlier versions of the tale.

As for reference works which might help with this, there are some around, but they run the gamut from good to bad to awful. Lin Carter's Lovecraft: A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos" is very much a popular piece, with rather shoddy scholarship, though it is entertaining and does have some helpful points in the bibliography for beginners. Chris Jarocha-Ernst's A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography and Concordance, is an immense listing of Mythos fiction, which would help you to track down which were which. In each case, however, they include both earlier and modern pieces in the subgenre....

The link below takes you to a site which at least purports to be devoted to only those "first generation" writers or the writers before them who created elements which were later absorbed into the Mythos; I've not gone through everything there by any means, but it looks like a reasonable place to start:

The Cthulhu Mythos: An Annotated Bibliography

 

[dlsevern]

Well, how about Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos vol.1&2, edited by August Derleth. Vol.2 has one of the creepiest mythos stories ever Robert Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars". They also include stories from Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, James Wade, Colin Wilson, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, August Derleth, Henry Kuttner, J. Vernon Shea, and of course Lovecraft himself.

 

[Ningauble]

Well, how about Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos vol.1&2, edited by August Derleth. Vol.2 has one of the creepiest mythos stories ever Robert Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars". They also include stories from Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, James Wade, Colin Wilson, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, August Derleth, Henry Kuttner, J. Vernon Shea, and of course Lovecraft himself.

It was mentioned in the preceding post.

 

[dlsevern]

didn't see it, my mistake

 

[Ningauble]

didn't see it, my mistake

No problem. It is, after all, a true milestone in the history of Mythos publishing.

 

[Deep Space Nina]

Funny how, I have been the co-editor of an anthology myself. The book is in German language and the title is: "Metamorphosen: Auf den Spuren H.P. Lovecrafts". - Well, it is in German language ...