My library is a bit light on Lovecraftian horror so I’ve been buying a few recently to help with background ideas for the Laundry RPG. Other games, such as Dungeons and Dragons are based on very strong memes (wizards, castles, knights in shining armour, mythical beasts, etc.) where most people playing having an understanding of what’s going on without the need for much explanation. The Laundry RPG, being based on the Cthulhu Mythos, is a different matter entirely. Although “horror” is a well-known genre, it is in the main populated by vampires, werewolves, zombies and nutters armed with sharp devices of limb removal but not shoggoths. Building up an in-depth understanding of the main concepts does, therefore, require some research.
Cthulhu’s Reign
The majority of mythos stories are set in the time BEFORE the stars become right but this anthology covers what happens after Cthulhu has become bored with dreaming and woken up. Some of the reviews on Amazon did warn that these post-apocalyptic tales could be hard work and that turned out to be the case in a few where the despair was almost palpable. Luckily, others were much more up-beat … whilst still being about the end of the world as we know it.
The best of the short stories in the collection are:
- Vastation, by Laird Barron. The only negative point about this piece is that it is so damned short. There are just so many side stories and sub plots hinted at that you are left wanting more. I must obtain some more of Laird’s work and, luckily, there does seem to be a lot of it.
- Her Acres of Pastoral Playground, by Mike Allen. According to the author, the story is really about “the triumph of the human spirit in the face of the worst of all odds” and I get that.
- The Seals of the New R’Lyeh, by Gregory Frost. Even when great Cthulhu has taken over, people can still get by, one way or another.
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