The Cthulhu Mythos

Carol of the old ones - Tabernacle Choir - Picture montage: Mats Holm
Tr. Spa-Eng from a review by Fabio 9213

 An attempt at a time of providing an overview of the mythology created by the terror writers group gathered around Howard Phillips Lovecraft, and of translating stories that were not available in Spanish. The text is of great significance, marking perhaps the beginning of serious consideration in Spanish of that literary school. It brings together for the first time a representative group of works by writers who influenced Lovecraft, placing historically and artistically their production, which ran the risk of being classified in the group of popular serial literature from newsstand, just like that, when in fact it deserves special consideration. The fragmented nature of its publication opposed that, entirely out of context, especially in Spanish. The responsible of the work exorcises this risk by clarifying Lovecraft's literary and historical commitment, as well as the non-free nature of his production, deeply rooted both in overseas and American traditions. 

 Of particular importance is also the preliminary study, perhaps the most serious and extensive attempt in our language to give a fair treatment to the Providence writer's artistic and cultural legacy. This study by Rafael Llopis (Spanish writer and anthologist of terror texts), has been tacitly established as an obligatory reference to the subject, with the consequent disadvantage that nobody has tried to emulate him. It starts with the Historical and Cultural Finding of Myths section, in the context of Anglo-Saxon horror fiction and the historical setting of the time. Then there's Lovecraft: History and Legend, which takes a tour on the introverted and neurotic author's personality and dusts off some myths about him. Of note is the portrait Rafael Llopis makes of the creation, growth and consolidation of Lovecraft Circle, the mainly epistolary association of fans and writers who contributed (with more or less brightness) to develop his themes. In Genesis and Structure of Myths he takes the substance of these back to the readings of his literary mentors, as well as to the byproducts of the man's complex character; the major writings chronology and the biographical correspondences are also determined. The last section, An Attempt to Systematize the Myths, basically refers to his followers' work, especially August Derleth's, who tried to complete and finish the mythology structure, and even give meaning and explanation for it, a task sometimes controversial. There are also references to the mythical bibliography, made up of invented texts the ones, and real texts the others, but fancifully referred. 

 The text is divided into three books: Book One: The Precursors. They are Lovecraft's influences, there is a tale by Dunsany (Idle Days in the country of Yann), an enigmatic dream-themed British writer who virtually marked all his first literary stage. There are also samples of Bierce (An inhabitant of Carcosa), Chambers (The yellow sign), Blackwood (The Wendigo) and Machen (Vinum Sabbati) as well as a tale of the same Dunsanian period by Lovecraft himself (The curse that fell on Sarnath). Poe should have been included, obviously, but it was unnecessary. Just saying that Lovecraft is included within the Anglo-Saxon Horror Short Story tradition, in the New England trend which, originated in Poe, goes on through Lovecraft and, ideally, would end in Stephen King, if this one's production quality were not so irregular as to considering placing him next to his two predecessors.  

 Book Two: The Myths: Stories of the rise and height of the Mythos. There are tales by Lovecraft (The Ceremonial and The Shadow Over Innsmouth), Frank Belknap Long (Tindalos dogs), Robert E. Howard (The Black Stone), original writer of Conan sagas and others alike, by the famous and himself worthy of an anthology Clark Ashton Smith (Ancestry of the crypt), by Hazel Heald (Relic of a forgotten world, a version largely written by the master himself), by a Henry Kuttner (The rats in the cemetery) who later became famous by writing science fiction (repenting of previous horror stories like this). It is also represented a budding young Robert Bloch (The stellar vampire), teenage fan of Lovecraft, who later wrote the famous and made into a movie Psycho and so on. The story that appears here is part of the circle's custom to represent in their writings to each other, making themselves suffer misfortunes, Lovecraft would later return the favor in The inhabitant of Darkness (1935), the last story of the section.   
 Book Three: Posthumous Myths. It contains stories when the myths declined, by Derleth (The valley of the witches), Bloch (The shadow that escaped of the spire), Ramsey Campbell (High Street Church), who would later become a horror writer overtaking Stephen King, and Juan Perucho (With Lovecraft's technique ), a clear parody.