A Cthulhu Mythos anthology is a type of short story collection that contains stories written in, or related to, the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction launched by H. P. Lovecraft. Such anthologies have helped to define and popularize the genre.

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, edited by writer August Derleth and published by Arkham House in 1969, is considered the first Cthulhu Mythos anthology. It contained two stories by Lovecraft, a number of reprints of pieces written by members of Lovecraft's circle of correspondents, and several new tales written for the collection by a new generation of Cthulhu Mythos writers. It was published in an edition of 4,024 copies.

Derleth prefaced the collection with "The Cthulhu Mythos", an outline of his (sometimes controversial) views on the development and content of the Mythos. In this introduction, Derleth prematurely declared the genre to be dead--"for certainly the Mythos as an inspiration for new fiction is hardly likely to afford readers with enough that is new and sufficiently different in execution to create a continuing and growing demand".August Derleth, "The Cthulhu Mythos", Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Lin Carter later wrote that Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos "marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Mythos for many reasons, and one of the most important was that it introduced a number of new writers in the Mythos."Lin Carter, Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos, p. 175.

Contents

The contents of the original 1969 edition are:

"The Cthulhu Mythos" by August Derleth "The Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft "The Return of the Sorcerer" by Clark Ashton Smith "Ubbo-Sathla" by Clark Ashton Smith "The Black Stone" by Robert E. Howard "The Hounds of Tindalos" by Frank Belknap Long "The Space-Eaters" by Frank Belknap Long "The Dweller in Darkness" by August Derleth "Beyond the Threshold" by August Derleth "The Shambler from the Stars" by Robert Bloch "The Haunter of the Dark" by H. P. Lovecraft "The Shadow from the Steeple" by Robert Bloch "Notebook Found in a Deserted House" by Robert Bloch "The Salem Horror" by Henry Kuttner "The Haunter of the Graveyard" by J. Vernon Shea* "Cold Print" by J. Ramsey Campbell* "The Sister City" by Brian Lumley* "Cement Surroundings" by Brian Lumley* "The Deep Ones" by James Wade* "The Return of the Lloigor" by Colin Wilson*

*First appeared in this collection

Reprints New York: Ballantine, 1971 (two volumes). London: Grafton, 1988. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, November 1990 (variant contents). This later revised edition, edited and introduced by Jim Turner, drops the stories by Shea and Wade and the two by Lumley and adds the following seven tales: "The Terror from the Depths" by Fritz Leiber "Rising with Surtsey" by Brian Lumley "My Boat" by Joanna Russ "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner "The Freshman" by Philip José Farmer "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King "Discovery of the Ghooric Zone" by Richard A. Lupoff

For the full details of the 1990 revised edition, see Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos: Golden Anniversary Anthology below.

The Spawn of Cthulhu

The Spawn of Cthulhu is an anthology of fantasy short stories, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in October 1971 as the 36th volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was the fifth such anthology assembled by Carter for the series.

The book collects 12 fantasy tales and poems by various authors that either influenced or were influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos stories of H. P. Lovecraft, including one story by H. P. Lovecraft himself, with an overall introduction and notes by Carter.

Contents The contents are: "Introduction: About The Spawn of Cthulhu and H. P. Lovecraft" (Lin Carter) "The Whisperer in Darkness" (H. P. Lovecraft) "An Inhabitant of Carcosa" (Ambrose Bierce) "The Yellow Sign" (from The King in Yellow) (Robert W. Chambers) "Cordelia's Song from The King in Yellow" (Vincent Starrett) "The Return of Hastur" (August Derleth) "Litany to Hastur" (from Dreams from R'lyeh) (Lin Carter) "The Children of the Night" (Robert E. Howard) "K'n-yan" (Walter C. DeBill Jr.) "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" (Clark Ashton Smith) "The Hounds of Tindalos" (Frank Belknap Long) "The Curse of Yig" (Zealia Brown Reed Bishop) "The Mine on Yuggoth" (Ramsey Campbell)

The Disciples of Cthulhu

The Disciples of Cthulhu was edited by Edward P. Berglund and published by DAW Books in 1976. Berglund later described it as "the first professional, all-original, Cthulhu Mythos anthology".Edward P. Berglund, "Preface to the Revised Edition", The Disciples of Cthulhu.

Perhaps responding to the introduction to Derleth's collection, Berglund wrote in his preface: "Whether or not there is a market for the Cthulhu Mythos stories, established and amateur writers will continue to write them for their own and their friends' amusement and enjoyment. It is inevitable that one or more readers of this volume will be influenced into trying his hand at writing within the Cthulhu Mythos genre."

Contents

The contents are:

"Editor's Foreword" by Edward P. Berglund "Introduction" by Robert Bloch "The Fairground Horror" by Brian Lumley "The Silence of Erika Zann" by James Wade "All-Eye" by Bob Van Laerhoven "The Tugging" by Ramsey Campbell "Where Yidhra Walks" by Walter C. DeBill Jr. "The Feaster from Afar" by Joseph Payne Brennan "Zoth-Ommog" by Lin Carter "Darkness, My Name Is" by Eddy C. Bertin "The Terror from the Depths" by Fritz Leiber

When the collection was reprinted by Chaosium in 1996, the Carter and Brennan stories were replaced by "Dope War of the Black Tong", a new Robert M. Price pastiche of Carter and Robert E. Howard, and "Glimpses" by A. A. Attanasio, which was supposed to be published in the original Disciples but ended up in the Arkham House anthology Nameless Places instead.

New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos

New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos was edited by Ramsey Campbell and published by Arkham House in 1980 in an edition of 3,647 copies. In his introduction, Campbell noted that "[i]n recent years the Mythos at times has seemed in danger of becoming conventionalized," despite the fact that "Lovecraft's intention and achievement was precisely to avoid the predictability and resultant lack of terror which beset the conventional macabre fiction of his day." Therefore, Campbell wrote, "in this anthology I have tended to favor less familiar treatments or uses of the Mythos.... They contain few erudite occultists, decaying towns, or stylistic pastiches.... Indeed, one of our tales hints at the ultimate event of the Mythos without ever referring to the traditional names."Ramsey Campbell, "Introduction", New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.

One story in the book is an expansion, by Martin S. Warnes, of Lovecraft's fragment "The Book".

Contents

The contents are:

"Introduction" "Crouch End" by Stephen King "The Star Pools" by A. A. Attanasio "The Second Wish" by Brian Lumley "Dark Awakening" by Frank Belknap Long "Shaft Number 247" by Basil Copper "Black Man with a Horn" by T. E. D. Klein "The Black Tome of Alsophocus" by H. P. Lovecraft & Martin S. Warnes "Than Curse the Darkness" by David Drake "The Faces at Pine Dunes" by Ramsey Campbell "Notes on Contributors"

Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos: Golden Anniversary Anthology

Arkham House released a revised edition of Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos in November 1990, edited by Jim Turner with a substantially different selection of stories, reflecting the editor's disdain for "Mythos pastiches in which eccentric New England recluses utter the right incantations in the wrong books and are promptly eaten by a giant frog named Cthulhu." It was released in an edition of 7,015 copies.

Turner eliminates some authors from the earlier edition (totalling four stories, those by Wade, Shea and two by Lumley) --while still suggesting that "a few of the earliest pieces in this volume...now seem like pop-cultural kitsch." The added seven stories, he writes, are from "the relative handful of successful works that have been influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos...exemplifying the darkly enduring power of H. P. Lovecraft over a disparate group of writers who have made their own inimitable contributions to the Mythos."Jim Turner, "Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!" Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos: Golden Anniversary Anthology.

Contents

The contents of the 1990 revised edition are:

"Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!", by Jim Turner "The Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft "The Return of the Sorcerer" by Clark Ashton Smith "Ubbo-Sathla" by Clark Ashton Smith "The Black Stone" by Robert E. Howard "The Hounds of Tindalos" by Frank Belknap Long "The Space-Eaters" by Frank Belknap Long "The Dweller in Darkness" by August Derleth "Beyond the Threshold" by August Derleth "The Shambler from the Stars" by Robert Bloch "The Haunter of the Dark" by H. P. Lovecraft "The Shadow from the Steeple" by Robert Bloch "Notebook Found in a Deserted House" by Robert Bloch "The Salem Horror" by Henry Kuttner "The Terror from the Depths" by Fritz Leiber "Rising with Surtsey" by Brian Lumley "Cold Print" by Ramsey Campbell "The Return of the Lloigor" by Colin Wilson "My Boat" by Joanna Russ "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner "The Freshman" by Philip José Farmer "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King "Discovery of the Ghooric Zone" by Richard A. Lupoff

Reprints

Arkham House second printing, 2000 (no print numbers given).

Others New York: Ballantine/Del Rey, 1998.

Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos

Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos was edited by Robert M. Price and published by Fedogan & Bremer in 1992. In an introduction, Price provides a "sketch of the Lovecraft Mythos and its evolution into the Cthulhu Mythos"—raising a defense of August Derleth's interpretation of the Mythos along the way. Price writes that his intent in making selections was to assemble "an alternate version" of Derleth's Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, though limited in scope to the writers of the pulp era. He included several pieces long out of print or reprinted only in obscure fanzines, and tried to focus on "stories in which certain important Mythos names or items are either first mentioned or most fully explained by the author who created them".Robert M. Price, "Introduction", Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos.

Contents

The contents are:

"Preface", by Robert Bloch "Introduction", by Robert M. Price "The Thing on the Roof" by Robert E. Howard "The Fire of Asshurbanipal" by Robert E. Howard "The Seven Geases" by Clark Ashton Smith "Fane of the Black Pharaoh" by Robert Bloch "The Invaders" by Henry Kuttner "Bells of Horror" by Henry Kuttner "The Thing That Walked on the Wind" by August Derleth "Ithaqua" by August Derleth "The Lair of the Star-Spawn" by August Derleth & Mark Shorer "The Lord of Illusion" by E. Hoffmann Price (Price's original draft of the collaboration with HP Lovecraft, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key") "The Warder of Knowledge" by Richard F. Searight "The Scourge of B'Moth" by Bertram Russell "The House of the Worm" by Mearle Prout "Spawn of the Green Abyss" by C. Hall Thompson "The Guardian of the Book" by Henry Hasse "The Abyss" by Robert A. W. Lowndes "Music of the Stars" by Duane W. Rimel "The Aquarium" by Carl Jacobi "The Horror Out of Lovecraft" by Donald A. Wolheim "To Arkham and the Stars" by Fritz Leiber

Cthulhu's Heirs

Cthulhu's Heirs was edited by Thomas M. K. Stratman and published by Chaosium in 1994. With the exception of contributions by Ramsey Campbell and Hugh B. Cave, the stories included are original to the collection. Stratman describes the tales as "more than 20 writers' visions into the landscape of Lovecraft Country."Thomas M. K. Stratman, "The Nameless Manuscript", Cthulhu's Heirs, p. 8.

Contents

The contents are:

"Watch the Whiskers Sprout" by D. F. Lewis "The Death Watch" by Hugh B. Cave "The Return of the White Ship: The Quest for Cathuria" by Arthur William and Lloyd Breach