The Temple of Dagon

What's the worst Mythos piece you've ever read? I mean from a professional writer, not on the net, but let's say, from the ones published on paperback and in books in general.
For me it was "The Return of the Lloigor" by Colin Wilson.
I remember trying to read his "Mind Parasites" some time ago and nearly fell asleep behind the book because of his view to the Mythos.

Cthulhu 2000 has some pretty godawful stuff, but I think the worst one I've read is "The Salem Horror" by Henry Kuttner. Hackwork, total hackwork (and this is coming from a hackey amateur fanboy writer, so I know hackwork when I see it).

SplatteredAndScattered wrote:Cthulhu 2000 has some pretty godawful stuff, but I think the worst one I've read is "The Salem Horror" by Henry Kuttner. Hackwork, total hackwork (and this is coming from a hackey amateur fanboy writer, so I know hackwork when I see it).

I was afraid of that when I was picking a Mythos book at a bookstore. Lucky that I bought another antholgy, where the newest story was from 1970's. I personally don't condone "Delta Green" hollywoodish reproach to the Mythos anyway. Has the Golden Age of quality Mythos fics really passed ?

The worst I can remember reading is a Titus Crow story by Brian Lumley. The first few pages were brilliant, and then the story, rather enthusiastically, hopped onto the path of utter, Derleth-inspired rubbish and never looked back.

>Has the Golden Age of quality Mythos fics really passed ?


You know, sometimes I'm really impressed with some of the stories that I write, but then I go back and read something that Lovecraft himself wrote, and I end up thinking that I do sort of suck after all...

Well that novel that Chaosium produced was pretty horrid. Cthulhu 2000 did seem to have some rather dire ones that is for sure. I thought the Titus Crow series was alright as long as you stopped thinking it was at all Lovecraftian.

I really disliked the titus crow stories....and by extension the walker of winds, and whatever that god awful story was with "Kthanid", a sort of angelic Cthulhu... dualism in the mythos, my god. As if Derleth wasn't bad enough.
There was some good stuff on Children of Cthulhu... like Matt Cardin's "Teeth" or the one about the cult whose objective was to fuse all humans into one.
I think the best mythos stories have minimal monster inclusion, more strange details. The best of the best make you afraid of yourself, or failing that, the air you breathe.

I agree on all points with you, Eidolon.

Thank you. Nice Avvie.

It seemed rad when I saw it the first time but now that I stare at it here I think it's too annoying. Or isn't it?

Not too annoying. It is unique

anything by derleth sux nuts

You lucky lucky bastards. You haven't read the "best of" Cthulhu Sex Magazine: Horror Between the Sheets which is full of the most putrescent, pontless, and poorly-written stories. And yet I'm not sure if it's as bad as New Mythos Legends, of which only half were 'mythos' and ended with a story about a Christian superhero. Derleth and Lumley at least have a talent for writing, even if their ideas are insanely contradictory to Lovecraft's.

I'm busy reading Song of Cthulhu, and one story in it, Shallow Fathoms, is probably the worst Mythos story I've ever read. At least the worst written. In fact, it makes me feel GREAT about my own writing.

My favorite bad line in it is: "I had no idea what the place sold, or, at least, what exactly the place sold."

Man, the errors he makes are ones that should have been weeded out of him in like high school!

Ok, Ok. I am a sucker for anything with Lovecrafts name on it. I see the book run for the nearest register and run home.Dont even look at the contents.Worst ever;The Loved Dead. Keerist! The best of the bunch was R.H.Barlow the Night Ocean and that stunk! If you see this in the book stores, run, do not walk away.