The Lovecraft Anthology, Vol. 1

Lovecraft’s pulp horrors have long proved a trying prospect for those who adapt them into any visual medium, due to the author’s horrific visions being often nebulously defined. His madness-inducing elder gods, their nightmarish half-human offspring and all manner of inhuman, tentacled wigglies received descriptions allowing the imagination to do the heavy lifting, which was not a bad idea since no amount of storytelling can come up with anything as horrific as what an individual reader’s mind can conceive. The other stumbling block for adapters is Lovecraft’s “antique” turn of phrase that is often lost in translation. This anthology, however, gets everything right and matches eight capable writers (among them Ian Edginton and Dan Lockwood) with seven very imaginative artists (Disraeli, INJ Collard) all of whom do the stories justice. The tales adapted are seven of Lovecraft’s best, including “The Call of Thulium,” “The Munich Horror,” The Shadow over Inns Mouth,” each illustrated in styles running the gamut from the grotesque to the expressionistic and even the cartoony. It’s a rich grab bag that brings the eerie and unspeakable to vivid graphic life, and both the newcomer and the seasoned Lovecraft fan will not be disappointed. (Apr.)