A recent collection of Lovecraftian stories I got is The Doom That Came to Dunwich, subtitled “Selected Stories of Lovecraftian Mystery. Edited by Philip Harbottle, it collects nine stories by Richard A. Lupoff (1935-2020).
Harbottle selected what he felt were the best Lovecraftian stories by Lupoff. These appeared originally in a wide range of collections from 1978 to 2010. A few of the collections I have, but many I wasn’t aware of. We also get a nice introduction from Harbottle on Lupoff. I have mainly read Lupoff’s non-fiction works, but have read a small number of his fiction pieces.
If you are a more purist when it comes to Lovecraftian works, be aware that it seems the Lupoff more follows the “Derleth mythos” than what H.P. Lovecraft himself set down. But that aside, these are all good stories.
The first story is the titular “The Doom That Came to Dunwich,” set in one of the fictitious cities created by Lovecraft and a sequel to one of his stories. Things start when a distant cousin of Wilbur Whateley from Canada comes to find out more about this branch of her family. She finds a strange complex setup nearby before visiting Dr. Henry Armitage, who is strangely still alive 70 years after the events in that original story.
“The Secret of the Sahara” is actually set in the world of Jules Verne, or more precisely, the world after parts of the Sahara were flooded, as shown in his last novel, The Invasion of the Sea (1905). That book was based on actually proposed plans. Set in the mid-1960s, “Secret” has a group of international scientists brought together to investigate a strange discovery: dressed stones on the bottom of the sea. A very rare tidal phenomenon will leave the Sahara Sea drained for a short period of time, to allow the group to explore. When they do, they find a previously hidden temple — and something there. Maybe readers will get the references of the names of the expedition members.
The Severn Valley in England is the setting for “The Turret.” For those not aware, this is the setting created by Ramsey Campbell for his Lovecraftian stories, which others have also made use of. In this tale, a troubleshooter is sent from a Silicon Valley company to work on one of the systems located at an institution in the Severn Valley. There he is slowly pulled into strange things tied to a mysterious turret tower he sees in the nearby hills. And apparently, he has a distant connection to a family from the area. What will he discover?
In a story set during the Depression, a couple of drivers run into trouble in “The Peltonville Horror.” After stopping in a roadhouse and having a conversation with the barman, they try to find shelter in Peltonville but come across the now-sinister synagogue there. Thankfully someone is able to help them.
The earliest story here, “The Devil’s Hop Yard,” is set in Dunwich in the 1930s and ’40s, and centers around the birth of another strange child and the fallout of that.
“Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley” is done in the style of several Lovecraft stories, presented as an investigation of strange happenings with an unusual church in California and its titular leader, as well as things going on in Vermont. It is also a sequel to a Lovecraft story that involved the main character’s great-grandfather.
In a story set on the California coast during WWII, a college professor is introduced to the idea of “Deep Ones” in “Brackish Waters.” He is told of their existence, centered around Innsmouth, and how all the major world governments know of them and cover it up. And he will learn of his own connection to them before the end of the story.
We get a Sherlock Holmes story in “The Adventure of the Voorish Sign.” A woman comes from Canada for help, as her husband disappeared a couple of years ago, and her brother is acting strange. This is all after her brother married a strange woman. It’s all tied to a sinister cult. Can Holmes and Watson save the husband and brother before it is too late and stop a doom facing us all?
The final story, “Nothing Personal,” is set sometime in the near future. The planet Yuggoth has been discovered, and a Chinese expedition goes to explore and make contact. Things catastrophically wrong.
Overall, this is a great collection of stories. I have no idea what other Lovecraftian works Lupoff has done as I’ve not seen any kind of list. Nor am I aware of any other collection of his Lovecraftian works. Hopefully, we might see another.
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