I recently got the latest Eldritch Tales issue #12. I was hoping we’d get another issue of Crypt of Cthulhu, but I don’t see one. I actually have been looking for new issues of both, but haven’t seen them. Someone brought this one to my attention.
For some reason, it’s under the name of Robert Price rather than Robert M. Price. Further, there is no info as to the issue number on Amazon or on the cover, though it is noted on the table of contents page, as well as when it was published. Further, Amazon claimed I already had the issue, when I didn’t. These sorts of problems make it hard to find the issue.
As usual, it’s from Robert M. Price and published through Exham Priory (not sure why Cryptic Publications wasn’t used) and made available from Amazon via print-on-demand and Kindle. As always, it’s digest-size, 8.5- by 5.5-inches, lacking any copyright notices or publication dates.
Eldritch Tales #12 came out in August 2024 and has five stories, plus an article by Price. Two of the stories are by Price as well. The first of Price’s stories, “Caught in the Cross Fire,” tells of a new FBI agent sent to infiltrate a new branch of the Ku Klux Klan, one calling themselves the Klooloo Klux Klan. He is able to do so, but learns to his horror there is much more to the group than he expected and what his fate will be. The second one, “Invisible Invaders From Venus” is a pulp sf tale of a space pirate who thwarts an invasion of Earth by, well, invisible invaders. How does he do it?
Then there is a short tale by Joshua Long, “Escape From Exham Priory.” If you don’t catch the reference, it’s from H.P. Lovecraft‘s “The Rats in the Wall.” This one seems set in the medieval period and is told in first-person by one of the human cattle kept in the basement of the Priory by the Delepores.
The first of two longer stories is the fantasy “The Gift of the Gods” by Michael A. Turton. Set in a world of magic, it stars a young thief who is a member of a hated race. Trying to escape on a ship, he picks the wrong one, as he is captured but is needed to help steal a valuable, and powerful, jewel. Things don’t go as everyone expects.
The other tale is “The Colonel at Gravesend” by Wes Hope. Narrated by a newly arrived parson to Gravesend, it tells of a new neighbor of his. An unnamed colonel, retiring there to write his memoirs. And he brings with him a strange cabinet with multiple locked drawers. It’s the gift of the Chinese emperor. Things take a strange turn with the arrival of the parson’s brother-in-law. How will it all end?
It’s another good issue, though the problems I noted are frustrating. How hard is it to include the issue number on the cover and in the interior? And I would love a brief write-up about the authors.
I am still keeping an eye out for the next Crypt of Cthulhu. And as I was finishing up this post, it was brought to my attention by my editor that Eldritch Tales #13 is now up on Amazon, appearing there toward the end of September.
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