A new collection of Lovecraftian stories by Will Murray appeared towards the end of 2024. I think most pulp fans know him for his many scholarly articles on pulp heroes like The Shadow and Doc Savage. Or perhaps his many new Doc Savage novels, as well as new Tarzan and The Spider novels.
But he has also been involved with H.P. Lovecraft‘s Cthulhu mythos, writing both non-fiction works but also fiction works. Thus he put out a collection under his Wild Adventures line as The Wild Adventures of Cthulhu, published by his own Odyssey Publications.
Full disclosure, I was sent a copy to read and review.
In this volume, we get a dozen stories, most of them original to this collection. Half feature the secret government group, the Cryptic Events Evaluation Section (CEES) of the Department of Defense’s National Reconnaissance Office, and has a re-occurring character, Raymond Redpath, a Lakota. and his partner Sofia Volpe, who was introduced in the previous volume, along with their head Director Cranston introduced here. Many stories are set along the Miskatonic River Valley. We again get a nice map by Jason Eckhardt showing all the locations. Cover and other artwork by Eric Lofgren again.
Two stories are connected to A. Merritt‘s The Dwellers in the Mirage, which is a Lovecraftian novel. In fact, thanks to research, it’s been shown the two met. I haven’t read the story, but it’s set in a lost valley in Alaska where the people there worship a kraken called Khalk’ru. Is there a connection to Cthulhu? Most of Merritt’s work is out of print. Maybe someone needs to work on that.
Our first story, “The Furnace of Yeb” is a sequel to a story from the first volume. Set 30 years after that one, the Furnace has somehow re-emerged in Antarctica. This is noticed by both the U.S. and Russia, and Director Cranston sends agents Redpath and Volpe to take care of things. Will they be able to, and such that Russia will leave things alone?
We get another CEES story, “What Ghouls These Portals Be.” Here, an unnamed remote viewer is given a strange mission. Will he be able to do so without dooming himself?
In “Kingsport Tea,” a psychic who reads mainly tarot cards comes to work at a tea room in Kingsport. Here they use tea leaves, which he quickly picks up. But he is curious as to the source of their unique tea. What happens when he gets too close to the source?
There is a strange ailment called “pokkuri” causing young men to die strangely in their sleep. But it only affects those of Asian descent, then stops. But in “The Pokkuri Pattern,” it’s back but affects white men in the U.S. only (at first), moving from the west coast to the east. Can Director Cranston and his deputy at CEES figure out what (or who) is behind this all before it affects them as well?
Set in Arkham in the 1920s, “The House at One Tower Way” has a pulp author visiting a correspondent, only to discover something else.
In a very short story, “Miss Hitchbone Reclaims Her Own,”, a man complains to his neighbor about the neighbor’s cat scratching at his door. But he learns it is not a cat.
A former American Peace Corps worker in the Yucatan in the 1970s deals with a strange event in “The Shadow Over Uxmal.” A large gathering of Native Americans from Central and South America gather to summon Kuklacan. But our former Peace Corps member thinks he’s just a CIA fake. Can he expose him, or will he instead discover he is much more than he expected?
A CEES remote viewer notices some phantom flies. This leads him to discover Draculhu. But what, or who, is Draculhu? Is he connected to Cthulhu? He is soon on a mission to find out, which leads him to the Dreamlands. Can they figure out what he is and deal with him? And what will be the outcome?
A man refurbishing an old home with a strange past in Foxfield discovers a cupboard in the attic in “The Caller in the Cupboard.” He soon discovers it’s not an ordinary cupboard. It is, somehow, inhabited. By something. What course does his life take once he has done so?
The next two stories are connected. In “Cthulhu’s Garden,” we again meet up with Director Cranston of the CEES. It’s about a year after the events of “The Pokkuri Pattern,” and he is contacted by his boss at the NRO. They meet with the head of the NURO, the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office. There seems to be some strange goings on at R’lyeh. A large pile of skulls has been spotted. Is this due to something there, or is it caused by someone or something else? Is there some kind of war or conflict between some of the Great Old Ones aimed at Cthulhu?
This leads to the next story, “The Summoner of Khalk’ru,” which continues the tale, centered on the new assistant director of CEES. It takes him to New Orleans to try to figure things out. Who or what is Khalk’ru, and what is its connection to Cthulhu? This will lead to a conclusion you might not be expecting.
Our final story is “Into the Blackest Beyond,” and starts in 2053 with a space probe sent to the Oort Cloud that has an AI on board. What does it discover decades later in the outer void?
What’s next? As these are all new, I think it will be a while before we get a fourth volume. I think the next work we’ll see from Murray will be his third volume of The Shadow articles, Knight of Darkness. Next up should be a fifth volume of Sherlock Holmes stories, a Secret Agent X novel, and a new Tarzan novel.
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