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I don't read a lot of horror, but I love the Cthulhu Mythos and their ilk, and I'd say Bloch comes closest to Lovecraft in his contributions to the mythos while still remaining original. This collection is also a good spectrum of a writer's development, from young apprentice to skilled journeyman. But even the earlier, less developed stories are worth reading. I like how Bloch experiments with different stylistic approaches and characters; his narrators are more diverse than Lovecraft's in tone....
Absolutely brilliant ❤ I loved every minute!Anyone who loves HPL will enjoy this!
I had no idea Robert Bloch was a Lovecraft correspondent. Very much enjoyed his Egyptian stories in this volume, and need to look for other collections with the Egyptian themes that are non-mythos related.
Mysteries of the Worm made me think back to a lot of the strange Egyptian stories I couldn't get enough of as a kid and absolutely loved -- mummies returning for vengeance, strange curses that fell on people who opened tombs, etc. While not all of Bloch's writing in this volume consist of his Egyptian tales, the book as a whole left me with inner squeals of delight. Sure, there are some pieces that are not so hot, but overall, this is a great read. Robert Bloch was not just the author of Psycho,...
One of the original torchbearers for the Lovecraftian Mythos, and a damn solid writer in general, but I found some of this a bit dull. That said, if you like the metaphysical or mystical lore attached to that universe, he puts a strong focus on that.Halloween 2021 Read 5/20
Robert Bloch wrote voluminously across a variety of fiction genres during his life. To many, he may be best known for writing Psycho as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek The Original Series. The latest version of this collection contains all (or at least the bulk) of his 'weird fiction' work, including the stories set in turn of the century Egypt discussed by H.P. Lovecraft and his lovecraftian mythos stories as well.This was a second time around on some of these stories for me...
Robert Bloch is HP Lovecraft if HP Lovecraft had no creativity.
Mysteries of the Worm is a collection of short stories by Robert Bloch (Psycho) that involve the Lovecraft mythos. Being an avid fan of this mythos, I felt compelled to get as many perspectives from the authors involved as possible.As with other collections, I will give my thoughts on the individual stories.The Secret of the Tomb involves a man going into his ancestral burial vault to face his destiny. At only a few pages in length, it served to entertain me without getting old. Not too shabby.T...
I cannot in good faith give this novel more than 2 stars. First of all, let be real, Robert Bloch when he wrote this series he was 17/18 years old. Probably he wrote some before (!). That's commendable to say the least. At 17 I was playing Command & Conquer in PC games and failing in high school so there's that. Most writers only come forward with writing a bit later - first because most people would ignore them for being young OR probably prefer more mature writers - yeah this is another topic
Robert Bloch did not write exclusively in the Lovecraft Mythos, so this anthology allows one to see his style develop from kitschy and derivative to unique and brilliant.
Technically not all of Robert Bloch's Cthulhu Mythos stories. There's about 5 or 6 missing that were added in a later version of this book. However these are the cream of the crop and a must for any Lovecraft enthusiasts out there. Bloch was the youngest of the Lovecraftian Circle and these stories could almost be called fan fiction. For the most part the tales were written in the late 30s. for the magazine Weird Tales.They represent a young developing writer who would later leave his Lovecrafti...
"Mysteries of the Worm" is a collection of early short stories, many of which were published in Weird Tales in the 1930's. Bloch was an early devotee of Lovecraft, and his initial stories are quite imitative of Lovecraft's style. Eventually, Bloch will find his own writer's voice, and his own fame. The stories contained in this collection all refer to a mysterious and demonic tome, Ludvig Prinn's De Vermis Mysteriis, which was given its spooky Latin title by Lovecraft himself. Bloch created this...
Some of the stories are great, but some are a bit boring. Love the completeness of the collection though. Better than a lot of Cthulhu mythos stuff.
One of my reading goals is to read as much of the material from the original Weird Tales magazines as possible, especially the "big name" authors. I enjoy these old stories from the "Unique Magazine," even when they're not masterpieces they're fun and have a certain charm.And speaking of "not masterpieces," that's the case with many stories here, there's a lot of early work here, and one can see Bloch improve as he goes along. Some of these stories, especially the early ones can run together a b...
A collection of Cthulhu mythos tales by Robert Bloch. Not all of them are great - some are quite badly written. In general, the later stories are better than the earlier ones, as Bloch gradually finds his own voice instead if trying to imitate HPL’s writing style. Quite a few of the stories are familiar to Call of Cthulhu players, as they have been used as source material and inspiration for role playing game scenarios. Recommended for HPL fans and nerds in general.
Judging by the average level of horror and dread, Robert Bloch might be best author of Mythos stories beside Lovecraft himself, one of his biggest contributions being the enrichment of the Nyarlathotep lore by means of adding elements from egyptian mythology. Since this is an anthology spanning more than 20 years, the quality of the stories differs. While some are "decent" (Fane of the Black Pharaoh, others, like Notebook Found in a Deserted House are amongst the best and most chilling tales eve...
In the afterward, Robert Bloch acknowledges that most of the short stories in the collection are amateurish — having been written when he was a teenager and published in pulp magazines in the 1930s. The results are as formulaic as you might expect, although his later stories are more polished and inventive. I suppose if you’re a Lovecraft devotee you’ll get something out of these, but otherwise it’s skippable.
If HP Lovecraft is the King of his Mythos and Cosmic horror in general, then Bloch is the Prince in waiting. For me he stands head and shoulders above the rest of Lovecafts gang of Mythos bezzies, and that is a grand achievement in itself, as some of those guys are also spectacular.Some of the stories in this collection are so similar to Lovecraft that they could have almost been penned by him. And I don't mean they are carbon copies of his work, far from it, but they are wrapped in the same hea...
Any reader who enjoys weird fiction should scarf down this collection. Robert Bloch was one of the greatest 20th Century authors. The editorial comments before each story are interesting as well.
One of the (many) slightly unusual things about HP Lovecraft was his willingness to share his creations with other authors. Not only was he willingly to, but he often invited others to come and play in his sandbox, which is one of the things that makes the Cthulhu Mythos such a rich tapestry, as each author would add to the overall mythology.Robert Bloch started his writing career as a teenager, having been encouraged by Lovecraft to write weird fiction. And the first story of his accepted for p...