52 in 1: Cthulhurotica

Sexy, sexy face-tentacles.

For week 34, I read Cthulhurotica, edited by Carrie Cuinn. It’s a book of short stories all related to H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos, with a sexy twist (sometimes). It’s not what you’re thinking. Except, of course, when it is.

The advantage to short stories is, of course, that there are going to be a lot of different opinions on what constitutes erotica, and how much creepy to stir in. The disadvantage is that the stuff you really like will not be nearly long enough, and the stuff you don’t like will be entirely too long. In my case, I really liked some of the stories, one or two of them I really didn’t care for, and the rest I could take or leave. Some people in the group hated the whole thing, some refused to read it, but most enjoyed the very different take on the mythos and the new exposure to this thing called horrorporn. (Don’t worry, it never quite crosses over into porn. Not in the text, anyway. In your own mind, well…)

As for me, I think you should give it a try. It’s doubtful you’ll be able to find a copy in the library, and for some reason the physical copies are going for over $100 each according to different links on GoodReads. I don’t know why they don’t have a link to any ebooks, but at Cthulhurotica.com, they provide a number of links where you can get a digital copy at a very, very reasonable price. They have epubs, Nook and Kindle versions, as well as DRM-free copies. I’m not saying you must first have read all of Lovecraft’s stuff, but having one or two under your belt really helps to know what’s going on in some of these shorts. I haven’t read the entirety of his works, and there was one or two in this collection for which I didn’t have any frame of reference. I still enjoyed them, I just wished I had more background.