Juncture: 25 Very Good Stories and 12 Excellent Drawings Book

Not a sterling collection, by any means, but once again, it's an anthology, so you know right away that you're taking a chance when you get into a book of short stories. Some are great, some are okay, and a couple of them, well, less than what I would have hoped for considering the topic. I do think that if you're a junkie for this stuff as I seem to be, then you don't want to miss this one by any means, but it wouldn't be on the top of my list of best short stories by writers influenced by good old Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

Here are the contents; I enjoyed "Will," "HPL" and "The Barrens" (especially the last one...very very HPL in tone!) the best. I won't give away the show by telling you the plots because it would be a major spoiler.

Contents:
An Open Letter to HP Lovecraft (introduction) by Robert Bloch
A Secret of the Heart by Mort Castle
The Other Man by Ray Garton
Will by Graham Masterton
Big "C" by Brian Lumley
Ugly by Gary Brandner
The Blade and the Claw by Hugh B. Cave
Soul Keeper by Joseph Citro
The Papers of Helmut Hecker by Chet Williamson
Meryphillia by Brian McNaughton
Lord of the Land by Gene Wolfe
HPL by Gahan Wilson
The Order of Things Unknown by Ed Gorman
The Barrens by F. Paul Wilson

Hugh B. Cave is another writer that writes stories to read late at night in the dark and from whom I've come to expect a case of the willies, so I would recommend him as well.

Overall...a fun read that will keep you entertained for a few hours.