Welcome to Litsy!

Well, I didn‘t bail so credit to this collection for keeping me entertained. One too many stories are so-so but as Sherlock Holmes pastiches go, the majority of stories were good yarns. There just wasn‘t enough of that rich, cosmic horror and weirdness that I found in my recent, personal discovery of Lovecraft. A couple of stories came close, but the best of the batch were the ones that capture Doyle‘s penmanship rather than Lovecraft‘s surrealism

Overall, a pleasing mashup of Holmes and Cthulhu Mythos, mostly pastiching Doyle rather than Lovecraft, which I think was the better variation. I enjoyed all but one of the stories, & while they didn't all quite "do what it says in the tin", they were usually good mystery-horror stories even if they weren't always dripping with enough suppurating Lovecraftiness for my taste.
However, there were enough strong entries to make it a worthwhile read 4⭐

@The_Book_Ninja
"The Mystery of the Hanged Man's Puzzle" really did hit the mark, didn't it? I think this was a pitch perfect blend of HPL's "Shadows Over Innsmouth", and a London-based Holmes story such as "The Blue Carbuncle", but suitably darker.
I got vibes of the Guy Ritchie Holmes films, and of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins in terms of the 'caper', though the story predates them both. A very good entry.

@The_Book_Ninja
Round up of the stories I've not yet commented on:
"Wavy Black Dagger": The weakest so far, I think. It feels too conscious of itself and what it's trying to do. Barely Holmes, barely HPL.
"Royal Blood": Better HPL representation, nice historical references and setting in Austro-Hungarian Empire, H.G. Wells instead of Watson as the narrator.
"Weeping Masks": Easily my favourite so far. A pre-Holmes Watson gets his ... ⬇️

@The_Book_Ninja I was enjoying the set up for The Adventure of the Antiquarian's Niece; Barbara Hambly has a polished writing style. But now I'm fanboyying as she's introduced William Hope Hodgson's Consulting Occult Detective, Thomas Carnacki of Cheyne Walk! 🤩 Lovecraft admired Hodgson, who was writing his weird stories a decade before HPL. He's sometimes a bit clunky, but immensely atmospheric. Recommended if you've not read him before 🔎👻

The Cosmic Horror of waiting for a dental appointment! 🐙🪥🦷🐙
It's only a check up, though, so I don't think I'll need to invoke the protection of The Elder Sign 😏

Elizabeth Bear (she's the not-green one in the pic) had her first published story, Tiger! Tiger!, in this collection, and while it has no Holmes or Watson, it does have Irene Adler adventuring in India, alongside another Holmesian antagonist. I do like a story with THE Woman; Adler makes for a great female lead. The Lovecraftian element is more "Monster of the Week" than cosmically horrifying, but I still found it a satisfying adventure.
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"The deerstalker hat, the pipe, the tobacco-filled slipper on the mantel ... the image conjured, whether of Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett, or the reader's own conception, is unmistakable."

I love Rathbone's iconic depiction of Holmes, but *my* TV/film Sherlock will always be Jeremy Brett ♥️ When reading Holmes stories, though, my mental image is Sidney Paget's classic Strand Magazine illustrations ?
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

The first story in the collection is Neil Gaiman's, "A Study in Emerald", which mashes up Doyle and Lovecraft, and neatly subverts both in a good way.
There's lots of Holmesian and Lovecraftian 'Easter eggs', spotting which was definitely part of the fun. My only complaint is that 24 pages was too short, making the idea of the story bigger than it's delivery. But, hey ho! It's an auspicious start ???
@The_Book_Ninja

Sorry for spamming your feed today: it's what happens when I have a day off I can devote to self-care i.e., reading a shit-ton of books! 📚
I've had this since it was published 20 years ago, @The_Book_Ninja giving me the impetus to actually read it!
I note that editor Michael Reaves died earlier this year & although I only know his name from this book I feel unaccountably saddened by the knowledge. Reading this will be some small tribute, perhaps.

#maybookflowers #sobaditsgood Combining Sherlock Holmes with Lovecraftian horror and Elder Ones this book is an odd mashup. The writing is not bad by any means, and I found myself actually getting carried along by the plots of the stories. However the universe is so unusual from a typical Holmes story, and many things being done seemingly for the sake of weirdness that I found myself disappointed. Still, not a waste of time. #iamsherlocked

Yesterday's bookmail. I think this has got to be my next read. It looks too amazing. I should've read it a decade ago, honestly (2003 is 13 years ago. WTF)