THE DEEP ONES: "The Arcade" by Will Murray

"The Arcade" by Will Murray

Discussion begins September 26, 2018.

First published in Worlds of Cthulhu (2012).



ONLINE VERSIONS

No online versions found to date.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1537806

SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS

Worlds of Cthulhu

MISCELLANY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Murray
http://www.sinanju.com/murray1.html
https://www.cbr.com/writer-will-murray-on-the-history-of-pulp/
http://www.eldritchdark.com/articles/reviews/68/introduction-to-%27tales-of-zoth...
http://tinyurl.com/yd6nwkwd

Love that Gahan Wilson cover.

Not available through my local lending library, alas.

Nobody else got around to reading it? Given the this and the lack of comments re "The Hill", I guess the lesson is to only nominate stories that are more widely available.

Apart from finding it a pleasant read, I thought it was interesting in that, despite being a Lovecraft-inspired ghost story, it's definitely not a horror story, and yet despite the distinctly un-Lovecraftian optimism it's an apparently sincere homage to the gentleman of Providence - I don't get the sense that Murray is trying to pick any sort of argument with HPL.

If anyone wants to pick a copy up, isfdb appears to have missed there's an e-book edition, available at Kobo for $5.

I liked the story and thought Murray channeled Lovecraft's voice and structure well. (I liked the gerunds "abominated" and "juggernauted".)

>4 AndreasJ: Yes, it is a ghost story.

I did think the end was not very Lovecraftian in its philosophy. I'm not sure what I would call it with its talk of "equipose" and "imbalances" and linkage of the natural world with the human mind/soul. I wonder if it's related to the metaphysics and spirituality Murray explored in 2016's Forever After.

I haven't checked the details, but I wonder if the dam mentioned is the one built at the end Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space".