NIGHTMARE'S DISCIPLE by Joe Pulver

[GRWelsh]

I started reading this on my Kindle. It is pretty good so far. It is like a cross between standard "stop the serial killer" crime fiction and the Cthulhu Mythos.

[geneweigel]

Thats weird as much as a critic that I am of "Cthulhu" derivatives I've never attempted much creative past art or an associated art class essay based on the in-story history of MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS and THE SHADOW OUT OF TIME.

[geneweigel]

Even comics I didn't really touch it. Game-wise I've gone off the deep end with gods and monsters but never into a story.

[GRWelsh]

I like the basic concept of this book, which is the knife-wielding cultists of the 20's are the serial killers of today. Just think of all the times people are looking for Satanic links or indications of ritual killings... The public is often eager to believe Satan or demons or something otherworldly is behind serial murderers, motivating them, making them do the abnormal.

I keep thinking of Boris Karloff's THRILLER because of how it always seemed to back and forth from one genre to another, between horror and mundane crime fiction.

As far as artwork, remember how in AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS the explorers learned the entire history of the Elder Things through hieroglyphs and murals? I always pictured that like a comic strip! That would be an excellent art project: create a comic book that tells the story through visual artwork and some hieroglyphs that the careful reader may be able to link together over time. At some point fairly early on, you have to be able to identify with the Elder Things -- to think of them as men, but in different bodies.

[Scott]

I was going to buy this, but then saw Stephen King’s new book the Outsider. I haven’t started it yet, but according to the description it has some similar elements, starting out as more standard murder mystery and then shifting into horror.

[GRWelsh]

I downloaded the sample of THE OUTSIDER on my Kindle, but I haven't started it yet. I am about halfway through NIGHTMARE'S DISCIPLE, and it is pretty good but not great. One thing I don't much care for is a Lovecraftian story in which the characters reference H. P. Lovecraft... So, in their universe, he wrote the stories, and they are fiction but based on some truth. It always comes across as a bit too cute. One of the characters says, "It's like a real life Mythos story is beginning to unfold and we're characters who are stuck in the middle of it. You're a cop. Piece the facts together. One, the killer believes in the Mythos. Two, some of the places are real. Three, a what may be real star stone shows up from someone who's really into the occult. And four we've got a few writers who don't write, they just channel information they receive in their sleep. Five, you've got other murders related to the myth cycle."

I was planning on checking out King's THE OUTSIDER next. That reminds me, I still need to read END OF WATCH, the third book in the Bill Hodges trilogy that began with MR. MERCEDES. I just borrowed the eBook out of my Library website... So convenient.

[Scott]

Yeah, the Lovecraft reference thing is a bit overdone. It was kind of neat the first time, but it’s shtick at this point.

[GRWelsh]

I saw that Joe Pulver died of COPD in Germany on 4/24/2020 at 64 years of age. I can't really say I was a fan, as I only read NIGHTMARE'S DISCIPLE and liked it but didn't love it. I mainly knew him from listening to the Lovecraft eZine Podcast, and he seemed like an interesting guy, and nice because he was always praising others. He was very much into THE KING IN YELLOW (1895) by Robert W. Chambers, perhaps even more than he was into Lovecraft, and that made him stand out from the other so-called Lovecraftian writers. I just bought the Kindle version of Pulver's THE KING IN YELLOW TALES VOL. 1, and I like what I've read so far. It is eerie and otherworldly.

Something else I wanted to say about Joe was that the guys on the podcast tell the story about how in the 1990's Joe had a job he really didn't love, but broke into writing by doing something he was passionate about. They remembered how enthusiastic he was, but also how he was nervous when reading new material to his peers. But he did it, and made his dream come true. So, I just think that when I see you guys or anyone else I know pursuing their creative interests, and how important it is to encourage it because life is so short. While you are alive you do what you can to make money, but after you're dead who cares if you went to an office every day for 40 years doing pretty much the same thing? No one, and you get replaced just like that. But when you do something creative, that is when you can truly leave your mark on the world because it is something you're passionate about and unique to your particular personality, knowledge and talent.

Here is an interview with Joe Pulver in which he does a great job of summarizing what THE KING IN YELLOW is all about:

www.arkhamdigest.com/2014/03/interview-joe-pulver-talks-king-in.html

The only thing I didn't like about his interview was his digression about canon... I respect his opinion, but I always find such discussions of canon to be pointless, since ultimately it is "stuff you like" which is subjective to every reader.