This book is very well illustrated, well layed-out, easy to use, and the pictures are very beautiful. It's full of information, explains more than I expected, and it is a MUST for Hummel collectors.

not only is this a complete guide -- but it is so easy to use -- anyone owning or buying Hummel's should have this -- I only wish I could find Guides like this for my other collectables --

Even though it's proclaimed by expert collectors as the absolute source of information about Hummel figurines, Robert Miller's reference work is easy for amateurs as well. He provides insightful guidance in determining value and quality as well as interesting tidbits about production and variations in the figurines. His work is referenced by many sellers in internet auctions, but is also helpful in figuring out just what you already have. As a rank beginner, I had no problem in following his material and ascertaining the value of an inherited collection. It was also useful in helping me determine additions that I wanted to make to the collection.

Flowers From The Moon And Other Lunacies is a collection of fantastic and terrifying short stories by Robert Bloch, the renowned author of "Psycho," the novel that became one of the most famous horror movies of all time. Descriptive narration of magical events being twisted into macabre and gruesome doom, bring these spine-chilling tales to vivid life, in an unforgettably eerie anthology. The stories comprising this highly recommended anthology include: The Druidic Doom; Fangs of Vengeance; Death is an Elephant; A Question of Identity; Death has Five Guesses; The Bottomless Pool; The Dark Isle; He Waits Beneath the Sea; Power of the Druid; Be Yourself; A Sorcerer Runs for Sheriff; Black Bargain; A Bottle of Gin; Wine of the Sabbat; Soul Proprietor; Satan's Phonograph; The Man Who Told the Truth; The Night They Crashed the Party; Philtre Tip; and the title piece, Flowers from the Moon.

An excellent title by a man whose work still delivers the goods. Many of these stories are from Bloch's pulp days and provide a nice body of work to supplement the other titles you might have read including *Psycho*. If you've never owned an Arkham House title, this is an excellent one to snag. It's well-crafted and has a very intriguing dust jacket.

Bloch is a craftsman of the highest order; it's amazing to see how stories written when he was barely out of his teens still compare favorably to ones written late in his career. He was a massive talent.

As a longtime reader of Cthulhu Mythos fiction, I was heartened to see this volume of Jim Ambuehl's work in between covers. Each tale here is solidly based in the Mythos, with the addition of the author's Lu-Kthu cycle, adding some entities to the pantheon. Some are reminiscent of the old Creepy and Eerie black&white mags, all are well-told and most bear the author's singular satirical stamp. Each tale also has an illustration (these are just ok). Robert Price in another of his long intros makes a comparison between fanfic and pro fic, most of which makes sense (this is supposed to be the first of a number of fanfic authors' anthologies, but it's the only one I've seen). Well-worth the buying if only to get Mr. Ambuehl enough sales to be encouraged to do more work in the Mythos. I'm familiar with his work from the various online sources, and am always pleasantly diverted by his fiction.

This is the eleventh book in Chaosium's Cthulhu Cycle series. This volume features tales of Lovecraft's most well-known creation, the octopus-headed entity, Cthulhu. Included are the foundational stories (i.e. "The Call Of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft and "The Black Island" by August W. Derleth), some rare reprints (i.e. "Some Notes Concerning A Green Box" by Alan Dean Foster) and some interesting new stories of Cthulhu in the modern world (i.e. "Rude Awakening" by Will Murray). In any collection the stories are of varied quality but I enoyed the majority of the works collected. If you are a reader of Lovecraft's Mythos fiction then this is a must for your library.

price follows up his tales of the lovecraft mythos, going to the newer pulp writers. still excellent. great stories. especially good as an introduction to pulp: good plots, not too weird, great descriptions. great stories. the best of the best. loved glasby and rainey. loved a lot.

Buyers beware! The Overstreet Guide is an excellent pricing guide for mainstream comics, but does not cover underground comics. Classics such as Zap comics and others are not featured.

Edward P. Berglund is an exceptional editor and writer whose DICIPLES OF CTHULHU (both the earlier edition and the revised later version) are essential for lovers of "Yog-Sothothery" and eldrich tales. Berglund has developed his own niche, an area of Oregon, as a setting for his stories. After reading these eleven tales, you will wish there were eleven more.

What a wonderful book. If you are not familiar with the work of Stanley Sargent, I heartily recommend this book. For once Cthulhu Mythos aficionados can revel in a new, individual voice. Indeed, it is the distinct "voice" of each of the selections in this book that remains so impressive. That and the fact that Sargent (like Robert Bloch before him) is one of the few Mythos writers that successfully mixes horror and humor.

Probably one of the most satisfying aspects about the "Taint" is that the reader gets to sample Sargent in various aspects of his craft - from straight, Mythos horror, to subtle humor, to irreverent poetry and well-researched analysis. (The central novella, Nyarlatophis, set in ancient Egypt, is also superbly researched and delivered.) His range is as varied as is his manner of delivery - from a creepy "Live Bait," a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft's famous (and disturbing) "Shadow Over Innsmouth," to a thought provoking "Black Brat of Dunwich"-- a different interpretation of Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror." The two should be read side by side for the remarkable insights and conclusions Sargent manages to draw from Lovecraft's original story. To be honest, I found all the stories in this volume interesting and surpirsingly successful - despite their different construction and delivery. In the last story: "Double Screecher" Sargent manages to perfectly capture the claustrophobic paranoia of an insecure man in a movie theater. But don't be misled, you will think the story is going one way but then Sargent will pull the rug out from under you and go in an entirely different direction. Fabulous!

Another aspect of Sargent's savvy work that I found most appealing was his fluid style - and the individual timbre of each story which had a distinct feeling and "voice" all their own. Part of this is due to his gift of knowing how to give the reader just enough detail to prompt their mind into its own tangents of description. In other words, instead of describing something in complete detail, he gives the reader just enough key words or phrases which then propels their mind into creating its own mental scenarios. A rare gift. I found this especially impressive in such stories as "Live Bait."

If all that were not enough, the book has illustrations by D. L. Hutchinson, Allen Koszowski, Daniel Alan Ross, Peter Worthy, Jeffrey Thomas and Stanley Sargent himself! The book is also given a superb introduction by Richard A. Lupoff, which immediately establishes the quality of entertainment that will be found between the book's covers, and each story is prefaced by comments from none other than Robert M. Price - the respected and veteran Lovecraft scholar.

Do yourself a favor and get this book. Sargent is a vivid, colorful writer. It is most unfortunate that his first volume of stories, Ancient Exhumations, is now out of print.

This is an unusually good collection of cthulhu mythos stories. They include both mythos stories and some non mythos stories with a mythos feel.While there are one or two clunkers the quality is generally excellant. Also these are not the usual reprints but are either rarely or never reprinted stories.Of particular note to me was BLACK NOON by C M EDDY which gave a glimpse into the life of H P LOVECRAFT whom the author knew. If you are a fan of lovecraft and the cthulhu mythos by all means try this book.

This anthology is a recommended pick for any Lovecraft fan: it presents over twenty stories inspired by the Lovecraft tradition, blending occult and supernatural atmospheres with the monsters of horror Lovecraft has perfected. Top-name authors and unknowns are paired together, with stories gleaned from scare fanzines and failing pulps. Acolytes Of Cthulhu is loaded with action and highly recommended.

this book contains 3 great stories and a cuple of good ones. some are more fantasy than horror. kuttner can be a little bit obvious, a little bit simplistic, but the suspence, and he knows when to focus - when he should move forward and when he should stop and describe more vividly (his writing style focus concerning timing is excellent), his descriptions are good when they should be, and he knows how to hold our interest and how to avoid being boring.

This book contains a number of stories by one of the lesser-known disciples of Lovecraft, one Henry Kuttner. Although the stories are not classics of the genre, showing development in a new direction, they rise above pastiche and provide good reading. Kuttner is certainly able to grab the reader's attention and hold onto it, and tells a good tale while he has it.

"Bells of Horror" is the high point of the volume; it is a fine story set in California, a locale the author clearly enjoys. It is this setting in a number of stories that gives the stories a unique flavor; Kuttner's descriptions create a new millieu for the eldritch horrors that are the center of the Cthulhu Mythos.

It is also "Bells of Horror" that first mentions The Book of Iod, a volume which belongs on the shelf with the usual suspects--De Vermis Mysteriis, Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Cultes des Goules, the Book of Eibon, the Pnakotic Manuscripts, and, of course, (all together now) the horrible Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred.

Kuttner's ability shows itself most in his ability to create a mythology. Instead of a few separate stories, the contents of this anthology fit together in intriguing ways--but they don't fit together seamlessly, just as other myth cycles don't. All in all, this collection is a very worthwhile read.

I thought this book was excellent! Most books have stories with happy little endings, but never a few unhappy endings. This book provided a mix of both. simply the best book of short stories ive read