Order RAPTURE OF THE DEEP here
(also reviewed)
Order REPO SHARK here - Read the Review
Order STRATEGIES AGAINST NATURE here - Read the Review
Growing up, I always hated books. Hates how they never told me anything that could save me from becoming what I was.
The toughest thing to achieve for an author is developing an narrative identity that transcends reputation. Most great names will never write one sentence that'll make you go: "I fucking know who wrote that," which is one of the most exciting feelings for readers. Las year, California-based author Cody Goodfellow's powerful and eloquent hyperconsciousness made me feel like I've stumbled upon something too good for my own life. His new collection Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales challenges father time to a wrestling match and explores his humble debut as a Lovecaftian horror writer, which explains a lot of things about the best kept secret in indie literature.
Cody Goodfellow wrote the introduction to Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales himself and admits the stories in the collection are more or less pastiches of H.P Lovecraft's beloved tales of horror. Goodfellow might've sold himself short in order to lower expectations before the collection even began. There are maybe one or two stories (The Anatomy Lesson and the only original stories Swinging) that feel ripped from Lovecraft's playbook, but most stories in Rapture of the Deep merely borrow themes from the legendary cosmic horror writer and function using a different narrative philosophy. They are faster, less contemplative and blissfully use contemporary settings to create a different paradigm.
Another point Cody Goodfellow makes in his sneaky important introduction to Rapture of the Deep is that he views cosmic horror as pulp existentialism. This thought really brings perspective to what he tried to do with the collection. See, Goodfellow is fascinated by the evil that men do. How human nature can connect with infinite darkness. Many of the stories in Rapture of the Deep are about war, mainly war in Iraq *. where good men and bad men all do the same things to one another and end up being confronted to dark and timeless powers. The characters of Goodfellow confront darkness, the fight it until their last breath, unlike the alienated loners of H.P Lovecraft who surrender to it. So Goodfellow's fiction add a human quality that I hadn't previously experienced in Lovecraftian fiction.
"Time is like space, once you learn to move through it. Matter cannot travel in time without creating paradox, but for the mind, linear time is a useful lie it must repeat to itself. Once the mind remembers to forget, time is-"
The gun point, all on its own. "If this is all the answer I'm going to get, then please shut the fuck up."
My favorite stories in Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales were: König Feurio, In the Shadow of Swords, Garden of the Gods and especially the title story Rapture of the Deep, which created a paradigm in between humanity and infinite darkness using a submarine for setting. This story is about war, but it's also about about intellectual greed and the end ** of human knowledge. I thought it was the story that explored traditional cosmic horror themes the deepest without compromising on the humanity Cody Goodfellow is so adamant to keep throughout Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales.
König Feurio was more of an aesthetic treat. It is, like several stories in Rapture of the Deep, kind of fast and pulpy, leading to a brilliant finale. It's the story in the collection that is the closest to Cody Goodfellow's usual style I love so much. In the Shadow of Swords and Garden of the Gods are both featuring military protagonist and seek to reconcile the self-destructive nature of military pursuits (illustrated by the Ancient Ones here) and the people behind it. They both are highly allegoric stories where Lovecraftian themes are used to another end than simply terrify the reader.
But I can hear you think from here: Why the fuck should I read Goodfellow does Lovecraft? It's a great question, one I asked myself several times throughout my reading of Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales. Both Cody Goodfellow and H.P Lovecraft are very enjoyable in their own right. I guess the best way to see it is like a cover of a very popular song. Goodfellow reappropriates Lovecraftian themes quite drastically and while he sacrifices part of his narrative identity in order to pay tribute to Patron Saint of Cosmic Horror, the end product speaks for itself. Perhaps not quite as strong as Goodfellow doing Goodfellow and not as terrifying as Lovecraft himself, but Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales is multifaceted, daring and powerfully creative and got me to geek the hell out for 800 words or so without mentioning once I got suckered into reading short stories again. Hah! Only Goodfellow.
But I can hear you think from here: Why the fuck should I read Goodfellow does Lovecraft? It's a great question, one I asked myself several times throughout my reading of Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales. Both Cody Goodfellow and H.P Lovecraft are very enjoyable in their own right. I guess the best way to see it is like a cover of a very popular song. Goodfellow reappropriates Lovecraftian themes quite drastically and while he sacrifices part of his narrative identity in order to pay tribute to Patron Saint of Cosmic Horror, the end product speaks for itself. Perhaps not quite as strong as Goodfellow doing Goodfellow and not as terrifying as Lovecraft himself, but Rapture of the Deep and Other Lovecraftian Tales is multifaceted, daring and powerfully creative and got me to geek the hell out for 800 words or so without mentioning once I got suckered into reading short stories again. Hah! Only Goodfellow.
* This was a clever choice by Cody Goodfellow. Not only Iraq is contemporary and pertinent, but it's also the cradle of humanity. Details like this are what makes Goodfellow so darn enjoyable.
** Or should I say the edge