Cthulhu - Something in the Mud (short story)

By Nikolai Bird

Jack has seen what is hidden in the darkness. He knows there is a war beyond that of nations. Four years since the Armistice and he is restless for an interesting job. When he gets an invitation from his former commander, he is only too keen to find out more. What happens next is something from his nightmares.

As an agent in the Odd Jobs, Jack saw the horrors that mankind faces. A mission that went wrong leads to a horror rising from the depths to take its revenge upon a small gathering in the seaside town of West Wittering in Sussex. It is up to Jack to save them and perhaps in doing so, get the girl.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nikolai Bird
• Release date: Mar 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311003768

Nikolai Bird

As a writer, designer and illustrator I spend most days creating something new. To make ends meet I do this for businesses in the form of digital product design.

Book preview

Cthulhu

Something in the Mud

Copyright 2014 Nikolai Bird

Published by Nikolai Bird at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Story

About Nikolai Bird

Other books by Nikolai Bird

Connect with Nikolai Bird

Acknowledgements

Thanks primarily to H.P. Lovecraft but also others for Cthulhu and his kind.

What is Normal?

I’m getting old, said Jack. 31 years last week and feeling it, and I’m bored.

Cooper chuckled the way he always did when Jack talked rubbish, when the man had nothing to add.

I’m bored, you hear?

I heard you, sir. Perhaps a game at the club?

Suppose I could, said Jack looking at his wristwatch. Nearly lunch time.

It had been nearly four years since the Armistice. Four years of getting back to normal, but there was no more normal. The England of old was no more and the world had changed. What had he accomplished since then? Not much. His father wanted him to join him in the world of printed news, but Jack would not have last a week. He tired too quickly of work and got distracted by any little thing, especially the kind with long legs and a pretty smile.

I need to find a proper job, Cooper.

"I thought you had a job with the

Reviews for Cthulhu - Something in the Mud (short story)

[R.W. Foster · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Part of me felt that I shouldn't read this.

A diehard fan of H.P. Lovecraft, I could very easily hold any deviation from from his style against the author. Another part of me, though, was excited. Of course Bird's writing would be very different, but could he pull it off?

Yes, he could. And he did.

Bird stuck to the most important points: vivid imagery, layout of character backgrounds, and a great show of normalcy brought into upheaval. He even placed the story within the proper historical timeline.

But he also made it his own, which is difficult to do when working within the world parameters of an author that has fanatically adoring fans. He deviated from Lovecraft's techniques by showing a bit more than one would normally see in the Cthulhu mythos.

Part of the horror within lovecraftian stories comes from what isn't said. Normally, a deviation like this would cause me to scoff and walk away with my nose in the air.

Fanatical fan, remember?

(I totally wore a Cthulhu for President button during two different election years. Maybe this next election he'll get the winning vote...)

Bird, though, made this work. I didn't feel the need to walk away, ashamed that someone could change Lovecraft's format in this manner. Rather, my eyes stayed on the pages, soaking up each and every word. His style, though different, was effective.

The only problem I had with the story, as strange as this sounds, is that Cthulhu was named twice. In the lovecraftian mythos, even saying the name of a Great Old One has severe consequences. Saying it once, therefore, would have been sufficient - and nerve-wracking. Twice, though, made it feel a little less taboo. Not as important.

But that's just me.

And really, a less avid Lovecraft devotee may not even notice it. Indeed, people who aren't well read in the Cthulhu mythos may actually need that extra reminder of the severity of the situation. I read this story from a vastly different viewpoint than most people, and I recognize that.

One thing is certain: Something in the Mud impressed someone who is hard to satisfy when dealing with the Cthulhu mythos.

(This is a truncation of my full review, posted to Undiscovered Tomes.)