That Is Not Dead: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Through the Centuries (2015)

That Is Not Dead: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Through the Centuries (2015): edited by Darrell Schweitzer, containing the following stories:

• Herald of Chaos by Keith Taylor
• What a Girl Needs by Esther M. Friesner [as by Esther Friesner]
• The Horn of the World's Ending by John Langan
• Monsters in the Mountains at the Edge of the World by Jay Lake
• Come, Follow Me  by Darrell Schweitzer
• Ophiuchus by Don Webb
• Of Queens and Pawns by Lois H. Gresh
• Smoking Mirror by Will Murray
• Incident at Ferney by S. T. Joshi
• Anno Domini Azathoth by John R. Fultz
• Slowness by Don Webb
• The Salamanca Encounter by Richard A. Lupoff
• Old Time Entombed by W. H. Pugmire
• Nine Drowned Churches by Harry Turtledove

Fun, often grim collection of Cthulhu Mythos tales spanning about 4500 years and many continents. Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi checks in with a rare piece of fiction, one in which Voltaire must face the Great Old Ones in rural 18th-century France. John Fultz crafts a chilling tale of Azathothian cultists in the Spanish West, Will Murray one of false gods in colonial Mexico, and editor Darrell Schweitzer a disturbing tale of the Pauper's Crusade.

There isn't a lot of comedy here -- really, only Harry Turtledove, Don Webb, and Esther Friesner offer even slightly light-hearted looks at the Cthulhu Mythos. A recurring theme is the destruction of a character's personal faith in the gods of men through exposure to the Truth about who really runs the universe. Dick Lupoff does take this in a different direction than the other tales, to a place more of cosmic wonder than terror. More typical is how an encounter with Azathoth destroys a devout Catholic's faith in John Fultz's story.

John Langan's tale of Roman-era Britain and a curious magical artifact is splendid as well, recalling some of the Roman-era-set dark fantasy of David Drake. "Monsters in the Mountains at the Edge of the World" by Jay Lake pits Romans and the fringes of the Chinese empire against the abominable Mi-Go, while "Herald of Chaos" by Keith Taylor sets Taylor's recurring, dynastic-Egyptian priest of Anubis against Lovecraft's Black Pharaoh, Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, with the fate of the world in the balance.

In all, a highly enjoyable anthology. I even felt like I learned something! Highly recommended.