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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 what a Lovcraftian collection should be. Almost all the stories are spot on good. While one or two stories in the collection fell flat for me, most were excellent. I will not go into each story in the collection, as others have done that justice already; but "The Insider" was so good that it still gives me a shiver thinking about it.

Any fan of the "mythos" needs to have this collection. While dovetailing closely with HPL's writing, it has originality and freshness that made it a joy (or horror) to read. And you have to love the cover.

I've been reading Mythos and Lovecraftian pastiche since the late 70s. I've read it in book collections, magazines and fanzines. I've read it on the net and people have sent me their personal works through snail- and e-mail. After two and a half decades of reading this material my conclusion is that most of it really is drek. When I was a kid and saw a movie that I really liked, I would go home and try to recapture those memories by drawing what I had seen in the theater. Those drawings were crude and poorly thought out, with the attempt being to just catch those visceral moments of inspiring imagery. It got my jollies going but it didn't for anyone looking at the "artwork". That is what most Lovecraft pastiche is; a quick regurgitation of what a reader liked about his writings in the first place, but without a clear and thought out structure to their imitations. Just monster names and adjectives.

This is not what Sargent does, not in the slightest. He has taken the form known as "Mythos Fiction" and turned it on its ear. There is no multi-page spewage to name terrible tomes in a crazed professor's library or recitations of the long list of Great Old Ones which will likely show up at the end of the tale. There are no final tableaus that read "My God! I can hear it clawing at the window! It's going to....." .

But what there is in Sargent's writing which makes it so fascinating and satisfying to read is that he takes a seed of Lovecraftiana and grows his own tale out of it. He does not luridly imitate or ape Lovecraft (except in moments of satire) in any way, but instead uses a Lovecraftian idea or subject as the premise of a story and then playfully builds something completely new and different out of it.

There are several forms his Lovecraft inspired writings take and each are on display in THE TAINT OF LOVECRAFT. What we have in front of us with this book is horror/science fiction ("The Love of Their Craft"), satire ("The Insider"), dark humor ("An End to Worry", "Double Screecher"), we have fiction based off of clever, original and untraditional analysis ("Black Brat of Dunwitch") and even some true horror ("Live Bait") which has the best horrorific and twist-ending that I have personally read in 25 years of Mythos reading. I'd dare say it has a better twist ending than anything the 'Old Gent' ever came up with himself. We also find a thoroughly and thoughtfully researched historic novella, "Nyarlatophis: A Fable of Ancient Egypt" which takes place within Sargent's true playground of knowledge; archeology, especially within Egypt and the reign of Ahkenaten in the 18th Dynasty.

Sargent does not write in order to just hear the same old Mythos names called out again and again, he writes to further a body of work based on knowledge, research, wit, humor and a passion to write the best and most entertaining story possible. Why do I know this to be so? Because I've read this book and it is not written by a lazy fan who wants to relive a simple Lovecraftian thrill! You'll understand this too when you read it and you'll be glad you did.

I've also read his first collection ANCIENT EXHUMATIONS which includes more of Sargent's clever wit, dark humor and intelligent writing. So if you like TAINT you will want to look up ANCIENT EXHUMATIONS +2, which is a reprint with some new art and two of Sargent's latest stories (one based in the world of Clark Ashton Smith ("The Black Massif") and a chilling non-Mythos tale ("Famine Wood").

PS., As an adult I no longer draw pictures based off of movies I have seen, but I will do illustrations based off of literature that truly inspires me. That means that within the world of Lovecraftian fiction I do not illustrate very much, but I will gladly illustrate for Stanley Sargent because his writing is truly worth the time and effort. I am proud to decorate his tales with my art. -D.A.R.