'A Lovecraft inspired anthology' is something you're either going to be excited about or groan over at this points in time, depending on your proclivities. While there are 30 some entries in this one, it clocks in at 210 pages, so they're mostly very short and make for quick, engaging reads taken individually. The book is well put together physically, there's some great cover art I have some more general things to say about the collection/publisher, but first I want to give some shout outs to a few outstanding entries.
There's a great opening entry, 'Iden-Ishii' from Greg Stolze who you may recognize from his work with White Wolf. Jonathan Sharp's musical 'The Nation of Disease' is a nice followup to that. And of course, Chad Fifer's 'Afraid of Dobermans' is as always fantastic.
I didn't want to dig too deeply into the individual stories because when I sat down to write this and did some checking I came across some concernings. No reflection of the authors that were included, I've read (and in some cases communicated with) them lots of other places and their work is great.
But looking at 01Publishing's website, I was right off the bat assaulted by some messaging against political correctness and 'No Safe Spaces.' Which, incidentally, is also the name of the podcast that Rocha and Finney run, which is pretty aggressive in its anti-pc talk. The slogan is also on some of their graphics, which seem like sf/horror versions of a some of the skull (punisher skull, skull mask, etc.) iconography used by the far right these days. Symbolism not helped by it being flag coloured/patterned. Doing some digging on twitter, it looks like Rocha (the editor as well, for the record) has changed accounts a few times, with the most recent one talking about moving to Parler in the bio. Some of her older accounts appear to have followed accounts espousing uniting traditional conservatives and libertarians to 'take back our culture.' In some of her Youtube videos there use of the alt-right slur 'soyboy', during which Patton Oswalt of all people is pictured.
Could these all be individual red flags that ultimately amount to nothing? Sure. But taken as a collection of facts, as well as some other bits and pieces of catch phrases, rhetoric, and political figures the editors seem to follow, its cause for some concern. I have queries out to some authors that have worked with this publisher and Rocha to see if I can get anything more concrete. But at this points, especially with some of the youtube video comments about lovely, humane people, I can't endorse anything put out by this publisher. Which is a shame because I dearly love some of the authors included here. If you really want to check it out, please buy it used and don't support a publisher that endorses such problematic views. I know Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer have made the stories they had in this and the subsequent collection available as audio stories through Witch House Media and the HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast. You may want to check them out there. ( )

Enjoyable collection with some real gems, though two of the stories were marked by unfortunate contempt for rural working-class whites. ( )

01 publishing has more than one book that is inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Whispers From The Abyss is an anthology edited by Kat Rocha that contains 33 stories that were influenced by Lovecraft. I have to admit that I haven’t read a lot of Lovecraft but being a horror fan I still enjoyed a lot of the stories in this book. What really surprised me was how different all the stories were.

Not all the stories here were gems but there was some good ones including Death Wore Greasepaint by Josh Finney. This one is about a down on his luck man named Charlie who runs a cable tv station and a clown named Wilbur who has found his life’s purpose. I love how this story uses a kids show set in the present and ties it into Lovecraft’s mythos. Who would have guessed a clown could start the apocalypse. I love how this story describes intestines coming out of a body and then a character says: “I’ll never eat pasta again.” The best thing about this story is that The Octopus King has shown me how to be happy. Read the book and you will understand.

Another good one in this collection is Fear and Loathing in Innsmouth: Richard Nixon’s Revenge by Jason Andrew. This one is set in the seventies and follows a man who is trying to find proof that Richard Nixon is evil. This is an original story that combines a little humor with a little bit of horror. I love the references to Easy Rider, Ron Jeremy and the two quotes that open the story. Anything goes in this one and it has a good twist at the end.

Also getting points for originality is My Friend Fishfinger by Daisy, Age 7 written by David Tallerman. I love that this is written from the perspective of a girl whose parents follow a god that’s different from the one she believes in. If you know Lovecraft’s work you probably know who the god is. I love how this story is told, its like seeing evil through the eyes of an innocent child who doesn’t know what she is in for. The title is deceptive and the story is short and creepy. If you like the works of Lovecraft and Weird Tales in general pick up Whispers From The Abyss and if you like this one Whispers From The Abyss 2 is also available. ( )