The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft,The Folio Society 2017 edition. Book review

The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories
by H.P. Lovecraft The Folio Society edition 2017

The Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft, The Folio Society 2017, hb £75, Limited Edition £345, Website

Most horror fans have heard of H.P. Lovecraft, creator of what became known as The Cthulhu Mythos, and in particular perhaps his most famous story, The Call of Cthulhu, so I won’t go into detail of the stories here.

Instead, let’s focus on this incredible edition released by The Folio Society. I was kindly sent a copy of a base edition, a thing of beauty in itself, bound in cloth and blocked with a design by the book’s artist, Dan Hillier who also provides some incredible illustrations that reflect the madness of the stories. Dan is known for illustrating some of Neil Gaiman's most beloved books. It is a tome worthy of the Necromonicon itself. The book is prefaced by the legendary Alan Moore, comic book writer, performer and Magician.

Illustration by Dan Hillier from The Folio Society edition of 
The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories 
by H.P. Lovecraft © Dan Hillier 2017

In addition to this beautiful tome, The Folio Society are also releasing a limited edition of 750 copies, bound in eco-simulated leather. The end-papers are hand marbled and comes in a magnetic presentation box, covered in blocked cloth and lined with blocked metallic paper. In addition to the black and white illustrations, it also contains 8 black and gold mandalas. This edition also contains a limited signed print by the artist.

Almost secondary to the presentation are the stories themselves - Dagon, The Statement of Randolph Carter, Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn And His Family, Celephais, Nyarlathotep, The Picture in the House, The Outsider, Herbert West - Reanimator, The Hound, The Rats in the Walls, The Festival, He, Cool Air, The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour out of Space, The Whisperer in the Darkness, The Shadow over Innsmouth and The Haunter of the Dark.

Illustration by Dan Hillier from The Folio Society edition of 

The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories 

by H.P. Lovecraft © Dan Hillier 2017

The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories (Limited Edition)
by H.P. Lovecraft, The Folio Society 2017

All in all, this is a must for any fan of Lovecraft or serious horror collector and the base version alone would look incredible on any coffee table or bookshelf.

Space Run Galaxy review from Passtech Games

Space Run Galaxy, PassTech Games, PC, £14.99, Website

At time of publishing, the game is available on Steam for £12.74.

This is the sequel to 2014's Space Run from one-man French studio, Pass Tech games. It has been described as a cross between a tower defence game and Space Invaders and I think that's a fairly accurate description.

The player works as a freight runner, partaking in various missions to carry goods from planet to planet for various employees. The ship is made up of hex nodes, with a central power core in the centre leaving the others free to carry cargo and build on equipment such as guns, shields and repair modules. 

These are purchased during each run using currency gained from shooting enemies and asteroids. Your initial amount of currency will only buy so much so the player needs to be tactical. Working your way through a level facing aliens, pirates and asteroids, the aim is to survive the run without losing your cargo (or your power core, which spells Game Over if destroyed)

Each run is similar to the game FTL but plays in realtime instead of being turn based. In between runs you can buy access to additional modules from local mechanics, trade materials that you obtain through runs and obtain different ships of various hex shapes that provide different builds.


It's also possible to have runs as a multiplayer experience though I've not yet tried this.

The game has some 30 achievements on Steam and ton of missions to go through. Space Run is a lot of fun and can be challenging even for the most seasoned tactician.


The basis for this review first appeared on the British Fantasy Society website