The Zenith of the Cthulhu Mythos According to Joshi?

Amazon.com is currently selling some copies of S.T. Joshi's The Rise and Fall of the Cthulhu Mythos, a late year release from Mythos Books detailing the history of H.P. Lovecraft's Yog-Sothothery. Here's its description for those unacquainted with this work:

Noted Lovecraftian scholar S. T. Joshi has authored a criticism of Lovecraftian and Cthulhu Mythos fiction, beginning with the stories by H.P. Lovecraft that gave birth to the entities, locales, books, and other plot devices that have come to be known as the "Cthulhu Mythos". Joshi further details the works of August Derleth, Frank Belknap Long, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Donald Wandrei, Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber and other. Joshi then expounds upon the "Derleth Mythos", and its influence on subsequent Lovecraftian fiction. Joshi then explores a new generations of Mythos writers and their respective expansion of the Cthulhu Mythos, including Richard L. Tierney, Gary Myers, Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Michael Shea, Walter C. DeBill Jr. and others. Finally, Joshi reviews some of the more modern authors who have taken up the Lovecraftian mantle: Jeffrey Thomas, Stanley C. Sargent, Wilum H. Pugmire, Thomas Ligotti, Joseph C. Pulver and many others.

So, it doesn't take much effort to realize the hefty and scholarly lineup of writers and Cthulhu Mythos literary paths covered by Joshi in this tome. I haven't yet read this book yet, though I fully intend to in the near future. What is most interesting about it is what's hinted by the title: The Rise and fall of the Cthulhu Mythos. It seems that Joshi has concluded the Mythos is reaching an endgame of sorts--either falling into dereliction or evolving off into other areas of the weird through authors like Thomas Ligotti that hold only the most tenuous glimpses of Lovecraft.

If true (and it may not be since it is just the book's title), this proclamation from the man who still dominates the field of scholarship in weird fiction could send long term shock waves. It may encourage future weird writers who are already on the path to finding their own voices to shake off Lovecraft and his Mythos entirely. On the other hand, it may not mean much for awhile to the vast assembly of readers who continue to buy well written Cthulhuvian fiction (and plenty of tripe) from contemporary authors.

Even if Joshi is right about the Cthulhu Mythos--as we know it in the past and present--winding down in literature, it won't spell the end. The internet and other mediums of expression have witnessed an exploding presence of H.P. Lovecraft adaptations and Lovecraft inspired productions. Films, video games, art, and online humor appear set to become the dominant fields for carrying on purist Lovecraft creations, stories, and themes, regardless of whether the Cthulhu Mythos is about to whither in literature.

-Grim Blogger