Atlas of Lore, Issue 1
Synopsis:
The first edition of the Atlas of Lore contains the haunted lore of Oregon including 5 original ghost stories and the legends behind them. Oregon’s most haunted locations archived and Lovecraft’s Hidden City brought back to life. With beautiful artwork by Felipe Kroll and master storytellers from the US, UK, and Brazil this first edition will delight paranormal horror fans and ghost hunters alike.
Edition:
Paperback
My Thoughts:
I think that conceptually speaking, the Atlas of Lore is fantastic. But (and this is my own fault for getting overly excited and not really reading the synopsis before smashing the order button) I wish there was more emphasis on the lore and less on the works of fiction. My bad. I was thinking I was going to crack open a compendium of local lore. And this certainly does have lore, don’t get me wrong. But none of the lesser-known stuff, really. Just the big local legends – haunted tunnels under Portland, the haunted pizza joint (because of course we have that), etc.
But what about the cryptids? What of the Gumberoo? Or the Devils Lake Monster? Colossal Claude? I mean…
Again, this appears to be a matter of me not being able to comprehend what I read. For fuck’s sake. Haunted Lore. It says it right there in the synopsis. No wonder it was all ghost stories!
So, this was definitively (but through no fault but mine) not what I had hoped it would be.
But pushing that aside, the haunted lore was pretty interesting. I learned some spooky shit about a place or two that I’ve been, and about some places I’d now like to go.
And although the stories were overall pretty good, I honestly could have done without them. Especially HP Lovecraft’s The Nameless City (I cannot for the life of me suss out the Oregon connection here – am I missing something?) and that William Hinton poem at the end of the collection. I think the poem’s only real connection is that it’s…spooky? Maybe? Am I getting warm?
Rating:
Although I am to blame for some of my gripes, I think the fact that I couldn’t figure out why certain elements were included in the collection to begin with necessitates that I rate this right in the middle. Am I going to buy any future issues for states I’ve lived in? Maybe.
But maybe you’ll like it? Or maybe you’re an Oregon Completist (I highly doubt that’s a thing, but…maybe)?
Atlas of Lore: Oregon by Various Puzzle Box Horror Published: August 1, 2020 ISBN: 9781735391908 Format: Paperback Some pages Publisher's Website
