Review: Mr. Cannyharme by Michael Shea
Mr. Cannyharme by Michael Shea
Cover art by Tom Brown
Hippocampus Press
Edited by S.T. Joshi
Foreword by Linda Shea
“It is a bitter thing that each of us must finally be blown out like a candle, and have the unique ardor of his individual flame choked off, and sucked utterly away like smoke in the dark. Do we ever accept this in our hearts, any of us?”
Who really wants to live forever? At what lengths would you go to attain everlasting life? For some the answer is simple... anything.
There is something dark and terrible living in the Hyperion Hotel willing to grant this boon...for a price. An initiation if you will. Few can sense this monster and are terrified of it, but most are blind to its presence. A select few know, and desperately want what is being offered.
Michael Shea wrote Mr. Cannyharme in 1981. For the novel, he drew upon his time manning the desk of a men's residence hotel in San Francisco's Mission District. You see, these hotels only rented to men to discourage prostitution on their premises. Many of the characters in this work are re-imagined and reinvented people that Shea met. One particular aged and stooped fellow with a searing blue eye became a major character in this work.
Mr. Cannyharme features a foreword by Linda Shea, Michael's wife, explaining the history of the area and of their time in the Mission District in the early 80s. This adds a nice personal touch to the work. Mr. Cannyharme also boasts a fantastic wrap-around cover by Tom Brown.
The H.P. Lovecraft story "The Hound" was the inspiration for this story. Although, as S.T. Joshi points out, with the elaboration of the plot and the change of setting Shea has written a novel that is far more than a literary pastiche.
The cast is made up of people that live on the fringe or have fallen through the cracks in society. Few are wholly bad. Most are just ordinary people who have been shuffled off into homelessness or addiction. Jack Hale, the night manager, has dreams of being a writer and reuniting with his estranged love as he sells drugs on the side. Brittany, a young woman who hides from her past in a pill bottle. Chester, an old man with no prospects will soon find himself homeless. Razz the pimp with hidden insecurities bluffs his way through life wearing a hard façade of bravado.
Some will rise to be unsung heroes, others will fall prey to their own avarice, and a few will fall prey to a supernatural terror that only a few know exists.
Hippocampus Press is the leading publisher of H.P. Lovecraft. They specialize in classic and modern horror, poetry and literary criticism with an emphasis on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. By working closely with leading scholars they are able to provide unique, high-quality, affordable editions of these important works. Be sure to follow them on social media and visit their website: www.hippocampuspress.com
Mr. Cannyharme is currently available for preorder. It is available in a limited cloth edition, trade paperback, and eBook. Mark your calendar for its release on August 20, 2021.