GIovanni Rossi
Heil Cthulhu!: I Grandi Antichi e i complotti del Terzo Reich

In an attempt to blend the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft with the tangible horrors of the Third Reich, Giovanni Rossi presents us with a book that gets lost in the darkness of mediocrity and lack of originality. "Heil Cthulhu!" aims to take the reader on a hallucinatory journey through the depths of horror and Nazi madness, but unfortunately ends up being a trivial and uninspiring exercise. The book's title opens with the promise of an epic clash between the incarnate evil of the Third Reich and the ancestral terror of the Great Old Ones, however, this promise is largely unfulfilled. The 28 stories within the volume never manage to capture the essence and tension of Lovecraftian writings. Instead of immersing the reader in an atmosphere of cosmic terror and unutterable horror, the stories unfold in a predictable and superficial manner. Rossi desperately tries to create a sense of threat and mystery around Nazi conspiracies and the Cthulhu cult, but the result is a series of repetitive and unconvincing clichés. The secret expeditions and unspeakable experiments, rather than arouse unease and dismay, turn out to be rather dull and devoid of emotional impact. Furthermore, Rossi’s writing style, while trying to emulate Lovecraft's, completely lacks his depth and ability to captivate the reader. The descriptions are often flat and devoid of atmosphere, while the characters turn out to be little more than stereotypes without depth or development. The idea of mixing Nazism with the Cthulhu myth might have been intriguing, but in this case, it turns out to be merely a clumsy attempt to exploit Lovecraft's name to attract attention without offering anything substantial in return. In conclusion, "Heil Cthulhu!: The Great Old Ones and the Plots of the Third Reich" is a disappointing book that fails to capture the essence of Lovecraftian horror or to offer an engaging or original narrative. Fans of the genre will find little to appreciate in this work, while those looking for a true Lovecraftian experience are destined to be disappointed.