Crawlin' Chaos Blues by Edward M. ErdelacMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bluesmen Harpoon Elkins and King Yeller pay a visit to the crossroads where Robert Johnson is said to have sold his soul to the devil...
Add Edward M. Erdelac to the official list of Authors Who Aren't Jerks. When I recommended Southern Gods to him, he fired back with his eBook that explores similar themes. Good guy, that Erdelac.
Crawlin' Chaos Blues is a short story about two bluesmen, one of which gains unearthly ability from a cosmic horror the two of them meet at the crossroads. The Crawlin' Chaos Blues of the title is a song learned at the crossroads that must never be played. That's probably all I can say without revealing the entire plot. It is a short story after all.
Like I mentioned, Crawlin' Chaos Blues explores similar themes as Southern Gods but other than that, the only similarities are that they both occur in the south and both feature musicians whose music makes the audience to terrible things.
The writing in CCB really worked for me. The story is written in the first person in a southern black dialect, something which would have gotten on my nerves in a sentence or two if it wasn't done properly. Fortunately, Erdelac knocked the story out of the park in that aspect. Unlike his Merkabah Rider series, the writing in this tale reminds me of Joe Lansdale quite a bit.
If you have an affinity for the blues and the Cthulhu mythos, this ebook will be well-worth your time.
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