The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories [Paperback]

The current collection, like the first Call of Cthulhu, gives us a sampling of Lovecraft's writing arranged chronologically. This volume is dominated by two of his best novella: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, one of Lovecraft's most unsettling works, and the great tale of Antarctic horror At the Mountains of Madness. These are must reads for horror fans and among Lovecraft's best efforts.

There are also three classic short stories here: the enigmatic Music of Eric Zann, the ghoulish Pickman's Model and the late Cthulhu Mythos tale The Thing on the Doorstep, which takes some of the concepts of possession from Charles Dexter Ward and goes in another direction with them. These tales also rank high in Lovecraft's output.

The remaining stories are more of a mixed bag, especially the early tales, but we do get a nice representative tale from the writer's "Dunsany" fantasy period with The White Ship. However, the format allows one to see Lovectaft mature as a writer and even the weaker tales have their moments and point toward his later efforts.

Great work by editor Joshi, who is doing a great service for Lovecraft fans with his definitive texts. His notes are especially welcome for At The Mountains of Madness, which manages to cover an amazing amount of scientific, historical, and mythological ground in its simple format.

Lovecraft may not be the most subtle writer, but at his best he takes us on a slow gradual journey that begins simple enough and leads us to true cosmic horror. Just look at a movie like Alien and you'll see Lovecraft's influence has been remarkable.

[By S. T. Joshi:] Acknowledgments; Introduction; Suggestions for Further Reading; A Note on the Text; [short stories, except where noted, by H. P. Lovecraft:] The Tomb; Beyond the Wall of Sleep; The White Ship; The Temple; The Quest of Iranon; The Music of Erich Zann; Under the Pyramids [a.k.a. Imprisoned with the Pharoahs]; Pickman's Model; The Case of Charles Dexter Ward [novella]; The Dunwich Horror; At the Mountains of Madness [novella]; The Thing on the Doorstep; [by Joshi:] Explanatory Notes

Unlike in THE ANNOTATED H. P. LOVECRAFT and MORE ANNOTATED H. P. LOVECRAFT, also edited and annotated (though in the latter case co-edited and co-annotated) by Joshi, the equally copious annotations here are collected at the back of the book (thereby being what are technically known as "endnotes") rather than placed at the bottom of story pages where they're referenced (known as "footnotes"). And also unlike the "ANNOTATED" volumes, THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES lacks photographs that highlight the relationships between the subjects in the stories and the persons and places of Lovecraft's life; features smaller print, making it slightly harder to read but meaning more stories can be fit into the volume.

THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES is something of a sequel to THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES, a similarly produced and arranged collection of Lovecraft fiction, with an introduction and endnotes by Joshi, put out by the same publisher, Penguin. To his credit, Joshi's respective introductions to both Penguin collections are informative and interesting for readers regardless of previous familiarity with Lovecraft, while repeating little of the same content.

Each of these Penguin titles, as well as the two "ANNOTATED" titles published by Dell, presents its selection of narrative fiction in the order written, a practical advantage when reading Lovecraft, and make attractive companion volumes.

"The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories" is packed with some of Lovecraft's best stories. "The Music of Erich Zann" stands out as one of the best short stories I have ever read. In Paris, in a street that can no longer be found, a student lodger is disturbed by unearthly violin music drifting from the top floors. Who is Erich Zann, and where does he learn these strange tunes?

Other classics in this collection are "The Dunwich Horror," featuring the infamous Necronomicon. "At the Mountains of Madness," Lovecraft's longest story is a mixture of Edgar Allen Poes "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" and his own creatures from beyond. Set in the Antarctic, this has been the inspiration for several films. "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and "The Thing on the Doorstep" are both excellent. I wish this volume had been around when I first started reading Lovecraft. I am happy to have it now.