Customer Reviews

Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre: The Best of H. P. Lovecraft

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are the stories included in this collection.

The Rats In The Walls
The Picture In The House
The Outsider
Pickman's Model
In The Vault
The Silver Key
The Music of Erich Zann
The Call of Cthulhu
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer Of Darkness
The Colour Out Of Space
The Haunter Of The Dark
The Thing On The Doorstep
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Dreams In The Witch-House
The Shadow Out Of Time

First time readers expecting something contemporary will be in for a shock. Most of Lovecraft's writing style is straightforward narrative, no characters speaking, and it may seem dry and drab. Most of the time, the protagonist is in the first person and is told from the point of view of that person looking back on the story or reporting it from a journalistic point of view. The stories are set in New England, mostly Arkham, Massachusetts which houses Miskatonic University. Most of them fall under unknown horrors, strange beings from another universe (the Great Old Ones), and things that wouldn't be out of place in the Twilight Zone, Ray Bradbury Presents, or Tales From The Crypt.

One of these stories, The Dunwich Horror, about how a human mutates in the course of the story, was made into a movie in 1970, and that has some actual dialogue.

The Colour In Space is actually an interesting one, portraying the devastating effects a meteor has on a valley and the family living in it, could make a good made-for-TV drama. So could The Shadow Of Innsmouth, about a strange-looking group of people and a weird race found in the Pacific. The protagonist learns the bulk of the story from a Zadok Allen, a 96-year old man who has witnessed a lot in the town, and there is dialogue, mostly from Allen.

The weirdest story is The Shadow Out Of Time, which deals astral travels a man may or may not have experienced, and encountering a race that might have existed back in time.

What brought me to buy one of his collections of short stories was the interest in the Old Ones, powerful beings from another universe who exert their evil powers on Earth from afar.

After reading most of these stories, I'll say it'll take me a while to get into Lovecraft, although I find some of the stories imaginative. As for bloodcurdling and macabre, well, maybe for its day, but not today.

H.P. Lovecraft is, quite simply, brilliant. His stories can be read on so many levels -- they are wonderful for reading late at night (I can't read some of them when I'm alone at night, they're so scary), and just downright enjoyable for anyone who wants a good scare. But on top of that, his heavy referencing to ancient cultures and mythologies makes his writing something more than simple 'Oh no, here comes the monster' fiction. He represents the elder gods as they must have seemed to the people who once worshipped them: dark, unpredictable figures of terrifying power. This book collects some of his very best stories -- the "must read" of H.P. Lovecraft -- all in one very handsome volume.

The reason I give this book four stars is because Lovecraft's intricate prose can be too murky for some. His writing does take a certain amount of mental engagement, and someone who's looking for shivers without having to think should probably look elsewhere.

If you're looking for the quintessential Lovecraft reader, this is it. The only major story of the author's ouevre not present is "At the Mountains of Madness," which can be found in many other collections.

Excepting that classic, here are all the rest of the author's best: "The Call of Cthulhu," the inaugural piece of Lovecraft's famous Mythos of the same name, in which artists and psychics around the world suffer precognitions of the apocalypse heralded by the revival of a long-sleeping ancient god; "The Dunwich Horror" - probably one of the most famous supernatural stories in literature - about the deformed, demon-born Wilbur Whateley, and his hellspawn invisible not-quite-twin brother; "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," one of the most influential horror tales ever written (though the author himself strangely didn't think much of it), which depicts an isolated decaying seaside town devolving - or are they "evolving"? - into fish-creatures reminiscent of the ancient undersea demon they worship; "The Colour Out Of Space," an extraterrestrial influence mutating the flora and fauna of Arkham, Massachusetts, into "something other"; "The Haunter of the Dark," a sky-demon summoned by followers who couldn't control it, bringing a baleful influence down upon a cursed church and the town surrounding it; "The Whisperer In Darkness," a clandestine invader from the outer reaches of the solar system which besieges and terrorizes a brilliant scientist on the outskirts of civilization; and "The Shadow Out Of Time," Lovecraft's sci-fi classic about a man who finds himself time-sharing his own body with the time-traveling mind of an ancient extraterrestrial who imparts cosmic wisdom...and terrors.

Making this particular collection all the more commendable is the inclusion of almost all of Lovecraft's best short-shorts (minus only "From Beyond"): "The Rats In the Walls," "The Music of Erich Zann," "The Dreams In the Witch House," "The Outsider" and "Pickman's Model."

This is the best single collection of Lovecraft available. Don't miss out.

It was just as ordered, it got here after quite a delay--for which I blame Canada Post, not the sellers--and it's in perfectly fine shape. I'd definitely buy it again.

Writing in the '20s and '30s, and being marginalized by major publishers, H.P. Lovecraft was forced publish his work in various obscure pulp-horror magazines. Unfortunately, his talent as a writer of horror/science fiction wasn't recognized until after his death in the late 1930s, and it was only then that his friends were able to start their own independent publication of his work. Lovecraft's literary talent and the scope of his imagination are well presented in this collection of short stories. Lovecraft admired and emulated the work of Edgar Allan Poe and his short stories follow the same plot structures, themes, and prose as that of Poe's. The narrators are usually avid empiricists such as detectives or scientists who come face to face with the unexplainable. As the story progresses, the narrator's confidence in his logical reasoning or use of the scientific method clashes with the unknown, unfathomable, or unthinkable, and he eventually becomes mad or nihilistic. The stories are almost always in the form of a retrospective narrative whereby the author reassures the reader that he's not mad (i.e. 'After you read what I have to say you will see for yourself whether I'm truly mad...') Many of Lovecraft's stories consist of themes and plots of the occult and his own imagined mythology. Lovecraft developed a mythology (often referred to as the Ctulluh myths) about various races of amorphic aliens who came to live on Earth millions of years ago. Over time, these aliens fought each other and some were vanquished and sealed in their forgotten cities by magic rituals and symbols. Many of the cities, of non-euclidean geometry, are burried in deserts or in antarctic mountains while others lie beneath the sea. Although physically dead, these sentient beings remain active through phenomenal esp powers which they use to control humans. The 'gods' use the humans to spawn and/or to liberate themselves from their prisons. Inspired by his invented mythology of primordial alien creatures, Lovecraft wrote 'That is not dead which can eternal lie, yet in stranger eons even death may die.' So enjoy these wonderful short stories from the master of occult horror. If you love Poe, you will most certainly love Lovecraft.

This anthology contains, for the most part, truly excellent works of horror fiction. Lovecraft is considered by many as the best purveyor of horror fiction of the 20th century, all the more impressive since he did not live beyond the first half.

As with most anthos of fiction, there are some truly great stories in this one, some that are so-so, and some that are not so great. "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Music of Erich Zahn" are two of my favorites of this one. "Call" is the story that really is Lovecraft's best-known, I believe. It was the first to establish very well the pantheon of the Old Ones that appear in so many of his later stories (including those in this collection). There have been a number of emulators of his style, and even products by others based on his works (like role-playing games), but it was reading these originals that really made me long for the older days.

Lovecraft makes painstaking effort to establish mood and environment. There are always unknowns, the cornerstone of his horror. Many take the form of investigations of mysterious happenings, and a number of them are similar to others, but that similarity is more in presentation than in the particulars. It seems that he did a very good job of using new concepts in all the contained stories. Some of the stories in this one really could benefit from a reduction in volume. "The Whisperer in the Dark" simply dragged on way too long. Despite the reader being well aware from the narrative of what was occurring, the narrator himself seemed unable to make the simple conclusion of his situation. I really was disappointed in that one.

As stated, these stories are classics, and nearly all of them are wonderful reads. Even some of those that go on too long have something in them of the refinement of the mythology that Lovecraft was creating. This book is a great buy, even in the slightly more expensive trade paperback format.

gloriously haunting tales which prove spine tingling and bone chilling. A true master.

Great anthology.

None ever touched him for haunting a landscape in sure, swift movements:

"When a traveller in north central Massachusetts takes the wrong fork at the junction of the Aylesbury pike just beyond Dean's Corners he comes upon a lonely and curious country. The ground gets higher, and the brier-bordered stone walls press closer and closer against the ruts of the dusty, curving road. The trees of the frequent forest belts seem too large, and the wild weeds, brambles, and grasses attain a luxuriance not often found in settled regions."

None ever touched him for disturbingly beautiful prose:

"Now I found myself upon an apparently abandoned road which I had chosen as the shortest cut to Arkham, overtaken by the storm at a point far from any town, and confronted with no refuge save the antique and repellent wooden building which blinked with bleared windows from between two huge leafless elms near the foot of a rocky hill."

None ever touched him for the swift touch of a hint upon the nerves that only takes on full significance pages later:

"The room beyond was darkened as I had known before; and as I entered it I noticed that the queer odour was stronger there. There likewise appeared to be some faint, half-imaginary rhythm or vibration in the air. For a moment the closed blinds allowed me to see very little, but then a kind of apologetic hacking or whispering sound drew my attention to a great easy-chair in the farther, darker corner of the room."

Or for the subtlest kind of horror work:

"He made no motion as I turned my head to look at whatever he had glimpsed. There was nothing that I could see. Only the incoming tide, with perhaps one set of ripples more local that the long-flung line of breakers."

Or for an opening hook:

"Whether the dreams brought on the fever or the fever brought on the dreams Walter Gilman did not know. Behind everything crouched the brooding, festering horror of the ancient town, and of the moldy, unhallowed garret gable where he wrote and studied and wrestled with figures and formulae when he was not tossing on the meager iron bed.

But I could produce thirty more examples of different facets of this man's work and still not even have begun to talk about "Eich Pee El". And I have not even touched on the... let's say, "unifying" forces behind most of the stories, the shadows and cross-references that make this man's work one of the greatest fictional worlds devised in the 20th century, despite the brevity of his output and his life.

This book is the originator that, when I first read it at the age of 14, set free my own library of nightmare images. Like all truly great books (and I will use the word though I refer to an anthology, because indeed for me this tome was like a single book), this is more Fun than it is "great".

And as long as sensitive minds seek to expel from their delicate fancies the tumorous touch of the grotesque thing today misnamed a world, and as long as there is a thrill in the lonely wood and the haunted, moonlit beach, and as long as man suspects that he has not been given the universe to rule alone, Lovecraft (that is, his work) will throw off all criticism and continue to sell and to mesmerize.

4.5 stars. Mr. Lovecraft is a superb writer, a decent story-teller, and a master of dark tales. This collection has some of his finest work and is a great start to any Lovecraft library. Some of my personal favorites are here: "Pickman's Model," "The Call of Cthulu," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Color Out of Space," and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." However, there are many gems missing from this book, many of which can be found in another of his collections "The Doom that Came to Sarnath and other stories." In that collection the stories "The Doom that Came to Sarnath," "From Beyond," "The Festival," and his sojourn into science fiction "In the Walls of Eryx" are all represented. These two collections would seem to be all anyone would really need if it were not for two excellent novellas "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." The latter story being my all-time favorite story of his. Overall, this is a great starting point, but hardly a comprehensive collection. I hope someday his Complete Works are published; but, until then I have this book and 6 smaller works. H.P. Lovecraft is a phenomenal writer, so it is easy to recommend this book.

I was introduced into Lovecraft's in 1999 after finding out his work heavily influenced the classic PC game- Alone in the Dark, which started the survival/horror genre. I bought this book, figuring that it would be the best place to start as it's a best of collection. Sadly, I thought some of the stories were overwritten, and put it down for a few years. Then, just last month, I decided to give this one another chance after a friend mentioned "Whisperer in the Darkness" as his favorite story. I remembered that one being in here and gave it a go.

No short story has impressed me as much as that one. With just that story, I mean it when I say that Lovecraft was/is a genius. I highly reccomend that as your first reading if you're new. The way he describes the simplest things is incredible. I'd never think that a robotic voice could be so detailed in text, but he does it, and the way he does sends chills through you. A good portion of "The Whisperer in the Darkness" is told via letters between the two main characters...and once they started up, I didn't stop reading. I'll stop right there, as I could do a whole review about that one alone. Again, I highly reccomend that as a first reading.

Other stories in this collection that I found to be perfectly executed include:

The Picture in the House- while short, this one also impressed me. I can see how many of the horror movies of the 70's and 80's were probably inspired by this. It's about a man that goes into a house during a storm, and comes accross rare books...one of which has a page dealing with cannibalism...and the book seemed to open right to that page, as if it was frequently looked to.

The Rats in the Walls- actually, this didn't draw me in like other stories in the collection. It took forever to start: about 2/3 of the story is just a background of one's family. Really, you can skip most of it and you'll understand the later parts. It's in this story that I first started seeing hints of Lovecraft's racism.

The Call of Cthulhu- probably Lovecraft's most well known entity/character: Cthulhu. This also, would be a fantastic introduction, as Cthulhu is mentioned countless times in other stories.

The Outsider- yeah it's a little predictable, but I like the way the world is described.

And some others of course include The Dunwich Horror, The Colour Out Of Space, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

...I'm starting to ramble, but get this collection and be impressed. From just a few short stories, it's inspired me to start writing my own fictional horror. Lovecraft didn't just write horror though, he messed with your mind with it. Nobody just dies in his stories, many people go through psychological torture over periods of time. After this, you should go for 'The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories'. While it has most of the stories in this book, it also offers a section of explanitory notes which is very handy and educational.

Beware of claw prints.