Product Description
from the introductory:
I am forced into speech because men of science have refused to follow my advice without knowing why. It is altogether against my will that I tell my reasons for opposing this contemplated invasion of the antarctic - with its vast fossil hunt and its wholesale boring and melting of the ancient ice caps. And I am the more reluctant because my warning may be in vain.
Doubt of the real facts, as I must reveal them, is inevitable; yet, if I suppressed what will seem extravagant and incredible, there would be nothing left. The hitherto withheld photographs, both ordinary and aerial, will count in my favor, for they are damnably vivid and graphic. Still, they will be doubted because of the great lengths to which clever fakery can be carried. The ink drawings, of course, will be jeered at as obvious impostures, notwithstanding a strangeness of technique which art experts ought to remark and puzzle over.

In the end I must rely on the judgment and standing of the few scientific leaders who have, on the one hand, sufficient independence of thought to weigh my data on its own hideously convincing merits or in the light of certain primordial and highly baffling myth cycles; and on the other hand, sufficient influence to deter the exploring world in general from any rash and over-ambitious program in the region of those mountains of madness. It is an unfortunate fact that relatively obscure men like myself and my associates, connected only with a small university, have little chance of making an impression where matters of a wildly bizarre or highly controversial nature are concerned.

It is further against us that we are not, in the strictest sense, specialists in the fields which came primarily to be concerned. As a geologist, my object in leading the Miskatonic University Expedition was wholly that of securing deep-level specimens of rock and soil from various parts of the antarctic continent, aided by the remarkable drill devised by Professor Frank H. Pabodie of our engineering department. I had no wish to be a pioneer in any other field than this, but I did hope that the use of this new mechanical appliance at different points along previously explored paths would bring to light materials of a sort hitherto unreached by the ordinary methods of collection.

Pabodie's drilling apparatus, as the public already knows from our reports, was unique and radical in its lightness, portability, and capacity to combine the ordinary artesian drill principle with the principle of the small circular rock drill in such a way as to cope quickly with strata of varying hardness. Steel head, jointed rods, gasoline motor, collapsible wooden derrick, dynamiting paraphernalia, cording, rubbish-removal auger, and sectional piping for bores five inches wide and up to one thousand feet deep all formed, with needed accessories, no greater load than three seven-dog sledges could carry. This was made possible by the clever aluminum alloy of which most of the metal objects were fashioned. Four large Dornier aeroplanes, designed especially for the tremendous altitude flying necessary on the antarctic plateau and with added fuel-warming and quick-starting devices worked out by Pabodie, could transport our entire expedition from a base at the edge of the great ice barrier to various suitable inland points, and from these points a sufficient quota of dogs would serve us.

Customer Reviews (5)

Free SF Reader
Miskatonic Antarctic geology expedition uncovers alien architecture, Old One warfare evidence, and some definitely not dead Shoggoths.


4.5 out of 5

a good story presented in an awkward format
Although I enjoyed the story itself, this deluxe edition really didn't do anything for me. The book is 9.5 x 13 which makes it awkward to handle, hard to read and difficult to store. Fernando Duval did the illustrations and are alright at best. Supposed to be limited to 1000 copies. The book is autographed by Duval but not numbered. Not that it would make any difference. Overpriced, stick to the regular hardbound edition unless you are into odd-sized books.

I love this story, but this book is too expensive.
The only reason I actually purchased this particular book was that I found it in an old comic book store for half price.I have always loved this story.However, the size of this book makes it akward to store on your average bookshelf.The artwork is ok, but nothing to get overly excited about.

Classic Lovecraft indeed!
After finishing "At the mountain of madness" is not difficult to understand H.P Lovecraft's own vision of the world. A vision which by no means can be considered demented or uncanny. The idea of an oldcivilization thousands of million of years before mankind is something thatmay seem fantastic to some but no one can deny completely. This is thewhole theme of Lovecraft's stories and this is what keeps them sointeresting and at the same time so appealing. I would recomend this bookto anyone who is not completely convinced of the story of the world thatbooks like to tell. The oldest fear of mankind is fear of the unknown, fearof the OLD ONES...

beautifully presented classic of the genre
Lovecraft's work deserves this sort of presentation, though of course the price could be a little less ominous.Nevertheless, bound in beautiful leather and adorned with simple and absolutely appropriate art work one can find onesself taken away on the cosmic journey that's part Pym, part Alice In Inferno, and certainly reminicent of the cold arctic caverns that made their most recent appearance in the X-Files movie.If you know a fan, this would make an outstanding gift. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Laudable Labor of Lovecraft.
On an idiosyncratic caprice, I endeavored to read all of Lovecraft's fiction and revisions in chronological order.This dream-quest proved, on occasion, quite detrimental to my constitution--I recall being overwhelmed with a desire to shoot myself after reading Medusa's Coil--but after I turned the last page of The Night Ocean, I ruminated with fondness over the whole preceding journey.My Lovecraftian forays had left an indelible impression upon me, and despite my shaken semblance of sanity, I was happy to have read him.

Other tales of horror and phantasy, however, were soon exhausted of thrills; and in an attempt to find respite from my devastating ennui, I decided to revisit Lovecraft with Dr. Burleson's book as my Silver Key.

Dr. Burleson's fine study expatiates brilliantly on notable works in Lovecraft's oeuvre.The finished product proves an engaging and elucidative exegesis.The contents run as thus:

1. H.P. Lovecraft

His Life in Brief
His Philosophy as an Artist

2. Stirrings: Emergence of a Dark Talent

The Tomb and Dagon
First Dunsanian Tales
Other Writings

3.Early Years: Beginnings and Foreshadowings

The Terrible Old Man and The Picture in the House
Dunsanian Tales
The Outsider and The Rats in the Walls
The Music of Erich Zann
Other Writings

4. New York: Writing in Exile

The Shunned House
The Horror at Red Hook and He
In the Vault and Cool Air
Other Writings

5. Homecoming Bust of Creativity: The Lovecraft Mythos

The Call of Cthulhu
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Colour out of Space
The Dunwich Horror
Other Writings

6. Sporadic Inspiration: Growth of the Mythos

The Whisperer in Darkness
At the Mountains of Madness
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The Dreams in the Witch House and The Thing on the Doorstep
Other Writings

7. Final Years: Powers Undiminished

The Shadow out of Time
The Haunter of the Dark
Other Writings

8. Major Literary Influences on Lovecraft

Poe and Hawthorne
Dunsany and Machen

Epilogue: General Conclusions

Fairly comprehensive story synopses are given, with Dr. Burleson's highly conversant analysis throughout.The author demonstrates an erudite and intuitive knowledge of Lovecraft's thematic abstrusities and modus operandi, and the reader cannot help but be imbibed with a deep appreciation for Lovecraft's art.All this, also, is presented swimmingly to the reader.

However, Dr. Burleson's does, from time to time, pipe away on curious little tangents that I perceived as specious.It may very well be from ignorance that I say this, but on occasion, I felt that the doctor's interpretations were a bit too overanalyzed and sophistic.For example, some of the explicitly Jungian elements he adduces come across a little too pat.Dr. Burleson avers that, in The Dream Quest of the Unknown Kadath, the carven face of the gods on the side of Mount Ngranek represents Randolph Carter's Jungian counter-ego, and that by confronting the stone face on the far side of the mountain, Carter therefore confronts his "Dark Brother" à la Analytical Psychology.This seems, to me, a wayward wandering of Dr. Burleson's prodigiously intuitive mind.

Dr. Burleson also downplays, I believe erroneously, Lovecraft's racism, claiming Lovecraft was more of an ethnic purist who "got along well" with other races as individuals.The doctor supports this thesis somewhat cogently with his analysis of The Doom that Came to Sarnath, but one cannot help but condemn a man when he writes a poem entitled "On the Creation of N**gers" and takes the time to print and distribute it himself.It may be true, however, that Lovecraft's racism did assuage later in life, and his merit as a human being must not cloud our judgment of his art.

Despite a few moot conceits, the work remains an impressive and insightful lucubration Lovecraftian; a valuable asset to fans and scholars; and also, a wonderful guide to the mythos neophyte.Dr. Burleson's book successfully throws open the gates to Lovecraft's cosmically awesome spheres.

... Read more

Product Description
H P Lovecraft is credited with reinventing the horror genre in the twentieth century. In this volume, Lovecraft's preeminent interpreter, S T Joshi, presents a selection of the master's fiction. These stories reveal the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style and establish him as a canonical - and visionary - American writer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

Cthulu fhtagn!
You can tell that the works of H.P. Lovecraft have entered the stuffy realm of "literature" when Penguin/Viking feels compelled to produce releases of his work under their Penguin Classics banner.The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories is the first of (so far) three volumes of Lovecraft's tales to appear under this imprint, and it serves admirably as both a good introduction for those unfamiliar with his work, or as a good assemblage for those more familiar with him and are seeking a decent, comprehensive collection with annotation.

This collection contains a mixture of tales from both his early and later periods, both long and short works, with several lesser known and harder to find stories thrown in for good measure. Most of the stories directly concerning Cthulu or its followers are here collected ("Dagon", "The Call of Cthulu", "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"), as well as many other tales that have long been considered classics in the Lovecraft corpus ("The Colour Out of Space", "The Whisperer in the Darkness", "Herbert West - Reanimator", "The Rats in the Walls").What's more, the collection also contains extensive endnotes by editor S.T. Joshi, who not only provides insights into the writing of these works but also explains obscure references and even points out how many of Lovecraft's stories directly relate to one another; even those reasonably familiar with Lovecraft's work will find new insights and connections that they hadn't realized existed.

Overall I think this is a very good collection, among the best Lovecraft anthologies currently in release.I would recommend it to anyone interested in H.P. Lovecraft with absolutely no reservations.

THE CALL OF CTHULHU by H. P. Lovecraft
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories is a collection of H. P. Lovecraft works that includes sixteen short stories and the novellas "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and "The Whisperer in Darkness."

Lovecraft is a master of atmospheric horror. Through suggestion, implication, and vague description (although his faithful "such-and-such was too terrible to describe shtick gets old after a while), he allows the reader's imagination to run with his lurking horrors. And yet his descriptions in every other aspect of his stories are so very detailed. This vividness allows him to ground his tales, making them more involving and therefore more moving. In all, Lovecraft is one of the best authors I've read when it comes to generating genuine terror.

Lovecraft's repetition of style and theme begins to wear on the reader toward the end of this volume, but not as badly as in other collections. Structurally, many of the stories are very similar, and it doesn't help that everything here but "The Haunter of the Dark" is told in the first person. Lovecraft wasn't a one-trick pony, but he is best consumed in small doses.

This book features notes by S. T. Joshi. These notes are, frankly, obnoxious, primarily because both the introductions to each story and the mid-story notes are filled with spoilers, for their own stories and for others. For a book that could very well serve as many people's first exposure to Lovecraft, this is unforgiveable. And many of the notes aren't even worthwhile; Joshi spends a lot of time fussing about the trivial: origins of character names and factual errors Lovecraft has made and the fact that cheese is in the story because Lovecraft loved cheese. And he spends a lot of time pointing out and overanalyzing the most obvious topical and thematic parallels between stories (corrupted bloodlines in "Arthur Jermyn" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth," for example).

This is a solid collection - there are too many highlights to name - and I enjoyed every story here except "The Haunter of the Dark," which was too slow, vague and been-there-done-that. But while this collection contains many of Lovecraft's best stories, it seems to have been arbitrarily assembled. There is no discernible unifying theme, other than that many of these stories are some of Lovecraft's more popular ones. These stories aren't from any particular timeframe; they range from the second published story Lovecraft ever wrote ("Dagon") to the very last ("Haunter"). Many are not remotely connected with the Cthulhu mythos.

All told, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories is a fine collection of Lovecraft's better works, if you can ignore Joshi's annoying notes.

More Please!
The readers are particularly effective in this audio book. Both are English (which would doubtless make H.P. happy) and both are very talented actors. Together they create performances that are intelligent, nuanced and expressive. Too many readings of Lovecraft I've heard have been either overwrought or ineffective. This one is more on the level of a really good BBC performance.

I've listened to my copy again and again and enjoy it every time. I am hoping that there are--or will be--more by these actors.

Awesome Seller
They shipped fast, and the item was even better than described (collection of short stories). Not only that, but they sent me a free gift too (boardgame using the license) which I love and am having a blast playing with friends.

Gloriously disturbed!
A wonderful collection of very thrilling and very disturbing stories! I recently was introduced to Lovecraft and have found this collection of short stories to be extremely entertaining and I highly recommend it to any fan of horror/thriller stories! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Collection
I have read some of these works(but not all) by Lovecraftc ollected in this edition before, but have always liked the look of these collections from Arkham. So i bought this one and was pleasantly surprised to find instead of the horrid dusk jacket i was expecteing, that i got a copy with the great artwok from Rayomd Bayless. Hope when time comes to order the others in the set that it will be the same.
Awesome stories in an awesome package. 't go wrong with this.

An Excellent Collection
I saw this new dust jacket illustration and groaned in dismay.How could Arkham House do this to Lovecraft, give him a jacket illustration that looks like it belongs on a horror comic cover?Thankfully, I have the editions with those fabulous and beautiful and eerie jacket illustrations by Raymond Bayless.Ah well, once you open the book, you are in one of the finest realms of all time.A photo of Lovecraft is opposite the title page, and he looks so severe, with his dark eyes and his oddly-clamped mouth.The eyes look haunted, as if they have looked on secret terror.

In "A Note on the Texts," editor S. T. Joshi explains the process of his correcting the texts of hundreds of errors introduced by earlier editors.For "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," "The Dreams in the Witch House," "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," and "Through the Gates of the Silver Keys" the surviving autograph manuscripts in Lovecraft's handwriting served as major textual source.The introduction for the book was written by James Turner, is informative and moving.

The contents of the book has been questioned by some, but I rather like it.First we have Lovecraft's two longest works of fiction, "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward."They are followed by two very singular haunted house tales, "The Shunned House" and "The Dreams in the Witch House." The book ends with four tales of Randolph Carter (whom some have said in Lovecraft's fictive alter-ego), "The Statement of Randolph Carter," "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," "The Silver Key," and "Through the Gates of the Silver Key.""The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is my favourite tale by Lovecraft (S. T. Joshi has worked on a definitive annotated text that will hopefully be published as single volume this year).It astonishes me that this work is, as we have it, an unrevised first draught.The story mesmerizes from first page to last.It contains some of the creepiest passages of pure horror that I have ever read."The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" was also left unpublished and unrevised at the time of Lovecraft's death.It is an exercise in pure phantasy, with moments of fascinating weirdness in the horror tradition.

"The Statement of Randolph Carter" was entirely based on a dream, and it remains an extremely popular tale, especially with amateur film-makers -- there have been several delightful film adaptations shewn at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon.It is a simple tale that contains a fabulous Gothic atmosphere that is peculiar to Lovecraft's early works, such as "The Hound" and "The Unnamable"; and, much later, "Pickman's Model."

Too many unimaginative and clueless "critics" have taken Lovecraft to task for what they call his "art-for-art's sake" pose.The worst assault that I have seen came from Lin Carter, in his LOVECRAFT: A LOOK BEHIND THE CTHULHU MYTHOS.Reacting to a letter that HPL wrote to Frank Long in which Lovecraft laments writing for "a boarish Publick," Carter responds, "In that passage you have much of what I would call the worst of Lovecraft, his weakness and his folly: . . . the ludicrous self-delusion of thinking himself an 'artist' . . ."This clueless attitude is also expressed by de Camp in his biography of Lovecraft, in which he condemns HPL for his "pose" as an artist. In his intelligent introduction to this Arkham House book, Jim Turner addresses this.

"If indeed Lovecraft had become a more positive, socially minded man after his New York experience, evidence of this emergent humanization should be apparent in the macabre fiction.His imaginative tales had never been an idle divertissement for Lovecraft but rather rose from an inner compulsion: 'Art is not what one resolves to say, but what insists on saying itself through one,' he explained in a 1934letter.'The only elements concerned are the artist and the emotions within him . . . Real literary composition is the only thing . . . I take seriously in life.'"

Lovecraft had fun writing his weird tales, no doubt -- but their composition was far more than a matter of fun.HPL was an extremely serious artist, one who strove for perfection in his work.He did not always achieve that perfection, but he often came close.I find it incredible that Lin Carter and Sprague de Camp and other ignorant critics cannot see for themselves, in works such as AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS or THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD, or even in something as simple as "The Silver Key," Lovecraft's very serious "artistic" intent and marvelous achievement.

This Arkham House book also includes the early "The Statement of Randolph Carter," which is one of Lovecraft's stories that had its roots in his vivid dreaming.Writes S. T. Joshi, "This story, as is well known, is an almost exact transcript of a dream that Lovecraft had in December 1919, as recorded in a letter of December 11.In the dream, however, the setting seems to be New England; in the story Lovecraft has apparently transferred the locale to Florida, if the mentions of the Gainesville Pike and Big Cypress Swamp are any indication.Lovecraft introduces Randolph Carter in this tale; his colleague, Harley Warren, is a stand-in for Samuel Loveman, the poet and amateur journalist, who figured in Lovecraft's dream.Lovecraft also introduces the element of the 'forbidden book'."The book mention'd in this tale, many agree, is not the Necronomicon.AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS publishes four of the Randolph Carter tales: "The Statement of Randolph Carter" (1919), "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" (1926-27), "The Silver Key" (1926), and "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (1932-33).The last tale is a collaboration with E. Hoffmann Price.

This is an excellent collection of some of the finest writings of H. P. Lovecraft.Two of the long works (THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD and THE DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH) were never polished or published during Lovecraft's lifetime, and thus we have them in rough draft form.Still, the haunting novel of dark sorcery in Providence stands as one of HPL's great masterpieces.

Part of the best-ever Lovecraft collected series
If you enjoy H.P. Lovecraft's stories, you'll love the Arkham House editions - they really add something to the presentation and experience. As long as you are willing to put up with Lovecraft's occasionally over-wrought prose and repetitions, it's a wonderfully fun "pulp horror" thrill. This volume contains Lovecraft's short novel (the title story) and my second-favorite of all his short stories, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward."

About this edition . . . .
I will not try to write a complete review, since I see that there are already 17 reviews available here, several of fine quality.

This edition is of great interest because it issues from Arkham House.Arkham House publishing was founded by August Derleth, a protege of H.P. Lovecraft who himself wrote a rather large volume of pastiche material using the Cthulhu mythos of Lovecraft.One motive of Derleth's in founding Arkham House publishing was to find a medium to reissue all the writings of Lovecraft, since many were confined to the pulps like Weird Tales that had first printed them.

I recently purchased this book.The quality of the book is excellent.The print is clear and easy to read.The bookbinding quality is just excellent.This may explain why the book is not particularly cheap.

As for the contents, readers may be glad to know that this book contains much of the very finest writing Lovecraft produced.The short novels were written following Lovecraft's return from his years living in New York, and follow the breakup of his marriage.This "period" of about a decade marked the finest of Lovecraft's writings.In my opinion -- arguably -- "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" are the best works in the Lovecraft canon.A few other words might come up to them, but nothing's better.

Those who find Lovecraft interesting should also check out the writings of August Derleth that incorporate Lovecraft's "Cthulhu mythos."There is also a board game entitled "Arkham Horror" which attempts to recreate the scary Lovecraft universe on your card table.Whacky as this sounds, the game is fun to play.

So have at it!Scare yourselves silly!I love this sort of material myself.

The Contents of This Book
What with so many different Lovecraft collections out there, it may be helpful to prospective buyers to know what's actually in this one:

[By S. T. Joshi:] A Note on the Texts; [by T.E.D. Klein:] A Dreamer's Tales [an introductory essay by perhaps the best living American author of supernatural horror fiction]; [fiction by Lovecraft:] The Tomb [short story]; Dagon [short story]; Polaris [short story]; Beyond the Wall of Sleep [short story]; The White Ship [short story]; The Doom That Came to Sarnath [short story]; The Tree [short story]; The Cats of Ulthar [short story]; The Temple [short story]; Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family [short story]; Celephaïs [short story]; From Beyond [short story]; The Nameless City [short story]; The Quest of Iranon [short story]; The Moon-Bog [short story]; The Other Gods [short story]; Herbert West-Reanimator [a collected magazine serial]; Hypnos [short story]; The Hound [short story]; The Lurking Fear [short story]; The Unnamable [short story]; The Festival [short story]; Under the Pyramids [short story ghostwritten for Harry Houdini]; The Horror at Red Hook [short story]; He [short story]; The Strange High House in the Mist [short story]; The Evil Clergyman [Lovecraft's recounting of one of his dreams, extracted from one of his letters]; In the Walls of Eryx [short story written in collaboration with Kenneth Sterling]; The Beast in the Cave [short story]; The Alchemist [short story]; The Transition of Juan Romero [short story]; The Street [prose poem]; Poetry and the Gods [short story ghostwritten for Anna Helen Crofts]; Azathoth [an uncompleted fiction draft]; The Descendant [an uncompleted fiction draft]; The Book [an uncompleted fiction draft]; Supernatural Horror in Literature [a monograph]; [by Joshi:] Index to Supernatural Horror in Literature; Chronology of the Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft

Most of this volume features shorter and less well-known fiction by Lovecraft, including a little best-overlooked juvenalia, though it also has some of his much-anthologized hits, as with "Dagon" and "Herbert West- Reanimator". Many of these stories are early fantasies, influenced by Edgar Allan Poe at his most fantastical and the early Lord Dunsany, of very mixed quality, as is this collection overall. Still, there are some underrated gems among the less known stories: "The Tomb", for instance, is a subtly poignant depiction of despair, loneliness, and frustration. What's really called for in the reader is attentiveness to the emotional atmosphere woven by these texts: Try to go through each of them slowly, without interruption, in a single reading, without disruptive background noise. Read this way, even a bungled story like "The Temple" spins the kind of disturbing emotional effect Lovecraft sought to convey.

This is the third volume in a series of four by Arkham House Publishers, Inc., presenting the nearly complete fiction of Lovecraft. (The others, in order, are: THE DUNWICH HORROR AND OTHERS; AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS AND OTHER NOVELS; and THE HORROR IN THE MUSEUM AND OTHER REVISIONS.) Almost all the remaining prose fiction can found in a later Arkham House title, MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS, also by Lovecraft. All five books are visually attractive, textually researched (though I quarrel with some of Joshi's textual editing decisions), and belong on the bookshelf of every serious Lovecraft reader. ... Read more

Product Description
Howard Phillips Lovecraft's unique contribution to American literature was a melding of traditional supernaturalism (derived chiefly from Edgar Allan Poe) with the genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1920s. This new Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition brings together a dozen of the master's tales-from his early short stories "Under the Pyramids" (originally ghostwritten for Harry Houdini) and "The Music of Erich Zann" (which Lovecraft ranked second among his own favorites) through his more fully developed works, "The Dunwich Horror," The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and At the Mountains of Madness.

The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories presents the definitive corrected texts of these works, along with Lovecraft critic and biographer S. T. Joshi's illuminating introduction and notes to each story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Penguin Classics does Lovecraft
I've always recommended the Arkham House hardcovers as the way to properly read Lovecraft, figuring you might as well start at the top as sooner or later you'd want the Arkhams anyway and be out any monies spent on inferior editions.But then along came the Penguin Classics editions of Lovecraft (three of them to date) prepared by S.T. Joshi, the same man who prepared the texts for the recent editions of the Arkham House Lovecrafts, and suddenly the which version to buy question is not so easily answered.

The Penguin editions of HPL have much to recommend them.Definitive texts, lengthy notes by Joshi for each tale ("The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" alone has 170 footnotes!), and the comfortable Penguin binding that lays easily open and is ideal for travel.

The title-story here is one of my least favorites in all of Lovecraft but happily two of his very best are here -- "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and "At the Mountains of Madness".Other strong tales within include "The Music of Eric Zann" and "Pickman's Model".There are a total of 12 stories along with Joshi's introduction and notes.

I should note, the Arkham House editions of Lovecraft are the complete Lovecraft.These three Penguin paperbacks do not present the complete fiction, making the Arkham editions still the ones to have if you wish to have it all (like me).

My favourite of the Penguin editions
This wonderful collection is my favourite of the Joshi-edited/annotated volumes in the Penguin Classics editions.I own three copies -- one for my writing desk, one for my bedside, and one that I carry with me when I go on long trips.The final copy is the one that I carried with me, in October of 2007, when its editor led a wee group of us around Lovecraftian sites in Providence, and I held it as my eyes, wide with wonder, gazed at #10 Barnes Street, where Lovecraft lived when he wrote so many of his finest stories and poems.

The book collects many of Lovecraft's finest works, and some few of his "minor" tales."Pickman's Model" has been called minor by many, and Joyce Carol Oates calls it "trashy" (in the introduction to her volume TALES OF H. P. LOVECRAFT); and yet this wee tale continues to be a favourite among Lovecraft fans and has served as a source of inspiration for those of us who write modern tales of Lovecraftian horror.(In S. T. Joshi's forthcoming anthology of such fiction, BLACK WINGS, there are at least three stories inspired by "Pickman's Model.")It is a story in which almost nothing happens, and yet it is pregnant with that sinister mood that has become known as "Lovecraftina."An early story, of which critics are in disagreement, is the beautifully expressed "The Music of Erich Zann."Of this tale, S. T. Joshi has written, in his splendid biography of Lovecraft, "Lovecraft in later years was aware that 'The Music of Erich Zann' had a sort of negative value: it lacked the flaws -- notably overexplicitness and over-writing -- that marred some of his other works, both before and after."Joshi also write that the tale "...justifiably remained one of Lovecraft's own favourite stories, for it reveals a restraint in its supernatural manifestations (bordering, for one of the few times in his entire work, on obscurity), a pathos in its depiction of its protagonist, and a general polish in its language that Lovecraft rarely achieved in later years."

One talent that Lovecraft did indeed acquire in his latter years was that of writing solid works of great length -- and two of his masterworks are found herein, the short novels "A the Mountains of Madness" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward."They represent two polar sides of Lovecraft's works -- the dark and sinister supernatural, and the cosmic.In both, Lovecraft is triumphant.It took me a long time to mature enough to fully appreciate the grandeur of everything that makes "Mountains" such a fascinating work.It is here that Lovecraft fuses the horror story with what was then the new and recent genre of science fiction, and it was fitting that the novel had its first publication as a serial in the sf magazine, Astounding Stories, in 1936.Some readers find the work verbose and overlong, and others find it fascinating and hypnotic.It is a great story to LISTEN to, and has been read in its entirety in the audio series, THE WORLDS OF H. P. LOVECRAFT, which may be found here at Amazon.With THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD, Lovecraft delved into the earthy past, setting the tale in his beloved Providence.In it, he evokes a nameless horror of the most grotesque kind, and brings us one of his most fascinating characters in the guise of Joseph Curwen.It is debatable whether or not Lovecraft was gifted in presenting believable characters in his fiction -- but what cannot be gainsaid is that, with the creations of Curwen, Erich Zann and Wilbur Whateley, Lovecraft breathed life into characters that are unique in every way.

"The Dunwich Horror," found herein, is not one of Joshi's favourite Lovecraft tales.In his new book, THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS, S. T. declares that the story is an "artistic failure" because it strays from aspects of weird fiction that Lovecraft deemed all-important, believing that cosmic fiction should not enforce the clumsy idea of "good versus evil" and such.Yet "The Dunwich Horror" is a powerful tale and remains, justifiably, one of Lovecraft's most popular.

Even Lovecraft's "bad" fiction is of intense interest and highly enjoyable."The Thing on the Doorstep" is not one of Lovecraft's best stories -- and yet it has a lot in it that is highly entertaining.It contains one of Lovecraft's few women characters, and she is superbly portrayed.

All three of the Joshi-edited Penguin titles are really wonderful.They contain S. T.'s texts, which he had carefully edited so that they correct the many errors of earlier editions of Lovecraft's fiction, and they contain extensive notes on each story.This is a fantastic book and will serve as a fabulous introduction to those who are reading Lovecraft for the first time.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and more in a nice little book
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward from Weird Tales, 1941. I would have rather read it in Weird Tales magazine as it should have been read. But There is nothing like an easy to carry and read paperback.

This Penguin classic contains "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward probably one of Lovecraft's best.Joshi's introduction and notes are informative.This addition is small and manageable and a good book to travel with. Why not take in with you and visit Providence?

It is a fiction but is it? You can never tell.
Eliphas Levi," that cryptic soul who crept through a crack in the forbidden door and glimpsed the frightful vistas of the void beyond . .

"Psychologically, too, Charles Ward was unique. His madness held no affinity to any sort recorded in even the latest and most exhaustive of treatises, and was conjoined to a mental force which would have made him a genius or a leader had it not been twisted into strange and grotesque forms." HP Lovecraft The case of Charles Dexter Ward

Fantastic because it could be real?

GASP!!
It was a dark, storm tossed night. Sheets of freezing rain slashed down upon me and peals of thunder crashed like the hammer of Thor above. I staggered, near eyeblind, into a bookstore. No, it wasn't one of those clean, well lit, new Barnes and Noble franchises that sprung up across the land like a plague of locusts. It was a damp, musty used book store. A place where alcoholic street urchins sell ratty vestiges of books for beer money. Piles of unread, unused, unloved tomes reach heavenward as a monument of literary futility. All around them, pasty faced, painfully thin denziens lost in abominable fantasy worlds of their own devising. And the proprietor; lurching about the aisles, slumped behind his counter, his face twisted grotesquely in a surly sneer that he offered all his customers.

It was here that I crossed paths with the very spawn of hell itself.

In a dark, dusty section where horror and science fiction books went to die, I saw it. Its yellowing and moldy cover displaying a painting of a creature so surealistic that only the most demented of minds could imagine such a thing. And the name on the spine that simutaniously summonded and mocked me; LOVECRAFT!

It was then that I learned the horrible truth, the utter unspeakable horror of an unhinged mind hellbent upon writing bizarre pulp fiction!

What fun!

Not Free SF Reader
A studious version, if you like. There are a large number of notes for each story for you to delve into - some 70 odd pages worth, and a list of texts given for more of a look at Lovecraft.

Thing on the Doorstep : The Tomb - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : Beyond the Wall of Sleep - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : The White Ship - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : The Temple - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : The Quest of Iranon - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : The Music of Erich Zann - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : Under the Pyramids ["Imprisoned with the Pharaohs", as Harry Houdini]
Thing on the Doorstep : Pickman's Model - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : The Dunwich Horror - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : At the Mountains of Madness - H. P. Lovecraft
Thing on the Doorstep : The Thing on the Doorstep - H. P. Lovecraft
... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The Third Volume of Lovecraft's Complete Stories
This is the second most important book 'by' Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937), being part 3 in a 4-volume series completing the editing and publishing of his entire known prose work, not including his poems. All you really need to know about this book is the names of a few of the tales included, we're talking the best of the remaining Lovecraft-corpus of horror, sci-fi & weird tales here, in my opinion; "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family", "Celephaïs", "Herbert West - Reanimator", "The Lurking Fear", "The Horror at Red Hook", and "In The Walls of Eryx" among others. These tales represent some of my decidedly favourite literature, and I've been returning to these tales again and again for more than 10 years now. It is kind of hard to summarize the book, since it is mostly shorter stories, but Lovecraft takes you on a journey from the deepest bottom of the ocean to the highest mountain peak, from distant planets and solar systems to remote, dark valleys and towns, from the darkest parts of the inner earth to the fringes of the human mind, among other places.

Lovecraft is really experiencing a renaissance these days, and it is well deserved. Never really acknowledged in his living days, he is finally taking his place among the ranks of the great US authors. The tales are mostly not dated at all, but paint a very vivid picture of Lovecraft's own period of time. Though you often 'see' the ending coming before you finish a tale of his, you still get pulled into the tale, unable to close it before finding out the terrible and magnificent end you have in store for you. This particular volume is shaped by the number of 'Dunsanyish' fantasy tales that present within. I love them, but I acknowledge that they might not be everyone's cup of tea. If you are looking for horror, you are best served by the first volume of the series.

Joshi has done a great job editing the tales into what I assume will be the standard edition of the texts, as close to Lovecraft's original intent as possible. There is an interesting introduction by T.E.D Klein in the book, yet it is not without the usual liberal flaws we have come to expect. After all, any racialist and 'Right-wing' author of old must come with the necessary warnings and 'perspective' offered to us by the usual suspects in the publishing business. *Rolls eyes* Yes, Lovecraft was a staunch racialist and conservative, but so what? Who can say he was wrong today, with the direction the West is taking, well on its way to its own death, as he foresaw.

To summarize; one of my decidedly favourite books, in a sturdy hardcover with glossy quality dust jacket written well before the madness of 'political correctness'. Give Lovecraft a spot on your shelf, you won't regret it. Highly recommended!

Great collection
The 4 volumes in this series are the best way I know of to experience all of H.P.L.'s stories.

GREAT YUGGOTH!!!
(Caution -- May Contain Eldritch Spoilers!)

Why the shoggoth did they replace those wonderful Raymond Bayless jacket illustrations with these wretchedly AWFUL cartoony awful covers that are an insult to the Master of Cosmic Horror!Ia!Shub-Niggurath!Of course, the perfect cover image for a book of H. P. Lovecraft's tales is a photo of HPL himself.Just take a look at the cover of LORD OF A VISIBLE WORLD--AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN LETTERS and you'll see I'm right.This new cover drawing of what I guess is supposed to be a Deep One is so stupid -- almost as bad as the cover he drew for the Arkham House reprinting of AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS with its depiction of CHARLES DEXTER WARD that looks like it's the work of a talentless comic book illustrator.Bloody wretched.

But let us not judge a book by its pathetic cover.

The frontispiece is a charming photograph of a young Howard Phillips Lovecraft, looking very studious with his wire-rim spectacles.My hero, the indefatigable S. T. Joshi (his new exhaustive bibliography of Lovecraft has just been publish'd), supplies a Note on the Texts, explaining some of what he went through to bring us the texts as Lovecraft wanted them to be publish'd, as HPL wrote to the first editor of WEIRD TALES, Edwin F. Baird, "Should any miracle impel you to consider the publication of my tales, I have but one condition to offer; and that is that no excisions be made.If the tale cannot be printedas it is written, down to the very last semicolon and comma, it must gracefully accept rejection."Editor Joshi, with his laboring at restoring the Correct Texts, has given us all of those commas and semicolons.T. E. D. Klein's introduction, "A Dreamer's Tales," was written especially for this Arkham House volume.Klein is, of course, the author of some of the finest weird tales ever written, and is the author of what is perhaps my favorite Lovecraftian tale not written by HPL -- "Black Man with a Horn."His introduction reveals his intimate knowledge of Lovecraft's Life and his enchantment with HPL's Works.

Ah -- those Works!Howoft I have perus'd them; & how singularly they have stain'd mine own dreams.Each tales is a unique thing in and of itself; & although Lovecraft may have repeated themes & enlarged on concepts (i.e., "The Call of Cthulhu" may be an enlargement of this collection's title story), each of his tales is a thing in and of itself.Each has its own unique character and charm and chill.The opening tale, "The Tomb," in unlike any of the others; it has conviction in its narrative & mystery at its climax."Dagon" is a very strange tale, and I have always found it's ending rather confusing.Was it all a dream, a fever of madness?

"The end is near.I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it.It shall not find me.God, THAT HAND!The window!The window!"

As S. T. writes, "One critical issue is the very end of the tale: what, if anything, does the narrator see?Has the monster who made obeisances to the monolith come to pursue him?The idea that such a monster could walk down the streets of San Francisco and somehow know where the narrator is must surely be regarded as utterly preposterous; and yet, some readers evidently believe that the narrator's vision is genuine.But we are surely to understand that the narrator is hallucinating here.Passages from two letters may lend support to this view.In August 1917, a month after writing the story, he wrote: 'Both ["The Tomb" and "Dagon"] are anylyses of strange monomania, involving hallucinations of the most hideous sort.' . . . In 1930 Lovecraft wrote, 'In "Dagon" I shewed a horror that MAY APPEAR, but that has not yet made any effort to do so.'"

I confess that I have little patience with people who want weird phantasy fiction to make sense in a realistic way.Horror fiction shews us an alternative to mundane reality, to every day sanity.

The tales in this book range from those in the tradition of Dunsany to the bald horror of "Herbert West--Reanimator."Many of these stories are consider'd "minor" tales by Lovecraft -- but many of them contain eerie scenes, strangely beguiling settings, and deliciously queer emotions.They are early works, yes, but they show lively imagination and budding talent that would blossom into the great late stories.Many of these tales are among my all-time favorite: "The Nameless City" (1921), ""The Hound" (1922), "The Unnamable" (1923), "The Festival" (1923) and "He" (1925) are stories that I have read repeatedly, and always with great pleasure; & they have inspir'd many of my own weird tales.

As an added bonus, this book includes Lovecraft's magnificent essay, "Supernatural Horror in Literature," and S. T. has added an index to it.For those reading Lovecraft for the first time, this book is a great place to start -- for it gives you the great variety of macabre fiction which has come to be known as Lovecraftian.

One of the Indispensable Additions to Any Lovecraft Collection
This is one of the five volumes that any Lovecraft fan MUST have in his or her collection.

The Library of America's Lovecraft collection contains all of the classic tales of Lovecraft's maturity.S. T. Joshi's exhaustive and elegant bio tells all you need to know and more about the man and his world.One of the volumes of Lovecraft's collaborations and revisions (i.e. THE LOVED DEAD AND OTHER REVISIONS) brings together that little-known but fascinating aspect of Lovecraft's career.And TALES OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS brings together the best of the multi-faceted tales inspired by Lovecraft's creativity.

This volume is surely unsurpassed as a collection of Lovecraft's earlier tales--both his conventional "fright tales" and his apprentice "weird tales"--many of which appear to be influenced by one of Lovecraft's idols, Lord Dunsany.

And it includes his classic (and seminal) essay, "Supernatural Horror in Literature."Nobody interested in Lovecraft or in weird fiction in general can afford not to have this essay in his or her library.

May this anthology always remain in print.

These stories are not for the Lovecraft uninitiated...
This collection of work ranks as my second favorite, falling just short of "At the Mountains of Madness" also published by Arkham house. It contains most of his earlier works, and does a better job providing the reader with a glimpse of the forces which shaped his work through the years than any other collection could hope to.If you are new to Lovecraft, these works would probably not be appreciated as much as others. They are much more enjoyable when one has a better understanding of what Lovecraft is all about. I would suggest starting with the collection "The Dunwich Horror and Others" also by Arkham house. It contains most of Lovecraft's most popular work, including "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Colour out of Space".For any fan or collecter of Lovecraft, however, this book is an absolute must have. ... Read more

Product Description
Howard Phillips Lovecraft has been hailed by literary critics as the inventor of modern horror, and a cultivating force behind such modern writers as Robert Bloch, Wes Craven and Stephen King, just to name a few. "The Dunwich Horror" and "The Call of Cthulhu," perhaps two of his most well-known tales, are narrated for the first time, by Wayne June, bringing to life the horrors from the mind of the Master himself, in the way that only he can. A 3 disc CD-Audio edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Dark Worlds of... series.
I've ordered and listened to all of this series, and I pretty much LOVE it! The reader, Wayne June I think, has a great, deep voice that I think is just right for telling Lovecraft's tales. As far as this particular volume of CDs... I'll admit the I preferred some of the stories in the other volumes, which is why I only gave this product four stars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A mixed batch of stories
The stories in this collection vary widely in quality, with some delivering great chills and tension, and others running painfully long and unfocused.

THE GREAT: "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is riveting, scary stuff. "The Dreams in the Witch-House" is another horror masterpiece, and "The Statement of Randolph Carter" is short but casts an eerie spell.

THE DECENT: "At the Mountains of Madness" has a few thrilling moments, but rambles a little too much IMHO. "The Silver Key" and "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" are a little too heavy on the fantasy stuff for my liking, but fans of this genre might get more out of these stories than I did.

THE ABYSMAL: It's never a good sign when the book's preface refers to a story within as "unsatisfying," as this book does about "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath." Unfortunately, it's as bad as advertised -- I had to struggle mightly to get through the rambling prose. Brutal stuff.

If you can find this one cheap, it's worth a look for the three classic stories listed above, as well as "Mountains" (which has its fans, despite my so-so opinion of it).

The master
This collection, the first of three volumes, may well represent the pinnacle of Lovecraft's creative genius. His knack for conjuring the most horrific and fantastical of atmospheres is unparalleled; these stories will have you shuddering with captivated horror at the incredible otherworldly landscapes and monstrosities leaping from their pages.

Plagued with a great sensitivity to cold from a young age, the first novel in this collection,"At the Mountains of Madness", was perhaps a little closer to home than any other piece he attempted. Its sublime execution would perhaps imply this further. This tale is arguably the greatest of the man's catalogue, with a gradual, drawn-out build up of tension and isolation into a frantic climax in a world so alien, beautiful and deadly. Reading this made me long to live in a world where such places as Antarctica still existed unexplored and mysterious, potentially housing that which men of the time could barely dream of. One loses oneself in those icy peaks, those ancient ruins, and yet one always feels as if they are not quite alone...

"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is next in line, and one can't help but feel sceptical as to how this piece will fare up against the previous mountain of a story. Don't let the slow start sway you - this one's darn great too! As with "Mountains...", Lovecraft creates an ominous atmosphere this time via gradual exploration of Curwen and Charles' dark discoveries, once again motivated by wild curiosity. Yet in this piece something far more disturbing and horrific lurks, implied constantly in Lovecraft's subtle narrative. Less beautiful, fantastical and isolating perhaps, but all the more human and realistic and TERRIFYING as a result. There is a scene involving darkness and a pit (not going into detail here for fear of spoiling it) which will stay with you for a damn long time - a claustrophobic nightmare.

Next in line comes a little break from the longer novels, with what I consider to be the least absorbing story in the volume, "The Dreams in the Witch-House". It's pretty telling that I can't remember much about this whereas I remember the previous two vividly. I recall being somewhat intrigued with the combination of mathematics, folklore, multi-dimensions and the like, but the main plot isn't all that gripping. Worth reading, nontheless.

The following four stories all focus upon a character named Randolph Carter - a man whose personality is founded upon a pursuit of the beauty found in dreams. It has frequently been said that this character is most representative of Lovecraft himself, and I must admit feeling great empathy towards him in "The Silver Key", a short prequel to "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", which can easily be read as a commentary on a dry and absurd society - as relevant now as it was then.

The best of these tales is perhaps "The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath", which whilst seemingly having less focus and direction than his other two novels, is just filled to the brim with wonderous landscape after wonderous landscape packed full of creatures both stunning and diabolical. Carter's quest for the paradise city of his dreams is bizarre, yet wholly enticing. The previously mentioned "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" is also very atmospheric, though not a journey - this shorter story involves Carter's gradual venture into the realms of beings of chaos which dwarf humankind, and reveals much about the workings of the dream-world Lovecraft has created.

Lovecraft has created a mythos, from terrible beasts and Gods to ancient old writings and lands, which renders his readers both fascinated and ultimately insignificant in comparison. Treat yourselves folks, this is dark, atmospheric literature done properly. 5 stars doesn't do it justice.

PHOOEY!
Don't get me wrong, Lovecraft is a great read, especially at this time of year. He can create terrific atmosphere, and when he can exercise some self-control (very intermittently) he creates some memorable stories. The Shunned House is a cracker, and so is The Colour Out of Space, one of his less-mentioned efforts, and also the one about the morlock-like family Martense. What the man lacked was even the most elementary self-discipline. Of his more famous outpourings I can join in recommending The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, which has the majority of his virtues without going completely o-t-t as he keeps doing. I enjoy nearly everything by him, but to enjoy, say, The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath I have to suspend all critical faculties -- it has everything but Ye Kitchenne Sinke. In At the Mountains of Madness he may be trying to correct this tendency. The story moves slowly and for that relief much thanks, but this only shows up his lack of concentration. He literally loses the plot. I just love it despite that.

One of his problems is that he obviously takes himself seriously. M R James is ten times the artist Lovecraft is, he is genuinely scary whereas Lovecraft is a bit of a talented but unselfconscious comic turn. I know from trying them both on my children when they wanted 'ghost stories' read to them with the lights turned down that they got a bit bored with Lovecraft but I sometimes had to stop the James stories when they were getting too frightened. James is tongue-in-cheek, you never quite know to what extent, but dear old Lovecraft is always prone to be foot-in-mouth. Where he can be a bit of a bore is with his Elder Gods, Cthulhu, Nyerlothatep and that crowd. What are they all meant to be -- frightening, his vision of the universe or what? If you feel like being frightened to the depths of your soul, try Star Maker by the cold and remote Stapledon -- not for fun-readers. At Christmas forget Stapledon. You will get a lot of fun out of Lovecraft. Having seen the second Lord of the Rings film, I am trying to imagine a battle between the balrog and one of Lovecraft's shoggoths.

the case is the best
at the mountain of madness is a story about an expedition to the arctic, finding knowledge that will destroy their view on the world. unfortunately, that's it. i want more. just finding things out in such a manner, didn't give me the chill. then there's storie about randolph carter going to a strange place. very dunsany-like.i got confused. but mostly i got bored. so he goes around in this strange place. it really isn't that suspenceful. no, the great stories here are the short story "the dreams in the withch-house" - a good stroy about a man haunted by dreams in a place haunted by evil spirits, and "the case of charles dexter ward" - a story about obsession. a man explores the occult, and is more and more controlled by something else. a really good novel. the change is very lovely described, a lot of details. one of the very best horror novels simply because of the way it is lain out for us.

Prince of Occultic Horror...
Peppered with mythological creatures, plagued by the macabre and built around masterful prose, Lovecraft's stories are satisfyingly weird tales of the grotesque. Though not always "scary" per-se, these tales evoke emotions and passions of a bestial nature. The common thread between Lovecraft's stories seems to be the idea that ancient powers, pushed to the fringes of reality by human presence, are always just out of sight and plotting their fatal return. Lovecraft (who is also credited with the mythological "Necronomicon", a source of constant controversy) is one of the most influential horror writers of all time, lending his influence to today's horrorists such as Stephen King. A good buy! ... Read more

Product Description
Calm yourself. There are 20 terrorizing short tales of mirth and murder awaiting your inspection, created by the master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft. Prepare for the fright of your life--it's within these pages....
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH by H. P. Lovecraft
The Doom that Came to Sarnath and Other Stories is a collection of short stories written by H. P. Lovecraft between 1917 and 1935. Most of this is his earlier work; much of it is from his Dunsanian period, and none of these stories is part of the Cthulhu mythos.

This kind of atmospheric horror is tricky to write: if it's too vague, it's not compelling; if it's too detailed, it ceases to be "weird" and easily becomes silly. Lovecraft always keeps safely to the vague side of the line (occasionally to the point that a story will fail to be interesting); flashes and hints of the supernatural keep the horror of mystery intact.

Yet even as he only hints at the attributes of his many lurking horrors, Lovecraft vividly describes every other element in his tales. He frequently name-checks fictitious places and things to add verisimilitude to his stories. And he loves nothing so much as the adjective; indeed, one is hard-pressed to find many unadorned nouns in his writing. But where else can one find sentences like, "It was in mid-summer, when the alchemy of nature transmutes the sylvan landscape to one vivid and almost homogeneous mass of green; when the senses are well-nigh intoxicated with the surging seas of moist verdure and the subtly indefinable odors of the soil and the vegetation" ("The Tomb")? This is Lovecraft. Every sentence is like that.

Thanks to this and other talents, Lovecraft excels at creating atmosphere, which is so key to good horror. There is something appealing about the ancient - lost, alien, mysterious, eldritch things, and Lovecraft's enthusiasm for them is evident in his writing.

Many of the stories here are dream-fantasies that are heavily influenced by the writings of Lord Dunsany. The trouble here is that after a couple such stories, the reader may realize that they're all much the same, and one can readily see where most of them are going well in advance. "The narrator has vague interactions in malevolent dimensions resulting in madness and/or doom" (Lovecraft loves madness and doom) could be a plot synopsis for at least half the stories in this volume. His later, proto-Cthulhu tales are more interesting, and "In the Walls of Eryx" (Lovecraft's only piece of science fiction), co-authored with Kenneth Sterling, is the best story here.

The Doom that Came to Sarnath and Other Stories is, on the whole, a decent collection that is too often hampered by repetition of plot, theme and device.

HPL IS INDEED SCARY!!!
Too often the critique weighed against H. P. Lovecraft's fiction is that it "isn't scary" -- & so I am delighted to come to Amazon and review comments from readers who did indeed find the weird tales by this Master of Horror scary indeed.As with all of the old Del Rey editions published by Ballentine Books, these mass paperback editions do not include the Corrected Text edited by S. T. Joshi and therefore cannot be viewed as definitive -- but they are convenient wee packages of HPL's fiction nonetheless, attractively adorned with the eerie cover art of Michael Whelan.THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH AND OTHER STORIES was compiled by Lin Carter in the early 1970's, and Carter has an introduction in this edition.This book contains a few tales that are also included in THE TOMB AND OTHER STORIES, also published by Ballentine.The contents to this collection are:

Farewell to the Dreamlands, an introduction by Lin Carter
The Other Gods
The Tree
The Doom that Came to Sarnath
The Tomb
Polaris
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Memory
What the Moon Brings
Nyarlathotep
Ex Oblivione
The Cats of Ulthar
Hypnos
Nathicana
From Beyond
The Festival
The Nameless City
The Quest of Iranon
The Crawling Chaos
In the Walls of Eryx
Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (published as "Under the Pyramid" in modern editions of H. P. Lovecraft)

What I especially enjoy about this wee book is that Lin Carter has written prefaces for many of the stories, revealing bits of information about the work and Lovecraft's life, quoting from Lovecraft's letters, &c.Here is Lin's preface to one of my favourite Lovecraft stories, "The Nameless City":

In a letter to Frank Belknap Long, dated January 26, 1921, H.P.L. discussed the next story, "The Nameless City."He wrote:
"At the risk of boring you, I will enclose my latest--just finished and typed--THE NAMELESS CITY.This had its basis in a dream, which in turn was probably caused by contemplation of the peculiar suggestiveness of a phrase in Dunsany's BOOK OF WONDER--'the unreverberate blackness of the abyss.'The character of the 'mad Arab Alhazred' is fictitious.The lines are mine--written especially for the story--and Abdul Alhazred is a pseudonym I took when I was about five years old and crazy about the ARABIAN NIGHTS. I hardly know yet what to think of this story--you are the first to see it--but I certainly put enough work into it.I tore up two beginnings, only hitting the right atmosphere the third time, and destroyed (or rather rearranged) one conclusion.I aim at a cumulative succession of horrors--thrill upon thrill and each the worse!..."

The lines HPL refers to as his own invention are:
"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die,"
which are now usually associated with Cthulhu, but they found their origin in this early non-Mythos tale

The prose poem, "Nyarlathotep," is one of the finest things that Lovecraft ever wrote.It has been enormously influential and has inspired writers, artists and film makers.

This is not, perhaps, the best book to begin reading Lovecraft if you are reading him for the first time.Still, it's a great wee collection of a variety of that which has come to be known as Lovecraftian horror.

Thrilling read.
H.P lovecraft writes great horror stories and this is no exception he's probably one of the great horror story writers along with the likes of Poe. This book is made up of creative writing and conjours up distorted images in your head from the suspense that builds up to the climax toward the end. H.P Lovecraft's books tend to focus on the Horror/Fantasy genre and is the kind of horror material that involves creatures of a new breed and not so much a typical thriller story for example. The doom that came to sarnath definatley wipes the floor with alot of the modern horror stories that you see around and is an intense, shaded, wonderful, gripping book.

Lovecraft stories too often overlooked
This is a wonderful collection of some of Lovecraft's lesser known works, the majority of which come from his earlier writings.It is actually a pretty eclectic sampling of styles.One finds traditional horror, dream-enshrouded tales of unknown vistas, short "prose poems," collaborations with other writers, and even a science fiction story.While none of these stories can claim a place in the Cthulhu Mythos, several do presage its beginnings and offer glimpses of the universe of the Great Old Ones."Nyarlathotep" introduces us to that dark god, "The Festival" refers to mouldy tomes such as the Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhezred and offers us a glimpse of pagan practices, Polaris speaks of the Pnakotic manuscripts, and "The Nameless City" takes us deep underneath the desert sands to a forgotten abode of ancient, nonhuman creatures.Many of the tales take us to Dunsanian dream worlds where beauty and unearthly horror are separated by a veil of nothingness."In the Walls of Eryx," cowritten with Kenneth Sterling, is very interesting in that it represents Lovecraft's only real foray into science fiction, a more than successful foray in my opinion.The only story I find less than first-rate is the tale "Imprisoned With the Pharoahs," a work ghost-written for Harry Houdini--passed off as a true story of the great magician's visit to Giza's pyramids; Houdini's presence as the protagonist makes the story seem forced and does not allow me to fully appreciate the elements of horror Lovecraft injects into the tale.

Lovecraft is, to some degree, an acquired taste, and for that reason I would not recommend this book for first-time readers.Any fan of Lovecraft will delight in these tales and mentally take note of every element that relates to the whole of his fiction, but the Lovecraft initiate may well become frustrated with the Dunsanian elements of many of these stories and may not fully appreciate the remarkable craftsmanship of the author; furthermore, the collaborations in this collection are clearly not Lovecraft's greatest works.Those looking for "horror" may well be disappointed, as will those seeking an introduction to the Cthulhu Mythos.While these stories can surely inspire delight and devotion among new Lovecraft readers, it is my feeling that they can be fully appreciated and understood only by those who are already familiar with Lovecraft's greater body of work.

HORROR AND FANTASY
I find it funny that there's a unicorn logo on the front cover of my copy of this book, saying that this work is Adult Fantasy. About the only thing Adult about H.P. Lovecraft is that he uses big words like "cacodaemoniacal". Although most of the works in this collection are fantasy, that doesn't mean that there isn't any horror to be had, either. Some of the stories in this excellent collection will give you more chills than the Sixth Sense ever did. Here's a brief synopsis of some of the stories in this book: THE OTHER GODS--One of my favorite fantasy pieces. It deals with mankind driving the gods up mountains. BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP--A primitive man from the mountains is put in an institution, where the main character discovers something extraordinary about the fellow. EX OBLIVIONE--Travel to a wonderful dream-world with a bronze gate that leads somewhere seemingly special. FROM BEYOND--This story reminded me much of The Sixth Sense. Lovecraft was never one for dialogue, but he did really well in this story. THE CATS OF ULTHAR--An elderly couple is suspected of cat-killing, but a boy passing through has thoughts of revenge. HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Tree, The Tomb, Polaris, What the Moon Brings, Hypnos, Nathicana, The Festival, The Nameless City, The Quest of Iranon, The Crawling Chaos, and In the Walls of Eryx. As you can see, you get lots of bang for your buck, so to speak. The stories are categorized, but they do not appear in chronological order--a partial chronology is included at the back. This is probably the best Lovecraft book I've read since The Best of H.P. Lovecraft. Both books are worth getting. ... Read more

Product Description
A party of scholars from Miskatonic University, led by Professor William Dyer, discover fantastic and horrific ruins and a dangerous secret beyond a range of mountains in Antarctica.At the Mountains of Madness was originally written in 1931 by H. P. Lovecraft who is considered by some to be the inventor of modern horror. Many believe that in this novella lay the roots of the Cthulhu Mythos. Read by Wayne June. Approx. 4.75 Hrs. ... Read more

Product Description

Don't read this after 9pm, you won't be able to go to sleep!

Product Description
Howard Lovecraft is undoubtedly one of the most influential writers in the history of horror fiction, with Stephen King acknowledging that 'Lovecraft opened the way for me, as he had done for others before me' and Arthur C Clarke proclaiming him 'One of the twentieth century's most original writers. Lovecraft's "Herbert West - Reanimator", was turned into a series of movies that started with the 1985 film "Re-Animator" and rolled on through "Bride of Re-Animator" in 1991 and "Beyond Re-Animator" in 2003. Included in this mammoth anthology of Lovecraft horror are some of his scariest stories such as "The Call of Cthulhu" (a terrifying tentacled alien god); "Herbert West - Reanimator", about a man who can bring people back from the dead; "The Rats in the Walls" (don't even go there); and, "The Dunwich Horror", among many others. Lovecraft claimed to base his stories on the strange and disturbing dreams from which he suffered. Don't dare dip into this book unless you want to share in Lovecraft's nightmares! ... Read more

Product Description
Dunwich is a small village located along the Miskatonic, upriver from Arkham. Until 1806, Dunwich was a thriving community, boasting many mills and the powerful Whateley family.

Those among the Whateleys came to know dark secrets about the world, and they fell into the worship of unwholesome creatures from other times and places. Retreating to the hills and forests surrounding the town, they betrayed their uncorrupted kin.

Prosperity fled, and a dark despair seized the people. What remains is a skeleton town, mills closed, its citizens without hope or future. However, secrets of the Mythos survive, to be discovered by brave and enterprising investigators.

H.P. Lovecraft's DUNWICH begins with "The Dunwich Horror," Lovecraft's masterful tale of life in the town and its surrounds. It expands upon the story with extensive information about the town: pertinent buildings, useful people, and important locations are described in detail. A 17x22" map depicts the area for miles around, and two scenarios are included. All statistics and gameplay notes for d20 Cthulhu are also provided.

Features:
About 80 pages of informative guidebook for Dunwich and Dunwich's environs.
Written for BRP Cthulhu; includes conversions and statistics for d20 Call of Cthulhu.
Part of our 1920's Lovecraft Country setting.
New full color cover by Philippe Bouveret, "The Sorcerer".
Introductory story by H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dunwich Horror".
New template of a typical Dunwich farm.
Introductory scenario, "Earth, Sky, Soul", by John Tynes.
"Return To Dunwich" adventure serves a sequel to the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Dunwich Horror".
"Underground" adventure takes investigators into the dark underbelly of Dunwich.
New layout. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Jhaeman's Review
SPOILERS

Chaosium's 2007 edition of H.P. Lovecraft's Dunwich (subtitled Return to the Forgotten Village) is quite an impressive role-playing supplement.The sourcebook provides a detailed overview of Dunwich, the small Massachusetts village which served as the setting for Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror.Both the story and this sourcebook expertly portray an isolated, rural village that hasn't changed much in recent decades and whose inhabitants have dark secrets and aren't particularly fond of strangers.Dunwich is very much a place where urban investigators wouldn't want to visit and certainly wouldn't want to live.

The sourcebook is 189 pages and divided into eight broad sections.Artwork is black and white, but very evocative of the decayed and forgotten village.The book has several maps of Dunwich and the surrounding area, and includes a large pull-out map which can be used by Investigators to track their progress.Both traditional and d20 statistics are provided for every NPC and skill challenge.

The first section of the book places Dunwich in context by detailing the geography around the village with helpful capsule summaries of nearby towns and cities.

The following section is a reprint of Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror.Investigators and Keepers alike are invited to read the story before playing, as the sourcebook is "set" several months after the events in that story and some of the adventure hooks relate to it.Unless the Keeper wants to re-create Lovecraft's story, he or she doesn't have to worry about Investigators being spoiled by it.

Welcome to Dunwich is a broad overview of the village and one of the most important sections for the Keeper.It briefly discusses major NPCs, climate, getting to the village, getting around the village (cars are likely to break down on poorly-maintained unpaved roads), staying in the village (no inns, but some residents have room for boarders), and the characteristics of a sample farm and farmer.A chronology of major events in the village is provided, but for some reason stops at 1898.Finally, a "Village Directory" lists the name and map location for every single resident of the village (over 300).

The Secrets of Dunwich provides a building-by-building summary of the village proper, including the general store, cemetery, meeting house, and more.Each resident of the village is described with at least a single line, but often one or more paragraphs.Sometimes these descriptions serve only as an aid to role-playing, but other times it includes potential story hooks for the Keeper.Some of the write-ups of more important NPCs include small drawings, which would certainly be worth showing to the players.

This section also provides an overview of a couple of the major surprises in store for Investigators who come to Dunwich.First, there are massive caverns under the village which contain dangerous alien spores, an abandoned Mi-Go complex, and a slumbering incarnation of Abhoth, an Outer God ("Source of Uncleanliness").Second, several residents of the village are members of a secret cult called The Believers.It's not exactly clear to me what The Believers believe in or what their activities consist of (other than dancing around a bonfire), but they are willing to act violently if Investigators discover and plan to expose them.There's a couple of other things that could provide major stories in Dunwich that are discussed elsewhere in the book, but I'll mention them here for simplicity:one of the villagers is secretly meeting with an incarnation of Nyarlahotep, and another village plans to resurrect Wizard Whateley and free the Son of Yog-Sothoth (the creature from The Dunwich Horror) from its imprisonment.One of the criticisms I have of this book is that information on each of these threats is scattered in several places throughout the book, and it's quite difficult to get the full picture without a lot of laborious skimming and flipping back-and-forth.

Next up is the lengthiest section of the book, a detailed description of the various hills, mountains, swamps, and farms around Dunwich.As with the village proper, every single resident is given a name, a notation on the map, and a brief description.After reading this, one quickly gets the sense that adventures in Dunwich can involve far more than just the village itself.

Another long section details the caverns underneath the village.Investigators who want to spelunk here need to treat this as a major undertaking and prepare themselves with food, climbing equipment, and a lot of courage.This is probably the closest Cthulhu gets to a "dungeon crawl", as there are no NPCs to communicate with down here and a lot of potential dangers.If possible, I'd suggest that Keepers hint to the Investigators to examine the caverns in carefully planned stages.

The book includes two "adventures" which aren't scenarios in the traditional sense.The first one, "Return to Dunwich", takes place in Arkham and is designed to give the Investigators a reason to travel to Dunwich and look into the various secrets it holds.Although it includes several handouts to put them on the right track, it doesn't otherwise contain any encounters or detailed discussion of what happens once the characters arrive.As an adventure hook, "Return to Dunwich" really only works if the PCs are dedicated or professional investigators--otherwise, no reason is given why they would sacrifice time and money to travel to a dinky little village to unearth dark secrets (unless they've developed a strong relationship with Dr. Armitage through previous adventures in Arkham). The second adventure, "Earth, Sky, Soul" properly describes itself as an "incident" and is easy to place in the middle of a session if things start to get slow (I'd guess it wouldn't take more than an hour or so to resolve).It's a very dark, but effective portrayal of madness that might help hapless Investigators stumble upon one of the secrets of Dunwich.

Last up are four appendices:NPC statistics if the Keeper wants to run the original The Dunwich Horror;legends and rumors that NPCs might share with Investigators; d20 system conversions; player handouts from the "Return to Dunwich" adventure.The handouts are serviceable insofar as they contain a lot of information, but for the most part they're not attractively or "authentically" portrayed--a Keeper could have a lot of fun making them into more interesting props.

I don't think I've ever encountered an RPG supplement like H.P. Lovecraft's Dunwich before, in which every single resident (hundreds of them) and building (dozens of them) are described and placed on the map.In this respect, Dunwich would make a great setting for adventure as the NPCs are already detailed and there's plenty of little incidents that can happen simply by Investigators stumbling around and knocking on doors.On the other hand, this is very much a background book and the Keeper still has a lot of work to do to integrate these various NPCs into larger stories and plot-related encounters.Even with all the attention to detail, it's hard to imagine Dunwich becoming the "home base" of investigators because there's simply not a lot there to convince them to stay: no work (other than farming), no electricity, no business or amenities except a single run-down general store.The sense I get from reading the book is that the Keeper will have to work very hard to provide a very good reason if he or she wants the PCs to remain in Dunwich for any length of time.

A Resourceful Resource
Having already read "Escape from Innsmouth" and the Kingsport Sourcebook, I read this book less charitably than I might have when it was first released.The characters of Dunwich all seem the same - poor, widowed, incestuous, abused, etc.After reading the hundredth entry on a family, I began to feel that it would be less tiresome to simply state that people there are backward, miserable, and degenerate.But then, why would you need a sourcebook?

There are many things to like about the Dunwich sourcebook, though.The secrets from beneath the earth are revealed, and they are good ones.Characters and history are well fleshed out, and the local cult (there's one in each city, it seems) is very believable, for a change.Actually, I think the cult might be the best part of the source material.It's just that, having effectively convinced me that the whole area is grubby,backward, and degenerate, I don't really want to run characters there long term.But then I would only need a scenario pack and not a sourcebook.

If you're not familiar with the format of these books, they begin with the source material from HPL (in this case, "The Dunwich Horror").This is a great idea in my mind, as it is a reminder of why you're reading this in the first place, and how to use it in a story.Town history is related, as well as an explanation of the local cult.Then, the region is split into areas which have detailed entries on the people, places, and things found in each section.This allows a large amount of information to be presented without overwhelming the reader by "chunking" the info.Also, it gives each reason its own flavor, and emphasizes the differences between parts of the Dunwich valley.The town is its own entry, and the environs are the rest of the chunks.There is also a substantial amount of info on the underground of Dunwich.

The scenario section is somewhat thin.One scenario is "The Dunwich Horror", but other than stats nothing is added to Lovecraft's story, related in the first chapter (at least you're not paying for redundant material).There is a "Return to Dunwich" which has a similar feel."Earth, Sky, Soul" is a very different kind of scenario (really a scenario seed) that might lead to more terrible explorations underground.

There is also a chapter on legends, rumors, and plain old gossip.I think this is an excellent addition, as this is one of the primary ways for investigators to get clues.Including false leads just makes everything more intriguing.

This is probably the weakest of the Lovecraft country sourcebooks (not scenario packs), but that still leaves Dunwich in high quality.I don't know that it has as much potential for a campaign setting as Kingsport or Arkham, but you should still find it extremely useful in plotting adventures in Lovecraft country.
... Read more

Product Description
Venture at your own risk into a realm where the sun sinks into oblivion–and all that is unholy, unearthly, and unspeakable rises. These rare, hard-to-find collaborations of cosmic terror are back in print, including

• Wentworth’s DayA fellow figures his debt to a dead man is null and void, until he discovers just how terrifying interest rates can be.

• The Shuttered RoomA sophisticated gentleman must settle his grandfather’s estate, only to find that the house shelters dark secrets.

• The Dark BrotherhoodA beautiful woman and her companion meet the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, in a tale as terrifying as anything Poe himself ever created.

• Innsmouth ClayA sculptor returns from Paris to create a statue not entirely of this world–and not at all under his control.

• Witches’ HollowA new schoolteacher puts his soul in peril while trying to save one of his students from a ravenous creature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR STORIES WRITTEN BY LOVECRAFT...
...do NOT buy this book ---- for it is nothing but a bald-faced (lie) attempt by Ballantine books to capitalize on the Lovecraft name.If you're looking for stories actually written by HPL then look somewhere else.If you're only looking for mythos stories then buy this book.They're pretty good, just not up to the level of Lovecraft.

A Must for Lovecraft Fans
Unlike some readers, I actually read the covers and realized this wasn't original stories from HP Lovecraft. However, the are heavily inspired by his works, included some of his notes and unfinished stories. Most Lovecraft fans will enjoy this book for its Lovecraftian flavor. There is a bit of a repetition in some of the story lines (old houses and dead mysterious relatives, etc). But in an age where horror is dumbed down, this is as close as you can get to Lovecraft or Poe. A great companion to the three part Lovecraft collection from Del Ray: The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre,Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft and The Road to Madness.

A Good Collection of Cthulhu Mythos Tales
I loved these stories thirty years ago when I was a clueless Cthulhu Mythos kid, and I still enjoy some of them to-day.The worst offenders are those tales that merely steal entire plots from Lovecraft, such as "The Shuttered Room" and "The Shadow out of Space" -- two of the worst stories in the book, unimaginative and dull.Many of these stories were based on entries found in Lovecraft's Commonplace Book.For one of my forthcoming books (the revised/expanded edition of DREAMS OF LOVECRAFTIAN HORROR) I recently wrote a 10,000 word prose-poem sequence entitled "Uncommon Places," each segment of which was inspired by entries in Lovecraft's Commonplace Book.According to Derleth's theory and practice, I can refer to my new piece as having been a posthumous collaboration between H. P. Lovecraft and W. H. Pugmire.
But I shan't.

This edition lacks the fun novel, THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD, the book that began the whole thing of Derleth's writing stories on his own that he passed off as "posthumous collaborations" "with" H. P. Lovecraft.One of Derleth's delusions in the writing of these tales was that he was writing in the style and voice of Lovecraft -- he even boasted about it, writing once, "It isn't easy to write like H. P. Lovecraft.I should know!"Perhaps his initial intentions were good -- wanting to give Lovecraft credit where he felt credit was due; for in THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD Derleth did indeed include two chunks of Lovecraft's writing, which are now known as "The Round Tower" and "The Rose Window."The problem with these stories is that they are extremely inferior to Lovecraft's -- and yet clueless reviewers confuse these works by Derleth with Lovecraft's original tales.To this day people write of "H. P. Lovecraft's novel, THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD,"or refer ti it as HPL's "unfinished novel."It is nothing of the sort.

Because of the emotion aroused by what many see as Derleth's stealing Lovecraft's name and allure so as to sell books of his own, people have condemned these stories out of hand.But in point of fact, some of these stories are rather good."The Survivor" is one of my favourite Lovecraftian tales -- it it IS as Lovecraftian as anything written by those who wrote stories in the Lovecraft tradition.The dark Gothic atmosphere of the story "feels" very much like the atmosphere one finds in Lovecraft, and the eerie mystery and slow revelation concerning the Charriere house in Providence and its inhabitant is wonderful.Derleth brings the atmosphere of this uncanny residence to life as surely as anything that Lovecraft wrote on his own.The story is dead cool.It's one fatal flaw, the defect that would taint so much of Derleth's Mythos tales, is his dragging in the Cthulhu Mythos elements, which add absolutely nothing to the plot of the story, does nothing to enhance the mystery of this fine tale.Derleth loved to write detailed accounts concerning his interpretations of the Mythos in tale after tale -- and it all becomes quite tedious."The Survivor"'s flow of narrative is suddenly interrupted by:

"Finally, and most important, according to the surgeon's notes, was a completely alien culture which was as old as earth, nay, older, involving ancient Elder Gods and their terrible, unceasing conflict with equally primeval Old Ones who bore such names as Cthulhu, Hastur, Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath, and Nyarlathotep, and who were served in turn by such curious beings as the Tcho-Tcho People, the Deep Ones, the Shantaks, the Abominable Snow Men, and others, some of whom appeared to have been a sub-order of human being, but others of which were definite mutations or not human at all."

This is pure Derleth, an attempt to mimic the few such listings that crop up in some of Lovecraft's stories; but unlike Lovecraft, Derleth doesn't make one feel that these legends are a real threat to humanity, and his repeated listing of such things in story after story becomes utterly monotonous.

"The Survivor" was sold to WEIRD TALES -- but, strangely, most of the tales in this book had their initial appearance in Arkham House books.It has been suggested by some that the tales are so bad that WEIRD TALES wouldn't buy them -- but this seems unlikely, since WEIRD TALES bought the far-inferior stories of the Mythos that makes up the contents of much of the Derleth Mythos book, IN LOVECRAFT'S SHADOW.Another explanation is that by the time the majority of these tales were penned, WEIRD TALES had ceased to exist.If you like the Mythos, this book will certainly entertain you.The stories are part of the early history of the Mythos, and they were written by the man who, more than anyone else, made the Mythos what it is today.

This is certainly a book of pastiche -- and it was meant to be just that.Derleth, with these tales, was TRYING to write like Lovecraft, and that was one of the reasons that Lovecraft's name was conjoined with Augie's in ye byline.Derleth used to boast of his ability to write in Lovecraft's voice, but this was a figment of his rich imagination.People who are unaware of the true nature of these tales often complain that they read like "lesser Lovecraft."Thus they are often criticized as "poor Lovecraft," when if fact they were all written after Lovecraft's death and he had absolutely no hand in their composition.August Derleth sold only one of these to WEIRD TALES -- most, probably all, of the others had their first publication in Arkham House books published and edited by August Derleth.Perhaps he began to write these as sincere attempts to write genuinely Lovecraftian pastiche, but one gets the feeling that the latter tales were composed without much discernment.By the time Augie wrote what has to be one of the worst rip-offs of Lovecraft ever penned, "The Shuttered Room," he seems to have written it specifically for the Arkham House book, THE SHUTTERED ROOM AND OTHER PIECES -- as if he figured, well, I might as well grind out a couple more for this new book.Still, even the worst of these are better by far than a lot of the other Mythos crap out there that has been published by commercial and fan publishers.

Not Bad, Just Not As Good As Lovecraft
Why is it that August Derleth's name on the front cover is not in large font, like Lovecrafts, yet this collaboration is mostly his own work. This book is a little deceptive about what it has inside, and, if you were getting this just for Lovecraft, turnaround. Now, August Derleth is a skilled writer in his own right, but most people won't like the false advertising this book gives. Another problem one might find with this collection of stories is that Derleth did not share the same view that Lovecraft had for his Mythos, and he contorts it to fit his own line of thinking. He also changed the whole Cthulhu storyline into a struggle between good and evil, something that Lovecraft never used as a part of his stories.

Although a competent writer, Derleth is no where near as skilled as Lovecraft and any true H.P. Lovecraft fan will be extremely disappointed if they purchase this book.

Reviewed by James Rojek

Not really Lovecraft, but still worth reading for Lovecraft fans...
As I'm sure most people buying this know, this isn't really H.P. Lovecraft's writings, it's August Derleth's, expanding on Lovecraft's existing stories as well some some ideas Lovecraft never got around to writing. And I guess a few August Derleth originals.

Derleth is not a bad writer, but he is a bad mimicker of Lovecraft. So the most Lovecraftian of the stories are probably the worst. "The Shadow out of Space", for instance, is essentially the same plot as "The Shadow out of Time", only all the mystery and creepiness sucked out.

Probably the best of the Lovecraft-ish tales is "The Shuttered Room", which does a pretty good job of combining The Dunwich Horror and Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Far too many of the tales (including that one, actually) use the same exact plot: Person inherits a property, then discovers that the person he inherited it from was up to no good, which continues to happen beyond the grave.

Lovecraft almost used that device a couple of times, but he changed things a bit (like in The Call of Cthulhu, the person simple inherits some notes), when Derleth uses the devices, there's no subtlety.

One story, "The Lamp of Alhazred" is a very nice homage and tribute to Lovecraft. There a few other Innsmouth ones, one actually pretty decent ("Innsmouth Clay")

The title story is unfinished, and on the face of it, seems to have a very similar plot as "The Lurker at the Threshold" (a novel by Derleth under Lovecraft's name), only told from the narrator's point of view and set in Dunwich.

All in all, if you are a Lovecraft fan or a completest, it's worth picking up. But for most others it a pass. ... Read more

Product Description
Featuring 24 classic tales by H. P. Lovecraft . Stephen King has called Lovecraft "the twentieth Century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." Lovecraft is regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century, who together with Edgar Allan Poe has exerted an incalculable influence on succeeding generations of writers of horror fiction.

Contains the following tales:
THE NAMELESS CITY
BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP
CELEPHAIS
DAGON
EX OBLIVIONE
FACTS CONCERNING THE LATE ARTHUR JERMYN AND HIS FAMILY
HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR
MEMORY
NYARLATHOTEP
THE ALCHEMIST
THE BEAST IN THE CAVE
THE CATS OF ULTHAR
THE CRAWLING CHAOS
THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH
THE MUSIC OF ERICH ZANN
THE PICTURE IN THE HOUSE
THE STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER
THE STREET
THE TERRIBLE OLD MAN
THE TOMB
THE TREE
THE WHITE SHIP
POLARIS
A REMINISCENCE OF DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent condition!
This was an amazing gift for my husband! The book was in wonderful condition and was carefully packed! Thank you! ... Read more

Product Description
Before the X-Files, before Torchwood, there was the Miskatonic Project! Dedicated to breaking the aeons-old power of ancient, alien entities, the Miskatonic Project battles the loathsome threat of Cthulhu and his unspeakable spawn! In H.P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness, the Miskatonic Project faces an enemy of inhuman cunning whose power has never been directly challenged! Deep in the catacombs beneath legend-haunted New England hills, the final confrontation between Cthulhu's legions and the defenders of humanity begins! Featuring art by Don (Iron Man) Heck, Darryl (Green Lantern) Banks and Daryl (Crypt of Cthulhu) Hutchinson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Whisperer in Darkness
With The Miskatonic Project, Mark Ellis and various artists have captured the tone and atmosphere of H.P. Lovecraft better than most of the the so-called 'adaptations' of Lovecraft on film.The time is the nineteen twenties and Lovecraft would still have been alive as the tale in this graphic novel unfolds.

The adventurous team of psychic investigators at Miskatonic University are about to get a first hand lesson in what happens to those who meddle in the affairs of the Cult of Cthulhu.The ancient beings from outer space have a nasty habit of rewiring the biology of those who get too close.Our heroes Lord Sabbath, Augustus Grant and the psychic Fleur Averoigne are attempting to help their friend Professor Wilmarth get to the bottom of rumors of strange creatures inhabiting the New England countryside, and the humans who worship them.Ellis has written a lot of action in along the way to keep even the most jaded SciFi/Horror comics fans happy.

This sumptuous volume not only gathers the original Miskatonic comics together, but like a fine DVD it includes many extra features to supplement one's need for further info on this exciting Project.For the first time, the images are presented in black and white, reminiscent of an old Universal film as Ellis intended.There is also a history of the Cthulhu mythos and interviews with writer Ellis and Comics veteran Don Heck, originator of Iron Man.

One couldn't ask for more in a graphic novel than is received in The Miskatonic Project.Let's hope that Ellis will now continue to bring us more of these Lovecraftian horrors.

Comic fan, Lovecraft fan, this one is for you...
Few people can deny the impact that H.P. Lovecraft's work has had on modern horror. The influence can be felt in many movies, books, and television.

Even the monsters and creatures that you see depicted in many popular franchises have been influenced by his work (Geiger's Alien, for example).

Although, I have to admit that many of the movies I have seen that were based on his work were less than stellar. It's a pity, since many of the stories are quite intriguing.

Hey, we're dealing with alien creatures that have been around longer than the dinosaurs here!

The thing about Lovecraft's work is the fact that humanity is very insignificant... we like to think we're the center of the universe, that god loves us and created us in his image.

Lovecraft shatters that illusion with his version of harsh fiction. Of course its fiction, but it does tell humanity as a whole to essentially `watch it; you're about as important to the old gods as that piece of lint on your shirt'.

Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it? But still, its fiction, and it is to be taken as such.

So, here we have Mark Ellis' Miskatonic Project - The Whisperer in Darkness. It's a compilation of the original comics published by Millennium Publications back in the early 90's - based upon H.P. Lovecraft's work.

As per usual, I will not write about any spoilers, other than those that you could get from reading the back cover of the book itself.

The Miskatonic Project is the mortal enemy of the old ones. They're determined to prevent Cthulhu and his spawn from retaking the Earth for themselves and delegating humanity to nothing more than cattle.

In the pages of the Graphic novel the heroes encounter the humans that have sided with the old ones, monsters that defy the imagination, and horror deep enough to freeze the soul.

Ok, truth be told, by today's standards, the horror and monsters that one reads about in the graphic novel are pretty tame. Hey, how can this stuff compare to the shock of things like Torture porn?

Still, when you consider the era that this material was originally written, it was very horrific. Stuff like this would have given most of the people who read it back in the 30's and 40's nightmares.

So, when you're reading it, try to put aside what you consider horror today and try to take the mindset of a person living back in those simpler times. You just might appreciate the material more if you do.

Any fans of Mark's Outlanders work will see similarities to the characters he created there... the most obvious being Augustus Grant. Just remember, this predates Outlanders by several years.

Now, was the story good? Yes. It had all the elements of a great story... stalwart heroes fighting creatures that are out to change the face of the world. Plenty of action, villains worthy of the heroes (hey, if you have a weak villain, you can't have a strong hero, can you?)

And, of course, monsters. The cherry on top of the ice cream sundae.

For a person like me, who knows about Lovecraft, and clearly understands the impact his work has had on modern horror, but has never actually read one of his novels or stories... I have to admit that Mark's work on the graphic novel has finally opened the doors for me. I want to pick up some of Lovecraft's work and experience it for myself now.

That alone should speak volumes.

Another thing that I have to point out about the graphic novel was the inclusion of bonus material.

Most of the graphic novels I've bought over the past couple of years have had maybe a guest introduction, and a gallery of covers for the original comics. Pretty weak if you ask me.

Not the case with this graphic novel. Not only do you get the original comics (in black and white instead of full color, which makes it all that much better), but a forward by Donald Burleson; a chronology of the Cthulhu mythology, interviews with Mark Ellis and Don Heck, and a bio of all those involved in the creation of the graphic novel.

Seems like a lot, right? But there's more!

There are several pages from a previously unpublished adaptation of the hounds of Tindalos - penciled by Don Heck, several pages of character sketches and even previews of upcoming material.

Finally, a shout out to all those who helped bring the graphic novel to life - Darryl Banks, Terry Collins, Deirdre Delay, Don Heck, Daryl Hutchinson and Melissa Martin-Ellis.

This is a must have for fans of any of the above, Outlanders, and of course H.P. Lovecraft. It's worth owning just for the bonus material alone.

5 out of 5

Here's a chance to get some rare comics in a new edition
The Miskatonic Project is a (as it is called) Perfect Paperback from Transfuzion Publishing.This enterprising comics company is compiling old classic series in nicely bound and presented omnibus editions.They are not doing it cheaply, however, as this book lists $16.99, undiscounted on Amazon, for 128 pages of material.As much as anything else, they are trying to put these comics into context, so there is a very good forward from noted mythos author Don Burleson (I never could get an inexpensive copy of Beyond the Lamplight) a chronology of the events in Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos with the characters of the Miskatonic Project placed in the timeline, minibios of the creators, and an interview with Mark Ellis and an 1991 interview with Don Heck (unfortunately deceased in 1995).The interview with Mark Ellis may be the best thing about the book; it explains the entire premise behind The Miskatonic Project and its creation, as well as the downfall of the team.As a bonus, Transfuzion Publishing provides the all too few pages of the adaptation that never happened, The Hounds of Tindalos.The dimensions of the book are 10 x 7", and the panels are black and white, allowing a full appreciation of the skills of the artists.

The Miskatonic Project was a series of three comics from 1993.The concept was that The Miskatonic Project was a small group of paranormal investigators from the special documents wing of the Miskatonic University library in Arkham.Per Mr. Ellis, the concept predated the X Files.Like Delta Green they strive to prevent the ascendency of the Cthulhu cultists.Rather uniquely, these comics take stories and characters from Lovecraft, and interweave the characters of the Miskatonic Project.In The Whisperer in Darkness they rescue Professor Wilmarth from the cult, and he recounts to them the events that took place in Lovecraft's story in flashback.They meet Inspector Legrasse, who is grievously wounded in an assault by the cultists.The Miskatonic Project decides to investigate the Akeley estate to stop the Mi-Go.

For its kind of book, this is an excellent compilation.I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the art, and the last few extra pages of The Hounds of Tindalos made me wistful for what will never be.The book holds up very well in comparison to my contemporary favorites from Boom Studios.Certainly this is a better buy than Graphic Classics Volume 4 from Eureka Publications, which has excellent production qualities but very poor contents.I am enthusiastically ordering Transfuzion Publishing's the Worlds of HP Lovecraft.Anyone who likes Lovecraftian comics will not be disappointed.
... Read more

Product Description
Explore the marvelous complexity of Lovecraft's writing--including his use of literary allusions, biographical details, and obscure references in this rich, in-depth exploration of great horror fiction from the acknowledged master of the weird, including the stories "Herbert West--Reanimator", "Pickman's Model", "The Call of Cthulhu", "The Thing on the Doorstep", "The Horror at Red Hook" and more.

Did Lovecraft believe in ghosts or paranormal phenomena?In what story does the narrator fear riding the Boston T?

A pathfinder in the literary territory of the macabre, H.P. Lovecraft is one of America's giants of the horror genre. Now, in this second volume of annotated tales, Lovecraft scholars S. T. Joshi and Peter Cannon provide another rare opportunity to look into the mind of a genius. Their extensive notes lift the veil between real events in the writer's life--such as the death of his father--and the words that spill out onto the page in magnificent grotesquerie. Mansions, universities, laboratories, and dank New England boneyards appear also as the haunts where Lovecraft's characters confront the fabulous and fantastic, or--like the narrator in "Herbert West--Reanimator"--dig up fresh corpses.

Richly illustrated and scrupulously researched, this extraordinary work adds exciting levels of meaning to Lovecraft's chilling tales . . . and increases our wonder at the magic that transforms life into a great writer's art.Amazon.com Review
Following in the footsteps of the 1997 The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft, Lovecraft experts S.T. Joshi and Peter Cannon again pay testament to their favorite horror writer, annotating and illustrating 10 of his stories. More Annotated H.P. Lovecraft includes such classic horror stories as "Herbert West­Reanimator," "Pickman's Model," "The Call of Cthulhu," and "The Horror at Red Hook." The book also includes several obscure references and photographs of places Lovecraft mentioned throughout his works. This is particularly fascinating, since the popular horror writer used many settings from buildings in his neighborhood, including the house where his aunt lived.

At the beginning of each story is a note on where and when the story was first published, and whether it had been previously rejected by another publisher. Joshi and Cannon also dissect each work, asking such questions as, How did Lovecraft invent the name Herbert West? And, How did Lovecraft create the names of fictional rivers and universities in New England? These questions are well-traced and investigated, a real treat for Lovecraft fans. --Samantha Allen Storey ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A Superb Introduction to Lovecraft's Weird Fiction
I love the look of these two volumes -- that fetching front cover withy Lovecraft's name in elegant white, the strange red design that looks like something from a dream sequence in a Roger Corman Poe film, and the darksome photograph of a New England burying ground at night -- superb!And ye contents is just as fetching!The delightful Peter Cannon (how one misses his regular feature on things Lovecraftian that was published in the defunct H. P. LOVECRAFT'S MAGAZINE) graces the volume with an informative and concise wee introduction."The Picture in the House" follows, and this is the first tale that Lovecraft set in his invented witch town of Arkham.The tale is subtle and terrible in its implications; and here the text is illustrated with the very illustration with which Lovecraft's uncanny tale is concern'd.On page 23, folllowing the story, is the front cover of a publication with Virgil Finley's famous drawing of Lovecraft in wig and small clothes -- my absolutely favourite image of Ye Olde Gent!"Herbert West -- Reanimator" follows -- & although this early story is fun, I wou'd much rather have seen a better tale in its place, such as "The Music of Erich Zann" or "The Outsider" (and I find it rather appalling that "The Outsider" was not included in either Annotated edition!).

Next we have "The Hound," a tale that has always entranced me -- and I finally wrote a direct sequel to it, which is included in my newest book.Although dismiss'd as one of Lovecraft's "minor" tales, "The Hound" enchants with its heavy Gothic atmosphere and the suggestion of a spectral thing that howls in distant darkness.It is an eerie and effective horror story, one that pretends to be nothing else.It is followed by "The Shunned House," which has always been a favourite tale although I cannot help but groan at the climatic revelation of a titanic elbow -- which, alas, makes me groan but not with horror.This story has a special appeal because, during the four days I spent in Providence, we stay'd at a Bed & Breakfast establishment that was directly across the street from the actual house that Lovecraft mentions in this tale.(Those were the happiest four days of my life -- and my photo in my profile here at Amazon shews me standing with my buddy S. T. Joshi in front of John Hay Library -- where he was working on Clark Ashton Smith papers during the days that my friends and I were in town.)

I have always abhor'd the racist and silly "The Horror at Red Hook" and cannot understand why such a poor story was included in this volume, when tales such as "The Unnamnable," "The Festival" or "The Statement of Randolph Carter" wou'd have fit in far better with the Gothic atmosphere of this volume.Far finer is another "New York" tale, "Cool Air," a strange and haunting story that was superbly filmed by the gifted film maker, Bryan Moore.(The film is available on DVD here at Amazon!)

"The Call of Cthulhu" remains one of my favourite tales by Lovecraft.Strangely, Neil Gaiman has called this "a crap story" -- a statement that completely befuddles me!But then, Neil has never been very ... intelligent ... in his comments concerning Lovecraft ("Lovecraft is rock and roll" is his explanation for H. P. Lovecraft's current popularity -- please!)This is a fine tale, told in Lovecraft's detached manner, yet so evocative that the narrative lures you in.The silent black & white cinematic rendition of this story, filmed by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, is extremely wonderful and worth watching.

"Pickman's Model" follows -- another story that has been dismiss'd as minor by critics.Yet it has certainly been influential!In S. T. Joshi's forthcoming anthology of modern Lovecraftian stories, BLACK WINGS, there are THREE new tales in the book that have been inspir'd by "Pickman's Model" (one of them is my story in the book).Lovecraft has been criticized for not being able to portray interesting or convincing characters -- and this is such nonsense.Pickman, as described in this tale, comes across as a man or mystery and intrigue, one of whom we wou'd like to know more facts.The hysterical narrator of the story is unusual for Lovecraft, but here it works.Perhaps the "surprise" ending doesn't surprise anyone, but it is effective nonetheless.

At last year's World Fantasy Convention, S. T. Joshi took Peter Straub to task for including "The Thing on the Doorstep" as the Lovecraft story for Peter's magnificent two volume anthology of AMERICAN FANTASTIC TALES publish'd by The Library of America.This story, along with "Dreams in the Witch House" and "The Dunwich Horror," is regarded by Joshi as among Lovecraft's "artistic failures" -- and yet there is much in the tale that is effective and fascinating.I love the little macabre hints mention'd in the tale, such as "the pit of shoggoths" -- of which one desires more eldritch detail!

The last story in the book is one of my all-time favourite Lovecraft stories, "The Haunter of the Dark."It was dedicated by Lovecraft to Robert Bloch, and was written as a kind of sequel to Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars."(Bloch wrote his own sequel to Lovecraft's tale, "The Shadow from the Steeple," which remains my favourite Mythos tale by an author other than Lovecraft)."Haunter" is, quite simply, one of the finest Gothic horror tales ever written.

This is, of the two Dell Annotated Lovecraft editions, probably the better introduction to Lovecraft, and it is a fine introduction to this amazing author.Quite quite wonderful in every way.

Not a bad HPL reference
I have some mixed feelings about this book as well as The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft. The Pro's to this collection are that it's a great collection of his work and a good start for anyone who wants to get into Lovecraft and the annotated notes are very enlightening for the most part. In the annotation there are a lot of intriguing mentions that sparked my interest in other occultic/metaphysical readings. However the annotations in this book are also probably the only flaw. Despite great insight into the writings of Lovecraft, the annotations inadvertently tend to act as "reading speed bumps" that actually happen frequently, chopping up the rhythms of the stories (there are a few pages where the annotation takes up anywhere from 50 to 75 % of a page). So what I recommend is that for a person new to H.P. Lovecraft, first find another collection so you can enjoy the stories first time around and then get these books and re-read them with the annotations which will give you a more indepth view of Lovecraft's writings. As far as anyone who is already read these stories I'd say you still need to read these books. I tend to use these two books more as a reference than for enjoyment yet feel that they are important books in my HPL collection.

More annotations for Lovecraft's "weird tales"

Choosing from some of Lovecraft's shorter works this time; S.T. Joshi and Peter Cannon continue their annotations of selected stories.Containing some of Lovecraft's best known works, like "Pickman's Model," "Herbert West-Reanimator," and the seminal "The Call of Cthulhu," this proves to be an easier read than its predecessor. This volume also has some oddities like the racist "The Horror of Red Hook" and the insipid "The Thing on the Doorstep," which Peter Cannon point out in his introduction for just those reasons, a welcome notation that doesn't make apologies for the author. With some unnecessary notations, like defining "satyr" or "lemur" the annotations generally are enlightening and make this worthwhile for anyone who wants to know more about Lovecraft's work.

What's with all the notes?
First off, lets list the stories.First is 'The Picture in the House' a very short, short story.This is followed by 'Herbert West - Reanimator' which was written for a humor magazine so is broken down into six parts.Then we have 'The Hound', 'The Shunned House'(giant elbows - NOOO!), 'The Horror at Red Hook', 'Cool Air', 'The Call of Cthulhu'(a major thread in the myths), 'Pickman's Model', 'The Thing on the Doorstep'(linked to a few stories by its very setting and characters) and 'The Haunter of the Dark'. These latter stories are very common to Lovecraft collections, so you should already know them.'Herbert West - Reanimator' is not as easy to find and is the main reason I got this copy.
The book DOES have one interesting feature, which is all the information they add.Still, if I wanted to know so much about Lovecraft I would of bought a book about HIM.Also, the notes sometimes get in the way of the story.I suggest reading the stories and ignoring the notes the first time around.There are also nice photos of places that Lovecraft lived at or used within his stories.

Lovecraft Is Good, Notations are Disappointing
The stories are straight Lovecraft, with all of the pros and cons that drags with it. Good creepy fiction, some poor plots and some poor choices of wording.

The main problem that I had with this book though was the annotations. Almost every one of them was mediocre, some were truly bad, many were useless (especially the ones about names...only someone interested in genealogy would care, and they don't frequently use fiction as a source), and one that I saw foretold the ending in such a fashion as to destroy part of the ending. Hence, the annotations were rather poor. The illustrations were worse. There were two useful illustrations in the entire book. Other "luminary" illustrations are things like the pictures of three famous poets' graves. Why? The picture of Paul Revere's house. So? Etc. These occur throughout the book and are quite distracting as you expect them to matter, and are greatly disappointed.

My recommendation is to simply buy a normal version of these works. It is probably cheaper and definately more useful. The stories are decent (although I personally think that they are overrated), but the annotations are frequently annoying and almost always useless.
Harkius ... Read more

Product Description
Descend into the nerve-shattering realm of America’s master of horror, H. P. Lovecraft–to a dank place where gloomy maelstroms await the unwary, where the unnatural is surpassed only by the unspeakable, and where all pleasure is perverse. Take a chance. . . . All you can lose is your sanity.

The Doom That Came to Sarnath–The magnificent city had wealth beyond measure, but no riches could save it from a ghastly day of reckoning.

The Shunned House–He vowed to rid the odious structure of the brooding horror that clung to it, but evil would not go gently.

The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath–Desperate to understand his tormenting vision, one man begins a forbidden and nightmarish journey.

The Tomb–The old Hyde family crypt held a gruesome attraction for a boy, until he communed with the dead and learned their secrets.

The Shadow Out of Time–The quest to understand the devouring force that once possessed a scholar leads a man to the other side of the world, where all will be revealed in one hideous, unholy night.

PLUS ELEVEN OTHER MACABRE TALES OF PURE TERROR ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A good collection
A good collection of short stories by Lovecraft, building to a climax with The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath. There are a few unfinished works at the end that feel tacked on, but one of his early short stories: The Beast in the Cave is one my personal favorites.

I really enjoyed this book
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was one of the kings of the horror genre, and had he lived longer, one can only imagine what masterpieces he might have created. But, what we do have are book such as this one. This book is a collection of some twenty of his short stories, covering his entire writing career. Overall, I found this to be a wonderful book, and I really enjoyed the stories...my favorite being Shadow Out Of Time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes good old fashioned horror stories!

Terrifying collection
Good, cheap collection of some of Lovecraft's best stories, including The Shadow Out of Time, The Tomb, and the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath. ... Read more