Product Description
The Call of Cthulu, the tale of a horrifying underwater monster coming to life and threatening mankind, is H.P. Lovecraft's most famous and most widely popular tale, spawning an entire mythology, with the power to strike terror into the hearts of even the Great OldOnes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Unexpected
The text in this book is good, and it would be great for a student, but it was not what we were expecting.
It's not a novel, it's a very thin book, slightly larger than a novel (cover size). So, as I said, it's great to chuck in your bag to read on public transport, etc. but it doesn't look so great on a bookshelf, you know?
A bit disappointed to be honest.
But of course, the actual content of the book is great, no complaints there. it's purely the layout.

The Penguin Lovecraft Editions Rock My Yuggoth!
I've been an obsess'd Lovecraft fan since 1973, and these days are the very best days for Lovecraft fans because of the amazing & tireless efforts of S. T. Joshi.Where he gets his energy I don't know.I remember how stunned I was upon hearing the news that the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft was to be publish'd by Penguin Classics.They are my favorite publisher of paperback editions, and the idea of owning THREE Penguin books of Lovecraft's awesome tales made me moan with adventurous expectancy and nameless pleasures.I was not disappointed.

S. T.'s introduction is quite informative, discussing matters of Lovecraft's biography as it pertains to his career as a literary artist.Joshi knows this biographical history so well he probably chants it in his sleep; but he never makes it dull, and I love reading about HPL's life, especially in relationship to his Works.Joshi likes to insist that we can best appreciate Lovecraft's fiction by understanding his mind.He writes:

"Lovecraft's fiction must be understood in the context of the philosophical thought that he evolved over a lifetime of study and observation.The core of that thought--derived from readings of such ancient Greek philosophers as Demoncritus and Epicurus as well as from absorption of the discoveries and nineteenth-century physics, chemistry, and biology--is mechanical materialism.This is the belief that the universe is a 'mechanism' operating according to fixed laws (although these may not all be known to human beings), and that there can be no immaterial substance such as a soul or spirit."

Well, I'm a simple-minded guy, and when I pick up a book of classic weird fiction the main thing I am seeking is that what I am reading succeeds as supernatural literature.I don't think a fourteen year old needs to understand HPL's philosophy to ascertain his brilliance as a story teller.When I write my own weird fiction, my one primary goal is that my readers find it strange, disturbing, scary.If it fails at that it has failed completely.The stories in this collection of Lovecraft's tales does not fail in any way -- despite the clueless critics who call him boring, monotonous, a bad writer, and other such bogus nonsense.In "Notes on Writing Weird Fiction," (which can be found in Volume 2: Literary Criticism of HPL's COLLECTED ESSAYS publish'd by Hippocampus Press) Lovecraft writes:

My reason for writing stories is to give myself the satisfaction of visualising more clearly and detailedly and stably the vague, elusive, fragmentary impressions of wonder, beauty, and adventurous expectancy which are conveyed to me by certain sights (scenic, architectural, atmospheric, etc.), ideas, occurrences, and images encountered in art and literature.I choose weird stories because they suit my inclinations best--one of my strongest and most persistent wishes being to achieve, momentarily, the illusion of some strange suspension or violation of the galling limitations of time, space, and natural law which for ever imprison us and frustrate our curiosity about the infinite cosmic spaces beyond the radius of our sight and analysis.These stories frequently emphasise the element of horror because fear is our deepest and strongest emotion, and the one which best lends itself to the creation of nature-defying illusions.Horror and the unknown or the strange are always closely connected, so that it is hard to create a convincing picture of shattered natural law or cosmic alienage or "outsideness" without laying stress on the emotion of fear.The reason why TIME plays a great part in so many of my tales is that this element looms up in my mind as the most profoundly dramatic and grimly terrible thing in the universe.CONFLICT WITH TIME seems to me the most potent and fruitful theme in all human expression.

HPL's greatest expression of this theme, "The Shadowe Out of Time," is not in this volume.But some of his greatest weird fiction is.From the early works such as the amusing "The Statement of Randolph Carter" to the magnificent prose poem "Nyarlathotep" on to such masterpieces of cosmic horror such as "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Colour Out of Space," this collection contains some of the most amazing and successful horror/sf fiction even penned."The Haunter of the Dark" remains my favorite tale by Lovecraft, a feast of suggestive Gothic weirdness that is terrifying and hypnotic.This is an excellent collection if you are reading H. P. Lovecraft for the first time.

Call of Cthulhu
"...all the earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom."

I have received numerous recommendations over the years for the work of horror legend H.P. Lovecraft, and have often been met with surprise when I admit that I had never read his work. While I am a horror and gothic enthusiast I always felt apprehensive about Lovecraft's work - after all, how could he possibly compare to such greats as Edgar Allen Poe and Sheridan Le Fanu?

Despite having the Tales of H.P. Lovecraft (edited by Joyce Carol Oates) sitting on my shelf, I decided to download Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" on my Kindle2 after seeing it mentioned in a group on LibraryThing. ( I apologize now, because I cannot for the life of me remember who brought it up recently, but it inspired me to give Lovecraft a try once and for all).

I am pleased to say that I was not disappointed. "The Call of Cthulhu" is a delightfully dark and twisted tale that has the ability to draw readers in from its first mysterious pages. The tale is presented from the point of view of a secondary source (the nephew and executor of a deceased professor) stumbling upon the research and first-person accounts regarding an ancient and malevolent entity by the name of "Cthulhu." As cult members practice dark arts in order to revive this creature from its watery depths, the narrator realizes with horror that it has already been done, and instills in readers a kind of apprehension that such a thing can be innocently done again, much to the detriment of all living creatures.

Lovecraft's style is at once elegant and non evasive, so his language adds to the understanding and delight of the reader as opposed to detracting from the story with superfluous prose. The evolution from nineteenth-century gothic literature is evident, which helps to ground the short story in a strong literary history, while allowing it to evolve into what audiences now call "horror."

Deceptive Description and Reviews
Looked like an alternate paperback version of the collection, from the description and also the reviews, but was actually only the short story.As others have said, buyer beware!

Thought I was getting more
For whatever reasons, I was under the impression that I was getting a collection of stories.

This was hardly worth what I payed for. ... Read more

Product Description
Garth Ennis Unleashed!John McCrea Unrestrained!Two of comics' most popular creators weave a strange tale of two jaunty friends and their mad escapades.See what these crazy fellas will do for a beer or even a laugh.If you thought Preacher was outrageous and Hitman was gratuitous, then wait until you see Dicks!Graphic Novel, fully illustrated in black and white. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Demented and delirious
It's no secret that Garth Ennis (Preacher, Punisher, Hitman, The Boys) has never been the most subtle when it comes to sick and twisted humor, and Dicks has it in spades.Dicks tells the incredibly vulgar adventures of wanna-be private detectives Ivor and Dougie: two Northern Ireland natives who hang with a motley crew and get themselves into all kinds of mayhem.Naturally, there is much vulgarity and release of bodily fluids, as any reader of Ennis would come to expect.Avatar Comics truly lets Ennis and artist John McCrea go wild with no restraints whatsoever.At the end of every issue, we are treated to single to double page spreads involving certain moments in history, and a charming girl named "Trio".Ennis knows how to shock and amuse at the same time, but there are plenty of times when it just feels like too much being thrown at the reader.This is helped by the black and white artwork of his longtime collaborator John McCrea, who manages to do his work free of consequence or restraint as well.As you can tell by now, Dicks is not for all tastes to be sure, and even some fans of Ennis' more sophisticated work may find this TPB to be too much as well.Despite that though, Dicks is a wonderful celebration of the uncensored comic form, from one of the most notably darkly humerous writers to ever grace the comic book medium.

If You Get Offended By This Book, Your DICKS
This is one of the wildest books I have ever read...EVER. I don't think I've ever read so many occurances of the "f" word, or laughed so hard, or out load, doing it. To say the content in this book is for mature readers is both true and false. I think it would be better to say: "for immature mature readers."
Dicks is the story of two lads from Belfast, Dougie and Ivor. After accidently killing his Uncle Shuggie, Ivor inherits his house, along with his problems. Mainly an order for moonshine to a mobster. Finding his uncle's recipe, he fills the order, and the mobster decides to continue buisness with Ivor. Needless, to say Shuggie's ghost, who shows up from time to time just to yell and curse, is not pleased.
Dougie moves in with Ivor after leaving his wife. Aside from the moonshine, Ivor gets it in his noggin that he wants to start a private detective buisness. They shall be called "The Dicks."
Dougie doesn't think this is such great idea, bringing up the point they have no experience, and they don't know how to find a case. Well, this is easily solved by way of a man at the front door with a knife in his back. He instructs our heros of secret meeting and dies.
At the meeting our heros stumple across a drug deal with THEM ending up with it. Ivor comes up with the idea to sell the drugs to the mobster, instead of the moonshine, not knowing they were the mobster's to begin with.
It should be noted that a good ninty percent of this book is written so that the characters speek in an Irish dialect, but it just adds to the charm. You quickly get accustomed to it. If there's something you don't understand, look in the back, a glossery is provided, along with probably the sickest pictures in the book.
This is definatly not a book for anyone who gets offended easily, or even not so easily. You have to just keep reminding yourself: "IT'S JUST A JOKE!" If it's true that everyone has a limit, "Dicks" aims to find it: either with the language, the art, "The History of Wanking," or maybe even with "Trio:The F-ing Whore" who can't help but take on three guys at once.
Yest, it is over the top. Yes, it is dis-tasteful. Yes, it is crude and vulgar...BUT THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! It tries to find every button it can, and like that annoying little kid at the elevator, it just keeps pressing that button. I've never been a fan of the term "pushing the envelope," but this, my friends completely sherds and spits on it.
On the back of the book it says that this guarentees it's creaters Garth Ennis and John McCrea (The team that brought us Hitman from DC Comics) a place in hell, and if you read it you'll be sent there too. Well...I've read it, I loved it, I hope theres more some day. If that condems me to burn in a lake of fire, then I hope I get to meet those two.

Sick does not even begin to describe this tale...
... of two Northern Irish reprobates, Dougie and Ivor, who decide to become (hopeless) private detectives, and along with their friends Willy, Spence and Wanker, get into a hell of a lot more trouble than they bargained for, thanks to their acquaintance Big Billy, a mysterious man called Bell, and Ivor's ex-uncle (I say ex-uncle because he appears as a ghost... but you can find the details out for yourself).

I've never seen a comic so depraved. Then again, I've never seen a comic so funny! Excellent stuff, but definitely NOT for the easily offended.

fun and wicked!
garth ennis rocks!no other author,except neil gaimen and john irving,makes me feel all giddy inside when i read their books.ennis is hilarious and very creative when he comes up with jokes. read this wacked out tale of two best friends and explore the zaniness of ennis' world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

ia ia Cthulhu fhtagn!!!
I have been gaming for over 15 years, ond only recently picked this up and played at a con. I love it. It's simple, easy to learn and play, and has an inherent flexibilty that makes it easy for Keeper's to make a judgement call on events not covered in the rules. (When in doubt, the Luck roll is a good bet).

If you want real horror, ignore the WoD and make it Cthulhu!

Useful even to non-lovecraft fans...
The Call of Cthulhu system, as written in the 5.5 and 6.0 versions, is one of the most complete systems I've ever found.

That is amazing, considering exactly how LITE the rules system is. There are very few hard and fast rules, with almost everything being handled by percentile dice. The system is very organic, with characters increasing in skill by performing them.

The characters in a Call of Cthulhu game are more 'real' than some similar games from other companies. They have a great sense of depth due to the occupation system used. Also, considering how lethal combat is in the game, you are greatly encouraged to think your way out of problems.

One other area that has been found by my group to be important is the ease of transfer from one 'style' of play to another. Whenever we are wanting to run any type of realistic game set in any era, we always look to the Call of Cthulhu rulebook for ideas. So far, we have run a wild west game and several other genres using the rules in this book.

In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming...
The works of master horror writer H.P. Lovecraft of the 1920s have influenced almost every single good horror writer to date, from Ann Rice to Stephen King. COC is likely the best RPG ever put to print, and the publisher Chaosium just makes things easier for players by adding content from their various supplements with each new edition. A typical game session has your characters snooping aroundfor clues, and interrogating various NPCs (non player characters), and then implementing a course of action. The climax of a campaign also often (unfortunately for players) includes one of the hideous deities of the Cthulhu Mythos, such as Azathoth, Cthulhu himself, Dagon, or, possibly the worst, Nyarlathotep, trickster god with a thousand avatars or "masks". COC is the only game that has ever given me, as the gamemaster, chills reading a supplement in the middle of the day. I also recommend picking up one of the numerous Cthulhu Mythos anthologies of short stories. Prepare to be scared

Yet another 5-star review
Doesn't it tell you something, that *every* review for this edition of this book gives it 5 stars? (Some of the out-of-print editions have reviews here too.) And let's face it, us RPG enthusiasts are not the sort of folks to shy away from criticizing.

Some people will say the Basic Roleplaying rule-set is outdated. It's true that games like Unknown Armies and Godlike are pretty cool, and I know people who are using those rules for their CoC games. But just try introducing a newcomer to those rules, or getting someone who's only played D&D before to convert. They get dizzy, I tell you. Nope, for a simple, elegant rule-set that just about anyone can grasp right off the bat, Call of Cthulhu's Basic Roleplaying has still got it, after more than 20 years. The rules fade into the background, where they belong.

And unlike other games with their multivolume core rulebooks and endless splatbooks that you *need* if you want a fully fleshed-out campaign, everything you really need is right there in this one rulebook. Heck, every time Chaosium does a new edition, they comb all the supplements for spells, monsters, skills, and so on, and add them into the new edition--to save you time and money! Chaosium even printed the entire short story, "The Call of Cthulhu," in this edition, so newbies can get a taste of what it's all about.

If you've got an older edition of CoC, you don't need to buy this one--the rule changes are quite minor. Unlike D&D, a new edition doesn't make everything you already know obsolete--"editions" of CoC are back-compatible with older editions and old supplements. Chaosium does new editions to keep the book in print and to make it a little better every time, not to force the fans to spend money. I bought it because my old book was getting worn out, and I wanted a more durable hardcover edition. Now I can loan out the old book to players. But I'm really happy with the little changes, and it's nice to have some of the information that used to be in adventures and supplements all gathered together in one book.

An Unforgetable Experience
I first read these tales in an "Armed Services Edition" of HP Lovecraft stories, back in 1944! Sitting underseas in a US Navy Submarine in the South Pacific, scared to death, and lonely for home, these stories gripped me so completely, I forgot my real fears of war.

That old book, now tattered and yellowed with age, was read by my son and daughter, who now want to pass it on to my grandchildren. It's time for me to replace it with a new Penguin edition before is falls apart, totally!

Lovecraft's writing has many weaknesses, flowery language, poor characterizations and vague plots. I see all these faults now, but they never bothered me when I first read him. Women don't seem to be apart of Lovecraft's world, and that is a shame. His stories were too short to correct these faults. Modern full novels, in the Lovecraft tradition, like "The Riddle of Cthulhu," are written with many of HPL's faults corrected; like the inclusion, for example, of unforgetable characters, romance and a believable plot. Still, the "Call" is the source and the classic horror book. You must experience these classic stories, then move on to today's modern "Lovecraft Style" novels! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

H. P. Lovecraft's Book of Horror
This anthology is an excellent find and read, given that it includes Lovecraft's essay on Supernatural Horror in Literature and then includes several of the stories that Lovecraft mentioned there. There were so many good stories that is was hard to pick a favorite one of the bunch, but "The Great God Pan" is probably the one that will stick with me the most.

The only thing that keeps this from being a five star review is that there were not enough stories included in the anthology, I felt. Understandably, there is only room for so many, but Lovecraft mentioned some stories that sounded so very interesting that I was disappointed to not seem them in the following pages.

Lovecraft's inspirations
One of Lovecraft's great achievements, aside from his tales of cosmic horror, was his non-fiction essay "Supernatural Horror In Literature".Written between 1925 and 1927,then later revised in 1935, it surveys the roots of weird fiction,from its origins in the gothic novel, through great authors such as Dickens and Kipling who dallied in the supernatural genre from time to time, up through "modern" (meaning 1930's) masters such as M.R. James and Clark Ashton Smith.

While the essay itself is readily available, including an excellent annotated edition, the older stories are harder to get ahold of.Many of them are obscure, rarely published, or part of several larger collections of that author's work, making it expensive to read the stories that inspired Lovecraft.

This book, "H.P. Lovecraft's Book of Horror", collects both Lovecraft's original essay along withtwenty one of the stories mentioned.The stories range from the famous, such as Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher", to the obscure, such as Bulwer-Lytton's "The House and the Brain".All of the stories are excellent, and any fan of weird fiction is going to find this a treasure trove.

The stories collected are:

Charles Dickens - The Signalman
Edward Bulwer-Lytton - the House and the Brain
Robert Louis Stevenson - The Body Snatcher
Hanns Heinz Ewers - the Spider
Theophile Gautier - The Foot of the Mummy
Guy de Maupassant - The Horla
Edgar Allan Poe - The Fall of the House of Usher
Ambrose Bierce - The Damned Thing
Marion Crawford - The Upper Berth
Robert W. Chambers - The Yellow Sign
Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman - The Shadows on the Wall
Ralph Adams Cram - Fishhead
Edwards Lucas White - Lukundoo
Clark Ashton Smith - The Double Shadow
Rudyard Kipling - The Mark of the Beast
E. F. Benson - Negotium Perambulans
Hugh Walpole - Mrs. Lunt
William Hope Hodgson - The Hog
Arthur Machen - the Great God Pan
M. R. James - Count Magnus

Lovecraftian Book Criticism 101
first off, while this is a wonderful book it doesn't actually include any of lovecraft's fiction.

highpoints:

what you will find is a copy of lovecraft's highly informative essay "supernatural horror in literature". this essay traces the roots of weird fiction from its earliest known appearence up to the present (which would've been the early 1930's when this essay was completed). after you've got the basics of what weird fiction is and how it has evolved, you are treated to the fruits of the works mentioned in the essay. included are de maupassant's "the horla", bierce's "the damned thing", and machen's "great god pan".

lowpoints:

each story is introduced with a quote from "supernatural horror in literature" which though seemingly good, in some cases divulges the ending of the particular story. this is another thing that can be maddening about the essay. so, if you'd like to read the stories with an unadulterated perspective, i'd recommend reading them before reading the essay or the story's introduction. one minor quibble is that this version of "supernatural horror" doesn't have an index which is included in the dover edition.

overall:

this is a great collection of late 1800's to early-mid 1900's weird fiction. it includes a sampling of the bulk of the best. the few flaws that are present though rather glaring, do not hinder this from being a fabulous anthology.

Lovecraftian Book Criticism 101
first off, while this is a wonderful book it doesn't actually include any of lovecraft's fiction.

highpoints:

what you will find is a copy of lovecraft's highly informative essay "supernatural horror in literature". this essay traces the roots of weird fiction from its earliest known appearence up to the present (which would've been the early 1930's when this essay was completed). after you've got the basics of what weird fiction is and how it has evolved, you are treated to the fruits of the works mentioned in the essay. included are de maupassant's "the horla", bierce's "the damned thing", and machen's "great god pan".

lowpoints:

each story is introduced with a quote from "supernatural horror in literature" which though seemingly good, in some cases divulges the ending of the particular story. this is another thing that can be maddening about the essay. so, if you'd like to read the stories with an unadulterated perspective, i'd recommend reading them before reading the essay or the story's introduction. one minor quibble is that this version of "supernatural horror" doesn't have an index which is included in the dover edition.

overall:

this is a great collection of late 1800's to early-mid 1900's weird fiction. it includes a sampling of the bulk of the best. the few flaws that are present though rather glaring, do not hinder this from being a fabulous anthology. ... Read more

Product Description
Rats in the WallsAfter its complete restoration, the narrator of this tale moves into his ancestral family home. Soon afterward, however, he begins to hear noises in the walls. Suspecting rats, he sets out traps but finds these vermin are not the kind so easily dispatched. One of the all-time creepiest of Lovecraft’s tales.The Shunned HouseIn the city of Providence stands an antique home of which everyone whispers. Never called “haunted” exactly, it is known as a place “unlucky,” one in which people have supposedly died in alarmingly great numbers. This is what Lovecraft’s narrator tells us, just before he and his uncle begin a series of investigations into the old place, a place with a terrible odor, one that is stronger in the basement than any place else--The Music of Erich ZannIn the city of Lights, an impoverished student hears incredible music coming from peaked garret overhead. He knows little of the violin, but is certain from the fantastic pieces he hears night after night that he is in the presence of a highly original genius. But, it isn’t long before he finds himself wondering, why does Zann only play at night? And why every night?The Dark Worlds Of H. P. Lovecraft Volume 4 is a 3 CD Set brought to life once again by the "voice" of Lovecraft ... Wayne June.Produced and Directed By Fred GodsmarkArtwork by Allen K ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Atmospheric 'straight' reading of HPL
Unlike other audio recordings I've listened to of Lovecraft's work, Wayne June's eschews hamminess or camping it up even at the stories' most luridmoments: he takes it all uniformly seriously throughout, which is all to the good, and his voice has a pleasing timbre.This set contains three unabridged readings of some of Lovecraft's best stories, 'The Rats In The Walls', 'The Shunned House', and 'The Music of Eric Zann'.All make for good audio experiences, though perhaps the 'historical' segment of 'The Shunned House' feels a little slow.One minor note, and one minor criticism.The minor note: in the original 'Rats' the narrator's cat was named Niggerman (after Lovecraft's own childhood pet).Here, to avoid needless offence, he is re-christened 'Mister Blackman', which is fine but of course fails to achieve the same stress-pattern in terms of prose-rhythm.The minor criticism: Mr June isn't too hot on French pronunciation, rendering Gilles de Rais as (hard-g) Gillis der Rates, as opposed to Jeelz de Ray, and fumbles a few other French names.Otherwise entirely a pleasure. ... Read more

Product Description
H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) is almost as famous for his letters as for his supernatural fiction. Of the estimated one hundred thousand letters that he wrote, one hundred and fifty-nine of them collected for the first time in this volume were written to Robert H. Barlow (1918-1951). . . . Barlow was only a teenager, living with his family in DeLand, Florida, when the famous writer began corresponding with him. He was enthusiastic for all things related to weird fiction, the pulp magazines and the people who wrote for them, and the emerging community of active fans. Like other fans of the period, Barlow published a fanzine, wrote stories and poems, and even tried his hand at printing. All of these endeavors the equally precocious Lovecraft encouraged. . . . The reader will find references to familiar names like Weird Tales, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and Harry Houdini. Lovecraft s letters to Barlow record much about that vanished time and prove to be among the liveliest of all his published correspondence. . . . While the letters in this volume touch mainly on literary matters, they also record Lovecraft's love of Florida. He visited the state several times twice as Barlow's guest and was enthralled by the vistas of live oaks and Spanish moss. He occasionally felt homesick for Florida when he was at home in Rhode Island, and he never yearned more to be in the Sunshine State than during cold New England winters. There was no doubt where he wished to be when he addressed a letter to Barlow, during the depths of one winter, as O Floridian More Fortunate than you can Realise. . . . In addition to letters, the reader will find an insightful introduction by the editors providing details and anecdotes about the friendship between Lovecraft and Barlow. The book is further enriched by Barlow's poignant memoir of Lovecraft in Florida, a glossary of notable people mentioned in the letters, autobiographical pieces by Barlow, and an invaluable index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Lovecraft-Barlow correspondence
A volume more directly related to pulp studies is Joshi and Schultz's recent collection of letters between Robert Barlow and H. P. Lovecraft.Lovecraft comes off as a fatherly figure in this series of letters with his encouragement of Barlow's various projects and his advice on writing.While this is an important collection of correspondence, compared to the letters between Lovecraft and Howard, these are relatively lightweight reading--no grand arguments or musings on politics or religion to say the least.

Gossip about the rest of the Lovecraft Circle also crops up in these letters.While most of it focuses on Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap long, and Donald Wandrei, mention of Robert E. Howard does come up.Most mentions are positive comments about his latest story in Weird Tales, though in a letter of July 9, 1936, Lovecraft writes:

His desperate response to the bereavement shows how highly-strung & neurotic he was, since most persons accept philosophically the inevitable loss of the older generation, even when the strongest degree of affection exists.(350)

While De Camp might have popularized the idea, Howard was "crazy," perhaps the idea unintentionally started with Lovecraft.

This volume has two annoying features.Given all the nicknames Lovecraft created for his circle of correspondents, Joshi and Schulz should have had a glossary identifying who they are in appendix.The other annoying feature is that the notes were done as endnotes at the end of each letter--I am much more a bottom of the page reader.Despite these annoyances, this is a valuable collection of letters for those interested in Lovecraft and his circle of correspondents.

Excellent book
The book is very interesant, because we can look at a Lovecraft and Barlow's friendship, and the philosophical thought of H. P. Lovecraft.

The great letter-writer finely edited
In the course of this correspondence, Lovecraft remarks on the young R. H. Barlow's love of fine bindings and first editions, noting that he, in contrast, is happy as long as he has the text in good order. Barlow would certainly have approved of this handsomely produced and bound volume; and Lovecraft would be delighted with the scholarly editing. (And, as he also comments on the literary value of some of his friends' epistles, perhaps he wouldn't be altogether shocked, despite his legendary self-deprecation, by the value accorded to his own letters.)

The letters themselves are, as the editors note in their introduction, among the richest and most human of Lovecraft's correspondence yet made available. Of most interest are the discussions of his own and others' writings - it's saddening to read that he considered his great novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward a failure, and enriching to follow his remarks about Fungi From Yuggoth and his other poems. The warmth of the friendship between the two comes through movingly. The book also contains a memoir of Lovecraft and a brief autobiographical text by Barlow, as well as Barlow's fascinating notes from conversations with Lovecraft.

Comparatively little of the material here is also in Selected Letters. Obviously not for the casual reader of horror fiction, the book is indispensable for anyone interested in Lovecraft as writer, correspondent and human being. ... Read more

Product Description
Over a dozen essential works by H.P. Lovecraft are in one giant collection with an easy to navigate table of contents.

At the Mountains of Madness
The Call of Cthulhu
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Color Out of Space
Darkness
The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dreams in the Witch-House
The Dunwich Horror
Herbert West: Reanimator
The Horror at Red Hook
The Horror in the Museum
Hypnos
Imprisoned with the Pharaohs
The Lurking Fear
The Other Gods
The Shadow Out of Time
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
Shunned House
The Thing on the Doorstep
Through the Gates of the Silver Key ... Read more

Product Description
"[Lovecraft's] dream fantasy works are as terrifying and haunting as his tales of horror and the macabre. A master craftsman, Lovecraft brings compelling visions of nightmarish fear, invisible worlds and the demons of the unconscious. If one author truly represents the very best in American literary horror, it is H. P. Lovecraft."
--John Carpenter, Director of At the Mouth of Madness, Halloween,
and Christine
This volume collects, for the first time, the entire Dream Cycle created by H. P. Lovecraft, the master of twentieth-century horror, including some of his most fantastic tales:
THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH--Hate, genocide, and a deadly curse consume the land of Mnar.
THE STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER--"You fool, Warren is DEAD!"
THE NAMELESS CITY--Death lies beneath the shifting sands, in a story linking the Dream Cycle with the legendary Cthulhu Mythos.
THE CATS OF ULTHAR--In Ulthar, no man may kill a cat...and woe unto any who tries.
THE DREAM QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH--The epic nightmare adventure with tendrils stretching throughout the entire Dream Cycle.
AND TWENTY MORE TALES OF SURREAL TERROR
Amazon.com Review
"One is drawn into Lovecraft by the very air of plausibilityand characteristic understatement of the prose, the question beingWhen will the weirdness strike?" writes Joyce CarolOates in The New York Review of Books. Del Rey hasreprinted Lovecraft's stories in three large-format paperbacks. Thissecond volume, 25 tales in all, collects the classic "Case of CharlesDexter Ward," the phantasmagoric novel "The Dream-Quest of UnknownKadath," several fantasies inspired by Lord Dunsany and other stories.Introduction by Neil Gaiman (author of the Sandman comics). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

Great Book
I'm not an avid reader of Lovecraft, but I'm familiar with his reputation. I had read some of his work years ago when I was younger, but the details are long-forgotten. This book is phenomenal, but I don't recommend it for first-time Lovecraft readers. I bought this book with another from this series, entitled "The Best of HP Lovecraft, Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror & The Macabre". I suggest, if you're new to Lovecraft, that you start with that one.
One thing I didn't realize about his work is that so much of it ties together. As you read through this book (and the other one as well), you'll notice a lot of the same characters popping up and many of the same locations, even some monsters make multiple appearances or are at least mentioned. My point is that if you start reading this Dream Cycle book, you're going to feel like you walked into a movie half-way through. There's a lot going on right away and it's a bit difficult to get your bearings. Try the "Best of" book first, it's a better introduction and contains more stories that stand alone.
That being said, this book is awesome. If you're a Lovecraft fan or at least somewhat familiar with his work, definitely check it out. If you're new and looking to try out Lovecraft for the first time, try the other book and come back to this one later.

Superb Introduction to H. P. Lovecraft's Weird Fiction
The book begins with a section entitled "Three Fragments," in which is printed "Azathoth," "The Descendant," and "The Thing in the Moonlight."A note following ye latter fragment notes: "As discovered editor/historian S. T. Joshi, the central portion of this fragment was taken from a letter Lovecraft wrote to Donald Wandrei.Opening and closing paragraphs were added by J. Chapman Miske."It was actually Schultz who made this discovery, I believe.As S. T. describes the situation in H. P. LOVECRAFT: A LIFE (pgs. 435/436):

"Later in the month of November Lovecraft had another peculiar dream, involving a street-car conductor whose head suddenly turns into 'a mere white cone tapering to one blood-red tentacle.'The account of this dream appears in a letter to Wandrei of November 25, 1927.This letter is of interest because it has proved the source of a hoax whereby a work entitled 'The Thing in the Moonlight' was spuriously attributed to Lovecraft.After Lovecraft's death, Wandrei had passed along the texts of both the Roman dream and this shorter dream to J. Chapman Miske, editor of SCIENTI-SNAPS.The Roman dream appeared in SCIENTI-SNAPS (under the title 'The Very Old Folk') in the Summer 1940 issue.When Miske renamed SCIENTI-SNAPS as BIZARRE, he printedthe other dream-account, adding opening and closing paragraphs of his own and calling the whole farrago 'The Thing in the Moonlight by H. P. Lovecraft'.August Derleth, not aware that this item was not entirely Lovecraft's, reprinted it in MARGINALIA (1944).When Miske saw the volume, he wrote to Derleth informing him of the true nature of the text; but Derleth must have forgotten the matter, for he reprinted the piece again as a 'fragment' in DAGON AND OTHER MACABRE TALES (1965).Only recently has the matter been clarified by David E. Schultz."

It is wrong to call this a "hoax," and in point of fact this very queer dream-image of Lovecraft's has inspir'd many other writers of Lovecraftian horror.Edward Lee has based an entire novel, the nasty and authentically Lovecraftian TROLLEY NO. 1852, on the dream.S. T. now excludes "The Thing in the Moonlight" from all modern editions of Lovecraft's tales, so this trade pb is one of the last few places where you'll be able to find it.

This book is, for me, the perfect introduction to Lovecraft for one who is reading his weird fiction for the first time.Here we have a rich mixture of HPL's various styles and approaches to the weird tale.It contains the magnificent prose poem, "Nyarlathotep," and also "The Nameless City," a tale that Lovecraft was fond of but that never saw professional publication in his lifetime.This book also includes a wonderful group of Lovecraft's earthy Gothic horrors, tales that have profoundly influenced by own horror fiction: "The Statement of Randolph Carter," "The Hound," "Pickman's Model," and what is my favorite of all of Lovecraft's fictions, the short novel THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD.Lovecraft was indeed a master of the atmospheric weird tale, and some of his finest conjurations of misty terror and squalid horror are contained within this excellent collection.Highly recommended!

An excellent Lovecraft primer
I have been a Lovecraft fan for 25 years, and while my literary tastes have widened considerably since my first readings of his work, I come back time and again for a thrill at his tales of horror and insanity from beyond the stars!While a relative unknown in his time, history has shown that Lovecraft's work has had a resounding impact on the horror genre, and many modern horror writers express their debt to Lovecraft's memes.And this collection, Dreams of Terror and Death, is an excellent compendium of his dream cycle work.

Highlights of this book include The Dreams in the Witch House, The Strange High House in the Mist, From Beyond, and The Hound.These four stories alone make this book worth buying, and would be a great introduction for a reader who is new to Lovecraft's work.Other excellent stories include The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and of course The Doom that Came to Sarnath.

I own 10 Lovecraft volumes, all of which are well-loved and well-read, but this tome rates among the finest and has found pride of place in my collection.

Cats and Night-Gaunts and Decadent Lost Cities
I have written elsewhere that I find H.P. Lovecraft to be a writer best taken in small doses. Short, judicious samplings of his stories are more appealing to me. But there are those readers who can't get enough stories by the Old Master. _The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death_ (1995) is a jumbo collection that should appeal to readers of this sort. Early in his career, Lovecraft wrote a number of dream fantasies in the style of Lord Dunsany. While they often had elements of horror, they tended to aim more towards the surreal and exotic than toward realistic terror. You will find more of the whimsical in this collection than in many other Lovecraft collections-- and that is something of a virtue.

_The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft_ contains two novels by Lovecraft, _The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath_ (1943) and _The Case of Charles Dexter Ward_ (1941), along with twenty-three short pieces. Three of the pieces-- "Azathoth," "The Descendant," and "The Thing in the Moonlight"-- are fragments, all pretty minor. One story, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key," is a collaboration with E. Hoffman Price, though Price insisted that the authorship was mostly Lovecraft's. It is a fairly imaginative piece of entertainment.

Four of the stories are Randolph Carter tales: "The Dream-Quest," "The Statement of Randolph Carter," "The Silver Key," and "Through the Gates of the Silver Key". I confess that I find Randolph Carter to be a rather weak-tea hero. His main talent seems to be an ability to retreat into dream worlds. Carter (and several other Lovecraftian dream heroes) are modeled heavily on Lovecraft himself. L. Sprague de Camp shrewly noted that there is a self-pitying element that creeps into some of the dream stories. The hero is portrayed as too high-toned and sensitive for a crass, uncaring world. "The Silver Key" and "Celephais" are two stories marred by this self-indulgence.

Four of the stories-- "Nyarlathotep," "Ex Oblivione," "Polaris," and "What the Moon Brings"-- are prose poems or mood pieces that Lovecraft wrote for several amateur journals in the early twenties. I have a certain fondness for them, especially "Ex Oblivione," but I cannot seriously consider them major pieces of writing.

More substantial short works are "The Doom that Came to Sarnath," a straight Dunsanian fantasy with a strong sense of the Old Testament about it; "The Cats of Ulthor," a fable about why killing cats became a capitol offense in one town; and "The Strange High House in the Mist," about a local philosopher who went on a journey into exotic lands and who returned-- but not unchanged. "Pickman's Model" and "The Dreams in the Witch House" are solid supernatural horror stories.

The two most interesting stories in the collection are the novels. _The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadith_ was written in 1926. _The Case of Charles Dexter Ward_ was written in 1927. Lovecraft expressed dissatisfaction with both of the stories and never submitted either of them for publication. They languished in his files until after his death in 1937. They were published posthumously in the early 1940s.

"The Dream-Quest" is a surrealistic series of adventures in which Randolph Carter wanders from one fantasy setting to the next, encountering sinister merchants, Moon-jumping cats, ghouls, night-gaunts, zebras, and more. There are allusions in this novel to "The Cats of Ulthar," "Celephais," "Pickman's Model," and other dream stories. Its strength is a strong imaginative charm that carries the reader along. Its weakness is a lack of plot-- a lack of unifying dream-logic, if you will-- and an unevenness of style.

"The Case..." is a supernatural horror tale involving Dark Doings in Lovecraft's native Providence, Rhode Island. It relies on a strong sense of setting and an almost tedious accumulation of documents for its effects. It moves slowly, but it is ultimately convincing when Lovecraft pulls out all the stops at the end. It is clearly the best story in the collection.

But there remains a question. Why include this novel in a dream cyle anthology? It is not particularly dreamlike or surrealistic, nor does it seem to be very Dunsanian in style. Rather, it tends to have a historically realistic flavor. A justification of sorts comes near the close of the novel. The good Dr. Willett is prowling through some mighty grisly catacombs, and he sees a symbol chiselled above a door: "It was the sign of Koth, that dreamers see fixed above the archway of a certain black Tower standing alone in the twilight-- and Willett did not like what his friend Randolph Carter had said of its powers" (305). Ah, yes. In "The Dream-Quest," we are told that Randolph Carter is aided by a band of ghouls in slipping through the cemetary kingdom of the Gugs, where the Tower of Koth dominates the landscape (134-135). So there is a dream connection of sorts.

I am sure that Lovecraft affictionadoes will love this collection. But the truth is that it consists of a lot of early pieces, when Lovecraft was doing a lot of imitation and before he had really found his voice. The overall quality is markedly uneven. There is a passable introduction by Neil Gaiman, but I somehow ended up with the feeling that he could have been telling me a lot more than he did. A better large collection is _The Best of H.P. Lovecraft_ (1965).

spellbinding in more ways than one
This might be a little different than most H.P. Lovecraft collections out there, especially since it is a collection of stories mostly dream-oriented or dream-inspired; also, don't be put off by the title. This book isn't as dark as most of the stuff Howard puts out. This book does have some fearful and horrific moments, but compared to Lovecraft's more well-known work these stories have a more colorful and (relatively) light-hearted aura about them... However, don't let this deter you, even if you are a diehard horror fan! Lovecraft's dream stories, in my opinion, are some of his best writings. Especially notable is the fragment "Azathoth" which serves as a sort of brief introduction to the rest of the book. This is some of Lovecraft's least cliched work, and includes some of his deepest and most unpredictable apparitions. If you like densely layered prose, unusual adjectives and detailed descriptions of fantasy worlds (both good and evil), then this book is for you. ... Read more

Product Description
Graphic Classics: H.P. Lovecraft is completely revised, with over 75 pages of new material. New to this edition are adaptations of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," illustrated by Simon Gane and "Dreams in the Witch House," by Pedro Lopez. Plus: "Sweet Ermengarde," a rare comedy by Lovecraft. Returning from the previous edition are "Reanimator," "The Shadow Out of Time," The Terrible Old Man" and "The Cats of Ulthar." With a stunning cover painting by Giorgio Comolo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Sweeeeet
H.P. Lovecraft has a certain.. Way with words.. Having some of his greatest tales like Shadow over Innsmouth brought to life in pictures is well worth this books low price. Tho it only has 7 stories in it, i did not hesitate to order my copy.
Very talented artists. Just overall amazing. :]

stunning
I love this book. I bought it because of my love of HP Lovecrafts work and am overjoyed with the quality and attention paid in the content provided in this book

Graphic Classics a good book to own and read
This is a very good book to read on a dark stormy night, all kidding aside though I did enjoy it, and found that some of the classics like Poe translate well over to graphic novel format, which was unexpected. It is like finding a treasure after high school forced reading of books that you could not associate with.

Overall five stars, enjoyed it a lot, worth picking up and reading.

A Fine Collection of Graphic Lovecraft
As a lover of Lovecraft's lovely writing for over ten years now, I eagerly awaited this in the mail, and it turned out to be a very fine addition to any Lovecraftian library. Starting off nicely with a dark and touching one page version of Lovecraft's excellent poem; "A Memory". Then onwards to one of my most treasured pieces of literature; "The Shadow over Innsmouth". As a friend of mine remarked some time ago, we have now seen five versions of this magnificent tale, a tale that according to acknowledged Lovecraft-scholar S. T. Joshi is a thinly veiled allegory for the, I quote; "horrors of miscegenation". Hence, as one would suspect, it is a tale very dear to my heart. We now have this tale in the original written form from Lovecraft, in the computer-game "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth", in the pen & paper RPG Call of Cthulhu's addition "Escape from Innsmouth", in the movie "Dagon" and now in the form of a graphic novel. It is a very fine adaption of the tale, and as has been previously pointed out, captures the "Innsmouth-look" and the feel of the story very well.

Then comes the recently filmed "Dreams in the Witch-House", once again this is very well done, mostly true to the story and not shortened to any significant degree. This is also very dark and eerie, like the original stories and the two previous tales between these covers.

The next tale is a to me previously unknown comedy tale, which is fine and slightly amusing, but not exactly what I was after in this type of book. It is very well made and so on, but oh well. Then follows "Herbert West: Reanimator", which is drawn by many different artists, something I'm not so fond of in this type of thing. This adaption is more text than drawing, so it doesn't really feel very thorough. Also, I laughingly noticed they had cut out the parts of the tale where Lovecraft is not so "up to date" in the department of Semitical Correctness. Pathetic, but quite common when it comes to adaptations of Lovecraft.

Then comes a highly amusing and artistically extremely well done adaption of the weird but great tale; "The Cats of Ulthar". Made of large but few drawings, I found this to be an excellent addition. Followed by a short but excellent version of the eerie tale "The Terrible Old Man". Then rounding off with a very aesthetically fine "The Shadow out of Time". As has been pointed out, I was amazed that it was possible to convey this long story of aeon-long terror in this few pages without loosing any of the essentials.

All in all a great addition to my library, but they could probably have replaced some of the material with other versions I've seen in various media. 4,5 stars.

THE BEST COMIC ADAPTATION YET OF LOVECRAFT'S WORK
The works of H.P. Lovecraft have never had great success when adapted for film, TV, or comics.I think in failing to understand the nature of the source material...Lovecraft's unseen, indescribable brand of terror, film directors and comic writers have always tried to too hard to bring his work into the light, instead of allowing it to fester in the shadows.This is why we've seen so many truly terrible film adaptations of his work.

I'm happy to say that Graphic Classics finally has it right!Rather than making wholesale changes, the stories stick to the source material and many of the tales in the book end up actually being illustrated stories as opposed to traditional sequential artwork.You can't explain Lovecraft to someone who doesn't get it, so why try.Graphic Classics almost stubbornly clings to the spirit and tone of the original stories and delivers the best comic adaptation yet of Lovecraft's work.

This is the recently released second edition of this title and it features seven stories including:The Shadow over Innsmouth, Dreams in the Witch House, Sweet Ermengarde, Herbert West:Reanimator, The Cats of Ulthar, The Terrible Old Man, and the Shadow out of Time.It's an eclectic collection to say the least.The Shadow over Innsmouth and Dreams in the Witch House are Lovecraft classics while Herbert West:Reanimator is probably Lovecraft's most macabre work.

The Shadow over Innsmouth relate the terrible story of a young man who visits the seaside New England town of Innsmouth, a dying, dilapidated town that reeks of fish.There he learns the terrible history of the town and of the strange, "Innsmouth look" of its inhabitants.He further finds out his own lineage is connected to Innsmouth.

Dreams in the Witch House draws upon Lovecraft's own upbringing in New England of the old gabled houses, many of which still stand today.A student named Walter Gilman rents a room in one of these ancient homes, a room with oddly configured geometry.His dreams are haunted by the spirit of a witch named Keziah Mason who fled Salem centuries earlier, and her rat familiar Brown Jenkin.

Lovecraft was not a fan of Herbert West:Reanimator, considering it spectacular drivel.There's no questioning though it's influence on the modern day Zombie lore.The story is told by an unnamed assistant to West.West begins to experiment with trying to revive corpses while at Miskatonic University.With a further need for fresh bodies, he becomes an army surgeon during World War I, and is soon animating not only entire bodies, but body parts as well.The original story, and this adaptation, is far better than the campy films starring Jeffrey Combs.A truly ghoulish story and masterfully done by Tom Pomplun and artists Richard Corben, Rick Geary, J.B. Bonivert, and Mark A. Nelson.

Shadow Out of Time by Matt Howarth is another strong piece.This is a Cthulhu Mythos story about a man possessed by one of the Great Race of Yith who have mastered time travel and can transfer their conscious into the minds of other living beings.It is Professor Peaslee's unfortunate burden to learn about them and the Ancient Ones who even the Great Race fears and tries to keep locked away.

Only Sweet Ermengarde seems a curious choice for inclusion, if for nothing else other than the fact that it is one of Lovecraft's least well-known stories.This is a book that Lovecraft fans can rejoice in as Eureka Production as finally done Lovecraft right.


REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Extremely Rad!
I love all five of the Collected Essays volumes edited by S. T. Joshi for Hippocampus Press -- but this final volume has a special allure for me.I return to it often as a reference tool when I am penning my wee Cthulhu Mythos stories and want to check some point of reference in Lovecraft's Commonplace Book, from which (like Derleth) I cull much inspiration.The annotated text here is deriv'd from Lovecraft's autograph manuscripts and thus is the most sound and authoritative.THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK IS THIS:

Introduction, by S. T. Joshi

PHILOSOPHY
The Crime of the Century
The Renaissance of Mankind
Liquor and Its Friends
More Chain Lightning
Symphony and Stress
Old England and the "Hyphen"
Revolutionary Mythology
The Symphonic Ideal
"Editor's Note" to "The Genesis of the Revolutionary War" by Henry Clapham McGavack
A Remarkable Document
At the Root
Time and Space
Merlinus Redivivus
Anglo-Saxondom
Americanism
The League
Bolshevism
Idealism and Materialism--A Reflection
Life for Humanity's Sake
[In Defense of Dagon]
Nietzscheism and Realism
East and West Harvard Conservatism
The Materialist Today
Some Causes of Self-Immolation
Some Repetitions on the Times
A Layman Looks at the Government
The JOURNAL and the New Deal
A Living Heritage: Roman Architecture in Today's America
Objections to Orthodox Communism

AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MISCELLANY
The Brief Autobiography of an Inconsequential Scribbler
A Confession on Unfaith
[Diary: 1925]
[Commercial Blurbs]
Cats and Dogs
Notes on Hudson Valley History
Autobiography of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
In Memoriam: Henry St. Clair Whitehead
Some Notes on a Nonentity
Correspondence between R. H. Barlow and Wilson Shepard of Oakman, Alabama--Sept.-Nov. 1932
In Memoriam: Robert Ervin Howard
Commonplace Books
Instructions in Case of Decease
[Diary--1937]
[NOTES FOR STORIES]
--[Notes to "Medusa's Coil"]
--[Notes to AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS]
--[Notes to "The Shadow over Innsmouth"]
--[The Round Tower]
--[The Rose Window]
--Of Evill Sorceries Done in New-England, or Daemons in No Humane Shape
--[Notes on "The Shadow outof Time"]
--[Notes to "The Challenge From Beyond"]
MISCELLANEOUS LISTS AND NOTES
[1] Catalogue of Prov. Press Co.
[2] Catalogue of Works (1902)
[3] [Postal Expenses]
[4] Old Farmer's Almanacks Wanted by H. P. Lovecraft
[5] [Notes on Clothing Stores]
[6] [Works Desired by H. Warner Munn]
[7] [Works of Weird Fiction]
[8] Tales by H. P. Lovecraft
[9] Basic Books for a Weird Library
[10] [Remembrancer]
[11] [List of Amateur Papers]
[12] [Possible Collections of Tales]
[13] [Magazine Addresses]
[14] [List of Individuals to Be Sent "The Battle That Ended the Century"]
[15] [List of Correspondents to Whom Postcards Have Been Sent]
[16] Suggested Recipients for Dragon Fly Outside Memb. List of NAPA
[17] Fungi from Yuggoth and Other Verses
[18] [Notable Stories in Recent Issues of WEIRD TALES]
[19] "Little Magazines"
[20] [Worthy Stories in Recent Issues of WEIRD TALES]
[21] [Pronunciation Guide]
[22] Tales of H. P. Lovecraft
Weird &c Items in Library of H. P. Lovecraft

APPENDIX
[Advertisement of Revisory Services]
[Advertisement in the NEW YORK TIMES]
The Recognition of Temperance
[Advertisement in WEIRD TALES]
[Biographical Notice]
Preface [to OLD WORLD FOOTPRINTS]
[E'ch-Pi-El Speaks]
Robert Ervin Howard: 1906-1936

Chronology of the Works of H. P. Lovecraft
Index of Titles
Index [to all five volumes of the COLLECTED ESSAYS publish'd by Hippocampus Press]

This book of essays &c is such a treasure trove of nameless delight!It is a book to which I constantly return, just for the sheer joy of dipping into it and relishing all of the facets that made up this fascinating gentleman.S. T. has supply'd Notes at the end of each section in which he supplies historical fact and other interesting tidbits, and these are followed by Notes related to the texts.Because I am a professional Cthulhu Mythos author who is obsess'd with Lovecraft's weird fiction and poetry, it is the latter portion of the book that completely captivates me.The book is illustrated with Lovecraft's sketches that are found in his personal correspondence and his notes (for example, the entire page 245 is taken up with a reproduction of the back of an envelope onto which HPL has scribbled his Notes for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, including a his drawing of one of ye Cosmic Things).Of course, the Commonplace Book is where August Derleth found most of the tidbits with which he compos'd his fake posthumous collaborations "with" HPL, and the entries "The Round Tower" and "The Rose Window" are the two chunks of Lovecraft's writing that Derleth incorporated into his novel, THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD (but here they are ye Corrected Text versions, not the flaw'd versions actually found in Derleth's entertaining novel).

The volume is available in handsome hardcover and sturdy trade paperback editions.They are bewitching, amusing, fascinating books that shew us the Life & Mind & Soul of this fantastic author.
... Read more

Product Description
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
–H. P. LOVECRAFT

Welcome to the world of H. P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of terror. His work has inspired countless nightmares, and this collection of some of his most chilling stories is likely to inspire even more.

Cool Air–An icy apartment hides secrets no man dares unlock.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward–Ward delves into the black arts and resurrects the darkest evil from beyond the grave.
The Terrible Old Man–The intruders seek a fortune but find only death.
Herbert West–Reanimator–Mad experiments yield hideous results in this bloodcurdling tale, the inspiration for the cult film Re-Animator.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth–A small fishing town’s population is obscenely corrupted by a race of fiendish undersea creatures.
The Lurking Fear–An upstate New York clan degenerates into thunder-crazed mole like creatures with a taste for human flesh.

PLUS TEN OTHER SPINE-TINGLING TALES



From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

great
This book was nice and clean, and I was very pleased with it.It is important to me to have books in good shape.

Review of Waking Up Screaming: Haunting Tales of Terror
What a GREAT book. Once you get used to the literary style of H.P.Lovecraft, he takes you away to a place where your imagination runs wild! I can't put the book down, and when I have to, I can't wait to get back to the story. And it's also good because it's short stories, so you don't get bogged down in a long story that goes on forever. I can't give this book a high enough review, it is great scary stuff.

Accessible Lovecraft Anthology
There may be better collections of Lovecraft's work out there, but this is one of the most accessible anthologies on the market today. Almost none of the stories have anything to do with the otherworldly mythology Lovecraft created, but all of them are examples of the eerie style that originated with the author. Many of the stories are short, and some of them are throwaways. Few of them reference Miskatonic University, the fictitious academy that is at the center of Lovecraft's best-known works. But there are some true gems here. Among them are:

Herbert West - Reanimator: in which many aspects of the "Frankenstein" novel are reinterpreted in an even more sinister light.

The Outsider: in which Lovecraft explores an almost Edgar Allen Poe-like pathos.

Shadow Over Innsmouth: containing enough paranoia to keep any conspiracy theorist happy.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: containing a meticulously researched colonial-era backstory, and one of Lovecraft's best fleshed-out doomed heroes.

As horror writers go, Lovecraft never really jolts you while the book is open. But his stories have an insidious way of working their way into your imagination and inspiring nightmares. They possess a consistent, unnerving and disturbing worldview that's impossible to forget. Many thanks to Del Rey for keeping this author available in readily affordable paperback editions!

Unknown Fear
H.P. Lovecraft revitalized the Horror genre (too bad it wasn't noticed until after his death).Between Poe and King, Lovecraft stealthily introduced "cosmic" horror; a mix of mythology, science fiction and horror.It is his combination of science fiction and horror that really introduced a new way to look at the fear of the unknown.

Waking Up Screaming has a collection of some fine stories, but some of the themes were a little too repetitive for me.The discovery of an unknown entity or mythical heritage seems to take-up the bulk of these stories.While I appreciate the author's contribution to genre with these stories, my fault lies with the publisher putting too many similar stories together in one collection.

The central theme in most of the stories, besides a strong focus on how family heritage and its bloodlines can warp the family tree, is the knowledge that there are things in this universe that can not be explained.Many stories introduce the reader to terror that is beyond description - literally.Lovecraft purposely does not describe the terror in detail because the characters can not comprehend what they see without going mad.

Lovecraft really brings this theme to the forefront, almost as a guide to the reader, in his story the "The Unnamable".The protagonist in "The Unnamable" attempts to explain to his skeptical friend why he has a "preoccupation with the mystical and unexplained".That not everything has "fixed dimensions, properties, causes and effects...." there are things beyond our imagination that have no motive and can not be processed in our limited reality.The skeptic is of course, just like the reader, made a believer as the two characters are attacked by an "unnamable" or indescribable beast.

There are some great stories here and well worth a read to follow the development of the horror genre."Cool Air", "The Hound", "The Unnamable", "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", "Herbert West - Reanimator", "Arthur Jermyn" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" are all important stories in Lovecraft's legacy.

First taste of the horror of Lovecraft...
This is a great set of some of Lovecraft's stories. Not the best, book good for what it is. This is my first book of Lovecraft stories, and has gotten me hooked onto all of works. This book contains sixteen stories. Not all are great, but none are bad. Some of the ones in here that I love is Herbert West - Reanimater, The Hound (scared the heck out of me!), The Outsider (the band Nile gets their debut album title from this book), Cool Air, The Lurking Fear, The Shadow Over Innsmouth (a Lovecraft classic), and others. If you're looking for any of the stories that are within the Cthulhu mythos, you won't find any here (though Shadow Over Innsmouth contains a brief reference to Cthulhu). You get sixteen stories, some awesome, some good, for a cheap price. If you want a collection with some of his best stories, then get The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and Macabre. ... Read more

Product Description
----NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reade or your iPod e-book reader. -----

From the mind of pulp great, H.P. Lovecraft.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien.

He's developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore.

His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Christian humanism.

-----48 Stories included in this volume
The Beast in the Cave;
The Alchemist;
The Tomb;
Dagon;
A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson;
Sweet Ermengarde;
Polaris;
The Green Meadow;
Beyond the Wall of Sleep;
Memory
Old Bugs;
The Transition of Juan Romero;
The White Ship;
The Doom that Came to Sarnath;
The Statement of Randolph Carter;
The Terrible Old Man;
The Tree;
The Cats of Ulthar;
The Temple;
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn;
The Street;
Poetry and the Gods;
Celephais;
From Beyond;
Nyarlathotep;
The Picture in the House;
The Crawling Chaos;
Ex Oblivione;
The Nameless City;
The Quest of Iranon;
The Moon-Bog;
The Outsider;
The Other Gods;
The Music of Erich Zann;
Herbet West: Reanimator;
Hypnos;
What the Moon Brings;
Azathoth;
The Horror at Martin's Beach;
The Hound;
The Lurking Fear;
The Rats in the Walls;
The Unnamable;
The Festival;
The Shunned House;
The Horror at Red Hook;
He;
In the Vault ----

Full of intrigue, romance and adventure, this collection is a must for pulp literature fans! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Fantastic Collection from one of the Original Horror Masters
HP Lovecraft, creator of the Cthulhu mythos, is one of the original horror masters.His stories have influenced Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Bentley Little, and many other modern horror authors.This is an unbelievable value, collecting an insane amount of material into one book for less than a dollar.If you're interested into experiencing cosmic horror, in exploring lurking fear and the Outer Gods - you cannot go wrong with this purchase.

The only potential downside is that the vocabulary is fairly difficult.Expect to use a dictionary every once in a while to check out a complicated term or antiquated phrasing.The good news is that the Kindle makes this easy.

Great book - poor Kindle translation
The book itself is excellent and I recommend it to any fan of Lovecraft.Like so many others I thought Lovecraft's stories always center around dark passages way below more modern structures - caverns that have existed for aeons and have been populated by bizarre creatures.While reading the stories in this book I have found that my initial impression is incorrect. There is much more to Lovecraft's stories. This collection contains a large number of stories and is much more representative of the way Lovecraft wrote.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book.I also wholeheartedly recommend that it not be bought in Kindle form.

I am becoming increasingly disgusted with Kindle.In this particular book I have noticed numerous typos, misspellings, and other errors.Granted, the errors I have found so far (and I've read a bit over 50% of the book) are not major, but they detract from my enjoyment of the book.

For example, I found that a protagonist in one story thrust a "candie" into a dark area.I found the word "shewed" misspelled as "showed" and then printed as "shewed" for the rest of the story.I found a word split into two words and then printed as one word a few sentences further along in the text.

I have not finished any book on my Kindle that is free from numerous errors.

It seems that Amazon doesn't have decent quality control or that they are not concerned with accuracy.I paid a lot of money for my Kindle and I run across error after error.

Exceptional Value for Exceptional Stories
Very happy with this purchase.If I compared this to chocolate, this would be like getting a huge sampler box of gourmet candies that I didn't have to share with anyone (which never happens *sob*).It is a rare treat to find all of these classic works in portable format so beautifully presented at this price.

Supernatural masterpieces
I've long admired the writing of Lovecraft.I misplaced or lent out the book I had of his which included many of the same titles this one has.Realizing that all of his works are available for a small fee from Amazon's Kindle I've downloaded the complete set and sent this book to a good friend, hoping he'll become Lovecraft literate.

Amazing value!
I just can't get over what a good deal this is: if you buy all 4 volumes, you get all of Lovecraft's works, well-formatted with a linked table of contents, for $3.20!!!!! Just awesome. ... Read more

Product Description
Synopsis"For anyone interested even faintly in good horror writing, what we have here is pure gold: Lovecraft's own selection of the best the genre has to offer, along with his comments on the individual stories. Talk about the horse's mouth! This book is long overdue."- Peter Straub "Lovecraft opened the way for me, as he had done for others before me -- Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, and Ray Bradbury among them. The reader would do well to remember that it is his shadow, so long and gaunt, and his eyes, so dark and puritanical, which overlie almost all of the important horror fiction that has come since."- Stephen King "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear."- H.P. Lovecraft ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Historic Collection of Gothic Tales of the Supernatural
Great collection of the best of the mystery horror writers of all time.Many of the short stories ,you may have read at some point in school.And some great macabre tales,that you may not have read yet.Altogether in this chilling anthology of the most enthralling and captivating literary series around.They're richly crafted,and true ghastly gems of horror. It's even more fun to read them,during an autumn midnight.In the full moonshine,beyond the kailyard gate.-Momento Mori.

A Nice Selection of Stories
I found this book while browsing the horror section in a bookstore. The stories collected are among those that H. P. Lovecraft thought as excellent examples of supernatural and weird tales.What I liked about the book is that it brought together several stories that were unfamiliar and intriguing.One of these was Brahm Stoker's "The Burial of the Rats," which turned out to be an atmospheric story of the criminal element of Paris.Another is a story by Guy de Maupassant- "Who Knows" - where the furniture in the protagonist's house suddenly walks off, piece by piece, and Conan Doyle's "The Captain of the Pole Star" is an atmospheric ghost story set in the arctic; and finally, "The Middle Toe of the Right Foot" by Ambrose Bierce was very atmospheric.The book includes stalwart words like Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw" and Poe's "MS Found in a Bottle."

Overall, this is a good selection of stories made a bit more interesting by the interest Lovecraft had for them. Each story is prefaced by remarks by Lovecraft that give his appraisal of the work.The stories are arranged chronologically and provide an idea how horror literature developed among American and British authors.The earliest story is by Washington Irving - The Tale of a German Student - which is interesting and not a humorous ghost like the Headless Horseman and ends with a peculiar tale of transformation by Arthur Machen.I highly recommend the book to those interested in supernatural stories.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Alien Libraries, Bloody Pictures, and Voices in the Darkness
H.P. Lovecraft was a writer of considerable faults. He had a stiff and arthritic style of writing, his plots were often little more than depositions that ended with the hero scribbling away (with pen and ink, no less!) while an Unspeakable Horror was breaking down the door, and his supernatural horrors were often little more than peep shows brought on at the end of the story. A number of his heroes, like Randolph Carter, were pipsqueak dreamers who retreated from the world rather than active heroes like Solomon Kane, Northwest Smith, or Jules de Grandin.

I have always found Lovecraft to be a writer best taken in small doses. _The Color Out of Space_ (1963) is a collection of seven Lovecraft tales, a manageable number for me. Predictably, it displays some of his faults. But it also displays some of his virtues, and I find that I can recommend this collection with some degree of enthusiasm.

Let us check the pedegree of these stories. Five of the entries came from _Weird Tales_ between 1924 and 1939. They are: "The Picture in the House," "The Call of Cthulhu," "Cool Air," "The Whisperer in Darkness," and "The Terrible Old Man". Two of the stories were first published in science fiction magazines: "The Colour Out of Space" (_Amazing_, 1927) and "The Shadow Out of Time" (_Astounding_, 1936). These last two stories are the best in the book and are for my money among the best that HPL ever wrote.

"The Shadow Out of Time" was the cover story in _Astounding_. The artist did a credible job depicting a scene in which the hero encounters a giant conical creature in an alien library, to their mutual surprise. But the cover was done with a touch of whimsy. There is nothing whimsical about Lovecraft's account of the library buried in the Australian desert, the monsters within it, and the aftermath of the expedition. There is a twist at the end of the story, but it is a logical one. When Lovecraft wrote science fiction stories rather than his dream fare, his stories became more solid and realistic.

"The Colour Out of Space" is another such story. It is not quite as imaginative as "The Shadow Out of Time" or "At the Mountains of Madness," (not in this collection) but it is still competently crafted. You may remember "Colour" from its many reprintings or from the occasional (bad) movie made of it. It's the one about the force in a meteorite in a blasted heath that bleeds the color and vitality and life out of a New England countryside.

The entries from _Weird Tales_ are a bit more uneven. "The Terrible Old Man" is a minor piece about three scoundrels (all foreigners) who get their Just Desserts. It has a companion story, "The Strange High House in the Mist," that is much more imaginative. (Alas, it also is not in this collection.) "Cool Air" is a fairly routine horror tale with a somewhat telegraphed ending. I believe that this one was televised once on _Night Gallery_. "The Picture in the House" is a straightforward horror tale with little supernatural trappings. It is about a "seeker after horror" who eventually finds what he is looking for in an old farmhouse but who is providentially saved.

"The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Whisperer in the Darkness" are two entries in Lovecraft's Cthulhu (pronounced "Thuh-luh") sequence. The first story is a touch more on the supernatural side, while the second ismore science fictional, treating the gods as travelors to this planet from Pluto who are subject to a certain number of natural laws. L. Sprague de Camp rightly notes that Lovecraft took his Cthulhu stories less seriously and treated them less consistently than later writers. In any event, both stories are fairly good fantasies, the best of the _Weird Tales_ pieces.

If I were going to introduce a reader to Lovecraft, this is the first book that I would pick. It is not without faults. It has its share of references to eldrich horrors, blasphemous books, and unspeakable perversions. But the percentage of good stories is passably high, and there is enough variety to give the reader an idea of the type of stories that Lovecraft wrote. It is-- dare I say it?-- entertaining. Get yourself a copy right now.

Fine Old School Horror, but a little too much repetition
A collection of short stories from one of the legends of the horror genre.The title story is pretty good, with perhaps a shade more emphasis on science fiction than usual, but still rather standard fare for this author - he's written several others that are just like it and some of them are even included in this very collection.Once you've read a few such, it's hard to get excited about them.Of somewhat more interest are the shorter tales that diverge a little more from the usual pattern, like the repugnant "Picture in the Cottage" and the chilling "Cool Air".Like so many genre writers, Lovecraft is good at what he does, but only has so many tricks up his sleeve, so no matter how well executed they are, once you've seen them, they're not nearly so impressive the next time around.So if you've never read Lovecraft at all, by all means pick up one of his collections, and find out how they did horror Old School.This one is certainly adequate.But if you've read some Lovecraft and weren't entirely blown away by it, this collection isn't going to change your mind. ... Read more

Product Description

(N.B.  this new edition has corrected the formatting issues that has been voiced by some Lovecraft fans...)

Customer Reviews (5)

Cthulu Mythos
Many of Lovecraft's stories can be as creepy as they are wordy.However, he basically invented the horror genre as we know it. His style has been often imitated but rarely duplicated, and in this collection H.P. Lovecraft will use your mind against you in a devious Spanish influenza type fashion.

Excellent collection
I think this was the first complete Lovecraft collection to be published for the Kindle, and I snapped it up as soon as it came out.I have been extremely pleased with it -- it has a linked table of contents and far fewer typos than I typically see in Kindle reprints.

What more needs to be said?Lovecraft created his own bizarre universe, where the means of human extinction lives in the basement, or out in the well, or in that abandoned church across town or sleepy village down the road.There's nothing else quite like it.

This collection "re-Kindled" my love for Lovecraft
I've read quite a bit of Lovecraft over the years, but what really attracted me to this collection was that it had been "Kindle-lized." I have a similar anthology in hard cover, but it's too heavy to pack around and I don't spend that much time at home. So this is really a Kindle review. Having it -- and some other classics -- allows me to read on the plane, at the coffee shop or at the gym.

BTW, despite what some reviewers may say about the Kindle being clunky, it's still a great improvement over the Sony and comparable readers. I had the opportunity to look at the newest Sony e-book reader this weekend at Fry's The Sony's only advantage that I could see was that it does 8 shades of gray through black compared to my Kindle's four shades. This electronic-ink enhancement didn't make much difference in the readability of the text (a little but not much). It would I suppose make for better graphics, but that's one limitation I see in most Kindle edition -- whoever Kindle-lized the text didn't bother to mess with graphics,probably because there's a few hoops one has to jump through to make the graphics look good on the Kindle. I did the conversion to Kindle for my publisher, Swimming Kangaroo. I relied on "Graphics on the Kindle" by Manuel Burgos (available as a Kindle edition, of course) and IF Amazon ever deems to include it on my Novel's page, buy the Kindle edition to see what I mean. The Kindle edition will probably be $4, but the cover and the ten interior B&W illustrations look great. My author photo looks for you know what, but there wasn't much hope there anyway.

That's the one reason I probably rated this product four stars instead of five. It would have been cool to include some old-time pulp fiction images sprinkled through the text. It can be done so as to really add value to the product. Anyone that publishes to Kindle is missing an opportunity if they don't do so.

Kindle Edition: Great Author. Great Stories. terrible Formatting
The stories themselves are terrific and stand alone in it's genre.
The formatting of this Kindle edition is terrible though.
The next story starts imediatly after the last so, depending on your font size, you frequently get the begining of a story in the middle of the page.I find this very annoying.I found the following Lovecraft collections much better.

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

The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death

The Transition of H. P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness

Free SF Reader
A mindblowing blast of the horrors out of space, now here on earth, and other nastiness.Cthulhu lives.

What if there were ominipotent superior alien beings in the depth of history.What happens if you encounter the remnants of their existence?Why would you want to?Even worse, what happens if they start to come back or idiots try to help them to do so.Lovecraft's ideas are everywhere today, amazing stuff indeed.

A collection of 69 stories by the same guy that average over 3.5 is truly impressive.

The Nameless City
The Festival
The Colour out of Space
The Call of Cthulhu
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
Dreams in the Witch-house
The Haunter of the Dark
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The Shadow out of Time
At the Mountain of Madness
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Azathoth
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Celephais
Cool Air
Dagon
Ex Oblivione
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
From Beyond
He
Herbert West: Reanimator
Hypnos
Imprisoned with the Pharaohs
In the Vault
Medusa's Coil
Memory
Nyarlathotep
Pickman's Model
Poetry of the Gods
The Alchemist
The Beast in the Cave
The Book
The Cats of Ulthar
The Crawling Chaos
The Descendant
The Doom That Came to Sarnath
The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Evil Clergyman
The Horror at Martin's Beach
The Horror at Red Hook
The Hound
The Lurking Fear
The Moon Bog
The Music of Erich Zann
The Other Gods
The Outsider
The Picture in the House
The Quest of Iranon
The Rats in the Walls
The Road To Madness
The Shunned House
The Silver Key
The Statement of Randolph Carter
The Strange High House in the Mist
The Street
The Temple
The Terrible Old Man
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Tomb
The Transition of Juan Romero
The Tree
The Unnamable
The White Ship
Through the Gates of the Silver Key
What the Moon Brings
Polaris
The Very Old Folk


... Read more

Product Description
#A nameless terror surges through centuries to engulf the soul of Charles Dexter Ward, a brilliant New England antiquarian. Evil spirits, malefic gods whose memory lives on in whispered legends and fear-stricken superstitions, still lurk in vile catacombs beneath the surface of a blighted land. Ward is driven to unleash these loathsome horrors upon a defenceless world, possessed by the demonic shade of his ancestor Joseph Curwen, a warlock steeped in the blackest arts of magic. Now Ward too must master these obscene rituals, and pay the price in blood. Human blood.The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward remains the only full-length work of fiction by HP Lovecraft, the master of 20th century horror. It has inspired such classic horror films as Roger Corman's The Haunted Palace and Lucio Fulci's The Beyond.This new edition also includes Lovecraft's rare History of the Necronomicon, plus a challenging new introduction by DM Mitchell (editor, The Starry Wisdom).#DM Mitchell is the editor of the acclaimed Lovecraftian anthology The Starry Wisdom (Creation Books, 1995), and now Associate Editor of Creation Oneiros. He lives in Wales, UK.#H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) is the most important and influential horror writer of the twentieth century. His stories of occult nightmare and cosmic terror have drawn praise from William S. Burroughs, Angela Carter and Jorge Luis Borges and continue to inspire new generations of writers, film-makers ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

You Need a Bit of Patience
Perhaps a bit of this novel's history might not be amiss. _The Case of Charles Dexter Ward_ is a 48,000 word novel that Lovecraft wrote in 1927. It is his longest work. A handwritten copy of the manuscript languished in HPL's files while he puttered around with an essay on the supernatural and a travel book on Canada (for which he was paid nothing). Several publishers had expressed an interest in a novel by Lovecraft. But he did not want to bother with the rigors of typing and revising the work. After Lovecraft's death in 1937, the manuscript was discovered in sections. It was serialized in the May and July 1941 issues of _Weird Tales_. It has since been published as a solo novel or as a part of various collections. I have read that the current version of the novel is faulty because of August Derleth's editing, but I reserve judgement on this issue.

_The Case of Charles Dexter Ward_ is one of Lovecraft's better stories, but it requires a certain amount of patience to appreciate. A supernatural horror novel by Theodore Sturgeon, Fritz Leiber, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, or Ramsey Campbell usually has a fair amount of narrative action. Characters act and react with the supernatural forces throughout the novel. Think of _The Dreaming Jewels_, _Conjure Wife_, _Something Wicked This Way Comes_, _It_, and _Hellraiser_. The Lovecraft novel doesn't have a lot of action, and it gets off to a rather slow start. Instead, it has historical accounts, letters, medical reports, diary entries, and newspaper quotations. Not exactly spicy reading on the face of it. But they provide authenticity and detail. Slowly, slowly, a little bit at a time, Lovecraft makes his horror real. When he pulls out all the stops at the end, the results are completely believable.

The story itself involves a modern young man with antiquarian tastes (much like Lovecraft himself) who becomes fascinated with an eighteenth century ancestor of his named Joseph Curwin who was suspected of black necromancy. He retreats into a laboratory, and his behavior becomes more and more bizarre. Only Dr. Willett, the family doctor, suspects that Charles Dexter Ward is not quite as insane as most people think. Blended into the mix are Ward's parent's, a frightened butler, an unwholesome portrait, some sinister servants, ghoulish goings-on in the local cemetery, attacks by wolflike creatures, books of spells, and the bodies of strange creatures washed up on the Providence Bay rocks.

Sometimes Lovecraft's sense of delicacy misfires. When he discusses a ghoulish discovery made by some truck hi-jackers, he says: "It would not be well for the national-- or even the international-- sense of decorum if the public were ever to know what was uncovered by that awestruck party" (76). We learn little more about it. But at other times, his sense of the old-fashioned can be appropriately creepy. Here is Dr. Willett observing a possessed Ward:

It was not wholesome to know so much about the way the fat sheriff's wig fell off as he leaned over at the play at Mr. Douglass's Histrionick Academy in King's Street on the eleventh of February, 1762, which fell on a Thursday; or about how the actors cut the text of Steele's "Conscious Lover" so badly that one was almost glad the Baptist-ridden legislature closed the play two weeks later. That Thomas Sabin's coach was "damned uncomfortable" old letters may well have told; but what healthy antiquarian could recall how the creaking of Epenitus Olney's new signboard (the gaudy Crown he set up after calling his tavern the Crown Coffee House) was exactly like the first few notes of the new jazz piece all the radios in Pawtuxet were playing? (83)

The action of the story is in and around Lovecraft's native Providence, Rhode Island. It is an asset. Lovecraft knows the town-- its buildings, its legends, its history. Realism of setting helps to make the fantastic elements seem credible. Yes, it is old-fashioned. But it is worth your attention. I believe that it is the best of HPL's long pieces of writing.

A Classic of Supernatural Horror
What is amazing about THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD is that what we have of it is a rough draft that was never polished or readied for publication.The history of its discovery is wonderful.One half of the MS was discovered among Lovecraft's papers, and eventually the second half was discovered.It's first publication (abridged) was in WEIRD TALES.The text we have in this convenient mass market edition is corrupt due to poor editing on the part of August Derleth.(The best paperback edition of the novel may be found in the Penguin Classics edition, THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES, in which the corrected text is graced with 170 [!!!] annotations in the notes at the back of the book.That edition is available here at Amazon.)

Lovecraft has been criticized as unable to create character -- but that is pure nonsense.Each character in this novel is superbly portrayed, distinct and fascinating.We learn exactly what we need to know about each character for the novel to move toward its macabre climax.The character of Joseph Curwen is stunning, and the legend of his life before his neoteric resurrection is haunting and hypnotic.The tragedy of Charles Ward's fate, though subtly expressed, is deeply felt, as is the effect of his alteration on his unhappy parents.

The supernatural has never been dealt with in such an interesting and unique way.The suggestions concerning Yog-Sothoth and the properties with which this daemon are composed are tantalizing indeed.Most of all, the portrait of Lovecraft's beloved city of Providence is poignant and heartfelt.This is a classic of supernatural fiction, and this small book, although not the corrected text, is a handy edition to carry around in one's pocket.Michael Whelan's cover art for this series has long been a favourite of mine.High recommended!

Obscure cosmic relationships and unnameable realities behind the protective illusions of common vision
If you want really classic Lovecraft at the top of his form, then this novel is it. It is a good, tight, driven read- except for the extensive prose tour of his beloved old Providence near the beginning. Yet, even this detailed introduction helps to weave an unmatched atmosphere that draws you deeply into Lovecraft's world. This is an ode to Providence, and to those unobtrusive and unlikely heroes that would keep it safe from cosmic evil.

Lovecraft carries us from colonial days to the "modern" 1920's in this tale. We are introduced to the hidden brotherhood of dark magicians and necromancers- those to seek to wield unnatural power from beyond the grave and beyond the stars. So much concentrated occult information, or rather enticing hints of such information, is packed into the narrative. Mystery within mystery unfolds. Yet, it is rather ordinary men that are called upon to confront this inconceivable evil, even though it threatens their very sanity.

Besides being an extremely well written tale of supernatural suspense it also serves as a teaching tale. There is madness out of time and a horror from beyond the spheres that threatens to entrap and destroy the unwary. Do not call up what ye lack the power to put down. Upon this depends more than can be put into words- all civilization, all natural law, perhaps the fate of the solar system and the universe. Perhaps even more than this- all because one fool opened a door and there was no one there with the knowledge to close it...

Horror at its best
This is the type of story that you sit back and imerse yourself in the setting. With each new tid bit of information the horror of Joseph Curwen becomes clearer and clearer. The final chapter however sent chills down my spine, as Dr Willet searches through Curwen's undergroud, antedeluvian laboratory. The dank putrid odors, the slime green walls, and the horrific wailing from the darkness... the build up is phenominal, and the pay off will have you sleeping with your lights on!

Great read, you will go back to it again and again.

Lovecraft at his best
Charles Dexter Ward is a young man in Providence, RI who is fascinated by antiquities --- too fascinated, perhaps.He becomes obsessed with an ancestor, an alleged warlock named Joseph Curwen who escaped persecution in Salem over 200 years before and fled to Providence.A unusually long-lived ancestor, I might add.

If you aren't used to reading Lovecraft, or other writers of the same time period, the language and writing style might be a little tough at first, but it is well worth getting into.Lovecraft leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader --- a device that works quite well in this story.

This is one of my favorite novellas --- actually, one of my favorite stories, even.I first read when I was in high school, and I have re-read it every few years ever since.I re-read it again a couple of days ago and I still love it.This is Lovecraft at his best. ... Read more