The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales

by H.P. Lovecraft

Between these pages you will find things that lurk, things that scurry in the walls, things that move unseen, things that have learnt to walk that ought to crawl, unfathomable blackness, unconquerable evil, inhuman impulses, abnormal bodies, ancient rites, nameless lands best left undiscovered, thoughts best left unspoken, doors best left closed, names best forgotten. You have been warned.

Genres: Horror, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Gothic

560 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has 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 the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.

Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

— Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jakob Shingler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Mr. Lovecraft’s work and it didn’t disappoint. I had this in my audiobook library on Spotify and decided to give it a go and I was shocked and thrilled that Pinhead himself (Doug Bradley) did the narration. He did it as part of his Spinechillers audio production and with the help of some nice added sound effects, he added an eerie touch to an already eerie story.

All I have to say is that if I had a grand-uncle who devoted most of his life to uncovering a mysterious statute that had history leading to cults/cult-like activities where they believed an ancient creature with octopus and dragon features would arrive from the stars and doom the world, and it might have led to untimely death. Yeah I wouldn’t dive deep in that rabbit hole but that’s just me lol 😂

Can’t wait for the next story, Mr. Lovecraft. Bring it on!

[Johann (jobis89) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously 5 stars. Thoroughly enjoyed revisiting Lovecraft!!

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I've read every story in this compilation numerous times before, so there's really nothing new to add, other than each re-reading of a Lovecraft story uncovers something new and unusual about Lovecraft's fascinating worldview.

Things I gleaned this time:

*Lovecraft was a pretty sad, lonely dude. Every story in this collection, by default or design, is essentially about loneliness, in a cosmic sense. I've always felt Lovecraft was a virulent racist---he was, of course---but in a larger sense, he was mostly just a miserable misanthrope. I think he hated all of humanity in general, mainly because he felt like he didn't "fit in" with his fellow humans.

*When he was bad, he was atrocious, and it's clear how influential Poe was in his writing, and Poe's style of writing was already passe when Lovecraft was young. However, when Lovecraft was good---and "The Color Out of Space" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" are very good stories---he was fabulous, in every meaning of that word.

*Women didn't exist in Lovecraft's world, except maybe as rumors.

*Lovecraft didn't like fish.

It must be said that this Penguin Deluxe Edition is a beautiful must-have edition, and the notes in the back of the book, written by S.T. Joshi (as far as I know, the only self-proclaimed Lovecraft scholar/expert in existence), are worth a read as much as the stories.

[Somormujo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovecraft está considerado como continuador de Edgar Allan Poe y precursor de Stephen King.
Sin embargo, aunque la historia es interesante, mi opinión es que no ha envejecido bien. Debe ser porque este terror cósmico ha sido tan desarrollado tanto por la novela como por el cine, que Cthulhu ya no me ha parecido aterrador. Y esto se extiende a los 4 restantes relatos cortos del libro.
En cuanto a la edición, debo decir que aún me duelen los "rallos" del Sol de la página 36 ... Ruego corregirlo a quien corresponda.
No digo que en su momento no fuera rompedor, pero actualmente no me ha sorprendido mucho. Por eso mis dos estrellas, que son más opinión personal que valoración de la novela, por supuesto.

[Ｆｒａｎｋｈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Even death may die.."

American author H.P Lovecraft is such a prominent and prolific horror writer that a subgenre of horror was even named after him. Lovecraftian horror involves "the cosmic horror of the unknown and the unknowable more than gore or other elements of shock". With this mind, I was quite excited to read this anthology which collected his finest eighteen short stories throughout the years. This paperback edition I own even includes a great introductory essay to the life and times of Lovecraft, as well as explanatory notes that serve as expansions of ideas taken from his stories; a glossary that also offers more insights to his writing process, influence and conceptualization.

Frankly, I think The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories is a fascinating though difficult read.

I have my reservations both in reviewing and recommending this anthology. I don't believe this is exactly something anyone can just enjoy and appreciate. In fact, upon closer inspection, I found that most tales included in this volume are interrelated, if not indirectly referential of each other. This is probably because Lovecraft, like all great literary masters, has created his own fictional universes where these stories breathe. For example, mentions of the place Arkham happens frequently, as well as the elusive grimoire known as the Necronomicon.

This could mean that for a novice, the collection may get alienating here and there. If this is the very first Lovecraft material you will ever read, then I think this particular anthology might baffle you at times because the degree of difficulty to his prose that might not be accessible to a reader more used to a contemporary and more straightforward style of storytelling, particularly when it comes to horror.

Speaking of which, I rather found Lovecraft's style challenging myself. There are so many adjectives and lengthy phrases; his general tonality can be bizarrely bone-dry in delivery which sometimes dilutes whatever horrific or terrifying plot thread you're supposed to be following. To be perfectly honest, a few of the stories in the volume have rendered me sluggish, mostly because I could predict the ending. In addition to that, there are three of four stories that are mostly repetitive, thematic-wise. I think these are my major criticisms of the anthology in general. However, his style isn't necessarily a bad thing though. When a certain story being told is unbelievably haunting and evocative, Lovecraft's prose can put you under a terrifying trance. What such stories excel in isn't about the gore or the shocking twist, really. It's the slow-burning build-up that leads to the tragedy. The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories is ruthlessly engaging when you least expect it to and that's what made the obstacles along the way worth conquering as a reader.

I think this anthology would be more enjoyable when one's focus is singular. You can consume this in a slower pace if it means developing a richer and deeper understanding of what makes Lovecraft's stories so magnetic. Personally, I would re-read the stories again just so I can spot more connections among them. After all, I think this volume doesn't even cover the wide expanse of the Lovecraft universe, particularly that of the Cthulu mythos which is a rather influential piece of fiction and a tirelessly imaginative lore that has enchanted other writers across generations to contribute their own works to this perplexing creature of the most visceral and unknowable of horrors ever realized in fiction. The story Festival is credited as probably the first time Lovecraft has tried to weave Cthulu mythos for the very first time. I highly suggest that you and I check out more about said mythos in other collections.

I only have five stories that I would consider absolute favorites because they spoke to me in the most unpleasant yet invigorating ways. Understandably, I must include the namesake The Call of Cthulhu which was simply the stuff that makes nightmares real. Elaborate and layered with puzzles within puzzles, this story leaves so much to the reader's interpretation as it slowly crawls its way into your consciousness; right until the moment when you realize that it's irreversibly stuck in the damaged corners of your own mind. Two other stories like Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family and The Picture in the House are astounding because Lovecraft has woven them in a way that makes the discovery at the end so dreadful to comprehend. The suspense in these stories are unforgivably subtle, as if it only managed to graze my skin, but further reflection of these tales would reveal just how much they made me slightly sick to my stomach.

The stories Herbert West -- Reanimator and The Rats in the Walls really got under my skin. The former was definitely the best horror story I ever read about resurrecting dead people that I think rivals even Mary Shelley's classical novel Frankenstein. I could imagine watching the story unfold on screen which was why I want to watch the said film version of this story soon enough. Meanwhile, the latter story almost, sort of, destroyed me. It was an exploration of madness that is so hard to put in words even as I type this review unless one has dabbled in something akin to it (which, unfortunately, I once had back when I was less in control of my mental state as a young girl).

The Rats in the Walls symbolize a rude awakening where there really is no way you can ever go back; where a physical manifestation of your fears become a consuming preoccupation that can deteriorate the rest of your soul. I think there are many levels to this story that will make for a fruitful discussion. It's almost painful for me to read this tale without cringing in revulsion and distress.

Some other noteworthy tales to read are The Whisperer in Darkness, The Colour Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Haunter of the Dark. They are deft and daring in concept and execution and would make you question certain comfortable things in life after finishing them.

In a nutshell, H.P Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories is a worthwhile and challenging reading experience that I can only recommend to people who are prepared for something drastically eye-opening. The very best of the stories included in this anthology are like itches you can only keep scratching if the relief you garner from it also means that you have to bleed.

RECOMMENDED: 8/10

Read more of my review in:

[Michelle Curie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far."

For a long time, Lovecraft himself seemed to be a bit of a myth to me. Until recently, I have never read anything written by him and yet a disconcerting amount of pop culture I've consumed in my life (may that be a TV show such as Stranger Things or even a video game like Bloodborne) would be described as "Lovecraftian" by somebody who knew more about it than me. How could an author, who died as young as he did and who didn't even write a full-length novel influence an entire genre even a hundred years after his lifetime to this extent? It all lead me to believe that it was my fate to meet the so-called father of horror.

This book presents a selection of stories, from early tales to the most famous nightmare of "The Call of Cthulhu". This edition proved to be the perfect introduction to Lovecraft's writing, as each story is introduced and carefully annotated, providing interesting and valuable background-knowledge.



I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about what it is that draws people to horror as a form of entertainment. Why seek out the horrible? Why look for things that may scare us? Why is it gives us the ability to even find pleasure in feelings that are evoked by the dark? I might not have found the answers yet, but what I am sure of is that it is the unknown that is particularly exciting. The potential of something terrible is much scarier than being faced with a monster upfront - things we can't perceive we can't fight and that's when things get unpredictable.

Lovecraft plays with the idea of unsolved mysteries a lot, which is his biggest strength. I love how he created an entire universe and embedded it seamlessly into ours - in his stories, he introduces us to Arkham, a fictional city and location of many of his stories; the Old Ones, a powerful supernatural entity and he is also the inventor of the Necronomicon as well as the Cthulhu myth. His imagination is rich, integral and unlike anyone else's. I can totally see why his writing was a real game-changer for the genre.

Admittedly, I'm still left undecided about what to think of Lovecraft's writing. I had a problem with how the narrators basically all sounded the same and were sometimes even transparent or irrelevant to what was being told. Reading the stories back to back I had to keep reminding myself that what I was reading was not a sequel to the previous story, despite the similarity in tone and narrative voice. It was impossible to relate to the protagonists, as they all expressed their thoughts in a very sober and impersonal, almost scientifically dry manner.

There's a good chance I'll come back to Lovecraft's writing at some point to revisit the dead and waiting Cthulhu and friends.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm afraid the creatures are learning to steer better with their space wings" is either your favorite sentence ever or you're not gonna love Lovecraft.

Lovecraft can be silly, racist, and extremely purple, but he has this terrifically unique imagination: his stories feel like nothing else. And they're very enticing. There's a certain feel to his stories - a pallid green glow - a whole collection of words like "eldritch", phrases like "foetid green ichor" - that feel forcefully Lovecraftian. "The foulest nightmares of secret myth" is what he's about. He's a true individual. I dig him.

Some brief notes on some of his more famous stories:

PARODIES?
Herbert West - Reanimator (Ha, this was a ton of fun)
The Hound (also great)

RACISM!
Horror at Red Hook (Whee!)
He (Racism alert!)

CTHULHU
Dunwich Horror
At the Mountains of Madness (Fun stuff)
Shadow out of Time (Kinda too long)
Call of Cthulhu
Whisperer in Darkness (fantastic! This is where we get the space wings.)

THE REST OF IT
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Dreams In The Witch House
Colour out of Space (Great...sortof like a parable about radioactivity?)
Shadow over Innsmouth

While this Penguin edition is lovely, I'm supplementing it with a cheapo Collected Works on my Kindle, for the stories I want to read that aren't in this collection.

[Caro the Helmet Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I really enjoyed these scary tales Lovecraft built on the foundation of his own nightmares and neuroses, I couldn’t not notice and not get seriously annoyed with obvious racism, xenophobia and misogyny of his views. Because of this it puts his works on a much lower level among other classics of horror. And 'tis a great pity, because these are some fascinating visions and ideas, fathering too many works of literature and cinema to this day and I am sure future ones as well.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dagon - 4/5

Despite being one of Lovecraft's early stories, it's on par with his later masterpieces such as The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Call of Cthulhu. A very short yet classic tale that touches on one of my greatest fears; the unknown horrors of the sea and the infinite secrets that it holds within itself. Discovering dark secrets and higher beings never meant to be witnessed by human eyes, being driven to madness and suicidal tendencies, hallucinatory encounters with unfathomable horrors, all of the Lovecraftian staples are present here. The writing is phenomenal, rivaling the effectiveness of his greatest works that he would go on to write at the end of his career.

***

The Outsider - 4/5

This was a hidden gem that I wasn’t expecting to be as good as it was. A very short story that somehow captures the same level of dread and gothic atmosphere of works like The Curse of Yig and the Diary of Alonzo Typer in just a few pages. The gothic aesthetic is very reminiscent to E.F. Benson’s The Room in the Tower and Poe’s House of Usher (only in terms of setting not story.)

***

The Hound - 4/5

Wow, Lovecraft created a pretty harrowing and dreadful piece without a single mention of the infamous elder gods or Lovecraftian monstrosities. This was pure gothic horror, much more akin to Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu with all of the romantic horrors of the unexplored and marvelous depictions of graveyards and all that jolly stuff. Very underrated Lovecraft story if you ask me, I’m surprised that Lovecraft himself hated it so much.

***

The Rats in the Walls - 4/5

Feels like a more fleshed out and intense version of The Lurking Fear. Much of the same elements are borrowed such as the family house with a terrible history, deformed, human-like monstrosities and a very subtle reference to a creature from the Cthulhu Mythos.

The dread and tension as the protagonist explores the dark corridors of the wretched house’s forbidden depths smothers you with its intensity. The decrepit tragedies lurking within its violent and disturbing history were passed down through the ages, giving the dreadful impression that the very foundation of the world is built upon such horrors.

***

The Haunter of the Dark - 4/5

In Providence, Rhode Island, Robert Blake, a young writer with an interest in the occult, becomes fascinated by a large disused church on Federal Hill which he can see from his lodgings on the city's Upper East side. His researches reveal that the church has a sinister history involving a cult called the Church of Starry Wisdom and is dreaded by the local migrant inhabitants as being haunted by a primeval evil.

Another of Lovecraft's final tales that emphasizes how much he grew as a writer. It's much more personal and his characters have a lot more depth to them. I wish he could've gone on to write for another 30-50 years. I can only imagine how amazing his stories could've became if he had another lifetime's worth of improvement.

***

The Shadow over Innsmouth - 4/5

A student on an antiquarian tour of New England takes notice of an exotic piece of jewelry in a museum and learns that its source is the nearby decrepit seaport of Innsmouth. He travels to Innsmouth and observes disturbing events and people. It doesn't take long to notice that something is horrifically wrong about the seaport. A local resident informs the student of a horrifying story of aquatic monsters who can interbreed with humans to produce amphibian hybrids and they've made a residence within the waters of Innsmouth. The student is tricked into staying overnight in the seaport town and he is attacked in his hotel by unfathomable beings.

This is definitely one of Lovecraft's scariest tales. The attack and escape sequence within the hotel is incredibly tense and eerie, it rivals The Shining with its use of a wicked hotel and the supernatural entities within it that drive the protagonist to madness. If there's anything you can learn from reading Lovecraft, it's to stay the hell away from large bodies of water.

***

The Whisperer in Darkness - 4/5

Folklore professor Albert Wilmarth investigates legends of strange creatures in the most remote hills of Vermont. His enquiry reveals a terrifying glimpse of the truth that lurks behind the legends. The answer to what lies beyond the vast cosmos is a question that may better be left unanswered.

One of Lovecraft's best as it takes full advantage of his direction into science fiction rather than pure abstract horror. The elder gods, outer ones and other extraterrestrial beings feel more like real, living beings with their own unique identities, cultures and histories here than any other story in the mythos. The Colour out of Space and Mountains of Madness are other fantastic examples of Lovecraft's turn to science fiction and the humanization of unknown lifeforms. It really adds to the realism. It's a shame he wasn't able to write more of the genre, I can only imagine what he could've accomplished if he lived for another 30-50 years.

The Colour out of Space - 4/5

Foreboding and mysterious. The plot is extremly simple yet one of the most effective Lovecraft has ever written. A strange meteorite from another realm crashes into Europe and buries itself into the soil, contaminating everything in its circumference. The process of contamination is simple. It poisons the soil, it poisons the water, it kills the animals and it drives people mad. Eventually, the place becomes so corrupt that it transforms into an eldritch nightmarescape. To make things even more unsettling, the strange meteorite appears to have sentience and can move freely as it pleases. Perhaps it was never a meteorite in the first place, but something far more sinister?

***

The Call of Cthulhu - 4/5

Although not my favorite of the Cthulhu Mythos tales, it certainly does the best job of encompassing all of the primary and lovable elements of weird tales and cosmic horror.

Ancient texts, insane cults, forbidden knowledge, social recluses going mad and blasphemous abominations galore.

This is the story that brought it all together, paving way for incredible tales such as The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, At The Mountains of Madness as well as thousands of other tales by writers that followed in Lovecraft’s macabre and charmingly eldritch footsteps.

***

Cool Air - 4/5

Afraid of death? No worries, just freeze yourself and gain immortality through artificial preservation. One of Lovecraft’s more down-to-earth tales that relies on traditional horror themes instead of his more dream-like and alien works.

***

He - 3/5

The prose in this story was phenomenal and dripping with eldritch fascination, but the racial undertones dragged it down quite a bit. He could have pulled off a nice dream cycle story here, but chose to go with this instead. Luckily, this was around the point he began to grow out of his discriminatory attitude and moved on to bigger and better things.

***

The Festival - 3/5

Nothing like a good old jolly Christmas festival, eh? Wrong! This is Lovecraft we're talking about, so of course strange alien monsters and dark forbidden lore is gonna show up to crash the party. This story makes the horrors of the Necronomicon feel more real as it actually provides a quote from the fictional text of terror. The ending is similar to that of Dagon, which is one of my favorites.

***

Herbert West Reanimator - 3/5

Has all the essential elements of a good Hammer Film Productions piece. It’s gritty and gross, cheesy yet fun and verbose. Feels like a skeletal frame of Frankenstein, just not nearly as long and emotionally complex. Frankenstein is the better book in my opinion, but I gotta give Lovecraft credit for whipping up something that’s pretty damn morbid.

***

The Statement of Randolph Carter 3/5

The twist at the end was cool in itself, but the way it was delivered made it feel like something you would see in a cheesy, low budget horror film involving a phone call.

***

Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family - 3/5

The story overall has an intensely mysterious vibe with an exciting buildup, but what could have been an incredible twist ended up being something that had no merit and was rather degrading.

***

Celephais - 4/5

The concept of this story is one I can relate to on a very personal level. The more the protagonist grows to loathe the contemporary world, the more he begins to value the world of dreams and imagination, much like a modern person would prefer to lose themselves in the comfort of books and music rather than dealing with a painful and depressing reality.

***

Nyarlathotep - 3/5

A truly nightmarish vision of a horrifying, gothic landscape induced by the frenzied visions from the one called The Crawling Chaos.

***

The Picture in the House - 3/5

Has the makings of a great horror setting, but the ending falls incredibly flat. The decrepit house where the protagonist is forced to seek shelter during a horrible storm, the ravings of a crazed old man, the blood dripping from the ceiling. It was all building up to something fantastically scary.

And then the narrator closes his eyes and pretends he didn’t see it to save his own sanity. And... that’s kind of it. The climax was not worth the tension building up to it. But still enjoyed it for the early tension and imagery alone.

[Tiyas · Rating 4 out of 5]

That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons death may die.

Is HPL the most paradoxical author to read in recent times?

Probably not. There's arguably countless waiting in the shadows, ready to lay claim to that title. But it's a given fact that reading Howard is never easy. Be it owing to the nature of his personality, his set of beliefs, or simply his utter inability to write well. It's pretty common to find yourself stranded within the foggy confines of his 'eldritch' world. And yet, we read him to this very day. And will probably continue to do so until the end of time. 

Such has been his impact upon the musty underbelly of weird fiction and greater cosmic horror. Not the first ever to do so. But a revolutionary nonetheless whose influence still pulsates throughout pop culture and the unforgiving pits of nerd haven. So much so that reading him through a starkly modern lens might come off as repetitive. A sense of deja vu engulfing your nodal points as you meet the maker after wrestling down knock-offs all your life!

Nevertheless, despite everything, I've been an ardent Lovecraft fan since my school days. I have owned this particular edition for around eight years now. And do remember reading a few of the stories from within. However, my memory was threatening to betray me. And there rose an urge inside to revisit 'The Dunwich Horror' again. Something that I originally read only in translation and was keen to test again, against Howard's muddy prose.

As such, if you pick this one up and look past the 3D cover (glasses included!) As well as the lack of annotations and introductory material, you'll find yourself with twelve of his tales, all connected through the (filmsy) thread of the Cthulhu Mythos. Do not take offence with my choice of words, however, for Lovecraft's world-building, including the ever-modern notion of a shared universe, was mostly in jest. A clever little device that the man tinkered with but never really enforced upon his readers. 
 
Creating a sense of inclusivity not only for his audience but also for his later admirers, who'd go on to build upon and expand the plethora of unspooled loose ends. Lovecraft himself borrowed judiciously from his peers and predecessors. And in a way, he created a benchmark for being borrowed likewise. Sure, he was historically stuck up about his work, often threatening to quit it altogether in the face of poor reception. But then, such was typical of him and his cranky, haughty headspace that oozed brilliance aplenty.

Although it misses the timely quips of Lovecraft researcher S.T. Joshi, this edition gleefully starts off with one of HPL's most grotesque short stories, 'The Rats in the Walls'. Something that I'd read back in school but completely forgotten over time. And boy was I in for a renewed sense of surprise, alongside the gut-churning stench of pathos, so typical of his reveals. Surprisingly Gothic, it utilises the tested 'creature behind the partition' trope and magnifies it with a demented slither of degradation.
 
This is then immediately followed by another one of my shorter favourites. ''The Picture in the House'. This is Lovecraft playing completely into the macabre. Flexing his creepy muscles, despite little Cthulhu connections beyond a 'Necronomicon' namedrop. All culminating with an utterly memorable final stretch that left me jittery with a case of the late-night dread!

The following two stories are also short but are not my absolute favourites, despite the cosmic inquisitiveness shown abundantly in 'The Nameless City' of Arabia. And the murky cult of horrors hinted towards in 'The Festival'. They aren't Lovecraft's best work and leave a lot to be desired. But at the same time, they help one acclimatise oneself before the eventual arrival of the bigger fishes. It's a rite of passage, almost. The mandatory endurance of wordy circulation before you're presented with the real heavyweights. 
 
The likes of 'The Call of the Cthulhu' and 'The Dunwich Horror'. 
 
It's actually quite funny, now that I think of it. All these years of being a fan, and I'd never once read 'The Call...' itself. And my first ever experience was not entirely positive as well. Despite being introduced to the 'figurative' granddad of a very popular universe, I found the didactic style of storytelling really taxing. Something that worked relatively well for his other longer texts, but just felt a bit banal here on. The finale and its marine 'madness' were also anti-climactic (get used to it!) and just didn't tempt me the way I'd hoped it would. Making this one an actual miss in my book.
 
"Do better, Howard!" I might have screamed, yelled, and shouted towards the pages in vain, but thankfully, 'The Dunwich Horror' showed up immediately to pacify it all. A deeply atmospheric, well-written tale that balances the allure of cosmic trickery with that of the despicable. Lovecraft commands the tension surprisingly well and crawls towards a solid finale. One that's greatly embellished with an extremely chilling final sentence that made me put the book away and compose myself for a good minute.
 
Some might take offence to HPL's tendency to greatly oversell his reveals with exclamations and italics. But it mostly works out for me, despite the shoddy literary value, or lack thereof. You can find something similar in 'The Whisperer in Darkness', as well.

A much longer story, the longest yet of the book, which I personally felt could have benefitted from a crisper edit. And yet, I was never bored for a minute traversing it's varied length. Lovecraft descends into proper science fiction right here, introducing the Mi-Go creatures as well as strengthening his brand of interstellar doom. As usual, the final stretch is tense, lively and memorable. It shakes you greatly and makes you forgive the author for the obvious plotholes and his inability to remain concise (for the love of all things holy!).

This brings me to a story that I really wanted to love. 'The Dreams in the Witch House'. A fairly straightforward tale of a mathematical research student inclined towards the occult, taking residence in the eponymous witch house, and the dreams that he's plagued with almost instantaneously. For his part, Lovecraft had ambition writing this thing. He invoked the spirit of science and witchcraft with a vivid sense of grotesqueness while playing up the surrealism tenfold.
 
However, it's not an easy read. Especially when Howard goes overboard with all the technical jargon in the game. Which is a shame, for this one is generally a more well-loved story. Recently filmed under Guillermo Del Toro's tutelage as well. But I couldn't enjoy it as much as I'd have loved to. A personal bummer, despite that deliciously wretched culmination. Maybe watching it unfold on the screens would be a better fit? Fingers crossed.

Anyways. We move on to another one of my absolute favourites. 'The Shadow over Innsmouth'. There's a distinct sense of wonder in the way Lovecraft helps you visualise the shady coastal town of Innsmouth. Almost overdoing it in his exhaustive approach with the details. But making it all worthwhile with the slow-burning buildup of dread, which in turn pulsates within the core of its ever-rotten mythology. 
 
It's curious how HPL himself was not fond of this piece. Judging it harshly in his later days. But to me, this might be one of the best examples of Lovecraft, the author, and his ability to balance action with that of the informative. There's this riveting chase sequence by the end of 'Innsmouth' that's arguably one of the best pieces of moving action ever written by the author. But his acute underconfidence meant that, more than ever, we'd find him resorting to the tested shelter of the didactic and nothing else. 
 
'The Shadow over Innsmouth' also sees Lovecraft exploring his preferred themes of sin persevering through bloodlines, intermixing of races, and hereditary mania. Elements of which can be visible throughout the book. A breed of paranoia that's widely believed to have been born out of Lovecraft undergoing sudden poverty as a child, health issues persisting in his family, and his infamous sense of racial superiority.

Nevertheless, we dredge on and reach the mountain itself. A literal mountain of a text, the extremely long, extremely potent, and infuriatingly wasteful 'At the Mountains of Madness'.
 
This angered me in real time. Feeling interminable at point with it's dry prose, purple paragraphs, and exhaustive amount of technical details. (Take 'Witch House' and multiply it with a hundred.) I do understand what HPL was attempting here. He was notoriously famous for scientific accuracy. And even edited information out in later prints, owing to them being out of date since the time of completion. But the goodwill itself doesn't make it a palatable read, does it? 
 
It almost hinders the story rather. More so in this one, which is undoubtedly the most mythology-heavy tale in the entire book. Providing a surprising amount of answers and context to questions you'd probably wondered throughout and googled on with varied levels of success. It is this allure and intrigue of such vivid, tempting lore that kept me afloat and helped me brave the awful writing. In modern times, we might call this the classic case of a good concept, bad execution.
 
However, such cannot be said about the next in line, 'The Haunter of the Dark'. Nothing in it actively tickled my imagination, and it lost me pretty soon amidst the muck of purple prosing. It's an important story, however. Being the last one Lovecraft ever penned. Making people usually more kinder to this tale. And there's a genuine feeling in the circles about how Lovecraft's 'writing had improved a lot' by this point. But unfortunately, I didn't find any of that for myself.

It does warrant a later re-read, for sure. But for now, this takes the designation of being my least favourite story in the whole book.

And there we have it. We've arrived at our final station. 'The Thing on the Doorstep'. A much simpler tale that almost evokes the spirit of 'The Dunwich Horror' in its approach. It's nothing revolutionary per se and was generally looked down upon unfavourably by critics back then. But as we can sense a pattern here, I loved this one a lot. If nothing, despite it's predicatable nature, the story starts off with one of the most unhinged openers ever written by HPL. ("It is true that I have sent six bullets through the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to show by this statement that I am not his murderer.") And ends with a devilish image of degradation that rivals his very best. Can't recommend it enough!

(3.75/5 || October-November, 2024)

[Pawarut Jongsirirag · Rating 5 out of 5]

ถ้าพูดถึงชื่อของ H.P Lovecraft อาจจะเป็นชื่อที่ไม่คุ้นหูนัก แต่ถ้าให้พูดถึงสื่อต่างๆที่ได้รับอิทธิพลจากงานของเขา พูดกันวันนึงก็ไม่จบครับ เพราะมันเยอะมาก นี่ผมพูดถึงแค่งานที่ได้รับอิทธิพลชัดเจนนะครับ ยังมีงานอีกมากมายที่มีการถกเถียงว่าได้รับอิทธิพลมาจากงานของเขาหรือไม่

เกริ่นกันมาแบบโม้ๆขนาดนี้ คงมีคำถามผุดขึ้นมาว่า อีตาLovecraft นี่มันเป็นใครกันแน่ว้า ดูยิ่งใหญ่เหลือเกิน คำตอบก็คือ ลองไปหาคำตอบกันดูเองนะครับ เพราะที่ผมอยากพูดถึงไม่ใช่ว่าเขาคือใคร (อ้าว) แต่สิ่งที่ผมอยากคุยกันนั้นคือ งานของเขามากกว่าครับ เพราะอะไรงานของเขาจึงแมสมากในขณะนี้ ทั้งๆที่ในขณะที่เขามีชีวิต งานของเขาแทบไม่มีคนรู้จัก และห่างไกลมากจากคำว่านักเขียนมือทอง

ถ้าให้พูดถึงรูปแบบงานของ Lovecraft เราอาจจะนิยามในแบบเริ่มต้นได้ว่ามันคืองานแนว Weird หรือปลาดคดี (ยังไม่มีนิยามแบบไทยอย่างเป็นทางการนะครับ ผมเลยขอยกคำแปลของพี่ชายผมท่านหนึ่งที่เป็นสาวกแนว Weird มาไว้ที่นี้ ใครสนใจอ่านเพิ่มแบบเข้มได้ตาม https://readjournal.org/aan-on-line/g... ) ซึ่งเป็นงานในแนวที่เราให้คำนิยามที่ชัดเจนได้ลำบากมากๆ พี่ชายผมท่านหนึ่งได้กล่าวไว้ว่า มันคืองานที่เล่นล้อไปกับความกลัวที่เป็นพื้นฐานของมนุษย์ที่บางทีอาจจะอยู่นอกขนบความเข้าใจของเราในทุกวันนี้ คือ ความกลัวในสิ่งที่เราไม่รู้ เราไม่เข้าใจ ซึ่งมันทำให้มนุษย์ในฐานะสิ่งมีชีวิตที่แทบไม่มีพลังอะไรเลย หวาดกลัวไปก่อน และความหวาดกลัวมีขึ้นเพื่อให้เราดำรงชีวิตอยู่ได้ และมักเกี่ยวข้องกับ การเผชิญหน้ากับบางสิ่งที่เหนือธรรมชาติหรืออสูรกายที่อธิบายด้วยหลักตรรกะความน่าจะเป็นได้ยาก ซึ่งแตกต่างจากงานแนว Horror นะครับ เพราะแนวนั้นคือการใช้ความกลัวตามขนบที่เราๆเข้าใจกัน โดยไม่ตรงแปลความหมายของความกลัวใดๆอีก เช่น ความกลัวต่อผีสาง สัตว์ประหลาด ทำนองนั้น

หรือในอีกมุมนึง อาจพุดได้ว่ามันคืองานที่ ไม่ใช่ Sci-fi ไม่ใช่ Horror ไม่ใช่ Fantasy มันอยู่ในความ ไม่ใช่สามสิ่งนี้ แต่ถ้าไม่มีสามสิ่งนี้มาตีกรอบ ก็ไม่ได้ เป็นพื้นที่ใหม่ภายในความไม่ใช่สาม genre นี้อีกที (งงไปอีก)

เราจึงเห็นได้ว่ามันนิยามได้ค่อนข้างลำบากมาก และเป็นปัญหาชวนปวดหัวที่เวลาเราจะแนะนำงานของ Lovecraft ก็ไม่รู้จะอธิบายยังไงดี แต่ปัญหานี้ในปัจจุบันก็อาจพูดได้ว่าได้ถูกคลี่คลายไปเปราะนึงแล้วนะครับ เพราะเมื่อผลงานผ่านกาลเวลามาถึงปัจจุบัน มันได้ถูกจำกัดความให้ชัดเจนมากขึ้น จนเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นของ Genre แนว Lovecraftian Horror อย่างทุกวันนี้ซึ่งก็คือคือผลงานแนวสยองขวัญที่มีรายละเอียดต่าง ๆ ของเนื้อหาอิงตาม Cthulhu Mythos อันเป็นจักรวาลที่ Lovecrafti ได้สร้างขึ้นมา

อันนี้เป็นการพูดแบบสรุปคร่าวถึงรูปแบบงานเขียนของ Lovecraft นะครับ จริงๆมีรายละเอียดซับซ้อนและประวัติความเป็นมายาวนานมาก ใครสนใจลองไปศึกษากันได้ครับ

เมื่อพูดถึงแนวงานเขียนแล้ว คราวนี้มาพูดถึงแนวงานเขียนของเขาบ้าง งานเขียนของ Lovecraft นั้น ส่วนมากแล้วจะมีแต่เรื่องสั้นครับ และถ้าให้พูดตรงๆคือ เป็นงานเขียนที่มีลักษณะการบรรยายรายละเอียดล้วนๆแทบจะ 100 เปอร์เซน มีบทสนทนาบ้างเล็กน้อย ทำให้งานของ Lovecraft ไม่ใช่งานที่อ่านง่ายมากนัก เพราะเปิดหน้ากระดาษมา เราจะเจอ Wall of Text เต็มพรืดไปหมด แถม text เหล่านั้นก็เป็นการลงรายละเอียดที่ถ้าอยากจะเพลิดเพลินกับงานของเขา เราต้องมีสมาธิและเก็บรายละเอียดในความสะอิดสะเอียนชวนแหวะและ สยองขวัญที่ Lovecraft สร้างขึ้นมาในหัวของเราอีกด้วยครับ

งานของเขาในช่วงแรกๆจะไม่ได้เป็นแบบนั้นชัดเจนนัก ซึ่งเราจะเห็นได้จาก Dagon ในเล่มนี้ ที่เหมือน Lovecraft จะยังงงๆนิดๆว่าตรูจะเขียนไปในทางไหนดี แต่เราก็เห็นเค้าลางของจินตนาการโลกอันพิสดารของเขาได้บ้างแล้วจากงานชิ้นนี้ จากนั้นลักษณะที่เป็นลายเซ็นของเขาอีกอย่างหนึ่งก็เริ่มปรากฏ นั่นคือ ความหลอนและสยองขวัญที่เกิด ณ เมืองชนบทอันห่างไกล ความสยองที่อาจเป็นตำนานเล่าขานและตัวเอกของเราผู้โคตรซวยได้ไปประสพพบเจอ ซึ่งเห็นได้จากตอน The Festival ในเล่มนี้

และงานของเขามาเข้าฝัก เข้ารูปรอยชัดเจนในตอน Call of Cthulu อันโด่งดัง ไม่ว่าจะเป็นองค์ประกอบความสยองขวัญในตัวสัตว์ประหลาดของเขา พิธีกรรมปีศาจ เรื่องเล่าจากผู้ประสบเหตุ และ รายละเอียดที่อาจจะไม่มากเกินไปจนล้นเกิน และหลังจากนั้นงานของเขาก็จัดจ้าน และมีสีสันในหลากหลายรูปแบบตลอดมา

นอกจากตอนที่ผมพูดถึงแล้ว ตอนอื่นๆในเล่มนี้ก็มีความพิเศษไม่แพ้กันนะครับ ไม่ว่าจะเป็น The Nameless City ที่พกคำถามให้เราชวนคิดว่า “ลม” ในเรื่องนี้คืออะไรกันแน่ หรือ The Hound ที่เป็นเหมือนความสยองขวัญคลาสสิคที่เราอาจคุ้นชินกัน นั่นก็คือ การหยิบของที่ไม่ควรหยิบติดมือมา และ ตอนสุดท้ายในเล่มนี้ที่มีความยาวมากที่สุดอย่าง The Dunwich Horror ที่เหมือนกับการนำตอน Cthulu มาใส่รายละเอียดเพิ่มเติม เพิ่ม Action ให้มีอรรถรสมากขึ้น และหากเราสังเกตแล้วละก็ โครงของเรื่องนี้น่าจะถูกนำไปสร้างเป็น Board Games ที่ได้รับแรงบันดาลใจจากงานของ Lovecraft แน่นอนครับ

งานของ Lovecraft ไม่ใช่งานที่สนุกครับ ออกจากยืดยาดน่าเบื่อไปเสียด้วยซ้ำ แต่เสน่ห์ในงานของเขาก็มากเกินพอที่จะทำให้เราอ่านได้จนจบเพลิดเพลินกับความกลัวที่เขามอบให้เรา เป็นความกลัวในจักรวาลที่เขาสร้างขึ้นที่ยิ่งใหญ่อลังการและมีสีสันมากจนมีอิทธิพลในสื่อแทบทุกแขนงตราบจนทุกวันนี้

และผมขอปิดท้ายกับคำกล่าวในคัมภีร์ปีศาจ Necronomicon ของ Lovecraft ที่ผมคิดว่านิยามจักรวาลของเขาได้เป็นอย่างดี นั่นก็คือ “Nor is it to be thought that man is either the oldest or the last of earth’s masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be.”

สวัสดีครับ

[Ana Jembrek · Rating 4 out of 5]

“U SVOJOJ KUĆI U R’LYEHU MRTVI CTHULHU ČEKA SANJAJUĆI.”

Počinjajući ovu knjigu pomislila sam: “Pa nije ovo baš toliko strašno…”. Nisam se ni snašla, a već sam sanjala kako me proganja krilato čudovište crvenih očiju s pipcima hobotnice na licu, sanjala sam kako me izjedaju štakori, sanjala sam kako me otimaju vanzemaljci s ljudskim licima. Bili su to atipično živopisni snovi, a ja inače baš i nisam toliko povodljiva za materijalom koji čitam.

Ova knjiga sastoji se od četiri kratke priče iz Cthulhu serijala. Iako su nepovezane sasvim je jasno da se odvijaju u istom lovecraftijanskom svijetu. O pričama vam ništa neću ispričati, pozivam vas da njihov sadržaj otkrijete sami! Dvije su mi bile baš odlične, dvije malo manje odlične. Ne ubodu baš svaki put u potpunosti, ali svaka je imala "ono nešto".

Interesantno mi je kako Lovecraft gradi priču, kako postiže atmosferu, kako koncipira likove. Tiha jeza provlači se kroz pripovijedanje, nikad ne znaš s koje će strane udariti, a prijetnja uvijek dolazi izvana: tamo negdje vani je urota veća od nas samih, veća od svijeta, veća od života. Urota postoji tek u tragovima, ako ih znadeš pročitati. Tek s vremena na vrijeme na svijetlo dana izađe incident koji naizgled povezuje neke končiće onome tko ih možda pokušava povezati, protiv svakog pravog glasa razuma.

Jer mi, kao ljudi, nismo sposobni probaviti ni letimičan pogled. Već i sami treptaj istine u nama razbuđuje ludilo koje nerijetko odvodi i u smrt. Jeza je uvijek vanjska, ona nikad ne dolazi iznutra (osim ako smo “degenerični”, a o čemu ću malo kasnije). Izvana nas zove u snovima, izvana nas tjera u bolest.

Lovecraftov kozmički horor koketira sa SF-om, Lovecraft daje pozadinu svojim čudovištima. Iskreno, mislila sam da će mi to uništiti čar priča, ali nije. Dapače! Znate ono kada Carl Sagan svojim optimizmom i znanjem otvara svemir u čarobno prostranstvo ničega, ali beskrajne nade? Znate ono kad Star Trek opisuje svemirsku utopiju u kojoj su sve rase najbolji frendovi? E pa toga nema s Lovecraftom. Njegovi alieni su ljigava smrdljiva čudovišta, njegov svemir je hladan, mračan, beskrajno surov, beznadno velik, i vrvi dijaboličnom inteligencijom.

“Ta idolska Stvar, taj zeleni, ljepljivi nakot zvijezda, probudio se da zatraži svoje.”

Lako je reći da je Lovecraft najveća inspiracija modernom hororu, ali tek kad sam ušla dublje u ove priče shvatila sam koliko je to istina. Stephen King je odavno priznao da je Lovecraft utjecao na njegov rad, kao i mnogi drugi, ali zaista je ludo koliko je moderne kulture, knjiga, serija i filmova indirektno poteklo iz mašte ovog čovjeka.

A tko je H.P. Lovecraft? Rođen je 20. kolovoza 1890. godine u istom “selu” u kojemu je i umro 1937. godine. Kao što vidite, živio je u vrlo turbulentnoj Americi, onoj prohibicije i Velike depresije. Lovecraft je kontroverzna ličnost. Da, utjecajan pisac, ali zapravo pravo dijete svog vremena, okolnosti i geografije. Rasist, šovinist, pravi privilegirani američki bijelac kojemu su svi drugi krivi za njegove probleme. Zvuči poznato?

Ali (da, postoji “ali“) čak i kad u jednoj svojoj priči najdražeg crnog mačka nazove Nigger Man, čak i kad su mu za sve krivi zlikovci koji su dotepenci (nema veze što su i vanzemaljci), čak i kad ljudski degenerizam često opisuje kroz rasistička obilježja, on svejedno u sve to unosi svoju poetiku. Oh, ironije.

“Najstarija i najjača čovjekova emocija je strah, a najstarija i najjača vrsta straha jest strah od nepoznatog.”
– H.P. Lovecraft

Znate, mržnja je velika kreativna sila, ako se fokusirano usmjeri. Lovecrafta, kao osobu, još uvijek ne volim, to se nije promijenilo, ali za njegovo pisanje itekako gajim simpatije, jer on razumije da iza svega stoji Strah. Uostalom, jedan od najdražih skladatelja mi je Gesualdo de Venosa, a daleko najdraži slikar mi je Caravaggio. Ne baš dobri ljudi, ali vrhunski u onom što su stvarali, izmedju ostalog, i zato što su u svoju umjetnost uključili i svoje strahove.

Što se tiče ovog našeg domaćeg izdanja, osjetila sam da je ova mala knjiga plod dugogodišnje strasti. Cijeli tim koji je radio na njemu uložio je puno truda u uređivanje, u dodatne materijale, kao i u prijevod, a to se na završnom rezultatu itekako vidi. Moram napomenuti da se izdavač pobrinuo da izdanje, osim što je vrhunski napravljeno, bude i pristupačno i povoljno.

Knjiga sadrži fantastičan predgovor Dejana Ognjanovića, a za sam kraj knjige Milena Benini je sastavila vodič kroz Lovecraftianu. S obzirom na to koliko je Lovecraftov svijet bogat i sadržajan, ovaj mi je dio knjige bio od velike pomoći pri čitanju. Prijevod Marka Fančovića je odličan.

U planu je još knjiga H.P. Lovecrafta i nemojte da vas zaobiđu. Ovo bi mogla biti žanrovska lektira. Uzalud nam cijeli gotički pokret u književnosti, uzalud nam bajke, uzalud nam Poe, uzalud nam Dracula i Frankenstein, ma uzalud nam i predivni benevolentni vanzemaljci iz Voltaireovog “Micromegasa” ako zanemarimo Lovecrafta i njegov kontrast kao doprinos modernoj žanrovskoj priči.

I ako Cthulhua znate, nemojte ovu knjigu čitati na robinzonskom kampiranju, bez struje. Budite pametniji od mene. 🙂

Originalni osvrt možete pročitati ovdje: https://knjigesumojsvijet.com/2019/08...

[P.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi! Just reread The Colour Out of Space tonight and was it a blast! How closely woven is the atmospheric horror in this story! You can't help but feel awry when being told the scourge befalling the blighted inhabitants...

Feels like Lovecraft is the great old one :)

Also : this edition is as good an introduction as you could hope to Lovecraft!


Matching Soundtrack :
Ambient Music for Sleep - Cryo Chamber

[Ruby Tombstone Lives!]

Yes, I bought another Lovecraft anthology with the same stories I already have. But THIS one has a crappy 3D cover! How awesome is that?

[Kristina Writes Wrongs · Rating 3 out of 5]

You may not know it, but the writings of H.P. Lovecraft influenced much of the modern horror and science fiction you enjoy today. In fact, the other day I read a New Yorker review of Netflix’s series Stranger Things (if you have Netflix, or have a friend with Netflix, watch this show. It’s so freaking good) and what author was mentioned as having influenced Stranger Things? Why, H.P. Lovecraft, of course; specifically his story “The Colour Out of Space.” I read The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories cover to cover. I’ve decided that I’d prefer reading a critical analysis of his stories rather than reading any more of his stories. I find Lovecraft’s theories fascinating, but was rather so-so on how he applied those theories to his fiction.

I bought the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition and I’m pleased I did. Along with the very cool artwork and attractive look and feel of the book, the editor (S.T. Joshi) is extremely knowledgeable about Lovecraft and thorough in his introduction and story notes. When I read books that have notes, I usually very faithfully flip to the back of the book to read these notes, assuming they will assist me in my understanding and enjoyment of what I’m reading. Joshi’s notes are many and frankly, they are mostly for the most fanatic of Lovecraft fans. After flipping back and forth several times for one ten-paged story just learn things like: “this address is where his aunt used to live” and “Lovecraft loved cats,” I began ignoring the notes unless I came across something extremely puzzling. Also to be avoided are the explanatory introductions to each story before the notes. Sometimes, along with telling the reader when Lovecraft wrote this particular story and how the idea came to him and where it eventually was published, Joshi gave away the endings of the stories. No spoiler warnings at all! So, read those introductions after you read the story. Not that it’s often a surprise at how many (most) of these stories end, but still. I’d rather not have it spoiled by the editor.

In the introduction, Joshi quotes Lovecraft at length regarding his theories about fiction. The supernatural, Lovecraft believes, should be super natural, outside the laws of human knowledge and Earthly life: “To achieve the essence of real externality, whether of time or space or dimension, one must forget that such things as organic life, good and evil, love and hate, and all such local attributes of a negligible and temporary race called mankind, have any existence at all” (xviii). Aliens should be alien, and not hold the same values as humans nor care about humans. I’ve had my own thoughts on this, mostly from viewing sci-fi shows in which the “aliens” are very human and have similar values as humans (love, kindness, the importance of life, etc.). Why are they so human? I would often wonder and I usually decided, well, the writers are human and it’s difficult to create creatures who are entirely different from our selves. Of all the sci-fi I’ve ever read and viewed, only the Daleks and Cybermen of Doctor Who seem to have the true “alien” quality that Lovecraft prefers. Also, in Ann Leckie’s Ancillary trilogy, the alien race, the Presger, are nothing like humans and aren’t even sure if humans are a Significant species. So, I really like this idea and Lovecraft’s other thoughts on fiction (as discussed by Joshi) but I found his stories lacking.

Sometimes Lovecraft can go a bit overboard in his descriptions, but I love his writing style. I love his formality. He knows the meanings of the words he uses (gasp!) and I appreciate that. I think too many modern writers (particularly genre writers; sorry, but it’s true) are really very loosey-goosey about word choice and often don’t know what the hell the words actually mean, but they use them anyway (see: Mary Kubica’s utter crapfest The Good Girl). Lovecraft’s description are creepy and a little crazy, and I like them. Here’s the narrator of “Nyarlathotep” describing…well, something: “A sickened, sensitive shadow writhing in hands that are not hands, and whirled blindly past ghastly midnights of rotting creation, corpses of dead worlds with sores that were cities, charnel winds that brush the pallid stars and make them flicker low. Beyond the worlds vague ghosts of monstrous things; half-seen columns of unsanctified temples that rest on nameless rocks beneath space and reach up to dizzy vacua above the spheres of light and darkness” (33). I like that. I like that his aliens are kind of alien, at least in their complete disregard for humanity, but too often they’re described as some kind of fish or, as in the case of “The Whisperer in Darkness,” as funky giant crabs that can fly through space (but are unfortunately lumbering and slow on land). Why was Lovecraft so hostile towards sea life? If the alien creatures were not some kind of bastardized fish or crab, they were so awful as to be indescribable. Having the narrator of your stories babble too frequently that what they are seeing or hearing is so awful as to defy description is a total cop-out by the author. I prefer the space crabs, or not seeing the alien at all and just having the narrator describe the effects of the alien life on the surrounding landscape and people (“The Colour Out of Space”). While the setting may be creepy, I never felt the stories were scary. I don’t know if this is because I’m a modern reader and it takes a lot to freak me out, much more than Lovecraft’s weird fish people, or if the stories just aren’t all that scary anyway. But they aren’t scary. Mostly I felt the stories were predictable and sometimes silly.

As a man writing in the late 19th to early 20th century, Lovecraft was a reflection of his culture. That is, apparently, a very bigoted culture that considered anyone not of white European descent to be ape-ish, a half-breed, a simpleton and crude. Lovecraft also has issues with country folk as they are often described as “rustic” in a sneering manner which equivocates “rustic” with superstitious, stupid and uncivilized. “The Call of Cthulhu,” a story I looked forward to reading, is incredibly racist. All the “bad” people (who worship Cthulhu) are of a “very low, mixed-blooded, and mentally aberrant type” (153). I didn’t care for this story; it’s boring, silly, and not very interesting. Of the stories in this collection, I primarily enjoyed the longer ones: “The Whisperer in Darkness,” and “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” The first story of the book, “Dagon,” is also one I enjoyed. It has a certain fuzzy, nightmare-ish aura to it that I liked. The narrator’s surroundings seem to be genuinely alien, even though he is (to his knowledge) still on Earth.

This collection was my first foray into Lovecraft and possibly it will be my last. I was distinctly underwhelmed by the stories as a whole. They are too racist and too formulaic for my enjoyment. However, I’m glad I read them as they satisfied my intellectual curiosity about H.P. Lovecraft.

[Steven Yenzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed this collection, I wasn't blown away by it. I think reading so much Lovecraft in quick succession reveals how repetitive and formulaic many of his stories are.

The standard Lovecraft tale goes like this: "Have you heard about that crazy shit that happened in [New England town]? Well I was there. And I'll tell you, it's even crazier than you think. When I went there, at first I didn't think there was any crazy shit going on. And then I heard from this guy everyone thinks is crazy that crazy shit was going on. I was skeptical at first. But then I sort of kind of saw the eldritch/noisome/Cyclopean horror for myself, and although it was super-crazy, I can't describe it in too much detail because the very sight of it drove me insane. So here I am, pretty insane."

Although it was enjoyable to read the many variations on a theme, and I did particularly like a few of the tales ("The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" was my favorite), overall I was unimpressed with Lovecraft's storytelling abilities and particularly his writing style. I understand the outsized influence he's had on horror, and he had a lot of great ideas, but I don't find his stories nearly as entertaining as others apparently do.

[Undomiel Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finished this collection, taken me longer than I care to admit.

I loved every story individually, Lovecraft's flare for weird imagination and horror is second to none. So sensory, I've never felt so immersed in a short story collection.

However, I had to space out my reading for this eventually, as the 1st person narration for every book was exactly the same style, but didn't explicitly state that this was the same voice narrating each story (I think it was supposed to be different people; surely no one would have this much bad luck with monsters and spooky islands!) This did mean it got a little repetitive and dull after a while, so I took a much needed break, allowing me to love the second half just as much as the first.

A must read classic of mini-masterpieces!

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The worst.

Purple prose. Necronomicon. OMG there's is something weird and I don't know what it is but I'm going to write a letter and then die/go insane.

Repeat ad infinitum.

Maybe if I were a high school kid with an unlimited supply of weed. But I doubt it.

[Erin (she|her) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this a 3 because I've just realized all the horror menus I love is inspired by lovecraft so I guess it deserves some flowers, but I did not enjoy reading this. It was boring, pretentious, and racist.

[liv ʚɞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

’Nothing lasts. The world does not exist

Nearly an entire MONTH later and I have finally finished this godforsaken book. The moral of the story is: don’t buy a book because you like the fact it has a 3D cover and comes with 3D glasses. This does not automatically make it good.

A fun fact about me is that I love Eldritch / Lovecraftian horror. I think it’s absolutely awesome, and is the inspiration for some of my favourite pieces of media (SCP Containment Breach and the Mandela Catalogue, to name two examples) as well as one of my favourite video games of all time, Bloodborne. With this in mind, I just assumed that I would enjoy Lovecraft’s stories. Well as the old saying goes, assuming certainly does make an ass out of you and me, except for this time it’s literally just me. I’m an ass. And an idiot.

Similarly to Philip K. Dick, Lovecraft has some truly fantastic ideas that are unique and utterly defining for their respective genres. Also, similarity to Philip K. Dick, Lovecraft is a terrible fucking author. This man could not write a concise and exciting plot if his life depended on it. Endless drivel-like descriptions that waffle on for page after page after page, so much that by the time you get to the ‘scary’ section, you’re so goddamn bored you don’t have the energy to be scared. So much filler, so much pomp, so much just flexing of this excessively large and verbose vocabulary. We get it Howard, you like to read books. So do I, just not yours.

This is a real shame, as not only was I looking forward to his stories, but some of them genuinely did live up to the high expectations I had. The Whisperer in Darkness, The Shadow over Innsmouth and The Thing on the Doorstep were such great reads, and I felt very engaged by the connected multiverse that Lovecraft……crafted. On the other hand, I had to deal with mind-numbing flops like The Nameless City, The Festival and The Haunter of the Dark, which despite all being some of his shortest stories I had a very large urge to throw myself under the nearest lorry.

Overall, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales is not an experience I ever want to experience again. 3/5 stars for making me slowly lose my sanity, which being fair, is fitting for a Lovecraftian read.


Read on if you want to see my review and rating of each individual book, but please be warned, there will be ‼️SPOILERS‼️


1. The Rats in the Walls - 3.5/5
- Plot - a man buys a house infested by rats who may or may not turn him into a cannibal.
- Pros - Rats are gross and I thought the last page was actually kinda creepy.
- Cons - Not scary and the name of the man’s cat (and what Lovecraft actually named his cat irl) is fucking disgusting.

2. The Picture in the House - 2.5/5
- Plot - a man goes into an abandoned house and finds a hillbilly who likes to murder people, and then gets struck with lightning and dies.
- Pros - It was only 10 pages long.
- Cons - Still not scary.

3. The Nameless City - 1/5
- Plot - a man goes to an abandoned city in the desert and finds a race of lizard people and then gets scared of some wind.
- Pros - lizard people.
- Cons - the most boring and least scary story I’ve ever read. Insulting to horror.

4. The Festival - 1.5/5
- Plot - a man is summoned by his ancestors to attend a spooky Yuletide festival and is sucked into a weird cavern and is forced to ride a strange bat creature but he instead throws himself into a river and wakes up and it’s all a dream? Maybe? Unclear.
- Pros - The first story to show the link between each story in this larger universe.
- Cons - Still not scary and still not interesting.

5. The Call of Cthulhu - 3.5/5
- Plot - A man picks up the research of his late-departed uncle into the horrors of the ancient ‘Cthulhu Cult’ and the Eldritch God they wish to awaken.
- Pros - Cthulhu is an awesome creature and the plot of this one was well put together and interesting!
- Cons - Still not scary.

6. The Dunwich Horror - 4/5
- Plot - a small-time village is plagued by a creepy ass family who decide to summon an Eldritch being to end the world.
- Pros - The description of Wilbur Whateley was awesome and creepy, the story was interesting and I’m always up for a creepy cult in the woods. The descriptions for this were actually creepy asf and the overall plot was fascinating and well-written.
- Cons - Too long and slightly waffley in areas.

7. The Whisperer in Darkness - 5/5
- Plot - A man befriends another man living in the distant hills of Vermont, who claims that creatures named the Outsiders live in the mountains behind his house, and may mean him harm.
- Pros - Interesting story, likeable characters (weirdly enough), threatening creatures, good atmosphere, nice twist ending.
- Cons - I genuinely can’t think of any, this fucking slapped.

8. The Dreams in the Witch-House - 3/5
- Plot - a man moves into a house haunted by a witch and his life is basically ruined.
- Pros - It was in third person, thank god.
- Cons - Boring and not scary. I don’t care.

9. The Shadow Over Innsmouth - 5/5
- Plot - a man visits a town infested with fish people who want to kill him, only to find out he is one of them.
- Pros - really well written, interesting and engaging plot that wasn’t too descriptive heavy, a character likeable enough to root for, a fun and horrifying ending, and some good spooky scenes.
- Cons - this one actually doesn’t have any either!

10. At The Mountains of Madness - 4/5
- Plot - an expedition to the Antarctic goes very wrong when an ancient city is uncovered housing some very not so happy ‘Old One’s’.
- Pros - I love horror stories set in the Antarctic/Arctic so that was fun and it had a really unique premise.
- Cons - It wasn’t scary and could’ve been like 40 pages shorter - it dragged on way too much and a lot of it was just unnecessary waffle.

11. The Haunter of the Dark - 1.5/5
- Plot - a continuation of ‘The Picture in the House’ except somehow this is worse?
- Pros - There are literally none.
- Cons - This was so unnecessary? I did not need to know what happened to Blake after the first story, such a waste of time.

12. The Thing on the Doorstep - 4.5/5
- Plot - a man watches as his friend descends into madness after marrying a former inhabitant of Innsmouth.
- Pros - spooky, really well-written and paced, no unnecessary descriptions and long areas of waffle. Concise and enjoyable, I wish all his stories were like this!
- Cons - I would’ve liked the ending to be slightly longer actually, a bit too sudden of an ending for my liking - not enough suspense.

[Yeferzon Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

La edición que leí contenía tres relatos:

La llamada de Cthulhu: Me pareció un buen relato, lleno de misterio, pero no pasa de ahí, cuando menos piensas termina y quedas con la sensación de que faltó algo para que cerrara la historia.

La sombra sobre Innsmouth: Muy buen relato, por momentos compartes la tensión y la angustia del protagonista, por consiguiente te mantiene enganchado con la historia, lo malo es que ya hacia final el relato cae un poco, y se vuelve bastante predecible.

El horror de Dunwich: Excelente relato, sí bien Lovecraft parece que va a repetir la fórmula del cuento anterior, da un giro muy bueno y te mantiene con la tensión hasta el final, el cual cierra de gran forma. El relato que más me gustó de los tres.

El hombre rige dónde antes regían Ellos, pero pronto regirán Ellos donde ahora rige el hombre. Tras el verano el invierno, tras el invierno el verano. Aguardan, pacientes y confiados, pues saben que volverán a reinar sobre la tierra. 

Los cuentos tienen una relación entre sí que hace que el universo del Autor sea muy llamativo. Al tiempo que te hace sentir que la curiosidad por las cosas desconocidas es mejor no despertarla, transmitiendo el mensaje de que hay cosas que no deben ser descubiertas nunca.
Planeo seguir leyendo al autor, en este primer acercamiento me ha dejado muy intrigado con su obra, y espero encontrar más conexiones en la misma.

[David M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Lovecraft story only gets so far before dissolving in a bout of hysterical shrieking. Typically it's a fear of madness rather than actual physical danger. To be so terrified of losing one's mind is perhaps to have already lost it. Would it be possible for the existence of a race of indescribable monsters not to be an occasion for extreme horror, but rather something to be lived with and perhaps even celebrated under certain circumstances? This question almost seems like the starting point for China Mieville. If the old weird was one of strict hierarchies, the new weird holds out the possibility of radically egalitarian spaces.

On the one hand, sure, Lovecraft obviously wasn't that great of a writer; then again he's admirably obsessive in the way he returns to the same themes over and over again.

[Laci Carrera | Book Pairings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review coming soon.

[Enganchando Lectores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una rápida búsqueda en internet, nos enseña que la literatura de Lovecraft tiene tres grandes ciclos, a saber: el ciclo gótico, el ciclo onírico y el ciclo de los mitos de Cthulhu. En esta edición del Plutón Ediciones encontramos relatos pertenecientes a los tres ciclos.
Del ciclo gótico tenemos a la ciudad sin nombre, del ciclo onírico tenemos Polaris y los Gatos de Ulthar en tanto que del ciclo de los mitos de Cthulhu tenemos a Dagón y por supuesto a la llamada de Cthulhu.
El ciclo gótico se caracteriza por la evocación de parajes aislados, yermos y desolados en donde la noche es la gran puerta que se abre al mal. Y tal es el caso de la ciudad sin nombre, historia en la que Lovecraft nos cuenta acerca de un explorador que busca y encuentra una remota ciudad perdida en medio del desierto y de las noches árabes. Al acercarse a la ciudad de inmediato percibe lo opresivo del ambiente, opresión que se hace más intensa en la noche que en un principio parece decirle que debe irse de allí, que lo que yace en aquellas ruinas no es para sus ojos ni para los de ningún otro hombre. Sin embargo la curiosidad prevalece y una vez el sol aparece en el horizonte nuestro explorador recobra su valor y se adentra en los restos de la antigua urbe para descubrir sus oscuros y aterradores secretos. En mi opinión este cuento apela a tres elementos para lograr intimidar al lector, el primero, es el instintivo temor a la noche, a la oscuridad. Somos animales diurnos y naturalmente la noche nos apabulla.
Página 84: “Cuando la descubrí, en la aterradora quietud del sueño interminable, me miró temblorosa por los rayos de una luna fría en medio del calor del desierto”
Página 86: “Cuando la noche y la luna volvieron de nuevo, el viento frío me trajo un nuevo temor de forma que no me atreví a quedarme en la ciudad… al amanecer desperté de una cabalgata de pesadillas horribles”
El segundo, y este puede ser un temor particular de mi persona, consiste en el uso de espacios que además de ser oscuros son excesivamente reducidos.
Página 92: “Una de las veces llegué a un corredor largo, bajo y horizontal, donde tuve que arrastrarme por el suelo rocoso con los pies por delante, sosteniendo la antorcha cuanto daba de sí la longitud de mi brazo”
Y por último, Lovecraft apela a lo desconocido y diferente, como le es el hallazgo que hace el explorador de la condenada ciudad. Por supuesto aquí no leeré ninguna cita para no arruinar la historia y dejar que ustedes descubran ese hallazgo por su cuenta.
En la ciudad sin nombre nos encontramos por primera vez con el árabe loco Abdul Alhazred, presunto autor del Necronomicon.
El ciclo onírico, como bien lo ilustra su nombre, se caracteriza por relatos que acontecen en tierras producto de los sueños y por una amplia descripción de esos parajes.
En el caso de Polaris nos encontramos con un hombre atormentado por el refulgir de Polaris, la estrella del norte. Cuando por fin consigue conciliar el sueño gracias a una noche de nubes, se encuentra en otro paraje, en otro país, en donde Polaris también refulge con poder. Es un paraje que conoce pero que no consigue identificar, es un paraje en el que de alguna forma se siente cómodo. Después de algunas noches más de nubes y por tanto de sueño, el hombre aparentemente adquiere forma corpórea en aquel extraño país que visita en sus sueños. Esa noche descubre que no es un forastero en Olathoe la ciudad de Mármol de Lomar, sino que es un ciudadano más. El país está en guerra y como no es un guerrero se le asigna a una torre de vigilancia desde la que debe vigilar un estrecho paso que de ser tomado por los Inutos, será la perdición del país. En otras palabras su deber es cuidar la espalda de las tropas. Para terminar y no arruinar el cuento, solo les puedo decir que son varios días los que nuestro héroe lleva sin dormir y que polaris aún está por jugarle una mala pasada.
En este cuento existen dos elementos responsables de infundir terror en el lector, el primero es la incapacidad de distinguir lo real de lo imaginario y el segundo es uno que voy a dejar que ustedes mismo descubran.
Los Gatos de Ulthar parecen ser una historia de terror más tradicional en la que el mal y la crueldad son representados por una pareja de campesinos que se complace torturando y matando gatos, incluyendo los de los vecinos. Lo cierto es que nunca llegamos a conocer en detalle a esta pareja, excepto que vive en una choza que en sí misma es atemorizante y por ello, los vecinos y la misma ley prefieren desistir de cualquier reclamo o acción. Un día llega al pueblo una caravana de gitanos o algo semejante, con la casualidad de que la mascota de uno de los niños de dicha caravana es un gatito. Por supuesto el gato desaparece y lo único que puedo decirles aquí es que como consecuencia de esta última desaparición el mal y la crueldad son castigados.
Por último tenemos el ciclo de los mitos de Ctulhu, que se caracteriza por la introducción de los dioses primordiales y la descripción de infinidad de seres terroríficos que acechan la tierra. Aquí tenemos a Dagón, historia de un marinero que conoce a uno de estos seres primordiales, después de estar varios días a la deriva en un bote salvavidas en medio del océano pacífico. Una vez más el terror en la historia se desprende del temor arraigado en la naturaleza humana a lo desconocido, a la soledad, a los parajes yermos y desolados y a la oscuridad. Nuestro marinero sobrevive a la experiencia solo para pasar el resto de sus días atormentado por el recuerdo y el temor y encontrar solo un escape en los viajes de morfina.
Finalmente, dentro de este mismo ciclo, está el aclamado relato la llamada de cthulhu. El concepto es semejante al de Dagón, pues nos enfrentamos a la historia de cómo un grupo de personas se entera y/o conoce al sacerdote de los dioses de los tiempos anteriores a la historia de la humanidad con consecuencias fatales para sus existencias. Por supuesto estamos hablando de Cthulhu. De esta obra hay algunos elementos que me llamaron la atención, como el evidente racismo del autor:
Página 36: “Y rebelaba una asombrosa imaginación de carácter cósmico que nadie hubiese esperado entre parías y mestizos”
La influencia de esos dioses primordiales sobre los seres sensibles:
Página 24: “Las respuestas más interesantes procedían de artistas y poetas…”
Página 26: “Un arquitecto muy reconocido, algo inclinado a la teosofía y el ocultismo, se volvió completamente loco… y murió meses después gritando que lo salvaran de alguna criatura huida del infierno”
Lo inefable del destino:
Página 80: “Cthulhu tuvo que haber sido atrapado por los abismos submarinos pues sino el mundo estaría gritando espantado e histérico. ¿Quién conoce el final? Lo que ha surgido ahora puede hundirse y lo que se ha hundido puede surgir”
La manera en la que el autor juega con lo incomprensible:
Página 72: “El joven escultor afirmó que la geometría de la ciudad de sus sueños era anormal, no euclidiana, y que sugería esferas y dimensiones diferentes de las nuestras”
“Una amenaza tortuosa acechaba en esos ángulos desconcertantes donde una segunda mirada descubría un concavidad donde se había pensado haber visto una convexidad”
La bendición que en apariencia es la ignorancia:
Página 10: “Las ciencias, que siguen sus propios caminos, apenas han causado daño hasta el presente, pero uno de estos días la unión de esos disociados conocimientos nos enseñará la realidad, y la débil posición que en ella ocupamos, perspectivas tan terribles que enloqueceremos ante tal revelación, o huiremos de esa funesta luz, resguardándonos en la seguridad y la paz de una nueva edad de las tinieblas”
Cthulhu y los dioses primordiales o primigenios al parecer son extraterrestres que dominaron nuestro planeta eones antes del advenimiento de nuestra humanidad. Hoy Cthulhu duerme en la ciudad de R’lyeh a la espera de que las estrellas se alineen para volver a dominar nuestro mundo.
Para concluir debo decir que en general todos los relatos son buenos, sin embargo Polaris es quizás mi favorito de esta selección pues me hace pensar en un serio caso de esquizofrenia, seguido de Dagón por su protagonista heroinómano.

[Gothica Noctua · Rating 3 out of 5]

During my university years and beyond, the one author that friends kept insisting I should read was Lovecraft. Having never got around to his work before, I decided the 2020 Reading Challenge was the perfect opportunity to do so, and I chose this collection of twelve short stories as my first foray into his literary canon.

Now, I don't know if this is due to Lovecraft's particular style, or the fault of the editors who put these particular stories together, but I found this collection very formulaic - even, dare I say it, repetitive. The plots generally involve a New England male getting involved in, or learning about, some creepy hi-jinks, dismissing said hi-jinks as superstitious nonsense, relentlessly pursuing the weirdness, and dark mysterious forces consequently biting him in the buttocks. The novelty wears off after the first couple of stories, and you can guess what's coming from the get-go. That factor made it a tough, slow read in places.

Now, before the Lovecraft fans see the rating, break my door down, carry me off and sacrifice me to the Elder Ones, I will gladly concede that some of the stories in here are completely worthy of a 5-star rating on their own. My absolute favourite, which I relished reading, was "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" - a truly intriguing mystery and exciting adventure story, with an ending that made me exclaim "Oh, you poor doomed sod!" out loud, much to the confusion of the workplace canteen. If you want to dip your toe into Lovecraft's universe and can get that tale as a sole volume, then for the love of Yog-Sothoth, do so.

"The Dunwich Horror" comes a very close second, due to the clever portrayal and story arc of Wilbur Whateley, which struck me as slightly more original. (Also, bonus points for librarian hero!). I also enjoyed "The Dreams in the Witch-House", "The Thing on the Doorstep" and "The Picture in the House" (the latter chiefly due to a book being involved). "At the Mountains of Madness" was well-written too, and I can see why some people praise it so highly, but it was a tad too descriptive and drawn-out for my taste, although I'll admit the finale was excellent. (Fun board game, too!) As for the others, they were OK, but none of them really grabbed me.

Overall, this may not be the best collection to act as an introduction to Lovecraft's work, but all the same, I'm glad I read it - thanks to the couple of masterpieces it includes.

[Jesus Velasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

La llamada de Cthulhu y otros relatos cósmicos es una antología de cuentos de terror escritos por el autor estadounidense Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Fue publicada originalmente en 1928 y es considerada una de las obras más importantes del género.

Los cuentos de la antología están ambientados en un universo ficticio poblado por seres primigenios, extraterrestres e inmortales, que son mucho más antiguos y poderosos que la humanidad. Estos seres, conocidos como los Grandes Antiguos, están ocultos o dormidos, pero su presencia se hace sentir en el mundo a través de sus seguidores, que realizan rituales y sacrificios para despertarlos.

La llamada de Cthulhu es el relato más famoso de la antología. En él, un joven investigador descubre que Cthulhu, una criatura monstruosa y ancestral, está despertando de su letargo. El relato explora los temas del horror cósmico, la locura y la insignificancia del ser humano ante los grandes poderes del universo.

Otros relatos destacados de la antología incluyen El horror de Dunwich, El caso de Charles Dexter Ward, El color que cayó del cielo y El susurro en la oscuridad. Todos ellos comparten los temas y el estilo característicos de Lovecraft, que se caracteriza por su atmósfera de terror y misterio, su exploración de los miedos más profundos del ser humano y su visión de un universo indiferente y hostil.

La llamada de Cthulhu y otros relatos cósmicos es una obra fundamental de la literatura de terror. Su influencia se ha extendido a otros géneros, como la ciencia ficción, el manga y los videojuegos.

[Colin Gooding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marked as Did Not Finish

I picked three short stories by HP Lovecraft to read in book club this week, so I took those ebook out from the library thinking I would start with at least those stories and read maybe more.

I made it through The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Call of Cthulhu, and I started The Dunwich Horror, but early into that one I gave up.

I feel similar about reading this as I do with something like Tolkien. I respect the influence of the work and I think the broad stories/worlds and some specific moments are great, but I just can't get into the writing.

This is all aside from Lovecraft himself being a garbage person that certainly comes through in at least the casual racism throughout these stories, though I actually found it interesting to think about whether certain tropes that are prevalent throughout horror (fear of the other/the unknown being the big one) is inherently racist, or if just combining that with this writer makes it feel worse (though there often is clear racist terminology used in the writing, though not always directed at the monsters).

Anyways, glad I tried this out even if it's not for me.

[Erk · Rating 3 out of 5]

ถ้านับด้วยยุคสมัยที่เขียนงานชิ้นนี้ขึ้นมา (1919-1929) ก็ถือว่าจินตนาการบรรเจิดไม่น้อย
ได้ยินชื่อ lovecraft มานมนาน ผลงานของแกเป็นต้นแบบของนักเขียนดัง ๆ มากมาย
ถ้าถามถึงความสยองขวัญ ก็คงไม่ได้รู้สึกสยดสยองอะไรขนาดนั้นนะในความรู้สึก
ถ้าเจอเรื่องผีอาจรู้สึกสยองก็ได้ อันนี้เป็นแบบสัตว์ประหลาด แนว dark fantasy เสียมากกว่า
แต่เรื่องสุดท้ายต้องบอกเลยว่าเด็ดจริง ชอบที่สุดในบรรดาเรื่องสั้นทั้งหมดเลย

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last month (September 2013) I had an idea that I'd journey back to two of the true originals in two of my favorite genres; horror and fantasy. The other author I read was Robert Howard, who wrote the original Conan stories. I enjoyed both authors, but I think I had a better overall time with Howard. I'm not sure why, but reviewing Lovecraft is kind of daunting and complicated, which is probably why I bitched out and made this introduction half about Howard.

This collects many of Lovecraft's famous short stories, poems, and novellas (with the mystifying exception of At the Mountains of Madness) and was an easy way to get into his work. His style is a bit stuffy and archaic, which will surely turn off many people but I thought it fell into the whole "academics facing cosmic impossibilities" theme that he had going. Seriously, it seemed like every protagonist in these stories is a rich professor or student of some kind. In one way it's nice because it lends these stories an air of scientific qualification but it gets repetitive pretty quickly.

So, how scared was I by these stories? There were definitely moments where I got this horrible feeling of bone-chilling dread in the stories, particularly when Lovecraft pulled his weird, shocking twists. Lovecraft even managed to profoundly disturb me in some of the stories, which was pleasant as I'm probably a bit jaded. Funnily enough, the stories I responded to the most had nothing to do with the Cthulhu mythos (even though I did enjoy that stuff). It just seemed like when Lovecraft focused on creating terrestrial horrors rather than the whole gigantic immortal space octopus type of thing it seemed more real and horrible.

The problem with Lovecraft's traditional "cosmic horror" is that it really is hard to comprehend some of this shit, and it's supposed to be. Too many times the story devolved to stuff like "And then I saw it and I went insane from its indescribable intracosmic amorphous likeness" or something like that and I just couldn't connect to it. I don't know, the fault could be on me for being an imagination-less pleb or something like that. Still, stuff like The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour out of Space and Dagon are unquestionably cool. I just didn't connect when them as much as the stuff like Arthur Jermyn, The Rats in the Walls or The Shadow Over Innsmouth. I did find Charles Dexter Ward interminably boring, the only story in the collection I really disliked.

All in all, a pleasant if a bit underwhelming experience for me. Don't get me wrong, even with all the complaints these stories still have the power to summon dread, terror, and horrible, overwhelming curiosity. Anyone who has an interest in horror probably owes it to themselves to at least check out one or two of Mr. Lovecraft's stories. If I remember correctly some of them might even be in the public domain at this point and easy to acquire as such.

As a final caveat which I funnily enough had to insert into my review of Howard's stuff; if antiquated and misguided views on race/gender/sexuality and stuff like that really bother you, you might avoid this one. I definitely got a mild but noticeable flavor of racism from Lovecraft, which was irritating but didn't bother me too much. It shows itself in stuff like a character's cat being named "Nigger-Man", not really in overt comments on race or anything like that. I wouldn't have enjoyed that and it would have been a shame to have such obnoxious bullshit marring the legacy of one of America's originals.

[Path Kittinat · Rating 5 out of 5]

งานเขียนของ Lovecraft มันอ่านแบบรีบๆไม่ได้เลย เพราะบรรยายเยอะมาก และเพสซิ่งมันดำเนินไปค่อนข้างช้า เอาจริงๆเหมือนตอนเริ่มเล่น Red Dead ใหม่ ที่ต้องปรับตัวให้เข้ากับโลกที่เนิบช้า แต่ชินแล้วเท่านั้นแหละ สุดยอดเลย
Lovecraft สร้างงานสยองขวัญ ไซไฟ ได้ออกมาได้โคตรลงตัว มันไม่ล้ำไปไซไฟไป และมันก็ไม่ได้สยองขวัญไป ใส่ความน่าขยะแขยงลงไปหน่อย ก็ออกมาเป็นผลงานที่ลึกลับดำมืด ที่อ่านแล้วเวิ้งว้างมาก
ตอนที่ชอบที่สุดก็คือ Dagon, Call of Cthullu กับ Dunwich Horror นั้นแหละ ซึ่งก็เขียนออกมาแล้วตั้งเกือบร้อยปี แต่อ่านนี้มันยังทันสมัยอยู่เลย