The Horror Omnibus

by H.P. Lovecraft

"H.P. Collected Stories" typically encompasses a selection of his most renowned works, delving into themes of cosmic horror, forbidden knowledge, and humanity's insignificance in an uncaring universe. Stories such as The Call of Cthulhu, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and At the Mountains of Madness showcase his mastery of creating an atmosphere of dread and existential unease.

688 pages, Paperback

Published June 18, 2024

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

[Harrison Bahe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Horror Omnibus is a collection of cosmic horror fiction written by H.P. Lovecraft which features his eerie universe of spine chilling tales of ancient gods and forbidden knowledge. As a lover of all things horror, I feel I should have loved this collection of stories by Lovecraft. That’s not to say that a lot of what’s in here surely is horrific in nature. I swear, I could feel the dampness of some mist filled forest filled with frightening beasts pouring out of its pages. The book, I feel, is a victim of its 20th century writing prose. I’ve always felt a certain way about much older books, especially from this time period. Which is probably why I’ll never read such an extensive book as Gone With the Wind. While it is written quite beautifully (and horrifically), I feel the terror is lost to its complexity. Like, you could be describing some ancient evil to me but the effect of its horror is dampened by the mere fact that it’s written like a doctor’s report from the early 1900s. A majority of these tales are also told as recollections with less of a here-and-now approach. I understand that a lot of these stories were published as serials so I understand the approach to writing it as if it were a report.

I was a bit disappointed with such iconic tales of Lovecraft like Herbert West: Reanimator. The Call of Cthulu, The Dunwich Horror, and even At the Mountains of Madness. I was already exhausted by the first third of the book because of how many of his stories revolved around stumbling upon some ancient, dead city with swirling grey clouds hanging above it. I mean, there’s only so many times one can make that discovery. I’m sorry, H.P. Lovecraft. I truly am. Perhaps there are many others who got some frights out of your writing but this reader grew bored of your exhaustively elegant prose. I can still respect your contribution to horror though. I cannot respect the name you bestowed upon your cat.

[Braden Paolucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good collection of stories from H.P. lovecraft but was disappointed and confused by some misprints / mixups.

The short story “The Nameless City” is incorrectly combined with the short story “The Moon-Bog”. I was confused that the story suddenly shifted to a completely different setting with new characters but continued to read to see if it made sense at the end. After doing some research it turns out that I was right to be confused because “The Moon-Bog” is seamlessly thrown in at the end of “The Nameless City” and is even labeled as “The Nameless City” at the top of the page.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it for the fact that Lovecraft is one of the most famous authors of gothic/cosmic horror. So much so that there is the adjective "Lovecraftian," to describe a certain type of elderich horror and for that I respect and appreciate that. I used this collection to usher in the autumn of 2025 and it was quite enjoyable to read a new story almost every day.
But it is clear that some key points of his stories did not age well. Lovecraft was racist, sexist, xenophobic, and afraid of penguins, the sea, and seafood. There is also a story where his famous black cat is featured... and well... you get the point; that one was a hard read.

[Vihaa Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

That was filled with archaic diction, not scary and a little boring. The ideas of horror were fun to discover but that’s it

[archivist13 · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved the outsider