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Arcturus The Call of Cthulhu and Other Tales of Cosmic Terror (Arcturus Gilded Classics).
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Tales of Cosmic Terror (Arcturus Gilded Classics) ABISBOOK Arcturus.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published September 30, 2024
13 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
6,039 books19.2k followersHoward 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
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
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 13, 2025
Dagon – 3 stars
I have ventured into the great world of H.P. Lovecraft.
I started my journey with this well-written short story of a man who saw something so nightmarish that he no longer felt safe, and decided he had to do the unthinkable in order to achieve this feeling of safety.
Short stories tend to have a hard time winning me over, yet I will say I am absolutely intrigued by this author, and I cannot wait to delve into his other work.
In the last few years, I have developed an interest into the fairly well known classics, and have spent time with Jules Verne, Bram Stoker and J.R.R Tolkien. H.P. Lovecraft is a welcome addition to the mix of famous male authors throughout time.
The Dunwich Horror – 3 Stars
Odd things are going on in a small village.
Mystic and darkness are rising.
Quite the interesting read
The Call of Cthulhu – 3 Stars
The story centers around a young man who inherits his uncles writings.
The uncle, a scholar, stumbled over an item that caught his attention, and the same goes for the nephew.
He dedicates his time trying to figure out the enigma of the item, and trying to understand his uncle´s data.
He travels around the world in order to understand and learn of the "Cthulhu´s cult, and what impact it has on the people who was introduced into Cthulhu´s path.
The Whisperer in Darkness – 4 stars
This happens to be my most enjoyable read from Lovecraft within the collection I have read so far.
It was quite pleasant to follow Mr. Wilmarths journey to uncover the truth of his correspondace with Mr. Akeley.
I find the pace very easy to follow. It slowly build up the anticipation, and was rather fond of the entire idea behind the "Outer Ones" and the "proof".
At the Mountains of Madness – 4 stars
An expedition to the cold Antarctica turned into horror and fear of something cosmic and old.
I think this was quite the interesting read. Probably one of my favorite from Lovecraft, but I do love me some explorers.
I wish we got more of the Old Ones, yet I truly enjoyed the descriptions of their old city.
The Shadow over Innsmouth – 4 stars (My favorite)
I quite like this one. It is without a doubt my favorite of Lovecrafts work.
I loved that we were showed the alien creatures.
I loved the horror and dark stories that that old drunken fellow spoke of.
I loved how it actually had a feeling of terror and I enjoyed greatly how the MC kept his cool with an added scare at the end.
The Haunter of the Darkness- 2 stars
A story that centers around a man´s exploration of an abandoned old church that looms over a city filled with poeple that has heard stories of a darkness that used to lure within.
It was a fine story, just not overly fond of it.
I have ventured into the great world of H.P. Lovecraft.
I started my journey with this well-written short story of a man who saw something so nightmarish that he no longer felt safe, and decided he had to do the unthinkable in order to achieve this feeling of safety.
Short stories tend to have a hard time winning me over, yet I will say I am absolutely intrigued by this author, and I cannot wait to delve into his other work.
In the last few years, I have developed an interest into the fairly well known classics, and have spent time with Jules Verne, Bram Stoker and J.R.R Tolkien. H.P. Lovecraft is a welcome addition to the mix of famous male authors throughout time.
The Dunwich Horror – 3 Stars
Odd things are going on in a small village.
Mystic and darkness are rising.
Quite the interesting read
The Call of Cthulhu – 3 Stars
The story centers around a young man who inherits his uncles writings.
The uncle, a scholar, stumbled over an item that caught his attention, and the same goes for the nephew.
He dedicates his time trying to figure out the enigma of the item, and trying to understand his uncle´s data.
He travels around the world in order to understand and learn of the "Cthulhu´s cult, and what impact it has on the people who was introduced into Cthulhu´s path.
The Whisperer in Darkness – 4 stars
This happens to be my most enjoyable read from Lovecraft within the collection I have read so far.
It was quite pleasant to follow Mr. Wilmarths journey to uncover the truth of his correspondace with Mr. Akeley.
I find the pace very easy to follow. It slowly build up the anticipation, and was rather fond of the entire idea behind the "Outer Ones" and the "proof".
At the Mountains of Madness – 4 stars
An expedition to the cold Antarctica turned into horror and fear of something cosmic and old.
I think this was quite the interesting read. Probably one of my favorite from Lovecraft, but I do love me some explorers.
I wish we got more of the Old Ones, yet I truly enjoyed the descriptions of their old city.
The Shadow over Innsmouth – 4 stars (My favorite)
I quite like this one. It is without a doubt my favorite of Lovecrafts work.
I loved that we were showed the alien creatures.
I loved the horror and dark stories that that old drunken fellow spoke of.
I loved how it actually had a feeling of terror and I enjoyed greatly how the MC kept his cool with an added scare at the end.
The Haunter of the Darkness- 2 stars
A story that centers around a man´s exploration of an abandoned old church that looms over a city filled with poeple that has heard stories of a darkness that used to lure within.
It was a fine story, just not overly fond of it.
June 7, 2025
It's tough assigning a rating to this book. So much has already been said about Lovecraft's seminal writing, the good and the bad, so I'll focus on this specific gorgeous edition. The size, weight, illustrations and leather cover give it the feel of a grimoire to be read by the fire, the ideal format for this type of stories. It is a stunning edition, perfect I would imagine, for any Lovecraft fans.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews