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Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft
BLACK SEAS OF INFINITY
540 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
35 people are currently reading
448 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Wheeler
93 books43 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Andrew Wheeler is a Shuster and Eisner-winning writer and editor. His credits include Another Castle at Oni Press, Love and War at Comixology, the Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurers Guides, and the Prism-nominated all ages LGBTQ anthology Shout Out.
Andrew Wheeler is a Shuster and Eisner-winning writer and editor. His credits include Another Castle at Oni Press, Love and War at Comixology, the Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurers Guides, and the Prism-nominated all ages LGBTQ anthology Shout Out.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
October 23, 2015
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.
I'm done. Such pains me, but not to the degree of this prose. I had thought of an italicized voice-over about some hardscrabble researcher reporting from Tahrir Square about unearthing a noisome text from a "mad Arab" ... I was going to punctuate such with the researcher's support staff being gunned down in the backlash against the Muslim Brotherhood by the el-Sisi forces. Then I would twist the question: what do you find terrifying?
But I can't do it.
Between this tome and the Annotated Lovecraft I've read a dozen pieces now and hated nearly all of them. HPL was a racist, two-trick scribbler. When he ventured away from his Yoknapatawpha County snd its froggy fish people, he could prove interesting -- well, for a pulpster anway. I kept plowing away to no avail. Lovecraft crafted interesting stories about cannibals and madness but his mytho-poetics proved a Meh of the Black Shirt set.
I'm done. Such pains me, but not to the degree of this prose. I had thought of an italicized voice-over about some hardscrabble researcher reporting from Tahrir Square about unearthing a noisome text from a "mad Arab" ... I was going to punctuate such with the researcher's support staff being gunned down in the backlash against the Muslim Brotherhood by the el-Sisi forces. Then I would twist the question: what do you find terrifying?
But I can't do it.
Between this tome and the Annotated Lovecraft I've read a dozen pieces now and hated nearly all of them. HPL was a racist, two-trick scribbler. When he ventured away from his Yoknapatawpha County snd its froggy fish people, he could prove interesting -- well, for a pulpster anway. I kept plowing away to no avail. Lovecraft crafted interesting stories about cannibals and madness but his mytho-poetics proved a Meh of the Black Shirt set.
April 27, 2017
This is one of ye finest collections of Lovecraft's writing that I have enjoy'd. The excellent Contents includes some of Lovecraft's finest stories and others deem'd "lesser" works--and it amazes me how satisfying many of those lesser tales are. "Pickman's Model" is judged by many as weak because they predict its ending early on--& yet that ending is the least interesting aspect of this story of a sinister aspect of ye long-dead past and ye creatures that may haunt that past and seep into modernity. Richard Pickman, as a character, is exactly as he shou'd be, a dark soul with a tantalizing intellect. "The Lurking Fear" is one of my favourite Lovecraft tales, in part because of its wildness of language. The writing is a classic example of Lovecraft's power to evoke a near-insane narrative that paints a diseased portrait of the world and its secretive inhabitants. I have found "The Lurking Fear" so fabulous that it inspired me to write my own version of it, set in Sesqua Valley--a very fan-boy thing to do, I confess. Reading the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft puts me into a feverish state, one that so infects me that I cannot resist ye lure of writing my own stories in whut my demented soul imagines is "the Lovecraft tradition."
March 29, 2010
5.0 to 5.5 stars. I have not read all of the stories in this collection so this review will cover those that I have:
"The Call of Cthulhu" (6.0 stars): My favorite Lovecraft story and arguably his best.
"Dagon" (5.0 stars): Another superb story set squarely in the Cthulhu mythos.
"Winged Death" (5.0 stars): A great, short story not directly part of the "Cthulhu Mythos" but with vague references thereto. A chilling revenge story with a great ending.
"The Rats in the Walls" (5.0 stars): On my short list of favorite Lovecraft stories, this is a classic with slowly building suspense and a great ending.
"The Outsider" (5.5 stars): A short tale with a great ending.
"The Call of Cthulhu" (6.0 stars): My favorite Lovecraft story and arguably his best.
"Dagon" (5.0 stars): Another superb story set squarely in the Cthulhu mythos.
"Winged Death" (5.0 stars): A great, short story not directly part of the "Cthulhu Mythos" but with vague references thereto. A chilling revenge story with a great ending.
"The Rats in the Walls" (5.0 stars): On my short list of favorite Lovecraft stories, this is a classic with slowly building suspense and a great ending.
"The Outsider" (5.5 stars): A short tale with a great ending.
November 2, 2018
H.P. Lovecraft was a master of American horror. He is easily equal to Edgar Allen Poe before him and Stephen King after him. He has been highly influential, inspiring other stories, movies, and games. Lately, it seems to be impossible to avoid the Lovecraftian.
However, I had not read many Lovecraft stories. My mother bought Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft for me, and I hoped it would be a good introduction to his oeuvre. It claims to contain 19 of his best stories. That should provide a good basis to judge Lovecraft and appreciate the many stories written by other authors in his shared Cthulhu Mythos.
Like most collections, Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft is a mixed bag. Some of the stories are great, but I found most to be merely adequate. The concepts are fascinating, but Lovecraft’s writing frequently holds them back. He tended to write his stories as letters written after the fact. This creates too much distance between the reader and the action. I really was not scared by reading an account of a narrator reading an account of an investigation of a cult and shipwreck in “The Call of Cthulhu.” This problem is compounded by Lovecraft’s habit of using long expository infodumps instead of dialogue or direct description. His characters are flat and interchangeable. He fails to accurately depict anyone other than educated white men like him. I strongly doubt that any 17 year old grocery clerk ever referred to bones as “osseous factors” like the boy in “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. Ultimately, his reliance on the fear of the unknown put an expiration date on the scares in stories like “At the Mountains of Madness.” Antarctica has been explored and is no longer scary; torture like that depicted in Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” is still horrifying.
Lovecraftian horror has some clear characteristics. The ultimate source of horror is the fear of the unknown. Supernatural magics are connected to cutting edge science to suggest that humanity is surrounded by hidden dangers just out of sight. As a result, knowledge is dangerous. Knowledge leads characters like Walter Gilman from “The Dreams in the Witch House” to doom (in contrast to the characters in Dracula who are saved by Van Helsing’s knowledge). Even characters that survive suffer sanity loss. The stories are adorned with motifs of blasphemous secret lore and indescribable horrors. All of this combines to create a distinctive atmosphere.
"The Call of Cthulhu" is one of Lovecraft's most famous stories. It is about an academic investigating the death of an academic who had been investigating the cult of Cthulhu. It lays down the foundation of the Cthulhu Mythos. The conceit and writing created too much distance between the events and the reader. Different parts could have been separate, and separate stories with more focus might have been more effective. At this point, this story is cliched and racist. 2/5
"Dagon" is a better story. It is short. It is first person, so the reader is close to the action. The plot points - capture by enemy soldiers, drifting on the broad expanse of the ocean, discovery of dead animals, landing on unknown lands, sighting a huge unknown animal, and opioid addiction - are all still scary. The image of being alone on the ocean and seeing a huge unidentifiable shape move is chilling. 4/5
"Winged Death" is another good one. Apparently, it was ghost written for Hazel Heald. I am not sure why I identified with or cared for the horrible main character, but I did. I found horror in the first half from the inhumanity of imperialism and racism, the obsession of revenge, and the use of unknown insects and disease for murder. In the second half, the creeping inevitability of death and the slow loss of sanity horrified me. This story is almost a morality play about the risks of taking revenge. 4/5
"The Rats in the Walls" is about an American who reclaims the long abandoned manor of his ancestors. Of course, the estate has dark secrets. The story is fine, but the name of the cat is racist. This is a problem, because this story is fixated on the cats as much as Lovecraft. The story reminds me a little of "The Judge's House" by Bram Stoker and a lot of the Darkest Dungeon game. 3/5
"The Colour out of Space" is a great story. It involves an isolated area, a genuinely scary unexplained threat, an academic investigator - all the highlights of a good Lovecraftian story. It also has none of the racism that mars his other stories. 5/5
"The Outsider" is a very short story. It is almost dreamlike, and definitively Gothic. It seems more like Poe than Lovecraft, and Lovecraft himself agreed. I saw the twist coming from the beginning. . 2/5
"The Shadow out of Time" is a novella. It has some great lore. It introduces the Great Race of Yith. The idea of aliens taking over human minds is scary. It also gives Earth a secret past and ominous future. The first part was good, with Peaslee being replaced, and slowly figuring out what happened. The second half is an overlong expedition to confirm the first half. Then it tries to keep the uncertainty. I wish it were more concise. I enjoyed learning about the Great Race of Yith. I wish Lovecraft had not put that in the middle. It just felt like everything about the Great Race was handed to Peaslee and the reader as fact halfway in the story. I would have liked the investigation to be more step-by-step, with the expedition being the pay off that pulls all the scraps of information together. Let the dreams provide unsettling suggestions, which he investigates through journals and letters, discovers the forbidden books, then launches his expedition to verify his dreams. The reader would have also had the chance to piece the info together. The expedition would have been more meaningful. As it stands, the pay off comes in the middle and the following climax is an old man stumbling around a cave in terror. 3/5
"The Lurking Fear" starts like a werewolf story and ends like The Hills Have Eyes. It might have been cliche but for the good execution and Lovecraftian style. This is Lovecraft at his best. All the elements come together. I like how urgent the investigation is. There is action, growing suspense, thick atmosphere, and discovery. The use of thunderstorms was cool. I was genuinely gripped the entire time. 5/5
"Pickman's Model" is short. It starts with a discourse on horror art. It continues with a story about scary paintings based on true subjects. The twist is easily foreseen. The common issue of distance from the action is repeated; it is another letter written after the fact about interesting events. Lovecraft seems to have read about Boston, because I did not know about the tunnels under the North End. 2/5
"The Thing on the Doorstep" is another epistolary story. It seems to combine Innsmouth with a possession story. The narrator watches his friend experience domestic abuse at the hands of his mysterious wife. The friend is left to make an impossible choice to end the horror. 3/5
"The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is a great novella. Innsmouth is an enduring iconic setting. It has a thick atmosphere of isolation, paranoia, insidiousness, and decay. The story of Obed Marsh is a brilliant legend that I could absolutely believe as folklore. The action is strong. The twist is genuine because it is foreshadowed and plausible but surprising and frightening. I wish Lovecraft has used some actual dialogue though. 5/5
"The Festival" is an anticlimatic little story. The narrator returns to Kingsport for what he seemingly knew was an occult ritual. Apparently he was not prepared for the ritual to be creepy, because he suddenly loses his nerve. He runs away before the ritual starts. It amounts to the sort of story a child tells about something that maybe almost happened. Truly unsatisfying. 1/5
"The Dreams in the Witch House" is Lovecraft's take on old New England witch accounts. It includes many of the common elements: witch, familiar, drinking blood, the Black Man, signing the book, hallucinations, and sacrifices. He adds his Great Old Ones and hints of extradimensional evil. Interestingly, he ties the supernatural elements to modern science like quantum physics and non-Euclidean geometry. The message is that learning too much makes one vulnerable to hidden evils. 3.5/5
"The Nameless City" is about an archaeologist dig gone wrong. The unnamed narrator recounts his solitary expedition to a buried pre-human city in the Arabian desert. This story centers on Lovecraft's recurring theme of knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge resulting in danger and evil. This is also a great example of an acceptable story that introduces fantastic lore. It reminds me of the game Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem on the GameCube. 3/5
"The Mound" is another archaeological/anthropological story. It was ghost written for Zealia Bishop. The action is an unnamed narrator investigating Native American legends and reading a Spanish tome. There is the recurring issue of distance. There is some great lore here, but it reads like watching someone read a particularly dry encyclopedia. Again, knowledge is punished. The depiction of Native Americans is problematic. 2/5
"What the Moon Brings" is the shortest story in this collection. This story is exactly the sort of hint Lovecraft references so often in his other stories. It is highly ambiguous, but the suggestion is disturbing. 3/5
"In the Walls of Eryx" is Lovecraft in space! It was cowritten with Kenneth J. Sterling. I found this to be his most surprising and gripping story. I did not expect Lovecraft to write a story set on Venus. I felt close and invested in the action, with a growing sense of personal desperation. The protagonist undergoes real growth. The invisible labyrinth is more incomprehensible and scary than Cthulhu. This was one of his last stories, and it makes me wish he had lived longer. 5/5
"The Unnamable" is a fairly traditional ghost story. Two friends sit in a graveyard. One tells the other a story about a mutant (?) born during the days of Cotton Mather. The thing lives in an attic, and eventually haunts the area. The friend does not believe until they are attacked by the thing. It is short, sweet, and unsurprising. I do not understand the reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 3/5
“At the Mountains of Madness” is another of Lovecraft’s most famous stories. It is also one of the longest, and one of the driest. The conceit is an account of a doomed Antarctic expedition written to discourage a planned expedition. The expedition finds remains of Elder Things, and an unbelievably ancient city. Most of the expedition dies off page, but at least the narrator sees a shoggoth. It seems authentic to how a scientific explorer of the time would describe an expedition. It includes long sections of detailed and thorough descriptions of everything from expedition supplies to the weather. Like “The Mound”, the story’s greatest strength is the lore it introduces. It was interesting to learn the history of the Elder Things and their relationships with shoggoths, Cthulhu spawn, and Mi-go. 2/5
This was a long read, and I am ready to put Lovecraft down for a while. I know I want to read “Herbert West – Reanimator” and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward as well as stories inspired by Lovecraft. I expect that later authors have executed Lovecraftian themes more effectively, and I intend to read them in the future. I want to see how authors incorporate modern technology and themes of race.
3.5/5 rounded down to 3
However, I had not read many Lovecraft stories. My mother bought Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft for me, and I hoped it would be a good introduction to his oeuvre. It claims to contain 19 of his best stories. That should provide a good basis to judge Lovecraft and appreciate the many stories written by other authors in his shared Cthulhu Mythos.
Like most collections, Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft is a mixed bag. Some of the stories are great, but I found most to be merely adequate. The concepts are fascinating, but Lovecraft’s writing frequently holds them back. He tended to write his stories as letters written after the fact. This creates too much distance between the reader and the action. I really was not scared by reading an account of a narrator reading an account of an investigation of a cult and shipwreck in “The Call of Cthulhu.” This problem is compounded by Lovecraft’s habit of using long expository infodumps instead of dialogue or direct description. His characters are flat and interchangeable. He fails to accurately depict anyone other than educated white men like him. I strongly doubt that any 17 year old grocery clerk ever referred to bones as “osseous factors” like the boy in “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. Ultimately, his reliance on the fear of the unknown put an expiration date on the scares in stories like “At the Mountains of Madness.” Antarctica has been explored and is no longer scary; torture like that depicted in Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” is still horrifying.
Lovecraftian horror has some clear characteristics. The ultimate source of horror is the fear of the unknown. Supernatural magics are connected to cutting edge science to suggest that humanity is surrounded by hidden dangers just out of sight. As a result, knowledge is dangerous. Knowledge leads characters like Walter Gilman from “The Dreams in the Witch House” to doom (in contrast to the characters in Dracula who are saved by Van Helsing’s knowledge). Even characters that survive suffer sanity loss. The stories are adorned with motifs of blasphemous secret lore and indescribable horrors. All of this combines to create a distinctive atmosphere.
"The Call of Cthulhu" is one of Lovecraft's most famous stories. It is about an academic investigating the death of an academic who had been investigating the cult of Cthulhu. It lays down the foundation of the Cthulhu Mythos. The conceit and writing created too much distance between the events and the reader. Different parts could have been separate, and separate stories with more focus might have been more effective. At this point, this story is cliched and racist. 2/5
"Dagon" is a better story. It is short. It is first person, so the reader is close to the action. The plot points - capture by enemy soldiers, drifting on the broad expanse of the ocean, discovery of dead animals, landing on unknown lands, sighting a huge unknown animal, and opioid addiction - are all still scary. The image of being alone on the ocean and seeing a huge unidentifiable shape move is chilling. 4/5
"Winged Death" is another good one. Apparently, it was ghost written for Hazel Heald. I am not sure why I identified with or cared for the horrible main character, but I did. I found horror in the first half from the inhumanity of imperialism and racism, the obsession of revenge, and the use of unknown insects and disease for murder. In the second half, the creeping inevitability of death and the slow loss of sanity horrified me. This story is almost a morality play about the risks of taking revenge. 4/5
"The Rats in the Walls" is about an American who reclaims the long abandoned manor of his ancestors. Of course, the estate has dark secrets. The story is fine, but the name of the cat is racist. This is a problem, because this story is fixated on the cats as much as Lovecraft. The story reminds me a little of "The Judge's House" by Bram Stoker and a lot of the Darkest Dungeon game. 3/5
"The Colour out of Space" is a great story. It involves an isolated area, a genuinely scary unexplained threat, an academic investigator - all the highlights of a good Lovecraftian story. It also has none of the racism that mars his other stories. 5/5
"The Outsider" is a very short story. It is almost dreamlike, and definitively Gothic. It seems more like Poe than Lovecraft, and Lovecraft himself agreed. I saw the twist coming from the beginning. . 2/5
"The Shadow out of Time" is a novella. It has some great lore. It introduces the Great Race of Yith. The idea of aliens taking over human minds is scary. It also gives Earth a secret past and ominous future. The first part was good, with Peaslee being replaced, and slowly figuring out what happened. The second half is an overlong expedition to confirm the first half. Then it tries to keep the uncertainty. I wish it were more concise. I enjoyed learning about the Great Race of Yith. I wish Lovecraft had not put that in the middle. It just felt like everything about the Great Race was handed to Peaslee and the reader as fact halfway in the story. I would have liked the investigation to be more step-by-step, with the expedition being the pay off that pulls all the scraps of information together. Let the dreams provide unsettling suggestions, which he investigates through journals and letters, discovers the forbidden books, then launches his expedition to verify his dreams. The reader would have also had the chance to piece the info together. The expedition would have been more meaningful. As it stands, the pay off comes in the middle and the following climax is an old man stumbling around a cave in terror. 3/5
"The Lurking Fear" starts like a werewolf story and ends like The Hills Have Eyes. It might have been cliche but for the good execution and Lovecraftian style. This is Lovecraft at his best. All the elements come together. I like how urgent the investigation is. There is action, growing suspense, thick atmosphere, and discovery. The use of thunderstorms was cool. I was genuinely gripped the entire time. 5/5
"Pickman's Model" is short. It starts with a discourse on horror art. It continues with a story about scary paintings based on true subjects. The twist is easily foreseen. The common issue of distance from the action is repeated; it is another letter written after the fact about interesting events. Lovecraft seems to have read about Boston, because I did not know about the tunnels under the North End. 2/5
"The Thing on the Doorstep" is another epistolary story. It seems to combine Innsmouth with a possession story. The narrator watches his friend experience domestic abuse at the hands of his mysterious wife. The friend is left to make an impossible choice to end the horror. 3/5
"The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is a great novella. Innsmouth is an enduring iconic setting. It has a thick atmosphere of isolation, paranoia, insidiousness, and decay. The story of Obed Marsh is a brilliant legend that I could absolutely believe as folklore. The action is strong. The twist is genuine because it is foreshadowed and plausible but surprising and frightening. I wish Lovecraft has used some actual dialogue though. 5/5
"The Festival" is an anticlimatic little story. The narrator returns to Kingsport for what he seemingly knew was an occult ritual. Apparently he was not prepared for the ritual to be creepy, because he suddenly loses his nerve. He runs away before the ritual starts. It amounts to the sort of story a child tells about something that maybe almost happened. Truly unsatisfying. 1/5
"The Dreams in the Witch House" is Lovecraft's take on old New England witch accounts. It includes many of the common elements: witch, familiar, drinking blood, the Black Man, signing the book, hallucinations, and sacrifices. He adds his Great Old Ones and hints of extradimensional evil. Interestingly, he ties the supernatural elements to modern science like quantum physics and non-Euclidean geometry. The message is that learning too much makes one vulnerable to hidden evils. 3.5/5
"The Nameless City" is about an archaeologist dig gone wrong. The unnamed narrator recounts his solitary expedition to a buried pre-human city in the Arabian desert. This story centers on Lovecraft's recurring theme of knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge resulting in danger and evil. This is also a great example of an acceptable story that introduces fantastic lore. It reminds me of the game Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem on the GameCube. 3/5
"The Mound" is another archaeological/anthropological story. It was ghost written for Zealia Bishop. The action is an unnamed narrator investigating Native American legends and reading a Spanish tome. There is the recurring issue of distance. There is some great lore here, but it reads like watching someone read a particularly dry encyclopedia. Again, knowledge is punished. The depiction of Native Americans is problematic. 2/5
"What the Moon Brings" is the shortest story in this collection. This story is exactly the sort of hint Lovecraft references so often in his other stories. It is highly ambiguous, but the suggestion is disturbing. 3/5
"In the Walls of Eryx" is Lovecraft in space! It was cowritten with Kenneth J. Sterling. I found this to be his most surprising and gripping story. I did not expect Lovecraft to write a story set on Venus. I felt close and invested in the action, with a growing sense of personal desperation. The protagonist undergoes real growth. The invisible labyrinth is more incomprehensible and scary than Cthulhu. This was one of his last stories, and it makes me wish he had lived longer. 5/5
"The Unnamable" is a fairly traditional ghost story. Two friends sit in a graveyard. One tells the other a story about a mutant (?) born during the days of Cotton Mather. The thing lives in an attic, and eventually haunts the area. The friend does not believe until they are attacked by the thing. It is short, sweet, and unsurprising. I do not understand the reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 3/5
“At the Mountains of Madness” is another of Lovecraft’s most famous stories. It is also one of the longest, and one of the driest. The conceit is an account of a doomed Antarctic expedition written to discourage a planned expedition. The expedition finds remains of Elder Things, and an unbelievably ancient city. Most of the expedition dies off page, but at least the narrator sees a shoggoth. It seems authentic to how a scientific explorer of the time would describe an expedition. It includes long sections of detailed and thorough descriptions of everything from expedition supplies to the weather. Like “The Mound”, the story’s greatest strength is the lore it introduces. It was interesting to learn the history of the Elder Things and their relationships with shoggoths, Cthulhu spawn, and Mi-go. 2/5
This was a long read, and I am ready to put Lovecraft down for a while. I know I want to read “Herbert West – Reanimator” and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward as well as stories inspired by Lovecraft. I expect that later authors have executed Lovecraftian themes more effectively, and I intend to read them in the future. I want to see how authors incorporate modern technology and themes of race.
3.5/5 rounded down to 3
April 7, 2020
I read this once before when I was a lot younger, so I wanted to give it a try again. I think at times I liked it a lot more, and other times I liked it less. I used to think Color Out of Space was pretty boring, but now it might be my favorite story of the bunch. I started leaving notes on what I thought of the stories, but didn't do that toward the end.
Thing on the Doorstep - Interesting story of loss of control of one's body to another. This was apparently written after HPL was divorced, which kind of shows in how he writes the evil character.
I disagree that this is the best collection of his stories. The one about the fly was pretty meh. And Mountains of Madness was pretty boring, all things considered. These two guys go on this excursion to figure some things out, find more than expected, but instantly know the entire history of the Old Ones and whatnot from a massive relief carving? I call shenanigans. It's interesting in that it's got more going on in regards to a realistic history of the monsters, but I think it was done in a poor way.
Almost across the board HPL stories could be summed up with 85% slow rather dry build up to a really exciting climax and a very quick conclusion. Sometimes it works out really well, other times it's too much build up or just too dry. I still like them overall, but it really comes down to the individual story.
Thing on the Doorstep - Interesting story of loss of control of one's body to another. This was apparently written after HPL was divorced, which kind of shows in how he writes the evil character.
I disagree that this is the best collection of his stories. The one about the fly was pretty meh. And Mountains of Madness was pretty boring, all things considered. These two guys go on this excursion to figure some things out, find more than expected, but instantly know the entire history of the Old Ones and whatnot from a massive relief carving? I call shenanigans. It's interesting in that it's got more going on in regards to a realistic history of the monsters, but I think it was done in a poor way.
Almost across the board HPL stories could be summed up with 85% slow rather dry build up to a really exciting climax and a very quick conclusion. Sometimes it works out really well, other times it's too much build up or just too dry. I still like them overall, but it really comes down to the individual story.
September 22, 2010
the call of cthulhu ALWAYS ENJOY READING IT AGAIN
dagon CLASSIC
winged death WAS THE 1ST TIME READ
the rats in the wall GAVE ME THE CHILLS
the colour out of space CLASSIC
the outsider READ A FEW TIMES NOW
the shadow out of time ALWAYS PAUSE AND MAKES ME THINK
the lurking fear WOULD BE A GOOD PART TWO MAKER IF DONE RIGHT
pickmans model LOVE THE ART THOUGHTS
the thing on the doorstep LOL THAT WOULD SUCK TO BE IN THAT SITUATION
the shadonw over innsmouth A CLASSIC ALWAYS PLEASUER TO READ LOVE CRAFT
the festival CANT REALLY SAY CARE FOR THIS ONE
the dreams in the witch house POSSIBLITIES JUST EXPLODE IN MY MIND
the namelEss city HUM
the mound HAVE READ THIS A FEW TIMES AND IT STILL BUGS ME
what the moon brings SHORT
in the walls of eryx INTRESTING READ WAS 1ST TIME
the unnamable DIDN'T CARE FOR THIS ONE
at the mountain of madness CLASSIC CANT PRAISE ENOUGH
LEAVES ALOT IN MY MIND TO THINK ABOUT AND I OFTEN READ LOVECRAFT JUST TO THINK..
dagon CLASSIC
winged death WAS THE 1ST TIME READ
the rats in the wall GAVE ME THE CHILLS
the colour out of space CLASSIC
the outsider READ A FEW TIMES NOW
the shadow out of time ALWAYS PAUSE AND MAKES ME THINK
the lurking fear WOULD BE A GOOD PART TWO MAKER IF DONE RIGHT
pickmans model LOVE THE ART THOUGHTS
the thing on the doorstep LOL THAT WOULD SUCK TO BE IN THAT SITUATION
the shadonw over innsmouth A CLASSIC ALWAYS PLEASUER TO READ LOVE CRAFT
the festival CANT REALLY SAY CARE FOR THIS ONE
the dreams in the witch house POSSIBLITIES JUST EXPLODE IN MY MIND
the namelEss city HUM
the mound HAVE READ THIS A FEW TIMES AND IT STILL BUGS ME
what the moon brings SHORT
in the walls of eryx INTRESTING READ WAS 1ST TIME
the unnamable DIDN'T CARE FOR THIS ONE
at the mountain of madness CLASSIC CANT PRAISE ENOUGH
LEAVES ALOT IN MY MIND TO THINK ABOUT AND I OFTEN READ LOVECRAFT JUST TO THINK..
September 26, 2009
This is just the latest collection of H. P. Lovecraft that I've had. Mostly (early on) you had to find paper bck collections and older pulp collections. Of late the world has "discovered" him "again" (along with his contemporary and friend Robert E. Howard).
I am not primarily a "horror" fan but Lovecraft is just...different. Lf a writer can achive terror, that is creat the atmosphere and emotions without resorting constantly to the gross-out school of horror he's got my attention. I like some good horror or supernatural fiction (Ghost Story by Straub, several of Dean Koontz books etc.) and Lovercraft broke new ground that has been heavily "plowed" by other writers since his death.
I particularly his Cthulhu stories which i to have built upon.
Try it and see if it's your cup of bloo..... errrr....I mean tea. bwahahahaha
I am not primarily a "horror" fan but Lovecraft is just...different. Lf a writer can achive terror, that is creat the atmosphere and emotions without resorting constantly to the gross-out school of horror he's got my attention. I like some good horror or supernatural fiction (Ghost Story by Straub, several of Dean Koontz books etc.) and Lovercraft broke new ground that has been heavily "plowed" by other writers since his death.
I particularly his Cthulhu stories which i to have built upon.
Try it and see if it's your cup of bloo..... errrr....I mean tea. bwahahahaha
January 22, 2018
Black seas of infinity was a great read, and I really enjoyed it. I find it interesting that even though the stories in this book were written in the 1920s can still entertain today.
Black seas of infinity is a compilation of stories written by H. P. Lovecraft, and because of this there isn't one main character, conflict, or anything. Each story, however, generally has some main similarities with the others. The stories will usually begin with around one paragraph designed to let the reader know that the story is written as if by the main character after it happened. The events will usually begin with the main character exploring a place surrounded by legends. The story will generally end after the main character found something, usually connected to the legends they had heard, that they were probably better off not knowing.
This book was very entertaining and was very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in mythology or science fiction.
Black seas of infinity is a compilation of stories written by H. P. Lovecraft, and because of this there isn't one main character, conflict, or anything. Each story, however, generally has some main similarities with the others. The stories will usually begin with around one paragraph designed to let the reader know that the story is written as if by the main character after it happened. The events will usually begin with the main character exploring a place surrounded by legends. The story will generally end after the main character found something, usually connected to the legends they had heard, that they were probably better off not knowing.
This book was very entertaining and was very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in mythology or science fiction.
April 16, 2020
Wonderful collection of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. I would suggest Lovecraft to anyone who enjoys horror (or who enjoys reading really :) ).
January 19, 2022
Introduction by Andrew Wheeler - 3 Stars
The Call of Cthulhu - 5 Stars
Dagon - 5 Stars
Winged Death - 5 Stars
The Rats in the Walls - 5 Stars
The Colour Out of Space - 5 Stars
The Outsider - 4 Stars
The Shadow Out of Time - 5 Stars
The Lurking Fear - 5 Stars
Pickman's Model - 5 Stars
The Thing on the Doorstep - 5 Stars
The Shadow Over Innsmouth - 5 Stars
The Festival - 3.5 Stars
The Dreams in the Witch House - 5 Stars
The Nameless City - 4.5 Stars
The Mound - 5 Stars
What the Moon Brings - 4 Stars
In the Walls of Eryx - 4.25 Stars
The Unnamable - 3 Stars
At the Mountain of Madness - 5 Stars
The Call of Cthulhu - 5 Stars
Dagon - 5 Stars
Winged Death - 5 Stars
The Rats in the Walls - 5 Stars
The Colour Out of Space - 5 Stars
The Outsider - 4 Stars
The Shadow Out of Time - 5 Stars
The Lurking Fear - 5 Stars
Pickman's Model - 5 Stars
The Thing on the Doorstep - 5 Stars
The Shadow Over Innsmouth - 5 Stars
The Festival - 3.5 Stars
The Dreams in the Witch House - 5 Stars
The Nameless City - 4.5 Stars
The Mound - 5 Stars
What the Moon Brings - 4 Stars
In the Walls of Eryx - 4.25 Stars
The Unnamable - 3 Stars
At the Mountain of Madness - 5 Stars
September 18, 2022
Well..I guess I can now boast that I've read Lovecraft. Am I the only one who finds him long-winded and after you've read a few of these stories to be samey and predictable? I appreciate who he was and what he did, but as for the fan club, I won't be joining thank you.
April 8, 2023
baller
September 15, 2014
Wow is Lovecraft racist. In the author description it says he grew up and lived in Rhode Island, as a 'proud' member of an aristocratic family. There's why, if we wonder. With wealth and power, comes creepy abuses. His racism can be very difficult to read around.
Beside that, some of the stories (6 out of 19, or about 30%) were actually quite good. His writing can be overly-explanatory, but in the case of the shorter stories, are not to the exhaustively unnecessary extent as with hg wells. The writing in this book can be interesting when it is trying to explain something which purposefully remains outside of humn understanding. Some of the horror aspects were quite chilling in a good way, rather than a disgusting way. Later on this was reversed in a lot of the descriptions - particularly so for nonhumn creatures Lovecraft seems to have a disdain for. Dogs and horses in particular.
The constant questions raised of reality and superstition, of existence and perspective which lies outside of what we know, were often answered or left unanswered in a unique, engaging, and suspenseful way. I quite liked the unique descriptions of things apart from our reality, those histories and futures of the earth talked about in Shadow Out of Time and At the Mountains of Madness.
Eventually though, his stories in this collection became a common bore. The themes, while somewhat repetitive, can still be unique. But, even that uniqueness has its own sense of repetition. Even 'unfathomable horror' can become boring when repeated ad nauseum. I even removed a star just for how frequently the author describes things as 'Cyclopean'. Repeating themes (person MUST reveal the truth of ___'), phrases ("Shuggarath! R'lyeh!!"), and suspenseful situations (psychotic poor folk oh no!) results in boredom and disinterest (and in several times, offendedness). Realizing this around the halfway spot, I began regularly skimming this book.
To my memory, all of the stories are written in past-tense, which for me, ruins most of the suspense. I imagine this writing style comes from his long-time experience as a journalist. But if a person is writing about shocking near-death type experiences, we already know they survived. In some of these past-tense stories, this issue is changed so that although physical survival exists, mental survival does not. Nonetheless, that can also be unrealistic considering they're sane enough to write legibly and with filler language rather than getting to the point or being erratic and disconnected.
I am glad to have finally read some of his stories, but I am also glad to have skimmed, and sometimes even skipped entirely, many of his other stories.
The stories I most enjoyed were:
The Call of Cthulhu
Dagon
Winged Death
The Outsider
The Shadow Out of Time
At the Mountains of Madness
Beside that, some of the stories (6 out of 19, or about 30%) were actually quite good. His writing can be overly-explanatory, but in the case of the shorter stories, are not to the exhaustively unnecessary extent as with hg wells. The writing in this book can be interesting when it is trying to explain something which purposefully remains outside of humn understanding. Some of the horror aspects were quite chilling in a good way, rather than a disgusting way. Later on this was reversed in a lot of the descriptions - particularly so for nonhumn creatures Lovecraft seems to have a disdain for. Dogs and horses in particular.
The constant questions raised of reality and superstition, of existence and perspective which lies outside of what we know, were often answered or left unanswered in a unique, engaging, and suspenseful way. I quite liked the unique descriptions of things apart from our reality, those histories and futures of the earth talked about in Shadow Out of Time and At the Mountains of Madness.
Eventually though, his stories in this collection became a common bore. The themes, while somewhat repetitive, can still be unique. But, even that uniqueness has its own sense of repetition. Even 'unfathomable horror' can become boring when repeated ad nauseum. I even removed a star just for how frequently the author describes things as 'Cyclopean'. Repeating themes (person MUST reveal the truth of ___'), phrases ("Shuggarath! R'lyeh!!"), and suspenseful situations (psychotic poor folk oh no!) results in boredom and disinterest (and in several times, offendedness). Realizing this around the halfway spot, I began regularly skimming this book.
To my memory, all of the stories are written in past-tense, which for me, ruins most of the suspense. I imagine this writing style comes from his long-time experience as a journalist. But if a person is writing about shocking near-death type experiences, we already know they survived. In some of these past-tense stories, this issue is changed so that although physical survival exists, mental survival does not. Nonetheless, that can also be unrealistic considering they're sane enough to write legibly and with filler language rather than getting to the point or being erratic and disconnected.
I am glad to have finally read some of his stories, but I am also glad to have skimmed, and sometimes even skipped entirely, many of his other stories.
The stories I most enjoyed were:
The Call of Cthulhu
Dagon
Winged Death
The Outsider
The Shadow Out of Time
At the Mountains of Madness
September 29, 2010
Right now this is the only HP Lovecraft I've read (sans his essay on Supernatural Literature), so I can't comment on whether this is the best or not ... but I can say that the selection is such that I left knowing a full deal of the Cthulu Mythos of which he is so famous. In fact, due to the way the book is organized, an argument could be made that every story included in here is part of the Cthulu world view. Even "The Rats in The Walls" and "Pickman's Model" - though they do not mention the Old Ones by name, seem to fit in the structure. For that alone, this collection was an amazing read. For just a few days, I was able to envision everything as a part of this grand mythology.
The stories themselves are classics and need little comments. By the first few pages of the first story, "Call of Cthulu", the reader will know whether they want to delve into the flowery language and the excessive use of words like "foetid" and "blasphemous" and "Cyclopean". The voice in each story is much the same (slightly insane, overly educated and very male) and they all fall into a very similar pattern. Still, the gloom and darkness of each piece is quite tangible through the years and despite the older language (and old spellings) the works feel quite fresh.
The best stories are those that transcend the pattern to create something spectacular. Ones like "Colour Out Of Space" and even "Dreams of the Witch House" stand out if only because the horrors involved are not just better described ("Pickman's Model" falls into that category also) but also the characters involved seemed slightly more vivid. Surprises do come through, though, like the humor in "The Unnameable" or the violence in "The Mound."
Classic? Yes. Still, though, it does wear one down after a while. As I trudged through "At The Mountains Of Madness" (a strong novella that is slowly, but well paced full of increasing tension) I felt the pull to just end if only because I was tired of this vision. I needed something new at the end.
But for those who have not experienced any Lovecraft, this is a strong collection and will remain in my library even if I manage to collect all of his works in other editions. The order IS important in this book, even if artificial to the source material. Everything is wonderfully tied together and for that, Andrew Wheeler (editor) should be congratulated.
The stories themselves are classics and need little comments. By the first few pages of the first story, "Call of Cthulu", the reader will know whether they want to delve into the flowery language and the excessive use of words like "foetid" and "blasphemous" and "Cyclopean". The voice in each story is much the same (slightly insane, overly educated and very male) and they all fall into a very similar pattern. Still, the gloom and darkness of each piece is quite tangible through the years and despite the older language (and old spellings) the works feel quite fresh.
The best stories are those that transcend the pattern to create something spectacular. Ones like "Colour Out Of Space" and even "Dreams of the Witch House" stand out if only because the horrors involved are not just better described ("Pickman's Model" falls into that category also) but also the characters involved seemed slightly more vivid. Surprises do come through, though, like the humor in "The Unnameable" or the violence in "The Mound."
Classic? Yes. Still, though, it does wear one down after a while. As I trudged through "At The Mountains Of Madness" (a strong novella that is slowly, but well paced full of increasing tension) I felt the pull to just end if only because I was tired of this vision. I needed something new at the end.
But for those who have not experienced any Lovecraft, this is a strong collection and will remain in my library even if I manage to collect all of his works in other editions. The order IS important in this book, even if artificial to the source material. Everything is wonderfully tied together and for that, Andrew Wheeler (editor) should be congratulated.
Read
January 13, 2014I found it worthwhile to experience Lovecraft's writing first hand. A lot of interesting ideas. I found the longer stories to be rather tedious, especially since they tended to be very similar (The Shadow Out of Time, The Mound, At the Mountains of Madness). Others were absolutely haunting (The Rats in the Walls, The Color Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Thing on the Doorstep, Winged Death). In general, he is an author who has many flaws (lack of characterization, repetitiveness, overwrought prose) but who makes up for them on the whole by having a unique vision of existential horror. I think he succeeds more when he explains less, which is reflected in the stories I called out above. His mythology works better as a backdrop to these stories than it does as science fiction proper.
June 25, 2009
This is a fantastic collection of H.P. Lovecraft's works. It's not complete, by any means, but it has all the greats - The Call of Cthulhu, Pickman's Model, The Dreams in the Witch House, Dagon, Winged Death, The Shadow Over Innsmouth (My favorite!), and At the Mountains of Madness.
The stories range from intellectual to terrifying, and while Lovecraft's writing can be dry at times, most every story pays off by the end; usually in the most chilling ways. If you're at all interested in Lovecraft's writings, this one is an easy buy.
The stories range from intellectual to terrifying, and while Lovecraft's writing can be dry at times, most every story pays off by the end; usually in the most chilling ways. If you're at all interested in Lovecraft's writings, this one is an easy buy.
February 16, 2016
Apparently I am not to be a Lovecraft fan. I have tried reading his fiction several time and never seem to get into it. Good selection of his stories in this book both long and short. Several good ideas for plots but the writing seems to drag.
February 21, 2021
A series of gothic tales of lost civilizations, horrible monsters, etc. that has been formative in the writing of modern horror writers (Stephen King, etc). My main problems with Lovecraft's writing are twofold. First, there is typically very little to the stories from a narrative standpoint. They tend to lean heavily to the establishment of place and setting, describing places, people, monsters, etc. in extraordinary detail, but then having very little actual story, i.e., nothing much happens. My second issue is the completely over-the-top use of language, sentence structure, and dark tone, with an almost otherworldly overuse of adjectives. All that said, they are interesting stories, and an important influence on some of the more modern writing that I deeply enjoy.
Read
July 18, 2019Science Fiction Book Club edition. Has many often-anthologized pieces as well as a few I've not seen elsewhere, such as The Mound. Lovecraft's essay on his writing method is interesting. Solid collection. Recommended for weird fiction fans. If you are new to Lovecraft, I'd say start with Klinger's New Annotated Lovecraft.
December 12, 2022
There is no question in my mind that Lovecraft has intensely racist undertones. Lovecraft is pretty explicit about it.
That said, it's a good collection of horror stories with wild and strange ideas. An excellent intro to this variety of strange horror.
That said, it's a good collection of horror stories with wild and strange ideas. An excellent intro to this variety of strange horror.
June 26, 2017
excellent anthology by bookclub editor
May 24, 2020
My only regret is not reading Lovecraft earlier. I'll probably be purchasing his collected works, or at least the collected cthulu mythos.
There were some stories that bored me, but it was an entertaining collection over all. And despite the racism that tainted it, The Rats in the Wall was a thoroughly shocking tale. Other memorable selections were The Call of Cthulu, The Colour Out of Space, The Outsider, & The Shadow Out of Time.
There were some stories that bored me, but it was an entertaining collection over all. And despite the racism that tainted it, The Rats in the Wall was a thoroughly shocking tale. Other memorable selections were The Call of Cthulu, The Colour Out of Space, The Outsider, & The Shadow Out of Time.
December 20, 2025
Just picked up this Lovecraft anthology at the public library. It has most of his major works and a good selection of stories that I hadn't read. So, I read the stories that I hadn't read. So much fun. Everything with Lovecraft is prose oozing and bursting with swollen prose. It's all over the top and wonderful. How can you not love stuff like the opening of "At the Mountains of Madness": "I am forced into speech because men of science have refused to follow my advice without knowing why"?
I think my favorite was "The Mound," about a very low hill that looks suspiciously out of place in the flat Oklahoma plain. Of course it's an entrance to a subterranean civilization filled with loathsome creatures. "Loathsome" has to be one of Lovecraft's favorite words.
I also liked "What the Moon Brings." Spoiler alert -- The moon brings nothing good! It's like reading a two-page account of a bad drug trip. Here's a line from it: "And when I saw that this reef was but the basalt crown of a shocking eikon whose monstrous forehead now shone in the dim moonlight and whose vile hooves must paw the hellish ooze miles below ..." What's an eikon? Seems to be an old spelling of "icon," a religious painting. What a vocabulary the man had! See how he packs the adjectives into that sentence? "Shocking," "monstrous," "dim," "vile," hellish."
If you love horror fiction and weird tales, Lovecraft is for you.
I think my favorite was "The Mound," about a very low hill that looks suspiciously out of place in the flat Oklahoma plain. Of course it's an entrance to a subterranean civilization filled with loathsome creatures. "Loathsome" has to be one of Lovecraft's favorite words.
I also liked "What the Moon Brings." Spoiler alert -- The moon brings nothing good! It's like reading a two-page account of a bad drug trip. Here's a line from it: "And when I saw that this reef was but the basalt crown of a shocking eikon whose monstrous forehead now shone in the dim moonlight and whose vile hooves must paw the hellish ooze miles below ..." What's an eikon? Seems to be an old spelling of "icon," a religious painting. What a vocabulary the man had! See how he packs the adjectives into that sentence? "Shocking," "monstrous," "dim," "vile," hellish."
If you love horror fiction and weird tales, Lovecraft is for you.
November 14, 2007
This is my favorite collection of Lovecraft short stories that is outside of the Dream Cycles. Its also a really great place to start if you have never read him before. It is available exclusively from the science fiction book club, but can be found on Amazon or used book stores pretty cheap now because its been out for awhile. It has the classic neccessities like "The Call of Cthulu," "The Color Out of Space," and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." It also has some rare stories and even ones like "Winged Death," which he originally ghost wrote and is actually really good. My only complaint is that it didn't have "Pickman's Model," which I think is one of the most important Lovecraft stories. No collection ever gets it right anyway except for Dream Cycles, which is self-contained in its own way.
Lovecraft is essential reading for anyone studying or writing horror, fantasy, or even SF. Remember this guy was a miserable, racist, anti-semite, homophobic, miserable man that died young and poor of a fallen aristocratic family. He was rotten little man, but his manuscript style horror is the foundation for all modern horror. Don't read him if you can't get passed his small world view (he also got panic attacks if he ever left Providence), but there is alot to be offered here.
Lovecraft is essential reading for anyone studying or writing horror, fantasy, or even SF. Remember this guy was a miserable, racist, anti-semite, homophobic, miserable man that died young and poor of a fallen aristocratic family. He was rotten little man, but his manuscript style horror is the foundation for all modern horror. Don't read him if you can't get passed his small world view (he also got panic attacks if he ever left Providence), but there is alot to be offered here.
February 15, 2014
Like Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft is a literary master of the macabre, in this collection of 19 stories we get to read some of Lovecraft’s best tales. He takes us on an ingenious journey, from dreamlike primeval discoveries on to confrontations with evil spirits, we face terrifying beings existing in isolated environments and almost always we encounter the madness of genius. We meet Lovecraft’s infamous Cthulhu in its realm, Pickman’s mysterious model, sea monsters, secretive decaying buildings, an ancient Indian burial mound, an unsolvable maze on Venus and an archaeological dig that revives an ancient race of creatures. Lovecraft’s stories have inspired generations of writers, artists and filmmakers with an imagination so detailed that his most bizarre creations appear real. He wrote his last story in 1936 long before all of our modern world’s special effects had any influence on the art of science fiction and fantasy writing. His mastery of the English language is quite apparent in every turn of phrase made even more evident by his fantastical subject matter.
February 7, 2017
It's kind of weird for me to be writing a review of a book that took me almost 5 years to read, but let me start out by saying that I actually did enjoy the majority of it. I found this to be a really interesting read not only for the content itself, but also from the context of Lovecraft's influence on the genre of horror as we know it today. My issues with the stories is that the theme and tone are so similar from story to story that I had a hard time differentiating when one ended and the next began until I switched to reading one story at a time with another novel or group of stories in between. That forced me to stretch out the book much longer than I normally would, but helped me to begin each story with a fresh perspective and excited to delve into Lovecraft's warped world again.
I thought that this collection of stories was very good and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Lovecraft is not for everyone, but if you are a fan of horror and interested in the roots of different genres, you owe it to yourself to at least give his stories a shot.
I thought that this collection of stories was very good and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Lovecraft is not for everyone, but if you are a fan of horror and interested in the roots of different genres, you owe it to yourself to at least give his stories a shot.
January 16, 2013
Most of the short stories in this collection are based on the Cthulu mythos. Interestingly enough the stories that I enjoyed most only briefly mention the mythos as a backdrop. "The Rats in the Walls" was a great story about the main character's increasing madness after moving in to an ancestral estate. "In the Walls of Eryx" is an interesting tale with a twist about an explorer's growing panic after becoming disoriented on an alien planet. The eeriest tale in the book, in my opinion, is "The Thing on the Doorstep." This is a rather sinister take on possession and identity theft... Lovecraft had some clever story constructs for setting mood and atmosphere, but many of the descriptions came across as almost blase'. Instead of conveying a tone of awe and fear, the narration often felt like a dull National Geographic commentary.
August 21, 2008
I got through most of this and liked it, but toward the end the stories seemed to have the same formula over and over. I've read Lovecraft before but it was over ten years ago and I'd forgotten some of it.
I'm intrigued by the idea of Ctulu and aliens who came to Earth while the planet was still forming and are living in the depths of the oceans. I wonder if this had anything to do with the story behind the movie "The Abyss," where they find a benevolent alien species in the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean.
I'll probably read some more Lovecraft in the future, but I think a little here and there will be more enjoyable than many stories at once.
I'm intrigued by the idea of Ctulu and aliens who came to Earth while the planet was still forming and are living in the depths of the oceans. I wonder if this had anything to do with the story behind the movie "The Abyss," where they find a benevolent alien species in the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean.
I'll probably read some more Lovecraft in the future, but I think a little here and there will be more enjoyable than many stories at once.
January 6, 2017
This is a Science Fiction Club Book exclusive, so unfortunately it is a hardcover made from cardboard with glue bindings. The reason why I'm complaining is because the collection of stories is so good! Pretty much the best of Lovecraft is in here, along with the novellas: The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Mound and At the Mountains of Madness. These three will pretty much give you everything you wanted to know about Lovecraft, but you also get a lot more selections which make this a pretty large collection of Lovecraft stories. 500+ pages. Easily recommended!
January 16, 2008
it's only lovecraft collection i've read (i'd LOVE to read another comparable one. suggestions?) and i read it repeatedly. kind of a slow, thinking read, as it often describes "mathematical" (for lack of a better term) situations, but if i guess if ya can't deal with that, lovecraft isn't for you. it's horror, but thinking-person's horror. old-school and mind-bending, he's probably a "love him or hate him" kind of writer. no gore, just psychological, fantasy-type stuff.
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