The Rats in the Walls and Other Tales

by H.P. Lovecraft

When the descendant of an ancient aristocratic family moves from Massachusetts to Exham Priory, his ancestral home in the south of England, he is plagued by the constant noise of rats scurrying within its walls. As the sound begins to haunt his dreams, he investigates the house and discovers a horrific secret underneath, which will bring him to the point of madness. Considered one of the most accomplished examples of the horror genre, 'The Rats in the Walls' is presented here along with other quintessentially Lovecraftian tales - such as 'The Dunwich Horror', 'At the Mountains of Madness', 'The Colour out of Space' and 'The Horror at Red Hook' - in a brand-new collection which will delight new readers and those familiar with the blood-curdling imaginary worlds of the twentieth century's master of terror.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Classics, Fiction

42 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

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

[Crickets · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovecraft's stories are often drawn out and spend an unnecessary amount of time talking about genealogy, but there are some really cool horror story concepts in here. It's a real shame that these stories are so intertwined with xenophobia, racism, and misogyny. So intertwined indeed that, if you try to take that element out, the entire thing often doesn't even make sense anymore. It becomes a story about the amplified fears of bigoted people: a horror story concept on its own, to be fair.

Virtually all of the stories have "foreigners" or black/people of colour as antagonists, and emphasis is placed on "othering" them from the beginning. By the end, the protagonist, and usually the whole village, have their fears vindicated as everything these "outsiders" do is proven to have been inherently evil.

The main characters in these stories are old, white, university-educated men. There was one younger protagonist, but they too were white and were attending university. The few women mentioned, or the fewer yet that speak at all, are almost invariably someone's mentally unstable mother/wife or are eventually proven to be consorting with evil entities.

A product of its time, right? I'd like to think so. How many people and works have been, and continue to be now, inspired by these stories, though? That's the real horror.

[Chanakya · Rating 4 out of 5]

What are the odds that most of the protagonists in this collection of his stories are old white men?
I'd say it's a tragedy that such an evidently talented author was also evidently xenophobic, but then his stories at so many points are so interwoven with his phobia that I am forced to wonder if we could've ever had one without the other. To me his stories are his fears, amplified by his powerful imagination.
So, I'd recommend reading this and other stories of his for not only his brooding style, pseudo-scientific innovations, and somewhat intriguing plots, but also as a deep dive into what the world looks like to a terrified mind.

[Olivia Noresson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dragged me through this one... not really my type of stories at all. However, I did enjoy the writing even if it mostly made the novellas way to long and boring

[emil · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a loser

[Meg Johannessen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Technically didn't finish, but got so put off by the constant racism and xenophobia that I couldn't.

[Charlie Rosales Sandqvist · Rating 1 out of 5]

Efter ha läst färdigt den här novellsamlingen har jag insett att jag tycker om tanken av att tycka om Lovecraft mer än vad jag faktiskt tycker om Lovecrafts noveller! Jag vet inte om det är språket eller den lite mer udda dramaturgin som gör det svårt för mig att hänga med? Jag tappar fokus hela tiden och känner aldrig att historierna som berättar är spännande eller läskiga. Sen upplever jag att novellerna har åldrats rätt dåligt och till slut blir det nästan skrattretande!

Det tog mig lång tid att ta mig igenom boken och jag fick nästan tvinga mig igenom de tre sista novellerna! Med det sagt så känner jag mig färdig med Lovecraft och allt vad som heter Mythos!

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to tap out of this book - old Lovecraft just took too long to get to the spooky parts, and then seemed to be pretty reluctant to describe anything once he got there :) There are only so many times you can chalk something up to being 'too horrific to describe' - you have one job, H.P. Describe it. Quickly ;)

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this if you are interested in themes such as: cosmic horror, the unknown, ancestral sin, impending doom, human spirit, the occult, brotherhood, ancient powers.

A good collection with some lows but very high highs. Lovecraft's style is descriptive and eloquent; it can paint scenes beautifully or give just enough information to form chilling interpretations. It is wordy, and long, which may put some readers off. Usually, keeping patience through his monologues is worth it for the payoff of his endings. Some stories are quite formulaic, with the reveal of something terrible at the beginning, pages and pages of context and build up where the narrator doesn't quite tell you what happened but stresses how awful it is, then the reveal. This is especially apparent in the longer stories. Still, Lovecraft establishes his themes well, and many of the tales have very solid foundations in their key concepts. A couple stories are dampened or ruined by his blatant xenophobia, which either distracts from the plot or is completely unnecessary, adding nothing of substance. Most stories end in tragedy, however humanity struggles and occasionally triumphs in lesser or greater forms.

It's structured quite well, with the simpler and shorter Randolph Carter and Arthur Jermyn tales serving as an introduction to Lovecraft's style, before delving into deeper stories with greater horror like the eponymous story and 'The Colour out of Space'. While many stories share characteristics there is a good range here of settings, concepts, and themes. It has encouraged me to read more Lovecraft in the future such as 'The Shadow over Innsmouth' and 'The Call of Cthulhu', which are mentioned often in reviews though not present in this particular collection.

[John Rossington · Rating 3 out of 5]

H P Lovecraft is now regarded as one of the most important horror writers of American literature. His reputation has been enhanced by the championing of Stephhen King. There is no doubt that he is a fine writer who constructs fine stories and at times his stories promote grotesque horror. He also writes of smells better than any writer I know. However I have two problems with him. The first is that he is clearly a very knowledgable and educated man. At times he displays this knowledge to the detriment of the literature. He references geology, biology and mathermatics which left this reader floundering to understand the text. The second problem is that the man was clearly a racist. At times he equates negro facial features with horror which left me squirming. Race is often a problem when reading authors who are no longer with us. In most cases with American writers invisibility of black people is the issue. However with Lovecraft the problems run deeper.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I took just over four years on the dot to read this book. Luckily it's a collection of short stories, so the long breaks in between reads wasn't that big of a deal. But yeah, not exactly a page turner for me. Stubbornly I finished it though.

Now the reason for reading it so slowly: I don't actually like most of the stories that much. I mainly bought it because Lovecraft is one of the big ones, and he pretty much have a genre named after him.
It was however too hard for me to really enjoy most of the stories. Some of the short stories were better than others, with some being ok, and others being not to my liking.

I will bring out one story tho, the very last one of the book; [i]The Thing on the Doorstep[/i]. This is one I actually really liked, and for me it was also the one which was the most unnerving.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rats in the Walls & Other Tales, published in 2015, is a collection of 12 Lovecraft short stories. The stories were originally published over the years 1920-1933 and have since appeared in several collections of Lovecraft short stories. Whilst the stories are of an outstandingly high standard, they are unlikely to provide anything new to those who have read Lovecraft in the past, apart from some supporting notes which endeavour to explain many references in the tales. I guess that the collection is aimed at introducing new readers to Lovecraft's writings, and the selection for this purpose is perfect.

[Tzveta Kuzmanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I knew Lovecraft to be praised as inspiration for many of my favourite authors, I didn't expect his writing to be so enchanting, beautiful, dark, stirring some deep primordial sensations. The concept of human insignificance and irrelevance to the cosmic aeon was narrated through absorbing tales and myths. This was an unexpected baptism in the Lovecraft's world that will definitely lead to reading and re-reading all of his works.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovecraft's writing is definitely dark and inventive. He certainly had his pulse on the scientific advances of his time, and of many of the social standards. His description is so incredibly thorough that I often lost track of the action. I'm definitely not a fan of the Victorian style, and even though I can recognize Lovecraft's contribution to the genre, he's not my favorite.

[Antonis Maronikolakis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was long a fan of Lovecraft, but this is the first book of his I got. A lot has been said about this great author, so I will not go on and on. Suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoy his work!

His vivid imagery, his otherwordly horrors and the dreary and antique settings of his stories make up masterpiece after masterpiece. A must read for any horror fan!

[Holly Parsons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories were really wonderful but At the Mountains of Madness nearly broke me! So dense and boring. Read about half of it and then skipped ahead.

[Roderick Usher]

Short and mysterious, can be read in less than an hour and really knows how to end.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories in this collection. He can sure describe a scene so vividly!

[Jaydon · Rating 5 out of 5]

very difficult read, but a very rewarding read

[Will Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Lovecraft: great writing and story, makes you start to think "wow Lovecraft was a great writer" and then the mf decides to name the cat a racist slur🙆

[Zoe Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

In order to understand my transcendental point of view you will need to listen to Episode 30 of the Podcast Square Go

[Eadbh · Rating 2 out of 5]

hmm :/

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have only read the rats in the walls so far

[Damir Bajrami · Rating 5 out of 5]

wowie

[Susan Marie Ballain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was more of a history lesson than a story! I didn’t really care for the book myself!
But I don’t like rats or mice or any rodents whatsoever so maybe that affects my opinion!

[Sebastiaan Van Der Veken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sommige verhalen konden mij helemaal niet boeien. Helaas:(

Andere waren dan weer lekker griezelen:)

[SCDavis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this so as to better understand Alien Gods which was inspired by this story. It was interesting. my review here is not for the whole collection, just this 1 story - the rats in the wall

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, loved it, loved it. I knew i would love H.P. Lovecraft.

As I read this book I was going through tiring days of depressing and sad long work days. Some might think fantastic tales of ghouls and ancient monster don't go well with this sort of events, but i must disagree.

If live is kind of crappy you just have to try to relax and move away from the daily life. Tales of far away places, tales of the fantastic are a great escape, that is my deepest believe.

What is nicer than to read before sleeping horror mad stories on a winter evening with the wind blowing outside?

My favourite story has to be "At the mountains of Madness", but every single tale was awesome.

I am a fan of this type of writing, but it is not often that you find such rich and well written stories.

To think that Lovecraft died in poverty is a tragedy.

These are tales worth reading whether you are a fan of the weird and fantastic or not. I highly recommend this book.

[daniela (taylor's version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not, for the life of me, finish this book. Eight months and it wasn't enough time to get through this dreadful thing. I give it two stars based solely on the fact that Lovecraft had indeed a special mind, some of the stories are truly gripping. The problem is, once you get to the mountains of madness, all is lost. His writing, in that story particularly, becomes tedious and repetitive which made it so I couldn't finish the story or the book itself. It's a shame but sometimes you have to know when to give up.

[Shae]

1. Heckin' racist and misogynistic like woah.
2. If I never see the words "noisome," "decadent," or "foetid" again, it'll be too soon.