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The Lovecraft Compendium
This collection contains the five stories that reference one of H. P. Lovecraft's greatest creations - Cthulhu.
They include
"Dagon" "The Call of Cthulhu" "The Dunwich Horror" "The Whisperer in Darkness" "The Haunter of the Dark"
Each one is testament to the power of Lovecraft's imagination in his creation of the monster known as Cthulhu.
They include
"Dagon" "The Call of Cthulhu" "The Dunwich Horror" "The Whisperer in Darkness" "The Haunter of the Dark"
Each one is testament to the power of Lovecraft's imagination in his creation of the monster known as Cthulhu.
208 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2018
255 people are currently reading
1444 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
6,110 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 - 30 of 175 reviews
October 24, 2018
While there’s no denying these stories are masterfully written and I thoroughly enjoyed them, I was still a tad disappointed. I only liked them, I didn’t LOVE them. Maybe it’s because it was such a small collection and I didn’t get to really dig deep into Lovecraft’s writing. I can definitely see how Lovecraft’s writing has influenced many of today’s horror authors and I can understand why, it’s the kind of horror that creeps up on you slowly and settles into your bones and it’s pretty damn great!
October 12, 2025
Well, check another Classic (or collection of Classics) off my list. I was really interested in reading H.P. Lovecraft for awhile now, and was lent this Compendium to read. I was intrigued by the whole Cthulhu mythos, and knew that "The Call of Cthulhu" was his signature composition. However, I felt a bit disappointed. I'll explain, and please take with a grain of salt.
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I felt the hype over his work is a tad over-exaggerated. While the stories created a slight creepy overtone, they just seemed to be just that: a created atmosphere of of eerie, creepy suspense. It felt more like something akin to an episode of "In Search of Bigfoot" mixed with the History Channel's "Ancient Aliens". Interesting, but a bit lackluster. The limited action was dreadfully predictable, and often lost in the looooooong descriptive sections.
Let me say this, I did NOT enjoy the authors prose. His writing style was difficult to read at times and I found his over-scholarly vocabulary distracting. It seemed like the writing of a highly educated author writing for his fellow scholars. Maybe put me in the ignorant simpleton category, but I don't enjoy having to re-read sentences over to decipher what the author is trying to say. His sentence structure, at times, seemed somewhat "wonky" also. That tends to make a read more work than it has to be, for me.
Now, that said, once I did settle into the groove of his writing style, I did get sucked into the realm of his imagination and the eerily atmospheric world he created. While I thought all of the stories seemed to have the same tone and plot (a were a "what happened in THIS creepy situation?" story), I did enjoy most of them. In this compendium, 5 of his short stories were included: "Dagon", "The Call of Cthulhu", "The Dunwich Horror", "The Whisperer In Darkness", and "The Haunter of the Dark". All are connected by the Cthulhu mythos. Interestingly, I thought "The Call of Cthulhu" was the one I liked least. The two I found to be my favorites were "The Whisperer In Darkness" and "The Dunwich Horror", though both seemed quite similar.
I'm leaving my review a bit vague because I don't like to get into dissecting the story or giving summaries. Leave that to the book-jackets or Goodreads. With that said, all of these stories could have been connected into one BIG story, as they all were connected by Lovecraft's Cthulhu world. I give "The Lovecraft Compendium" 3 Cthulhu Stars for interesting and slightly immersing read. Once you get past the vocabulary obstacle course, it's an intriguing journey. Just my 2 cents.
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I felt the hype over his work is a tad over-exaggerated. While the stories created a slight creepy overtone, they just seemed to be just that: a created atmosphere of of eerie, creepy suspense. It felt more like something akin to an episode of "In Search of Bigfoot" mixed with the History Channel's "Ancient Aliens". Interesting, but a bit lackluster. The limited action was dreadfully predictable, and often lost in the looooooong descriptive sections.
Let me say this, I did NOT enjoy the authors prose. His writing style was difficult to read at times and I found his over-scholarly vocabulary distracting. It seemed like the writing of a highly educated author writing for his fellow scholars. Maybe put me in the ignorant simpleton category, but I don't enjoy having to re-read sentences over to decipher what the author is trying to say. His sentence structure, at times, seemed somewhat "wonky" also. That tends to make a read more work than it has to be, for me.
Now, that said, once I did settle into the groove of his writing style, I did get sucked into the realm of his imagination and the eerily atmospheric world he created. While I thought all of the stories seemed to have the same tone and plot (a were a "what happened in THIS creepy situation?" story), I did enjoy most of them. In this compendium, 5 of his short stories were included: "Dagon", "The Call of Cthulhu", "The Dunwich Horror", "The Whisperer In Darkness", and "The Haunter of the Dark". All are connected by the Cthulhu mythos. Interestingly, I thought "The Call of Cthulhu" was the one I liked least. The two I found to be my favorites were "The Whisperer In Darkness" and "The Dunwich Horror", though both seemed quite similar.
I'm leaving my review a bit vague because I don't like to get into dissecting the story or giving summaries. Leave that to the book-jackets or Goodreads. With that said, all of these stories could have been connected into one BIG story, as they all were connected by Lovecraft's Cthulhu world. I give "The Lovecraft Compendium" 3 Cthulhu Stars for interesting and slightly immersing read. Once you get past the vocabulary obstacle course, it's an intriguing journey. Just my 2 cents.
July 21, 2016
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 infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
“Cthulhu” is so pervasive an image in pop culture that my essential ignorance of it – from mythos to meme – was nearly unimaginable; like knowing nothing about Elvis or Hello Kitty. I've held the weighty collected works of H. P. Lovecraft in my hands many times, but at over 1300 pages, I simply couldn't make the commitment. Yet, when I saw The Lovecraft Compendium, slim and focussed with just five short stories – all related somehow to the mighty Cthulhu itself (himself?) – I knew it was time to take the plunge. Now that it's done, I only wish I had the rest of Lovecraft's work at hand to sample the other subjects of his worldsbuilding; this collection was a joy to read. To share what I've learned, here's Cthulhu (in word and image) from Lovecraft's own hand:
The Thing cannot be described - there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order. A mountain walked or stumbled.
If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; but it was the general outline of the whole which made it most shockingly frightful.
So basically, Cthulhu (despite competing theories about how to say it, Lovecraft himself insists the word is unpronounceable to the human tongue) is an extraterrestrial being that was sent to Earth by Other Ones, long before the Age of Man. The monster is in suspended animation on an island at the bottom of the ocean, and when celestial conditions are right, human collaborators (occultists with their primitive rites and incantations, based everywhere from Iceland to Haiti; from Vermont to the lost Atlantis) will raise the island and unleash Cthulhu upon humanity; clearing the globe for those beings from beyond space and time that would wish to make use of it.
In each of the five stories in this collection, there are those who have glimpsed the truth of our perilous place in the universe (whether from hapless misadventure or amateur investigation), and when experts are brought in (those Archaeologists and Anthropologists who have thus far dismissed the beliefs of the ancients as mere folklore), the deciphering of runes and hieroglyphs confirms the worst and threatens the sanity of they who would understand the implications. There are numerous references to places and objects with weird geometry, impossible creatures that trail fetor and ichor (two of my favourite words), compelling objects that give insight into all the knowledge of the universe, and quotes lifted from the Necromonicon of that mad Arab Abdul Alhazred (and I hadn't realised that the Necromonicon was also a Lovecraft invention).
In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.
Lovecraft apparently suffered from sleep paralysis – was regularly visited by Night Gaunts while so incapacitated – and his frequent nightmares were the inspiration for much of his writing (it's perhaps also not merely incidental that both of his parents died in an insane asylum). This dream-source might explain why his writing feels universal, and despite the slightly formal writing style, does not feel dated: Cthulhu is a powerfully insidious archetype – all scales and claws and squirmy tentacles – and multiple characters' fear of scientists unwittingly unleashing the destruction of mankind must have been a common fear in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and the first of the world wars; a fear no less urgent in our own times (those brains in jars put me in mind of nothing so much as the dreaded Singularity). The saddest thing I learned was that Lovecraft – the founder of a mythos, a genre, an industry – died penniless and little appreciated: the least I can do is keep reading him; this was a perfect entry point.
January 27, 2021
I'd never read Lovecraft before, but watched plenty of shows/movies and games in the Lovecraftian genre.
It was not my type of horror. It followed a very straight line so from the beginning you knew what would happen, to some extent. It's well written, but just not my preferred cup of tea. Might try it again at a later date.
It was not my type of horror. It followed a very straight line so from the beginning you knew what would happen, to some extent. It's well written, but just not my preferred cup of tea. Might try it again at a later date.
September 2, 2017
Dagon, The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, The Whisperer in Darkness*, and The Haunter of the Dark. Five representative tales, written between 1917 and 1935. Even a century later they're still ghoulishly unsettling and clever. Lovecraft linked each story with subtle and not-so-subtle references, building a mythos that has withstood the test of time. Even with all the hype and high expectations, I was not disappointed.
*Cthulhu gets all the press but I was most taken with The Whisperer in Darkness. Crab Aliens and brain buckets... Wow.
*Cthulhu gets all the press but I was most taken with The Whisperer in Darkness. Crab Aliens and brain buckets... Wow.
January 31, 2019
This is why I have never been interested in sea travel.
March 21, 2017
If you are one of the STUPID reviewers below who disliked this compendium because of the fact that the same monster is refered to in all 5 stories, then you should have at least read the back cover:
"This collection of stories also includes others that made either direct or indirect reference to Cthulhu: Dagon, The Dunwich Horror, The Whisperer in Darkness, and the Haunter of the dark."
Reading these stories caused me to reflect on what makes a story or theory believable. Isn't it more effective, more 'real', to take the same 'horror', 'event', 'idea', and tell it from different perspectives? Think about The New Testament. Jesus is marvelled at through multiple different sets of eyes who tell their own separate versions of what happened. This happens to be one of the most 'believed' books in human history.
Now, do not get me wrong, I am not saying anything negative, or trying to disprove the bible. Moreover, I am trying to point out Lovecraft's genius technique that not only succeeds in making pulses pound but almost makes these wild theories about outer space and alien species' believable.
Aren't alien abduction stories always more effective when they are told from more than one perspective? Are they not all the more bone chilling when that one small and inexplicable detail appears in all accounts?
I have a feeling that H. P. Lovecraft thought so as well.
In my opinion, Dagon is decent, The Call of Cthulhu is overrated, The Dunwich Horror is great, The Whisperer in the darkness is fantastic and mind-blowing (although a bit slow at first), and The Haunter of the Dark is pure terrifying. I highly recommend the latter 3.
Lastly, Lovecrafts writing style caught me off guard at first, but the power of his stories soon won me over. Don't let the Dracula-esque letters back and forth between two characters turn you away from the fantastic endings to each story. It is always a surprise ending!
"This collection of stories also includes others that made either direct or indirect reference to Cthulhu: Dagon, The Dunwich Horror, The Whisperer in Darkness, and the Haunter of the dark."
Reading these stories caused me to reflect on what makes a story or theory believable. Isn't it more effective, more 'real', to take the same 'horror', 'event', 'idea', and tell it from different perspectives? Think about The New Testament. Jesus is marvelled at through multiple different sets of eyes who tell their own separate versions of what happened. This happens to be one of the most 'believed' books in human history.
Now, do not get me wrong, I am not saying anything negative, or trying to disprove the bible. Moreover, I am trying to point out Lovecraft's genius technique that not only succeeds in making pulses pound but almost makes these wild theories about outer space and alien species' believable.
Aren't alien abduction stories always more effective when they are told from more than one perspective? Are they not all the more bone chilling when that one small and inexplicable detail appears in all accounts?
I have a feeling that H. P. Lovecraft thought so as well.
In my opinion, Dagon is decent, The Call of Cthulhu is overrated, The Dunwich Horror is great, The Whisperer in the darkness is fantastic and mind-blowing (although a bit slow at first), and The Haunter of the Dark is pure terrifying. I highly recommend the latter 3.
Lastly, Lovecrafts writing style caught me off guard at first, but the power of his stories soon won me over. Don't let the Dracula-esque letters back and forth between two characters turn you away from the fantastic endings to each story. It is always a surprise ending!
August 7, 2023
By my count, I've already read four different books that either touched on, danced around, or directly referenced Lovecraft's greater mythos, without ever actually giving the source material a shot. Figured it was time to finally rectify that.
This was an interesting collection in that the entries were sorted in chronological order of when they were written, and coincidentally I enjoyed the later pieces better than the earlier ones. It was all pretty uniformly dense to get through however; sentences ran long and used obscure and uncommon vocabulary for seemingly its own sake. Definitely a unique style, but not exactly one that I was a fan of. At times I could see the value of mimicking a character's descent into madness or trying to decipher true meaning from a complicated text (something that characters do a few times), but mostly it just felt like a book that actively resisted being read.
Quick synopses of the five works included in this collection:
Dagon - A sailor in the south Pacific during WWI escapes German captivity in a lifeboat and is adrift for days before finding some previously unknown island. On it, he sees things that eventually drive him to suicide.
The Call of Cthulu - The last surviving heir of an academic inherits his great-uncle's notes on an investigation into a secret cult that seemingly spans the world. The revelations make him fear for his own safety.
The Dunwich Horror - A familial cult in rural New England creates a monster that gets loose, and three academics have to decipher strange texts to figure out how to defeat it.
The Whisperer in Darkness - An university professor is a vocal skeptic against a spate of cryptid sightings in the New England countryside and gains the attention of a reclusive academic who lives out there. The hermit claims to have evidence of the creatures, and their back-and-forth correspondence escalates into a threatening climax.
The Haunter of the Dark - A writer seeking inspiration begins to investigate a massive abandoned cathedral in the center of a city that the locals steadfastly refuse to acknowledge. Cult shenanigans ensue.
Lots of scholarly protagonists, lots of cults, lots of esoteric texts. The idea of a single author utilizing the same setting and mythos for multiple different works was interesting and I could see the appeal. I just found that the prose and extremely sparse use of dialogue to be more of a struggle to get through than a more contemporary work would be.
This was an interesting collection in that the entries were sorted in chronological order of when they were written, and coincidentally I enjoyed the later pieces better than the earlier ones. It was all pretty uniformly dense to get through however; sentences ran long and used obscure and uncommon vocabulary for seemingly its own sake. Definitely a unique style, but not exactly one that I was a fan of. At times I could see the value of mimicking a character's descent into madness or trying to decipher true meaning from a complicated text (something that characters do a few times), but mostly it just felt like a book that actively resisted being read.
Quick synopses of the five works included in this collection:
Dagon - A sailor in the south Pacific during WWI escapes German captivity in a lifeboat and is adrift for days before finding some previously unknown island. On it, he sees things that eventually drive him to suicide.
The Call of Cthulu - The last surviving heir of an academic inherits his great-uncle's notes on an investigation into a secret cult that seemingly spans the world. The revelations make him fear for his own safety.
The Dunwich Horror - A familial cult in rural New England creates a monster that gets loose, and three academics have to decipher strange texts to figure out how to defeat it.
The Whisperer in Darkness - An university professor is a vocal skeptic against a spate of cryptid sightings in the New England countryside and gains the attention of a reclusive academic who lives out there. The hermit claims to have evidence of the creatures, and their back-and-forth correspondence escalates into a threatening climax.
The Haunter of the Dark - A writer seeking inspiration begins to investigate a massive abandoned cathedral in the center of a city that the locals steadfastly refuse to acknowledge. Cult shenanigans ensue.
Lots of scholarly protagonists, lots of cults, lots of esoteric texts. The idea of a single author utilizing the same setting and mythos for multiple different works was interesting and I could see the appeal. I just found that the prose and extremely sparse use of dialogue to be more of a struggle to get through than a more contemporary work would be.
January 16, 2022
2*
Read as an experiment. I enjoy his universe, not so muh his writing. Although, The Dunwhich Horror did succeed in making me scared but that could definitely also have something to do with the narration and underlying music, lol.
Audibook format highly encouraged for pretty much all of Lovecraft's works imo.
Read as an experiment. I enjoy his universe, not so muh his writing. Although, The Dunwhich Horror did succeed in making me scared but that could definitely also have something to do with the narration and underlying music, lol.
Audibook format highly encouraged for pretty much all of Lovecraft's works imo.
September 25, 2023
Fuck Lovecraft. The scariest thing he ever wrote were 5 pages without a single paragraph break (oh and the racism was kinda horrifying) cuthulu is literally just a babygirl tho
Dnf
Dnf
April 14, 2019
Lovecraft is not the most scary horror author. He’s not a master of the written word; at times his prose is rather fussy and overwrought. But there is something about his Cthulhu mythology that sticks with me long after I’ve turned the last page.
I can only believe it’s the cosmos he created. Monsters from the far reaches of time and space that wait beneath the earth and sea for mankind to call to them and return them to domination is a bizarre concept to come from the mind of a man in the early 20th century. The addition of the Necronomicon, a book rumored to be dedicated to death and unholy practices, was a stroke of genius. And Cthulhu himself, vaguely manlike but of immense proportion with a head like an octopus, scales like a reptile, and wings like a bat is a truly nightmarish figure. Only a twisted mind could combine these into stories that still have the power to chill.
I need to reread these stories at least every few years just for the pure thrill of true horror. Thank you, Mr. Lovecraft.
I can only believe it’s the cosmos he created. Monsters from the far reaches of time and space that wait beneath the earth and sea for mankind to call to them and return them to domination is a bizarre concept to come from the mind of a man in the early 20th century. The addition of the Necronomicon, a book rumored to be dedicated to death and unholy practices, was a stroke of genius. And Cthulhu himself, vaguely manlike but of immense proportion with a head like an octopus, scales like a reptile, and wings like a bat is a truly nightmarish figure. Only a twisted mind could combine these into stories that still have the power to chill.
I need to reread these stories at least every few years just for the pure thrill of true horror. Thank you, Mr. Lovecraft.
October 24, 2021
From worst to best:
The Call of Cthulhu (I know)
The Haunter in the Dark
Dagon
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
Overall pretty creepy. I understand its place in the history of horror literature and the stories are well written, but I have to say, they get a bit repetitive after a while. I'm not closing the door on reading more Lovecraft, but I'm not hyped enough about his writing to put him anywhere near the top of my readlist.
The Call of Cthulhu (I know)
The Haunter in the Dark
Dagon
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
Overall pretty creepy. I understand its place in the history of horror literature and the stories are well written, but I have to say, they get a bit repetitive after a while. I'm not closing the door on reading more Lovecraft, but I'm not hyped enough about his writing to put him anywhere near the top of my readlist.
March 15, 2024
“I must have forgetfulness or death.”
i am a big fan of the sublime and the cosmic horror lovecraft weaves.
this compendium was comprised of 5 short stories, and perhaps i am one of the few who prefers it when lovecraft writes in first person. i feel it lends more the to terror felt by the main character.
dagon
★ ★ ★
the call of cthulhu
★ ★ ★ ★
the dunwich horror
★ ★ ★
the whisperer in darkness
★ ★ ★ ★
the haunter of the dark
★ ★
i am a big fan of the sublime and the cosmic horror lovecraft weaves.
this compendium was comprised of 5 short stories, and perhaps i am one of the few who prefers it when lovecraft writes in first person. i feel it lends more the to terror felt by the main character.
dagon
★ ★ ★
the call of cthulhu
★ ★ ★ ★
the dunwich horror
★ ★ ★
the whisperer in darkness
★ ★ ★ ★
the haunter of the dark
★ ★
June 9, 2023
4 stars.
I liked this introduction to his work.
I enjoyed seeing how all the stories connected together, the eerie atmosphere that is present in all of the stories.
I liked this introduction to his work.
I enjoyed seeing how all the stories connected together, the eerie atmosphere that is present in all of the stories.
March 11, 2025
Glittering gold! Trinkets and baubles - paid for in blood
October 29, 2025
1.5 🌟. I was scared by how bored I was
December 31, 2021
Great little book to get introduced to H.P. Lovecraft. I had always heard his name and of his Cthulhu mythos but was even more shocked to find that pop culture has borrowed so much from his stories. After just a few of his short stories I’m remembering back to the many references that I missed in video games and movies I’ve watched over the years that borrowed from Lovecraft.
It is worth noting that Lovecraft is a notable racist and this is relatively prominent in his works. I find how influential and well-written his stories are to be worth the read, but they may not be for everyone who would be bothered by his unfortunate bias against people that were different than him.
It is worth noting that Lovecraft is a notable racist and this is relatively prominent in his works. I find how influential and well-written his stories are to be worth the read, but they may not be for everyone who would be bothered by his unfortunate bias against people that were different than him.
October 28, 2019
This collection of short stories does not have an overarching delve into the Lovecraft Mythos, but rather provides 4 short stories to dip your toes into Lovecraft's world and horror writing.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but definitely enjoyed some stories more than others.
Dagon did not leave enough of an impression. 3 stars.
Call of Cthulhu is a classic and will rate it 4 stars.
The Dunwich Horror I found to be interesting, but a lot of the prose was very confusing. 3.5 stars.
The Whisperer in Darkness was simply amazing. I found myself actually peering out of my window in real life to make sure I wasn't being watched. Definitely a 5 star story.
The Haunter of the Dark was well-written but too short to be masterful. 4 stars.
Overall, all pretty good and a good intro to Lovecraft's world.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but definitely enjoyed some stories more than others.
Dagon did not leave enough of an impression. 3 stars.
Call of Cthulhu is a classic and will rate it 4 stars.
The Dunwich Horror I found to be interesting, but a lot of the prose was very confusing. 3.5 stars.
The Whisperer in Darkness was simply amazing. I found myself actually peering out of my window in real life to make sure I wasn't being watched. Definitely a 5 star story.
The Haunter of the Dark was well-written but too short to be masterful. 4 stars.
Overall, all pretty good and a good intro to Lovecraft's world.
January 7, 2022
A great book that details who Cthulu is and the imagined world of Lovecraft!
July 20, 2017
Lovecraft is known for dark fantasy but given this collection I would be inclined to change his genre to dark science fiction.
If you're looking for a series of middle aged white academic men encountering the weird and mystical and understanding it through their previous studies and pursuits of ancient folklore, then this is the book for you.
Overall I enjoyed my introduction to Cthulhu and the many dark unspoken creatures of the night.
The highlight of the collection was The Whisperer in Darkness as it engaged with the most action and tension though perhaps had the most oblivious protagonist when approaching then end of his tale.
If you're looking for a series of middle aged white academic men encountering the weird and mystical and understanding it through their previous studies and pursuits of ancient folklore, then this is the book for you.
Overall I enjoyed my introduction to Cthulhu and the many dark unspoken creatures of the night.
The highlight of the collection was The Whisperer in Darkness as it engaged with the most action and tension though perhaps had the most oblivious protagonist when approaching then end of his tale.
May 25, 2023
really 3.5 but goodreads doesn't let you do half stars.
dagon: 2/5 really short and a little pointless, feels more like an introduction to lovecraft ideas of horror and sets the creepy mood
call of cthulhu: 2.5/5 as it seems to be generally accepted according to other reviews, overrated, and better at introducing ideas than telling a story. the most racist of all the stories in this collection but tbh it wasn't much worse than what id read in sherlock holmes. however, the racism made it hard to be frightened because the whole time i was just like "maybe this 'creepy voodoo cult' is just a person of color's religion did you ever think of that lovecraft?". interesting concepts were introduced but it wasn't really scary
the dunwitch horror: 4/5 very good. spooky with a good atmosphere. children growing abnormally fast is always gonna freak me out; had a great time with this one.
the whisperer in the darkness: 4.5/5 my favorite out of the bunch. the pov character acts like a total dumbass so it was the vibes of sitting in a movie theatre screaming at the final girl to not go down into the basement where the killer is. great atmosphere and spine-tingling
the haunter of the dark: 3.5/5 meh. at this point, i was kind of Lovecraft creatured out and this story didn't have any new concepts or interesting premises any more than the other three. still creepy but just not as good as the previous two
dagon: 2/5 really short and a little pointless, feels more like an introduction to lovecraft ideas of horror and sets the creepy mood
call of cthulhu: 2.5/5 as it seems to be generally accepted according to other reviews, overrated, and better at introducing ideas than telling a story. the most racist of all the stories in this collection but tbh it wasn't much worse than what id read in sherlock holmes. however, the racism made it hard to be frightened because the whole time i was just like "maybe this 'creepy voodoo cult' is just a person of color's religion did you ever think of that lovecraft?". interesting concepts were introduced but it wasn't really scary
the dunwitch horror: 4/5 very good. spooky with a good atmosphere. children growing abnormally fast is always gonna freak me out; had a great time with this one.
the whisperer in the darkness: 4.5/5 my favorite out of the bunch. the pov character acts like a total dumbass so it was the vibes of sitting in a movie theatre screaming at the final girl to not go down into the basement where the killer is. great atmosphere and spine-tingling
the haunter of the dark: 3.5/5 meh. at this point, i was kind of Lovecraft creatured out and this story didn't have any new concepts or interesting premises any more than the other three. still creepy but just not as good as the previous two
April 21, 2025
as with many collections of short stories i’ve read, my rating varies for each story, but overall this collection was 4/5. i found dagon and the haunter of the dark to be mediocre, but the call of cthulhu, the dunwich horror, and the whisperer in darkness were excellent. though some of the stories definitely lean more into sci-fi than what i’m usually interested in, i found myself really enjoying these stories and being very disturbed by lovecraft’s vivid writing. he manages to make very unsettling stories sound poetic, and i thought the stories were very well paced. i’ll definitely have to read more of his work in the future!
September 5, 2018
Some really chilling moments in these stories, and the fact that Lovecraft was writing this stuff as popular fiction before pretty much anyone else I can think of is astounding, especially when you consider the scope and breadth of detail he includes in every paragraph. I did find his prose to be a little dry and maybe a little overly descriptive at some points which allowed my mind to wander off in distraction, but the parts that were gripping really held on tight.
May 6, 2023
It had some great stories, ones that were truly engaging and beautifully terrifying in nature. But for the life of me, I could not finish this book. It put me in one of the worst reading slumps I have ever experienced and I had to make myself finish it.
October 10, 2021
4.5 stars.
January 18, 2023
This is my first plunge into Lovecraft's work, and I certainly enjoyed myself! I love how horrifying his stories are, but with a dash of science fiction to them, too. Of the five stories in this collection, I liked "The Dunwich Horror" the most. Yet all of them made up a creepy collection; I can see why horror lovers enjoy his work so much! Definitely will need to find more of Lovecraft's work next time I order books!
February 25, 2025
DNF. Read 3 of the 5 stories, none of them really hit. I wasn’t scared and I think I linked Borges’ attempt to write a lovecraftian story better than authentic lovecraft.
October 23, 2023
11 odor of fish
48 stench of a thousand opened graves
52 massed mold & decay of centuries
75 like thunder
200 utterly unbearable fetor
202 burned odor
48 stench of a thousand opened graves
52 massed mold & decay of centuries
75 like thunder
200 utterly unbearable fetor
202 burned odor
November 10, 2018
Having never read Lovecraft before, I wasn't sure what to expect. These stories were fascinating and sometimes unsettling. His prose was unique, and definitely helped create the atmosphere and tone of his works.
April 8, 2023
I was looking forward to these stories, so I was somewhat dissappointed. The Call of Cthulhu ⭐️⭐️ was just too dated in language and descriptions of people, for example «primitives» and «diaboloc eskimos». On the other hand, I enjoyed The Whisperer in the Darkness ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and also The Haunter in the Dark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ , while the Dunwich Horror and Dagon were okay ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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