Horror Short Stories

by H.P. Lovecraft (Editor)

This collection of bone-chilling tales is sure to keep readers awake for many nights. It includes stories from classic writers such as Bram Stoker, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, M. R. Shiel, William Hope Hodgson and Ambrose Bierce. Their haunting visions of cosmic terrors and everyday frights provide a thrilling excursion into the eerie depths of the horror genre.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction, Classics

384 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2018

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

[Adam Langlois · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am the only person to have ever read this book. As the only one to review it on Goodreads, I am effectively its judge, jury and executioner.

I was disappointed when I received this collection as part of my monthly book box, but at the time I didn't realize the power being bestowed upon me. I didn't realize the success or failure of this book would rest within my every keystroke. That the ultimate fate of this collection would hinge on my careless whims, my thoughtless fancies.

But now I understand. And it's a power I won't take for granted. This gift is one not to be trifled with and I will rise to the occasion of this supreme calling. Those whose destinies await my judgment will tremble and worship this voice of justice, for no other shall dictate the eternal path of this work. Only me.

Anyways, pretty meh. Lol this lady just threw together a bunch of mediocre public domain bullshit from famous authors. Come on now.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good - any literature or genre historian will enjoy this book because it displays how the horror genre changed - I won't offer "matured" or "evolved" - over the past 150+ years. The masters' writing styles are textbooks to me. There was no TV, no radio, no streaming anything, so most of the stories start or are bulging with place description. People didn't get out, didn't travel, didn't see anything beyond their neighborhoods (probably). Character took a second place because social survival heavily depended on knowing who was who, who was doing what, why they were doing it, et cetera. Authors expected their readers to be adepts at picking up character subtleties. Not so now, where social survival is based on a 30s TikTok video or a 280 character tweet.
The bad - there's nothing new in this collection. Blythe plumbed everyone from Poe to Lovecraft to Bierce to ... I'd read most of the entries more than once. So definitely not for anyone looking for something new.

[Sydney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would honestly give a 0 - 0.25 star rating if I could.
This collection was not “horror” to me and if it didn’t come in a book subscription box I would never have picked it up.
I truly loathed this book and it took forever to finish (why I punished myself to finish it…I don’t know.)

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Poe to Lovecraft to Stoker there were many interesting stories in this collection. Some of them were not all that scary but may be because of their age. Overall I liked this collection.

[That Library Ghost · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 *

[Razvan Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good collection of weird stories, not the best, but certainly some interesting ones.

[Mjthebookishmarauder · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 🌟

Meh. This just wasn't for me

[Harvey Hênio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recentemente li excelentes coletâneas de histórias de horror, terror, sobrenaturais e, ou fantásticas temperadas, ocasionalmente, com a melhor ficção científica. Destaco “Medo imortal”, “Antologia da literatura fantástica”, “Contos de assombro”, “Antologia macabra”, “Contos clássicos de terror” e “Pequenos contos de grandes mestres do terror”.
As obras supracitadas destacam-se pelos excelentes textos introdutórios, biografias dos autores, textos que contextualizam as histórias, análises, bibliografias, cronologias além de excelentes acabamentos editoriais, capas, ilustrações, traduções e outros detalhes mais que podem ser considerados obrigatórios em obras dessa natureza.
Confesso que fiquei entusiasmado quando vi este volume intitulado “Histórias curtas de horror” em uma de minhas perambulações em livrarias. Pensei, um tanto candidamente, que este livro poderia ser mais um que eu classificaria junto aos demais que citei anteriormente.
Mas, decepção das decepções, minhas expectativas duraram apenas umas 20 páginas. À guisa de “aquecimento” os organizadores introduziram a obra com um texto apenas simpático e não incluíram biografias, bibliografias, textos analíticos. Essas injustificáveis exclusões poderiam ser mitigadas uma vez iniciada a leitura das histórias. Outro ledo engano. As traduções tornaram as histórias dos mestres do horror truncadas e, ou muitas vezes incompreensíveis em função de soluções desastrosas para as encruzilhadas linguísticas que os textos, muitas vezes escritos em um inglês ou francês arcaicos e eruditos, colocaram no caminho do tradutor. Lamentável.
No entanto o desastre não foi completo. As histórias são fortes e significativas demais e, na maioria das vezes, sobrepuseram-se à pobreza da edição e aos desastres da tradução canhestra e preguiçosa. H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, W.W. Jacobs, Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker e Guy de Maupassant, velhos conhecidos meus com histórias clássicas aliados a belas surpresas na forma de escritores que não conhecia como Francis Marion Crawford, E.F. Benson, M.R. James e William Hope Hodgson enviaram, do digno além túmulo que hora habitam, um sopro de dignidade que salvou o livro do desastre.

[Gale Pyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like this book receives a lot of hate, but this collection of horror stories does a great job illustrating the writing style of each author. Personally, I did like Francis Crawford, Guy de Maupassant, and M. R. James. I know is not a book for the public in general, but it is good for anyone trying to get a glimpse of the genre.