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Randolph Carter #1-5

The Randolph Carter Tales

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Carter is a quiet and melancholy dreamer with a sensitive disposition, prone to fainting during times of emotional stress. But he can also be courageous, with enough strength of mind and character to face and foil the horrific creatures of the Dreamlands. Randolph Carter is an antiquarian and one-time student of the Miskatonic University. Based on clues from various stories, he was probably born around 1874 and grew up in and around Boston. At the age of nine, he underwent a mysterious experience at his great-uncle Christopher's farm and thereafter exhibited a gift of prophecy. He is the descendant of Sir Randolph Carter, who had studied magic during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Sir Randolph had then emigrated to America and his son Edmund Carter later had to flee the Salem witch-trials. Carter also had an ancestor involved in one of the Crusades, who was captured by the Muslims and learned ""wild secrets"" from them. This volume contains all of H P Lovecraft's stories about Randolph Carter.

192 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2017

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378 people want to read

About the author

H.P. Lovecraft

6,109 books19.3k followers
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

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5 stars
60 (21%)
4 stars
94 (33%)
3 stars
97 (34%)
2 stars
25 (8%)
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3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Giovanni84.
300 reviews76 followers
January 4, 2022
Raccolta di 5 racconti, con protagonista Randolph Carter.
I racconti sono stati scritti in anni diversi, e apparentemente senza che ci fosse inizialmente un vero progetto di "ciclo" di avventure con questo personaggio. Sono infatti racconti piuttosto diversi.

I primi due racconti sono degli horror scialbi, ben lontani dalle vette toccate da Lovecraft nei suoi racconti migliori.
Il terzo è una sorta di invettiva o dichiarazione di poetica, contro la realtà concreta ed è sostanzialmente un'introduzione ai due racconti successivi, visto che narra di come Carter trova la chiave d'argento che gli permette di andare nelle terre del sogno.

Il pezzo forte del libro è il quarto racconto, che è il più lungo (sostanzialmente è un romanzo breve): "La cerca onirica di Kadath l'ignota".
Questo è un fantasy, più che un horror, nonostante l'abbondanza di mostri. E' in effetti la tipica storia fantasy del viaggio in una terra fantastica alla ricerca di qualcosa. In questo caso, Carter viaggia nelle terre del sogno alla ricerca della città degli dei, per chiedere loro come tornare a una città da lui sognata.
E' un tipo di storia (il viaggio in cui succedono avventure random e che più che altro è un pretesto per descrivere un mondo fantastico con esseri bizzarri dal nome improbabile) che io in genere non apprezzo. E anche in questo caso, nonostante la straordinaria inventiva dell'autore, e alcuni momenti piuttosto riusciti, mi sono annoiato (anche lo stile, piuttosto pomposo, contribuisce alla noia, senza contare che anche Lovecraft ha la pedanteria tipica degli autori fantasy nel descrivere il mondo da essi immaginato).
Tuttavia, la noia è ampiamente ripagata dalla parte finale del racconto, che è bellissima. Lo step finale del viaggio verso Kadath è in un'ambientazione davvero suggestiva, e quello che succede una volta arrivato a Kadath, è sia avvincente che poetico, tra rivelazioni, colpi di scena, avvenimenti immaginifici. Davvero un grandissimo finale: solitamente si dice che quello che conta è il viaggio, non la meta, ma questo racconto è l'eccezione.

Il racconto finale è una diversa versione di quello che succede a Carter quando va nella terra dei sogni, e si concentra soprattutto sul passaggio del portale. Più mistico e delirante rispetto al racconto precedente, ma in questo caso con un finale piuttosto deludente.

Ci sono raccolte migliori di Lovecraft, in giro, ma il racconto della ricerca di Kadath merita la lettura, soprattutto se si è appassionati delle avventure fantasy "viaggio alla ricerca di X".
Profile Image for Stephen.
105 reviews6 followers
May 19, 2021
The order of the five stories in this book differs from the order H.P.L wrote them in.
1. "The Statement of Randolph Carter" (1919) Comes 2nd in the book.
2. "The Unnamable" (1923) Comes last in the book.
3. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926-1927) Comes 1st in the book.
4. "The Silver Key" (1926) Comes 3rd in the book.
5. "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (1933) Comes 4th in the book.

This isn't a bad thing and lends to making the book more seamless. Also putting "The Unnamable" last leaves the reader with something to speculate upon at the end.

Over all the writing style is very dense and hard to keep up with as the descriptors keep coming and coming at you making it hard to process, but mind you this is the state of Carter's intensive mind. To some it's enough to cause many to put the book down, but if you stayed with it, settling into the style, I think you'd find it well rewarding. Besides that only lasts through the first story (longest) after which it lets up some with the other four, though not completely. I've only seen this style of writing once before with Ingersoll Lockwood's "The Barron Trump Adventures" and both are a marvel to behold and in some ways on level perhaps even with Virgil's epic "The Aeneid".

Another aspect with this small collection is that H.P.L demonstrates himself to be a rather prolific and well educated, up to date thinker when it comes to history, philosophy and science for his time. Something that comes through with the middle three stories.

Good book if you can get through it and the reordering of the stories greatly helped to make it a book that should leave you with a few after thoughts before you grab the next.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolp...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._L... (bio)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._L... (didn't know he wrote so many poems)

And if your interested in the poems, this one seems to have them all.

https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Track-...





Profile Image for Nico Sequalini.
2 reviews
December 21, 2021
The two missing stars are for the racism
Other than that now I see why they say that lovecraftian horror resonates w queer people
Profile Image for Antonis Giannoulis.
450 reviews30 followers
December 9, 2021
Οι πέντε ιστορίες του Carter μαζί. Δεν νομίζω ότι είναι τα καλύτερα του Lovecraft για εμένα . Ονειρικός κύκλος με πολύ φαντασία που ταξιδεύει. Τα δυο πρώτα που είναι μικρές ιστορίες και το through the gates of the silver key με κέρδισαν λίγο παραπάνω . Ο Carter σαν χαρακτήρας επιφανειακός και οχι τρισδιάστατος και γενικα μέσα έχει κάποιες σκέψεις και καποιους χαρακτηρισμούς που με ενόχλησαν . Παρολαυτα αναγνωρίζω την φαντασία του …
6 reviews
February 16, 2023
It's nice to have interconnected stories. Really creates an even deeper, overarching immersion that helps truly diving into that... odd world Lovecraft's writing about.
It's also pleasing to finally get the wholly otherworldly oddities Lovecraft's famous for.
Profile Image for Mathew .
393 reviews9 followers
April 19, 2024
Since this is a collection of interconnected stories I was really excited to finally get to read all the the dreamlands cycle in one tome. If you read the stories in the correct (written order) they are all fun and enjoyable. The short stories are very quick reads and offer fun glimpses into a much bigger world and idea. The bulk of this book is taken up by the dream quest novella, which is full of excellent creativity which is ruined by 1, 2, 3, dry narration style further hampered by word vomit style writing that becomes tedious, and sadly, eventually a camouflage for bad story-telling. The only reason I could finish this was due in part to a stubborn will to see it done, and I remembered the dreamlands art book which was full of gorgeous illustrations, and published by Chaosium in the late 80's, which I dug up and used as a visual companion.
The final two installments, The silver key, and through the gates of the silver key, are much shorter, and have some great ideas and the earliest idea of a "multi-verse" I've discovered. The series was redeemed by these last two chapters and I would read them all again.
I've now read HLP' entire catalogue and am pleased to report that the rampant and gratuitous racism of his earlier work, in it's overt forms is not present. He's not completely off the hook and there are some stereotypical references, but compared to a story like "rats in the walls" where I was constantly on guard for such language, it's nice to be able to trust him more again.
Profile Image for Juliuyaas .
36 reviews
November 13, 2025
I really liked all of the stories at the end. Especially the bit where Randolf as some alien creature recalls how he basically got like this crazy god like power that allowed him to put himself in another body and then like travel through time to his original period after he had gone through the gateway like girl that was all actually so crazy and so bizarre and so lovecraftian I loved it Randolph Carter did end up cementing himself as a really cool character by the end.

The only thing I didn't really like was Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath. I understand why it's written the way it is (confusing) and I do think it does what it sets out to do in making it feel very dreamlike but at the same time that makes it kinda annoying. Like there are no divisions within the story and it's like 120 pages or something I think and if you're like me that basically means you have to read it all in one go (I didn't, but stopping in the middle of the story so many times irked me). Because of the way it's written a lot of times I ended up zoning out as well and not really getting everything that's going on. You have to really pay attention to like every single sentence and I know that sounds dumb cause like. it's a book. of course you do. but if you read it you'd get what I mean.

the ending was actually worth it though it was really crazy but it was worth it :p yeah. I didn't really get what was going on in the unnameable tho I'm gonna be fr

review over
Profile Image for Ayesha (Seokjin's Version) ☾.
747 reviews71 followers
May 23, 2025
Basically the moment I found out that this mf is from the Miskatonic University and his ancestors are from Arkham, everything fell into place. In Lovecraft-verse, that is almost a death or an extremely creepy or 'downright disturbing thing happening to you' guarantee. Plus, it explained that incessant need of his to talk all the time.

Still I am happy to see that he remains one of the only character of Lovecraft with a tiny bit of a spine who isn't pulling a Raskolnikov and fainting left and right.

The Dream Quest to Unknown Kadath was so hard to get through. It feels like a sprawling tale (despite its size) where Lovecraft keeps throwing action in our faces with little to no elaboration. It does reads more fantasy-esque than horror.

That's why I enjoyed the little stories before and after the adventure more. They were just the right amount of ominous whilst also maintaining that cosmotic awe and terror.
Profile Image for Lector Reincidente.
27 reviews3 followers
August 9, 2020
Hice una recorrido por la vida de tan peculiar personaje. Desde su primera aparición como un simple estudioso de lo oculto a su vida como soñador, tantos detalles de los que hablar, tantas cosas que contar que simplemente no alcanzaba con una de mis reseñas habituales, tuve que escribir sin parar y el resultado fue mi entrada de mayor envergadura a la fecha.

Si bien no sé hasta qué punto puede suscitar interés, aquí dejo los resultados de tal recorrido: ¿Quién es Randolph Carter?
Profile Image for Daniel.
588 reviews7 followers
April 2, 2023
Consider this a pseudobiography of the author. The protagonist is the exploring hero archetype and represents the questing, imagination, ever-seeking nature of the author. The first story, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is probably one of the best descriptions of a dream sequence in literature.
Profile Image for Sofia Pissarra.
32 reviews5 followers
Read
September 26, 2024
DNF
Gostei da primeira histórias , mas a partir da segunda tudo estava a ser um esforço tremendo para mim. Logo, não faz sentido continuar com esta leitura. Lovecraft é um autor de renome no género, pelo que esta situação é um clássico não és tu, sou eu 😀 apesar de adorar os
Livros desta edição, estas letras miudinhas já não dão para os velhos e cansados olhos 👀
Profile Image for Jennifer Baars.
120 reviews
December 27, 2024
dnf

SO.MANY.WORDS.

I never DNF'd a book untill now, but I just couldn't do it anymore.
So much was happening in so little time, in so many words. I mostly just let my eyes glide over the words and did not absorb them fully. If you ask me what this book is about, I can't even tell you. I

I can totally understand that there are people who like the Lovecraft style though. It's just...not for me.
Profile Image for Finlay Munden.
28 reviews1 follower
December 20, 2023
These stories were definitely, to me, more enjoyable than the ones in 'Macabre Stories', which is probably because they represent where Lovecraft really delved into the cosmic horror he's known for.
Profile Image for Asher Brown.
104 reviews1 follower
June 18, 2024
The first story badly needs some narrative breaks. The others, however, are much better paced and have a wonderfully spooky atmosphere.
Profile Image for Robbia.
73 reviews
November 1, 2024
È sempre un piacere rileggere il mio racconto preferito del maestro dell'horror. ♥️
Profile Image for Mandy.
402 reviews19 followers
November 2, 2025
Better collection than the first in the box set, but very trippy to keep a grasp on what is happening most of the time
157 reviews
January 11, 2026
You can really see what this kicked off. Feels ahead of its time (in some ways, very much not in others)
Profile Image for Nicholas Foster.
79 reviews1 follower
March 29, 2021
Lovecraft stories are a glimpse into his demented, troubled psyche, and I, for one, fucking love it!
Profile Image for handsfeetlegs.
124 reviews4 followers
September 25, 2024
*edition from the HP Lovecraft Collection*
WOWOWOWOWOW!!! what an incredible collection of Lovecraft stories oh my god!?! although it doesn't include the most popular stories of Lovecraft's mythos, it's such a strong collection of connected stories, it's absolutely worth your time reading this either as someone wanting to get into Lovecraft or as someone who wants to expand their Lovecraft catalogue.
Every story in this is really good:
-The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is a fantastic novella that might be a bit too long, yet it's still engaging and incredibly fun to read. adventurous, fantastical, and whimsy. I will say tho that it's highly recommended that you do some prerequisite reading before this one, as there are many important references to previous Lovecraft stories in this. those stories being: The Other Gods, The Cats of Ulthar, Nyarlathotep, Azathoth(?), Pickman's Model, (am I missing any?).
- The Statement of Randolph Carter is a solid Lovecraft classic that does all the typical Lovecraft stuff you either will see more of or already know and love.
- The Silver Key and Through The Gates of The Silver Key are a duo of stories; the first being cosmic ruminations (that I absolutely ADORE), less horror, but SUCH an amazing read. its sequel is much longer and kinda gets a bit lost in the sauce, but ultimately is a great and satisfying(?) conclusion(?) to the Randolph Carter story.
- The Unnameable is an interesting story to end the collection on, as it SHOULD be placed before The Sliver Key, yet it's still a fun story that feels like a cheeky celebration of everything we just went through with Randolf Carter.
anyways, a 10/10 collection, yet it's one of the collections from my "The HP Lovecraft Collection" that I least often see as a standalone collection, but it absolutely should be. maybe the name "Randolf Carter" is a bit too boring for some, idk. justice for Randolf Carter ✊
331 reviews
February 2, 2025
Confesso que me senti ligeiramente desiludido quando reli esta série de contos interligados (frouxamente). A escrita hiperbólica, gongórica, de Lovecraft acaba por se tornar um pouco repetitiva. Dos quatro textos que compõem o livro, o mais longo "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" será talvez aquele que simultaneamente é mais conseguido e aquele que menos me agradou reler. Essa novela, de estilo profusamente adjectivado, foi escrita por Lovecraft entre 1926 e 1927 (e não em em 1920 como é indicado na versão portuguesa) mas só veio a ser publicada postumamente em 1943; como tal nunca chegou a ser objecto de revisão final por parte do autor e creio que isso se nota. Como também creio que se nota nessa a novela de tema peregrino, uma clara influência do romance "The Night Land" da autoria de William Hope Hodgson publicado vinte anos antes.
Profile Image for Paola.
137 reviews2 followers
August 3, 2024
Lovecrfat tiene una increíble capacidad para escribir y que te sumerjas en sus historias, aparte de esto cualquier cuento que tenga un mundo que puedes ver solo en sueños y gatos luchando en la luna para salvar al personaje principal, saltando por el espacio y pláticas de metafísica es un cuento que vale la pena leer.
9 reviews
Read
March 20, 2020
universo do fantástico criado por sugestão dos sonhos enfrentando outras realidades vividas pelo autor ,imaginadas e influenciadas pela própria vida
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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