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The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft
The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham
In 2014, The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft was published to widespread acclaim— vaunted as a “treasure trove” (Joyce Carol Oates) for Lovecraft aficionados and general readers, alike. Hailed by Harlan Ellison as an “Olympian landmark of modern gothic literature,” the volume included twenty-two of Lovecraft’s original stories. Now, in this final volume, best- selling author Leslie S. Klinger reanimates twenty-five additional stories, the balance of Lovecraft’s significant fiction, including “Rats in the Wall,” a post– World War I story about the terrors of the past, and the newly contextualized “The Horror at Red Hook,” which recently has been adapted by best- selling novelist Victor LaValle. In following Lovecraft’s own literary trajectory, readers can witness his evolution from Rhode Island critic to prescient literary genius whose titanic influence would only be appreciated decades after his death. Including hundreds of eye- opening annotations and dozens of rare images, Beyond Arkham finally provides the complete picture of Lovecraft’s unparalleled achievements in fiction.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published September 24, 2019
143 people are currently reading
1761 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
6,201 books19.3k 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
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 31, 2020
Video review
For Lovecraft completionists, and those who enjoyed the first volume. The introduction & paratextual content is not quite as brilliant, but there are many wonderful stories in here - they definitely didn't exhaust all the good ones in the first volume.
For Lovecraft completionists, and those who enjoyed the first volume. The introduction & paratextual content is not quite as brilliant, but there are many wonderful stories in here - they definitely didn't exhaust all the good ones in the first volume.
October 29, 2019
Longtime fans as well as those new to his work will rejoice at this excellent collection of Lovecraft’s horror short stories and novellas set outside the mythical town of Arkham. Thanks to Leslie Klinger’s many annotations, readers are immersed in the history, locations and cultural morays of the time providing a better understanding of Lovecraft’s work. The book itself is beautifully produced and include period drawings along with several photos that go with the annotations. "Celephais" is a bittersweet tale of a man who, growing more and more alienated from the people around him, drifted into a dream world of his own creation which eventually killed him. "He" is a classic horror tale that speaks to the dangers of following a stranger home late at night and worse. These are just two of the twenty-five stories which are a treat to be savored and not just at Halloween.
February 21, 2020
Not a review, more like a comment: That volume could have been perfect (5/5) if it had included all the stories not included in the first volume. This book is half the size of the first, and could have easily have contained the stories that remains 'missing'... Perhaps the author wanted to make a volume 3?
September 9, 2021
When you hear the word "Annotated," do you:
a) Run away screaming
b) Lick your chops like you're about to bite into a bone-in ribeye from St. Elmo's?
I kid, slightly. But I suspect most readers fall into some variation on one of those two responses.
I've had both volumes of Leslie Klinger's annotated Lovecraft sitting in my library for a while, but outside of perusing individual stories and/or using the notes as reference for essay research, this was my first time going through one of them cover-to-cover.
Some of these stories I had read in other editions, but some of them I was reading for the first time. I was particularly anxious to read "Under the Pyramids," Lovecraft's collaboration with Harry Houdini.
Yes, THAT Houdini. Lovecraft wrote the story "Under the Pyramids" (sometimes published as "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs") as if it was Houdini retelling an adventure from his own life.
And honestly, I loved that story, but I think my favorite from this volume might be "Pickman's Model," about an artist with a flair for the grotesque who, it turns out, might not be making all those monsters up out of his own head after all.
"The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" deserves an essay or series of essays all by itself. A few years ago, I wrote an essay comparing C.S. Lewis's lost city of Charn with Lovecraft's city of R'lyeh (where Cthulhu sleeps).
The ending of the Kadath novella would make a VERY interesting side-by-side comparison with C.S. Lewis's "Surprised by Joy" and some of Lewis's other writings on Joy. There is a haunting spiritual truth lurking in the ending of the Kadath story, one certainly mixed with the darkness you might expect of Lovecraft . . . but one that also evokes a sense of longing for a spiritual home.
There's too much I could say about what I thought while reading these stories and Klinger's notes, but suffice it to end with . . . this is a wonderful storehouse for those interested in a deep dive into the author and his world. Highly recommended!
a) Run away screaming
b) Lick your chops like you're about to bite into a bone-in ribeye from St. Elmo's?
I kid, slightly. But I suspect most readers fall into some variation on one of those two responses.
I've had both volumes of Leslie Klinger's annotated Lovecraft sitting in my library for a while, but outside of perusing individual stories and/or using the notes as reference for essay research, this was my first time going through one of them cover-to-cover.
Some of these stories I had read in other editions, but some of them I was reading for the first time. I was particularly anxious to read "Under the Pyramids," Lovecraft's collaboration with Harry Houdini.
Yes, THAT Houdini. Lovecraft wrote the story "Under the Pyramids" (sometimes published as "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs") as if it was Houdini retelling an adventure from his own life.
And honestly, I loved that story, but I think my favorite from this volume might be "Pickman's Model," about an artist with a flair for the grotesque who, it turns out, might not be making all those monsters up out of his own head after all.
"The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" deserves an essay or series of essays all by itself. A few years ago, I wrote an essay comparing C.S. Lewis's lost city of Charn with Lovecraft's city of R'lyeh (where Cthulhu sleeps).
The ending of the Kadath novella would make a VERY interesting side-by-side comparison with C.S. Lewis's "Surprised by Joy" and some of Lewis's other writings on Joy. There is a haunting spiritual truth lurking in the ending of the Kadath story, one certainly mixed with the darkness you might expect of Lovecraft . . . but one that also evokes a sense of longing for a spiritual home.
There's too much I could say about what I thought while reading these stories and Klinger's notes, but suffice it to end with . . . this is a wonderful storehouse for those interested in a deep dive into the author and his world. Highly recommended!
September 25, 2021
The second (smaller) volume of annoted HPL stories. The annotations are not that earth shattering interesting, but is is nice to have pointed out that some of the language is so archaic that you should look some stuff up.
The story selection consists mostly of lesser known stories, because the famous ones were in the first volume. I do love "The cats of Ulthar", "The Outsider" and "The Rats in the Walls".
It is a pity that a lot of stories or poetry was not included.
Some of the annotations are more miss then hit, and I had to laugh when super long full hyperlinks are printed. I did like it when full colour graphics were included.
Good addition when you have the first volume.
The story selection consists mostly of lesser known stories, because the famous ones were in the first volume. I do love "The cats of Ulthar", "The Outsider" and "The Rats in the Walls".
It is a pity that a lot of stories or poetry was not included.
Some of the annotations are more miss then hit, and I had to laugh when super long full hyperlinks are printed. I did like it when full colour graphics were included.
Good addition when you have the first volume.
December 8, 2019
Contains both some of Lovecraft's best stories and some of his worst, but is invaluable for the annotations and for Victor LaValle's introduction.
April 10, 2020
Always enjoyed the tales of Lovecraft and his skill at evoking an eerie and otherworldly presence, and the annotated notes only added to my enjoyment by helping expand on the backstory and settings of his stories.
Read
December 30, 2020This is indeed annotated. Very. With pictures, too. Very useful.
May 15, 2020
The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft and The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham, both edited by Leslie S. Klinger, could be considered the two most important books that Lovecraft’s acolytes must own, adepts and novices alike. Both of Klinger’s magnificent volumes guide readers through all things Lovecraft, elements that united to engender the creation of a new, divergent literary genre--cosmic horror.
In this postmodern literary era, proponents of Barthes and reader response theory truly believe that the author is dead, that the text should be examined on its own terms, through the reader’s glass, with no consideration for the author or his stated purpose. When a text is born, inarguably, it takes on a life of its own and should be analyzed as such. However, Lovecraft and his works should be exempt from these ideologies because he is the progenitor of cosmic horror, a genre like no other that astounds and entrances readers. The term may be unfamiliar to many, but without knowing it, most have read and enjoyed books or watched movies based on the conventions of cosmic horror.
The drive to research and analyze Lovecraft is irresistible, addictive.
In these two volumes, Klinger has done all the work for those hungry for information. It is obvious that he dedicated years to bring these two valuable texts to life.
The first volume focuses on Lovecraft’s Arkham cycle, which encompasses some of Lovecraft’s most beloved tales that take place in Arkham and surroundings such as Miskatonic University. It begins with a biographical section that reveals critical documentation of Lovecraft’s life and includes fascinating images that disclose personal information such as his marriage certificate, photos of his homes and family, and even maps of Arkham, hand drawn by Lovecraft himself.
Included are twenty-two of Lovecraft’s most beloved earlier stories, which are each introduced with publication data. All stories are thoroughly annotated with notes on historical information from Lovecraft’s era, including places, social beliefs, how particular language was used, and much more. The first volume ends with information on Lovecraftian horror that includes a list of movies based on Lovecraft’s works, a chronological table, a list of Miskatonic University faculty members, and a history of the Necronomicon. Amazingly, it also includes a photo of The History of the Necronomicon in Lovecraft’s own handwriting, a genealogy of the Elder Races, and Lovecraft in popular culture. At the end is a bibliography that will direct readers to many more credible research opportunities guaranteed to enable Lovecraftian enthusiasts to continue their journey of illumination.
The second volume takes up where the first left off with twenty-five post Arkham tales. At the end are four appendices. Notable, is the Gazetteer, which serves as an encyclopedia of Lovecraftian locations.
Every disciple of H.P. Lovecraft needs both of these huge, beautiful, encyclopedic volumes in their permanent library. The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft and The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham edited by Leslie S. Klinger come very highly recommended.
In this postmodern literary era, proponents of Barthes and reader response theory truly believe that the author is dead, that the text should be examined on its own terms, through the reader’s glass, with no consideration for the author or his stated purpose. When a text is born, inarguably, it takes on a life of its own and should be analyzed as such. However, Lovecraft and his works should be exempt from these ideologies because he is the progenitor of cosmic horror, a genre like no other that astounds and entrances readers. The term may be unfamiliar to many, but without knowing it, most have read and enjoyed books or watched movies based on the conventions of cosmic horror.
The drive to research and analyze Lovecraft is irresistible, addictive.
In these two volumes, Klinger has done all the work for those hungry for information. It is obvious that he dedicated years to bring these two valuable texts to life.
The first volume focuses on Lovecraft’s Arkham cycle, which encompasses some of Lovecraft’s most beloved tales that take place in Arkham and surroundings such as Miskatonic University. It begins with a biographical section that reveals critical documentation of Lovecraft’s life and includes fascinating images that disclose personal information such as his marriage certificate, photos of his homes and family, and even maps of Arkham, hand drawn by Lovecraft himself.
Included are twenty-two of Lovecraft’s most beloved earlier stories, which are each introduced with publication data. All stories are thoroughly annotated with notes on historical information from Lovecraft’s era, including places, social beliefs, how particular language was used, and much more. The first volume ends with information on Lovecraftian horror that includes a list of movies based on Lovecraft’s works, a chronological table, a list of Miskatonic University faculty members, and a history of the Necronomicon. Amazingly, it also includes a photo of The History of the Necronomicon in Lovecraft’s own handwriting, a genealogy of the Elder Races, and Lovecraft in popular culture. At the end is a bibliography that will direct readers to many more credible research opportunities guaranteed to enable Lovecraftian enthusiasts to continue their journey of illumination.
The second volume takes up where the first left off with twenty-five post Arkham tales. At the end are four appendices. Notable, is the Gazetteer, which serves as an encyclopedia of Lovecraftian locations.
Every disciple of H.P. Lovecraft needs both of these huge, beautiful, encyclopedic volumes in their permanent library. The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft and The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham edited by Leslie S. Klinger come very highly recommended.
July 15, 2020
This hardcover book in full color with rich illustrations, photographs and notes is beautiful - and the content is just as ugly. Much of the blame is with HPL himself since the racism is hard to overlook. But just in case you do, the editors of this volume are here to help. There is an actual annotation where the protagonist in one of the stories names his black cat N*****-man, pointing out that HPL is being racist here. Thanks? Because otherwise I would have completely missed the subtle touch?
The stories themselves are like any other short story collection - a Gump-ian box of chocolates. The difference was that here they came with a lot of reference information and notes about people, places and objects appearing in the story. Now an annotated book sounds great in theory, but the truth is, it's a bit of a distraction to reading the story itself. I guess this works better in non fiction books (Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 has footnotes that add to the narrative not take away from it) but also here I felt there were just too many annotations. They could have limited the number and ensured that annotations were on the page that had the text being referenced. Here some of the annotations are 5-6 pages after the referenced text so that you need to keep going back and forth in the book. And sometimes that effort is a spectacular waste - for instance for Eiffel Tower - there was a picture of the Eiffel Tower.
The stories themselves are like any other short story collection - a Gump-ian box of chocolates. The difference was that here they came with a lot of reference information and notes about people, places and objects appearing in the story. Now an annotated book sounds great in theory, but the truth is, it's a bit of a distraction to reading the story itself. I guess this works better in non fiction books (Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 has footnotes that add to the narrative not take away from it) but also here I felt there were just too many annotations. They could have limited the number and ensured that annotations were on the page that had the text being referenced. Here some of the annotations are 5-6 pages after the referenced text so that you need to keep going back and forth in the book. And sometimes that effort is a spectacular waste - for instance for Eiffel Tower - there was a picture of the Eiffel Tower.
February 10, 2026
Beyond Arkham (2019) is a much needed follow-up to Leslie S. Klinger’s
The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft
(2014). It’s a beautiful hardcover featuring many of the author’s best stories, with a much greater focus on his fantasy and dream-based work. I particularly like "The Cats of Ulthar", "The Outsider" and "The Rats in the Walls". The volume even increased my appreciation for certain tales, such as “Under the Pyramids” and “The High House in the Mist.”
Klinger gives the reader a wealth of biographical and historical detail in his notes and illustrations. Even Lovecraft’s lesser works, such as the blatantly racist and xenophobic "The Horror at Red Hook" and "He", give a plenty of insight into the author’s personality and phobias. My only complaint is that I wish The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham was longer. It is about half the length of the first volume. I sorely missed some of Lovecraft’s collaborative stories, such as the final Randolph Carter tales "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" and “Out of the Aeons”, not to mention the bonkers epic The Mound and the highly entertaining “The Curse of Yig”. No, many of HPL’s other stories are not necessarily good, but super-fans would have appreciated more of them and annotated books like this one are mostly sold to super-fans.
Below are the contents of The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham. I read and reviewed all of HPL’s fictional works in 2022 and am providing links to these reviews. As stated above, I am tempted to revise my opinion of “Under the Pyramids” and “The High House in the Mist.”
***************************************************************************
[Image: Book Cover]
Citation:
Lovecraft, H.P. (2019). The new annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham (L.S. Klinger, Ed.). Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company.
Title: The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham
Series: The Annotated Lovecraft: Volume 2
Author(s): H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), Leslie S. Klinger (editor, annotator)
Year: 2019
Genre: Fiction - Story Collection: Horror, Fantasy, & Science Fiction / Nonfiction - Literary Criticism, History, & Biography
Page count: 512 pages
Date(s) read: 1/10/26 - 1/21/26
Book 19 in 2026
***************************************************************************
Klinger gives the reader a wealth of biographical and historical detail in his notes and illustrations. Even Lovecraft’s lesser works, such as the blatantly racist and xenophobic "The Horror at Red Hook" and "He", give a plenty of insight into the author’s personality and phobias. My only complaint is that I wish The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham was longer. It is about half the length of the first volume. I sorely missed some of Lovecraft’s collaborative stories, such as the final Randolph Carter tales "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" and “Out of the Aeons”, not to mention the bonkers epic The Mound and the highly entertaining “The Curse of Yig”. No, many of HPL’s other stories are not necessarily good, but super-fans would have appreciated more of them and annotated books like this one are mostly sold to super-fans.
Below are the contents of The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham. I read and reviewed all of HPL’s fictional works in 2022 and am providing links to these reviews. As stated above, I am tempted to revise my opinion of “Under the Pyramids” and “The High House in the Mist.”
The Stories
"The Tomb"
"Polaris"
"The Transition of Juan Romero"
"The Doom That Came to Sarnath"
"The Terrible Old Man"
"The Cats of Ulthar"
"Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family"
"The Temple"
"Celephaïs"
"From Beyond"
"Ex Oblivione"
"The Quest of Iranon"
"The Outsider"
"The Other Gods"
"The Music of Erich Zann"
"The Lurking Fear"
"The Rats in the Walls"
"Under the Pyramids" (originally published as “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs”)
"The Shunned House"
"The Horror at Red Hook"
"He"
"Cool Air"
"The Strange High House in the Mist"
"Pickman's Model"
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
Additional Material
Appendix 1: Outline of the Life and Career of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
Appendix 2: The Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft, in Order of Writing
Appendix 3: The "Red Hook" Incantation
Appendix 4: A Compleat Lovecraft Gazetteer
Acknowledgments
Works Cited
***************************************************************************
[Image: Book Cover]
Citation:
Lovecraft, H.P. (2019). The new annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham (L.S. Klinger, Ed.). Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company.
Title: The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond Arkham
Series: The Annotated Lovecraft: Volume 2
Author(s): H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), Leslie S. Klinger (editor, annotator)
Year: 2019
Genre: Fiction - Story Collection: Horror, Fantasy, & Science Fiction / Nonfiction - Literary Criticism, History, & Biography
Page count: 512 pages
Date(s) read: 1/10/26 - 1/21/26
Book 19 in 2026
***************************************************************************
January 22, 2024
If you're on Neftlix and watched Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, like me, you ran to the library to get a book on H.P. Lovecraft. He's featured in two of the episodes.
His writing and mindset are disturbing, but you don't turn away. What will happen in the Witch House? Can the dead twin really return to life?
Like Poe, Lovecraft supposes a wild premise then quickly pulls you down the trail with him.
His text hasn't aged well. His olde New England language is tough to enjoy - like having Nathaniel Hawthorne as a neighbor asking to borrow your lawn mower in 200 words or less.
But the stories and suppositions are outstanding.
#library #harborsights #arlingtonlibrary
https://www.harborsights.com
His writing and mindset are disturbing, but you don't turn away. What will happen in the Witch House? Can the dead twin really return to life?
Like Poe, Lovecraft supposes a wild premise then quickly pulls you down the trail with him.
His text hasn't aged well. His olde New England language is tough to enjoy - like having Nathaniel Hawthorne as a neighbor asking to borrow your lawn mower in 200 words or less.
But the stories and suppositions are outstanding.
#library #harborsights #arlingtonlibrary
https://www.harborsights.com
November 18, 2025
Please note that this review is spoiler-free.
Review in progress:
13. "The Outsider" (1926) - The inclusion of a poem preceding the story hints at the possibility that the entire narrative is a dream. The narrator is aware of residing in a castle for an extended period but lacks recollection of their caretakers or servants, only remembering a life dedicated to reading. Intriguingly, the narrator has no memory of learning to read. This tale is shrouded in mystery, depicting an individual risking their life in pursuit of self-discovery and a greater understanding of the world. This is the most analysed story of Lovecrafts: while many regard it as the finest short story he ever wrote.
On a personal note, the one note resonates with my own experience. I do not recall learning to read. While I remember attending school and going through the process of learning to read, I already possessed the ability to read. My parents have stated that I was engrossed in reading books at the age of three, and my father attributed my reading skills to "Sesame Street" by 1971, undoubtedly a different iteration of the program than what exists today.
Review in progress:
13. "The Outsider" (1926) - The inclusion of a poem preceding the story hints at the possibility that the entire narrative is a dream. The narrator is aware of residing in a castle for an extended period but lacks recollection of their caretakers or servants, only remembering a life dedicated to reading. Intriguingly, the narrator has no memory of learning to read. This tale is shrouded in mystery, depicting an individual risking their life in pursuit of self-discovery and a greater understanding of the world. This is the most analysed story of Lovecrafts: while many regard it as the finest short story he ever wrote.
On a personal note, the one note resonates with my own experience. I do not recall learning to read. While I remember attending school and going through the process of learning to read, I already possessed the ability to read. My parents have stated that I was engrossed in reading books at the age of three, and my father attributed my reading skills to "Sesame Street" by 1971, undoubtedly a different iteration of the program than what exists today.
October 20, 2023
Una maravilla de edición, tanto en contenido como en materiales. Como cualquier libro de relatos de Lovecraft, de disfruta tanto a pequeños sorbos como leyendo un relato del tirón.
El único "pero" es que el tomo pesará cerca de dos kilos y se hace difícil leer durante largos ratos, pero dada la naturaleza de las historias no es un problema grave.
Contiene muchos de los principales relatos ubicados fuera de Arkham, como el modelo de Pickman, El viejo terrible, Red Hook y muchos otros. Apenas hay referencias a Cthulhu y compañía.
El único "pero" es que el tomo pesará cerca de dos kilos y se hace difícil leer durante largos ratos, pero dada la naturaleza de las historias no es un problema grave.
Contiene muchos de los principales relatos ubicados fuera de Arkham, como el modelo de Pickman, El viejo terrible, Red Hook y muchos otros. Apenas hay referencias a Cthulhu y compañía.
August 13, 2020
2 1/2 stars.
Every warning from the first annotated volume still counts - Lovecraft is still miserably racist, zenophobic, anti-semitic and I am hard pressed to remember even a single woman as much as mentioned in this volume. The horror at Red Hook and the Rats in the walls are especially bad in terms of ragingly blatant racism.
I liked the stories in the first volume better, the ones focusing on cosmic horror and the other gods. These short stories felt a bit smaller in scale.
Every warning from the first annotated volume still counts - Lovecraft is still miserably racist, zenophobic, anti-semitic and I am hard pressed to remember even a single woman as much as mentioned in this volume. The horror at Red Hook and the Rats in the walls are especially bad in terms of ragingly blatant racism.
I liked the stories in the first volume better, the ones focusing on cosmic horror and the other gods. These short stories felt a bit smaller in scale.
January 31, 2023
Not a full read, as I have read, and re-read, every story in this collection many times. However I love the annotations and extra depth imparted thereby. This is a book I will pick up and put down depending on which story is up for another reading. No matter how many times one has read Lovecraft's work, this volume, along with the first one in the series, are must have books! I cannot recommend them enough.
December 4, 2023
A nice addition for any Lovecraft fan. I always love to see artwork from the original stories as well as the inspirations (which include photos and locations). Annotations are a nice addition but not earth shattering knowledge. If you are new to HP Lovecraft and his writings they can be a big help with understanding the stories/writing style. Because of the annotations the collection of short stories are on the shorter side but still a nice well rounded collection.
January 31, 2026
Tough to review: am I rating the annotations or am I rating the stories themselves? Well, I guess it's not so tough because the stories themselves are not Lovecraft's best. But they are still enjoyable. And while I recognize the annotations are the reason to get this book, at times the annotations distracted from the story itself and ran ahead several pages, necessitating flipping back and forth. But there really is nothing that could have been done to prevent that.
April 24, 2025
This collection of H.P. Lovecraft books covers the stories that are often left unmentioned in his bibliography. This book contains some of Lovecraft's more racist and/or sluggish stories, but also has grand highs. The best moments of the collection relate to Lovecraft's dream world, as well as the stories that describe ancient cultures and legends. Overall, this is a must read.
December 28, 2025
No pude terminar el libro, y aún es súper interesante cada una de sus historias, más aparte el trasfondo de cada narrativa con datos curiosos e investigaciones ñ; lo que realmente no me dejó terminarlo fue el tamaño del ejemplar para poderle transportar de un lugar a otro. Ya que mis lecturas las realizo más en tiempos muertos que en espacios organizados para leer. ¡Perdoname H.P. Lovecraft!
November 30, 2019
the score is mostly for the book itself because it's gorgeous. If I scored it on how I felt while reading the book it would be much lower because it was way too textbook-like. Really wonderful otherwise though.
January 29, 2021
I'm a student of Lovecraft's work. This is an absolute must-have book for anyone breaking down the tapestry that is the Cthulhu mythos and utilizing cosmic horror in their works.
July 16, 2021
I only wanted to read one particular short story and I wasn't compelled to read more afterward.
April 29, 2024
Por un lado me parece injusto que tenga tantas historias y goodreads solo me lo cuente como 1 lectura. Listo. Ese es mi único punto negativo, me encanta lovecraft y este tiene el modelo de pickman.
January 19, 2026
Some amazing prose. Really creates images in my mind. Worth a reread.
August 23, 2023
Mostly a collection of Lovecraft's earlier, less publishable stuff.
The highlight of this collection is The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, which on the re-read appears to be just as perplexing as initially (inconsistent time scales, with contemporaneous events taking hours/months/years; uncertainty whether or not the dreamer can be killed; the unanswered question of whether the dream-world is indeed in the dreamer's head, or is a standalone domain out of the dreamer's control). Been playing a lot of Etherfields, and there certainly are some parallels between the game's notion of a Dream and Randolph Carter's refusal to wake (lest he have to start all over).
The presentation, as with Volume 1, is excellent. The glosses are good, the notes are interesting though often irrelevant. In Kadath in particular, which had a lof ot unused space for notes, it would have been nice to see some inline comparisons to work of Dunsany or E R Eddison, or to investigate whether the world-building had any impact on the writing of Jack Vance, whose Dying Earth stories certainly surpass Kadath in sheer number of made-up place names and creatures.
The highlight of this collection is The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, which on the re-read appears to be just as perplexing as initially (inconsistent time scales, with contemporaneous events taking hours/months/years; uncertainty whether or not the dreamer can be killed; the unanswered question of whether the dream-world is indeed in the dreamer's head, or is a standalone domain out of the dreamer's control). Been playing a lot of Etherfields, and there certainly are some parallels between the game's notion of a Dream and Randolph Carter's refusal to wake (lest he have to start all over).
The presentation, as with Volume 1, is excellent. The glosses are good, the notes are interesting though often irrelevant. In Kadath in particular, which had a lof ot unused space for notes, it would have been nice to see some inline comparisons to work of Dunsany or E R Eddison, or to investigate whether the world-building had any impact on the writing of Jack Vance, whose Dying Earth stories certainly surpass Kadath in sheer number of made-up place names and creatures.
July 19, 2023
"¿Por qué trabajáis? ¿Acaso no lo hacéis para vivir felices? Y si trabajáis únicamente para poder trabajar más, ¿cuándo hallaréis la felicidad? "
Esta versión de conjunto de relatos escritos por Lovecraft con 25 relatos, unos más cortos o largos que otros. Fue un conjunto perfecto para poder darnos la percepción necesaria para terminar y entender el cuento final "la busqueda en sueños de la ignota Kadath", cada uno nos fue dando una probadita para poder culminar con este relato que única muchos fragmentos de los pasados.
El libro contiene un relato llevado a la pantalla plana El modelo de Pickman que fue plasmado en el gabinete de curiosidades de Guillermo del Toro. Leer y verlo plasmado fue igual de inquietante por el tipo de terror de Lovecraft. Habla de niños secuestrados y ghouls, terror, pintura y locura.
Terminar con la odisea de Carter y su búsqueda por la tierra de Kadath la cual incluye a personajes felinos de Ulnath, Pickman y sus ghoules, gugos, vampiros, criaturas muertas y bestias lunares.
Lovecraft logra unir sonidos chirriantes, olores fétidos, sueños que se convierten en pesadillas, lo une en perfectos relatos terroríficos que me acompañarán largas noches y la versión anotada es obviamente un plus, porque esas pequeñas anotaciones nos dan otro poco de visión que podría haber inspirado o provocado a Lovecraft
Esta versión de conjunto de relatos escritos por Lovecraft con 25 relatos, unos más cortos o largos que otros. Fue un conjunto perfecto para poder darnos la percepción necesaria para terminar y entender el cuento final "la busqueda en sueños de la ignota Kadath", cada uno nos fue dando una probadita para poder culminar con este relato que única muchos fragmentos de los pasados.
El libro contiene un relato llevado a la pantalla plana El modelo de Pickman que fue plasmado en el gabinete de curiosidades de Guillermo del Toro. Leer y verlo plasmado fue igual de inquietante por el tipo de terror de Lovecraft. Habla de niños secuestrados y ghouls, terror, pintura y locura.
Terminar con la odisea de Carter y su búsqueda por la tierra de Kadath la cual incluye a personajes felinos de Ulnath, Pickman y sus ghoules, gugos, vampiros, criaturas muertas y bestias lunares.
Lovecraft logra unir sonidos chirriantes, olores fétidos, sueños que se convierten en pesadillas, lo une en perfectos relatos terroríficos que me acompañarán largas noches y la versión anotada es obviamente un plus, porque esas pequeñas anotaciones nos dan otro poco de visión que podría haber inspirado o provocado a Lovecraft
July 20, 2020
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020...
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2020...
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