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Tour de Lovecraft
Tour de Lovecraft - The Tales
Welcome to the Tour de Lovecraft: The Tales. This book is pretty much what that title conveys, a tour through all fifty-one of H.P. Lovecraft's mature works of prose fiction. We're skipping the poetry, the collaborations and ghost-writing and revisions (except for Through the Gates of the Silver Key), the travel writing, the artistic and literary criticism and all the other things Lovecraft wrote instead of horror stories. It is my contention that the tale's the thing, and al- though some of Lovecraft's other works are interesting or fun or valuable, they're not what any of us really signed up for. Like most tours, we'll stay a little longer at the good spots, and try our best to hustle past the weedy, overgrown patches. Hopefully I can point out one or two scenic overlooks along the way, letting you perhaps see some familiar landscape from an angle you hadn't noticed before. .
108 pages, Trade paperback
First published January 21, 2008
20 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Hite
128 books115 followersKenneth Hite (born September 15, 1965) is a writer and role-playing game designer. Author of Trail of Cthulhu and Night's Black Agents role-playing games, Hite has been announced as the lead designer of the upcoming 5th edition of Vampire: the Masquerade.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 10, 2008
(Originally posted on www.flamesrising.com)
Howard Phillips Lovecraft is one of the few authors of the horror genre who has been dissected rather thoroughly (Edgar Allen Poe being another). Kenneth Hite, who’s made much of his living as both a critic and a Lovecraft enthusiast, has a few things to say on the subject, and they make for very interesting reading. Tour de Lovecraft — the Tales is an engaging breakdown of all 51 of Lovecraft’s mature prose fiction, from 1917’s The Tomb to Lovecraft’s last work, the Haunter of the Dark from late 1935.
This is not a book of literary criticism, as I first assumed, but rather criticism of literary criticism. Hite takes pains to offer quotes and examples of criticism from a number of noted Lovecraft scholars, and offers his own opinions that don’t always mesh with those notions. In effect, the book breaks Lovecraft’s work down into what might be considered Hite’s Top-10 list of Lovecraft’s work. Hite spends time analyzing Lovecraft’s most effective tales, ranking them in very loose terms by whether the story is effective and by its relevance compared to HPL’s body of work. Each bit of analysis runs from a half-page (In the Vault) to a full five-plus pages (The Dunwich Horror) of bite-sized renderings.
Hite’s analysis follows Howard Phillips Lovecraft from his early career through his most productive and most imaginative periods — the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lovecraft’s strength lies in his tremendous imagination; his wordiness is often off-putting to the dilettante reader, and his rather ineffectual protagonists tend to find ill-favor with fans of action tales. The true power of Lovecraft lies in imagining things that aren’t, or things that shouldn’t be, but are. During Lovecraft’s time, the Romantics held sway over popular philosophy, with the idea that humanity had a place in the universe, and that place was, if not THE center, darned close to it. Lovecraft came along and with his stories shattered that illusion. Lovecraft’s cosmic sense of horror revolves around themes of decay and dilution of the pure; he was well-known for his racist sentiments, which, while certainly more generally accepted during his lifetime, still haunt us to this day. Horror of the alien, always one of the most paralyzing fears of humankind, is Lovecraft’s bread and butter.
Hite’s conclusions are that Lovecraft was an author of arguably unprecedented genius, but who also lacked a strong business sense. Had he been able to have his better work collected into an anthology during his lifetime, he may have fared better in the world of Serious Literature. As things stand today, nearly seventy-two years after his death, he remains a beloved author of hair-raising tales, his works most often discovered by adolescent boys and recalled fondly for decades after. He also stands as the inspiration for many luminaries in the horror and weird fiction fields today. That Lovecraft has had a tremendous effect on the world of fiction is beyond doubt; HPL is listed as an influence by such literary luminaries as Stephen King, China Mieville, and Tim Powers, among many others. His work spawned one of the top role-playing games produced to date — a game that shares its title with Lovecraft’s most influential and well-known work: Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft’s writing has also been the source material for a large number of feature-length films, as well as episodic television programs such as Night Gallery and Tales from the Dark Side, some of which are quite solid adaptations.
Tour de Lovecraft is a book I would recommend for anyone wanting to learn more about the man many consider to be the father of the modern horror tale. It does belabor a point or two, and Ken delights in using big words that may confound those without a dictionary at hand, but overall this book provides a great deal of insight, not only into the man and his work but to how both have been viewed by critics and scholars to the present day. For the serious Lovecraft aficionado, Tour de Lovecraft – the Tales is a must-have.
Review by Bill Bodden
Howard Phillips Lovecraft is one of the few authors of the horror genre who has been dissected rather thoroughly (Edgar Allen Poe being another). Kenneth Hite, who’s made much of his living as both a critic and a Lovecraft enthusiast, has a few things to say on the subject, and they make for very interesting reading. Tour de Lovecraft — the Tales is an engaging breakdown of all 51 of Lovecraft’s mature prose fiction, from 1917’s The Tomb to Lovecraft’s last work, the Haunter of the Dark from late 1935.
This is not a book of literary criticism, as I first assumed, but rather criticism of literary criticism. Hite takes pains to offer quotes and examples of criticism from a number of noted Lovecraft scholars, and offers his own opinions that don’t always mesh with those notions. In effect, the book breaks Lovecraft’s work down into what might be considered Hite’s Top-10 list of Lovecraft’s work. Hite spends time analyzing Lovecraft’s most effective tales, ranking them in very loose terms by whether the story is effective and by its relevance compared to HPL’s body of work. Each bit of analysis runs from a half-page (In the Vault) to a full five-plus pages (The Dunwich Horror) of bite-sized renderings.
Hite’s analysis follows Howard Phillips Lovecraft from his early career through his most productive and most imaginative periods — the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lovecraft’s strength lies in his tremendous imagination; his wordiness is often off-putting to the dilettante reader, and his rather ineffectual protagonists tend to find ill-favor with fans of action tales. The true power of Lovecraft lies in imagining things that aren’t, or things that shouldn’t be, but are. During Lovecraft’s time, the Romantics held sway over popular philosophy, with the idea that humanity had a place in the universe, and that place was, if not THE center, darned close to it. Lovecraft came along and with his stories shattered that illusion. Lovecraft’s cosmic sense of horror revolves around themes of decay and dilution of the pure; he was well-known for his racist sentiments, which, while certainly more generally accepted during his lifetime, still haunt us to this day. Horror of the alien, always one of the most paralyzing fears of humankind, is Lovecraft’s bread and butter.
Hite’s conclusions are that Lovecraft was an author of arguably unprecedented genius, but who also lacked a strong business sense. Had he been able to have his better work collected into an anthology during his lifetime, he may have fared better in the world of Serious Literature. As things stand today, nearly seventy-two years after his death, he remains a beloved author of hair-raising tales, his works most often discovered by adolescent boys and recalled fondly for decades after. He also stands as the inspiration for many luminaries in the horror and weird fiction fields today. That Lovecraft has had a tremendous effect on the world of fiction is beyond doubt; HPL is listed as an influence by such literary luminaries as Stephen King, China Mieville, and Tim Powers, among many others. His work spawned one of the top role-playing games produced to date — a game that shares its title with Lovecraft’s most influential and well-known work: Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft’s writing has also been the source material for a large number of feature-length films, as well as episodic television programs such as Night Gallery and Tales from the Dark Side, some of which are quite solid adaptations.
Tour de Lovecraft is a book I would recommend for anyone wanting to learn more about the man many consider to be the father of the modern horror tale. It does belabor a point or two, and Ken delights in using big words that may confound those without a dictionary at hand, but overall this book provides a great deal of insight, not only into the man and his work but to how both have been viewed by critics and scholars to the present day. For the serious Lovecraft aficionado, Tour de Lovecraft – the Tales is a must-have.
Review by Bill Bodden
July 19, 2015
This is a "must read" for those interested in the fifty-one major tales (sans revisions, with the exception of "Through the Gate of the Silver Key") by H.P. Lovecraft. Yes, this is an edited collection of what began as blog posts. Yes, the entries are far too casual, brief, and unstructured to be considered scholarship. That said, Kenneth Hite's little volume packs more of a punch than many books triple its size. Hite not only responds to the texts but also engages some of the chief scholarly positions on them, and he does so in a wonderfully thought-provoking and sometimes hilarious way. Hite also includes the well-informed "A Brief Survey of Lovecraftian Criticism" and a list of his sources and resources.
I used this in my most recent rereading of Lovecraft's works (side by side with annotated editions of Lovecraft by Leslie S. Klinger and S.T. Joshi), and I found it to be very useful as well as marvelously entertaining.
I used this in my most recent rereading of Lovecraft's works (side by side with annotated editions of Lovecraft by Leslie S. Klinger and S.T. Joshi), and I found it to be very useful as well as marvelously entertaining.
September 7, 2010
This book was great for picking up trivia and connections between Lovecraft's stories. It's nice to have on hand as you're reading through Lovecraft (especially in a systematic fashion) and/or listening to the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (where I first learned about it).
I gave it 4 stars for being interesting and illuminating. That said, it's not very thorough. These are Hite's observations and bits of information he's dug up, it's not meant to be an annotation and it certainly isn't one. Don't get it if you're looking for a thorough study. Do get it if you want to know more about Lovecraft's works.
I gave it 4 stars for being interesting and illuminating. That said, it's not very thorough. These are Hite's observations and bits of information he's dug up, it's not meant to be an annotation and it certainly isn't one. Don't get it if you're looking for a thorough study. Do get it if you want to know more about Lovecraft's works.
October 6, 2024
Najbardziej aktualna analiza twórczości Lovecrafta, kompilująca wiele źródeł. Ze względu na drobiazgowość chyba tylko dla wielkich fanów. Styl mocno postmodernistyczny i luźny.
October 28, 2015
If you could sit at a Chicago bar and listen to Kenneth Hite talk Lovecraft, it would sound like this. That's some of the highest praise I can offer.
An acquaintance of mine who's spent considerable more time with Ken than I've been blessed with describes him as "no matter where you are, the smartest guy in the room." That's fully on display as Ken runs through the Lovecraft canon, gives opinions, and potshots sacred cows.
It's the criticisms that are the unexpected gold. I mean, this is Ken Hite; he can extemporaneously speak on the alchemical symbolism of Coca-Cola, so we know he's got his material down. Hite also has that rare mixture where he's unafraid to call out crap without being rude to fellow critics and writers. He's unabashedly upfront in saying whether a story is good or not, starting the book with a list of Lovecraft's perfect story, the almost perfect ones, the great ones, and the good ones. Of course, that means some undoubtedly rank below good. He's refreshingly free of blind hero worship, loving the gems of HPL while freely pointing out the turds.
You'll learn which story makes him wish that he could go back in time and make Lovecraft go out for ice cream instead of writing that day. With Hite's history with time travel, I'd expect some booze to be involved, but I seem to recall that Ol' Howie wasn't much of a drinker.
It's a wonderful blend of accessible criticism and respect, even with major Lovecraft critics. When he throw elbows at say, S.T.Joshi's opinions, you never get the feeling that he's belittling the man. Luckily enough, he also sums up the opinions of other critics in single sentences before giving his own opinions. Bottom line: all you need to enjoy this book is to have read Lovecraft, not a college course full of literary citations.
Overall, it's a funny, incredibly well-researched, and approachable book by someone with a real love of the material. And booze. And a time machine. Do you need any more reasons?
An acquaintance of mine who's spent considerable more time with Ken than I've been blessed with describes him as "no matter where you are, the smartest guy in the room." That's fully on display as Ken runs through the Lovecraft canon, gives opinions, and potshots sacred cows.
It's the criticisms that are the unexpected gold. I mean, this is Ken Hite; he can extemporaneously speak on the alchemical symbolism of Coca-Cola, so we know he's got his material down. Hite also has that rare mixture where he's unafraid to call out crap without being rude to fellow critics and writers. He's unabashedly upfront in saying whether a story is good or not, starting the book with a list of Lovecraft's perfect story, the almost perfect ones, the great ones, and the good ones. Of course, that means some undoubtedly rank below good. He's refreshingly free of blind hero worship, loving the gems of HPL while freely pointing out the turds.
You'll learn which story makes him wish that he could go back in time and make Lovecraft go out for ice cream instead of writing that day. With Hite's history with time travel, I'd expect some booze to be involved, but I seem to recall that Ol' Howie wasn't much of a drinker.
It's a wonderful blend of accessible criticism and respect, even with major Lovecraft critics. When he throw elbows at say, S.T.Joshi's opinions, you never get the feeling that he's belittling the man. Luckily enough, he also sums up the opinions of other critics in single sentences before giving his own opinions. Bottom line: all you need to enjoy this book is to have read Lovecraft, not a college course full of literary citations.
Overall, it's a funny, incredibly well-researched, and approachable book by someone with a real love of the material. And booze. And a time machine. Do you need any more reasons?
March 14, 2021
A fun, casual little companion to H.P. Lovecraft's fiction, I read game designer and writer Kenneth Hite's "Tour de Lovecraft" (published originally on LiveJournal) alongside Lovecraft's "Complete Fiction." Hite's essays on each tale, highlighting themes and sharing his opinion on these works, what makes them work or fail for him. While not deeply literary, Hite sparks thought and has a witty and entertaining voice especially when debating the opinions of other critics such as S.T. Joshi or Robert Price. In the end, I, with a few minor quibbles, would tend to agree with Hite on the seventeen tales he has chosen as H.P. Lovecraft's best, ranged from "perfect" to "great." An interesting and informative quick guide to read alongside Lovecraft, but I would not refer to "Tour de Lovecraft" if I was not already familiar with Lovecraft's writing.
December 8, 2009
Many good ideas and interesting observations. Unfortunately, only rarely did they extend beyond the sketchy, blunt opinion and idea into actual arguments. That's a real shame, because that subtracts from Hite's (often) non-Joshi stance. This simply remains too amateurish, and not at all even the least scholarly.
That said, it was entertaining, an easy read, and Hite had very good points now and then (like why the witch in "The Dreams in the Witch-House" is afraid of a cross, even though HPL was an atheist, and scorned religion, cf. Joshi's critique of the story). Also, Hite is frank about his project from the very beginning, so one knows what to expect.
I just hoped for more. The material is there.
That said, it was entertaining, an easy read, and Hite had very good points now and then (like why the witch in "The Dreams in the Witch-House" is afraid of a cross, even though HPL was an atheist, and scorned religion, cf. Joshi's critique of the story). Also, Hite is frank about his project from the very beginning, so one knows what to expect.
I just hoped for more. The material is there.
September 14, 2014
Hite provides a chatty, casual guide to fifty-one of Lovecraft's prose works, most of which get only a page or two of light synopsis and reflection spiced with trivia. Almost more interesting is Hite's survey of Lovecraftian criticism, which provides a context for how HPL's work has been viewed over the last century. No serious Lovecraft fan will be surprised by any of the content here, but it's an entertaining enough read, and a decent intro for any one new to the joys of non-Euclidean geometry and unnameable horrors.
November 9, 2021
A critical look at the literary works of H.P. Lovecraft in chronological order. You get what's advertised in the title: a tour of the works that created the Cthulhu mythos of literature and gaming.
The book at its heart is a compilation of blog posts, and it sometimes shows. Whether this is good or bad will depend on the individual. A large part of the criticism appears to be in response to the earlier criticism of Lovecraft's works by S.T. Joshi. Not having read that criticism, I can't evaluate how successful the author has been in his response.
One annoying point I found is that while the author decries Lovecraft's racism, he then goes out of his way to defend two of his most racist works, despite acknowledging that they are also some of his worst works of literature. How about not looking for some reason to read them despite being racist and poorly written?
The book is an interesting read, and having previously read approximately half the works covered I can say that it is interesting whether or not you have read the stories being discussed.
The book at its heart is a compilation of blog posts, and it sometimes shows. Whether this is good or bad will depend on the individual. A large part of the criticism appears to be in response to the earlier criticism of Lovecraft's works by S.T. Joshi. Not having read that criticism, I can't evaluate how successful the author has been in his response.
One annoying point I found is that while the author decries Lovecraft's racism, he then goes out of his way to defend two of his most racist works, despite acknowledging that they are also some of his worst works of literature. How about not looking for some reason to read them despite being racist and poorly written?
The book is an interesting read, and having previously read approximately half the works covered I can say that it is interesting whether or not you have read the stories being discussed.
November 3, 2022
An Interesting Look at Lovecraft's Tales.
This book serves more as critique of his tales and explains some of the background to some of his stories. On the whole it is a good read, but I walked away just a little lacking. It could be that not all of his tales are presented here, and that I hoped for more background why's on the development of these stories. Instead you get a lot of the writer's viewpoints on the stories here, which I agree with, but I think I would have appreciated more annotation.
This book serves more as critique of his tales and explains some of the background to some of his stories. On the whole it is a good read, but I walked away just a little lacking. It could be that not all of his tales are presented here, and that I hoped for more background why's on the development of these stories. Instead you get a lot of the writer's viewpoints on the stories here, which I agree with, but I think I would have appreciated more annotation.
March 12, 2019
Some interesting ideas and a nice intro to literary criticism of Lovecraft; but lit crit is not my thing and I am not especially interested in where HPL got his ideas from, or how they developed. I just read the stories for entertainment.
July 5, 2023
Re-read this book in preparation for reading Tour de Lovecraft: The Destinations. It is insightful, and deceptive in length, because it sends me back to re-read many Lovecraft stories in a new light. Chatty and scholarly at the same time.
April 24, 2022
Fantastic dissection and commentary on almost everything H. P. Lovecraft ever wrote from one of the most qualified individuals to do so.
Read
May 27, 2024Never did find the willpower to get back into HPL.
June 19, 2025
I spotted this book and its companion piece (which I intend to pick up on my next trip) at the oldest and most respected table top gaming store in my city. Specifically it was, as you might have guessed, on the same shelves as the rule and source books for the Call of Cthulhu RPG. I was confused at first as this seemed only tangentially related to table top gaming, and while I do still maintain that general sentiment, I will say that I understand its placement a bit better now.
This book at its core is Lovecraft criticism made much more digestible due to the relatively small amount of words dedicated to each work and the quirky, mostly charming writing style of Kenneth Hite. These vignettes were transcribed from his long running Lovecraft blog of the same name, and the writing really reflects the relaxed, loose style that's commonly seen in blog writing. It can be a little grating, though. He uses some odd turns of phrase and vocabulary, obviously mimicking Lovecraft himself and some of his modern day scholars, most notably S.T. Joshi. It is, as I stated before, charming for the most part but there were also many instances where he stuck to his guns in situations were more straightforward language would have been a bit better suited to what he was trying to say.
What really makes this book stand out is that its criticism comes from a bit of a different angle than other works in this particular niche. Scholars like Joshi seek to dig as deeply into Lovecraft's mind and as many of the spoken and unspoken facets of his personality as they possibly can in order to better understand this complicated and often infuriating man, and his place in modern discussion and literature. This book is a pretty straight forward chronicle of the author's thoughts on Lovecraft and his writings, with the added bonus of the occasional note pointing aspiring Keepers of Arcane Lore (the full title for game masters in Call of Cthulhu) toward interesting concepts and story hooks for their games. He does try to sound scholarly but Hite seems to be as blue collar as I am, which comes across particularly in his sense of humor and his more blunt takes on some of the more dense ponderings of other scholars. As hot and cold as the experience can be, the writing style and the fascinating insights still make this incredibly readable. My only complaints are the aforementioned overuse of certain words and turns of phrase, and his rather egregious abuse of parentheticals. He frequently puts into parentheses many strings of words that could easily be reworked into their own standalone sentences. Still, that aside, I highly recommend this book to any fans of Lovecraft, especially if you have an interest in running the Call of Cthulhu table top RPG.
This book at its core is Lovecraft criticism made much more digestible due to the relatively small amount of words dedicated to each work and the quirky, mostly charming writing style of Kenneth Hite. These vignettes were transcribed from his long running Lovecraft blog of the same name, and the writing really reflects the relaxed, loose style that's commonly seen in blog writing. It can be a little grating, though. He uses some odd turns of phrase and vocabulary, obviously mimicking Lovecraft himself and some of his modern day scholars, most notably S.T. Joshi. It is, as I stated before, charming for the most part but there were also many instances where he stuck to his guns in situations were more straightforward language would have been a bit better suited to what he was trying to say.
What really makes this book stand out is that its criticism comes from a bit of a different angle than other works in this particular niche. Scholars like Joshi seek to dig as deeply into Lovecraft's mind and as many of the spoken and unspoken facets of his personality as they possibly can in order to better understand this complicated and often infuriating man, and his place in modern discussion and literature. This book is a pretty straight forward chronicle of the author's thoughts on Lovecraft and his writings, with the added bonus of the occasional note pointing aspiring Keepers of Arcane Lore (the full title for game masters in Call of Cthulhu) toward interesting concepts and story hooks for their games. He does try to sound scholarly but Hite seems to be as blue collar as I am, which comes across particularly in his sense of humor and his more blunt takes on some of the more dense ponderings of other scholars. As hot and cold as the experience can be, the writing style and the fascinating insights still make this incredibly readable. My only complaints are the aforementioned overuse of certain words and turns of phrase, and his rather egregious abuse of parentheticals. He frequently puts into parentheses many strings of words that could easily be reworked into their own standalone sentences. Still, that aside, I highly recommend this book to any fans of Lovecraft, especially if you have an interest in running the Call of Cthulhu table top RPG.
May 14, 2022
A deconstruction of Lovecraft’s stories. It doesn't include ghostwritten stories. It is okay...I didn't always agree with the point of view expressed. I didn't learn anything new about Lovecraft.
February 14, 2010
It is a very opinionated and moderately idiosyncratic commentary on Lovecraft's fiction. It avoids most of his collaborations ("Under the Pyramids/Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" and ""Through the Gates of the Silver Key" are the exceptions, and I am not sure whether the former even counts as a collaboration), and focuses on giving a sold sense of the author's reactions to the story, leavened with a bit of history and a glimpse at other critical reactions. There are not plot summaries. If you enjoy listening to The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast," you should like this book.
April 12, 2012
Entertaining opinions. It's a great book if you've read enough Lovecraft to know you love his writing, and are looking for a guide to the greater corpus. His thoughts on the worst stories are much more interesting than the better ones, and I admire him for standing up to Joshi re: the witch-house. I do wish though that he didn't assume prior enthusiasm for role playing games. I think this was written when he was purely a figure in those circle, but I personally found him via the game-free "HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast". Maybe a new edition is needed for his newfound wider audience?
September 29, 2014
A good overview of Lovecraft's works from an expert on the subject. Somewhat of a specialist read, but I enjoyed it, even though we don't always agree.
http://unsweet-tea-no-lemon.blogspot....
http://unsweet-tea-no-lemon.blogspot....
March 12, 2010
What have I learned? That it's been too long since I read some Lovecraft. More systematic and rooted in broader knowledge, yet less compellingly written than Houllebecq's study.
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December 31, 2015An interesting analysis of the evolution of Lovecraft's writing from the masterful pen of gaming legend Kenneth Hite.
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