Matthew Lloyd’s Reviews > H. P. Lovecraft: Tales > Status Update

Starting the final story less than two years after starting the whole book!

Finished 'The Shadow Out of Time'. I think the problem with unreliable narrators in speculative fiction genres, for me, is that I have accepted that the work is fiction and therefore assume that the unreal elements will relate somehow to the real world in a metaphorical, emotional, or allegorical sense; so if you ask 'did this really happen?', the answer, for me, is obviously 'no', but, fictionally, absolutely 'yes'.

Started reading 'The Shadow Out of Time'

Finished "The Thing on the Doorstep". I think generally the shorter a Lovecraft story is, the better.

Started "The Thing on thr Doorstep"

13-16/06/2025: 'The Dreams in the Witch House' - On the one hand, I think that I'm growing tired of a lot of the Lovcraftian tropes and the interminable build-ups to disaster that I can now see coming 75% of the story away; on the other, I read half of this story this morning and when you get into the meat of the story, the things that happen, they're generally very good.

I thought The Shadow Over Innsmouth started well, and it might be having a stressful week that put me off it, but it did drag at the middle. Loved the ending, though, so that's something

Started reading "The Shadow Over Insmouth"

Finished reading "At the Mountains of Madness". It's over-long, the tension-building delays piling up and becoming tedious, especially as much of the resolution is predictable. Some interesting mythology building and interweaving of previous stories, though.

Started "At the Mountains of Madness"