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Dagon was one of his earliest writings, and it's a good introduction to the philosophy behind the Cthulhu mythos. Since I've become so familiar with his work, I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of it. Dagon is more important as a supplement than as a stand-alone. I wouldn't have enjoyed the other Cthulhu stories as much without it. It gives you a taste of what's to come, like deep time and space, the dream world, fish gods, and unimaginable horror. La mejor prueba de que el concepto del Necronomicón ha trascendido y constituye junto a los Mitos de Cthulhu, el legado literario de Lovecraft, es que muchas personas a lo largo de los años, de hecho han creído que se trataba de un libro real. A tal punto llegó esa creencia, que el mismo Lovecraft tuvo que salir a desmentirlo. While most Lovecraftian stories can be summed up to: "something unspeakably terrifying happened but it was so horrible that I cannot actually describe it", his ideas, weird universes and the beings within are unique. What seems cliche to us now is largely thanks to him (except maybe Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!). While many stories follow a predictable, well worn groove (the horrified protagonist declares his horror upon discovering the horrifying truth of some ancient horror)the gems polished by the abrading action of these efforts are some of the most satisfying short stories of any genre. "The Strange High House in the Mist" immediately became one of my all time favorites when I first read it in the 70's and time has taken nothing away from it. "He" did not seem particularly original or striking until I read it in the light of the editor's assertion that it reflected Lovecraft's unhappy experience with life in New York City. This awareness added a human element rarely, if ever, associated with Lovecraft and I suspect such an element may be hiding in other stories as well.
As far as Lovecraft's obvious (let's not kid ourselves) racism, it's my belief that it is possible to separate the art from the artist. I still watch Roman Polanski films decades after Polanski was accused and pled guilty to rape, I don't avoid Tom Cruise films because he's the foremost member of a psychotic cult (just because the films are usually supposed to be good), and the same with regard to other unsavory figures like Woody Allen and Mel Gibson. Don't get me wrong, taking a stand against an obvious racist is much easier when you don't like any of his stories, and I don't like any of these stories. Not one - even though they're all so similar there might as well just be one. If someone could explain to me what literary merit H.P. Lovecraft has - other than merely serving to inspire Stephen King and other genre writers - I would be grateful. The Colour out of Space - this one blew me away, and possibly might be my favourite tale. Highly recommend.This is a short and fairly simple story that, while undeniably atmospheric, is also undeniably juvenile. It all builds toward a twist that is – these days at least – a bit overdone. Whereas many of these other stories are uniquely Lovecraftian, I found this one derivative. If you love spooky tales and haven’t read Lovecraft I totally recommend that you do. You will not be disappointed! I’ve enjoyed reading these tales this past month and I really looked forward to my lunch hour at work because I could read my next Lovecraft story. I haven’t loved reading this much in a long time. The Shunned House: Disappointing; long, dull, and without a good payoff. The only thing to fear is French itself. The complete works embodies Lovecraft's progression as a writer and fills his mythos well. The only complaint I could find is some earlier works do not stand the test of time or hold well. However having to find other compilations would no longer be needed. For those into noir horror, epic monsters, and the diminished mind seeing the unspeakable terrors and having to rationalize the fear, this is a great book. With some being into lovecraftian lore from gaming, other authors, or even the creepypasta craze, and not reading the original works: buy it now. No other book covers as much. Every other book will have most of the popular selections, not all. At the price you cannot go wrong. There is nothing the tiniest bit scary here (other than the aforementioned racism). When Lovecraft isn't ripping off better writers, like Mary Shelley - whose "Frankenstein" obviously served as inspiration for tales like "Herbert West: Reanimator" - Lovecraft is just writing about the same alien-like creatures who are rarely if ever seen but who cause the male protagonists to faint all the same.
I was also expecting to come across a few duds (stories that were just not well done), but all the stories were very well written, there was a few that I didn’t like as much as the others, but that is to be expected. Y además, como escritor su estilo tiene cosas también bastante positivas. Como he dicho antes es muy lento, sí, pero al mismo tiempo cuando coge carrerilla crea escenas que dejan al lector en tensión constante y le impiden parar de leer, haciendo de la lectura una montaña rusa de emociones. Y gracias a sus minuciosas descripciones uno no necesita mucha imaginación para sentirse en los escenarios que nos presenta y poder introducirse en la historia y en su contexto. Por todo ello es capaz de componer momentos en los que al lector se le acelera el pulso y nota como la piel se le pone de gallina y los escalofríos le suben por la espalda. Es, sin duda alguna, un autor del genero del miedo en todas sus variantes, del miedo tal y como podemos imaginarlo con criaturas terroríficas y escenas sangrientas, pero también trata el terror más sutil y psicológico. Overrated, repetitive, and boring are the three words that I'll associate with "Lovecraft" from here on. Oh, and racist. This is a complete list of works by H. P. Lovecraft. Dates for the fiction, collaborations and juvenilia are in the format: composition date / first publication date, taken from An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia by S. T. Joshi and D. E. Schultz, Hippocampus Press, New York, 2001. For other sections, dates are the time of composition, not publication. Many of these works can be found on Wikisource. Joshi, S. T. (2002). H.P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography. Holicong, PA: Wildside Press. ISBN 1592240127.To Mr. Kleiner, on Receiving from Him the Poetical Works of Addison, Gay, and Somerville [April 10, 1918] The Lurking Fear: Like Reanimator, written for serial publication in the same magazine, but this story is vastly superior and more to Lovecraft’s usual form. HP Lovecraft’s stories consistently use a literary technique called the Frame Narrative, which was popular at the time but is now rather antiquated. Most of HP Lovecraft’s stories actually consist of an outer framing narrative, within which the (outer) narrator encounters someone who relates the inner, usually more interesting story. The result is that each story is actually being told AFTER THE FACT. This technique makes Lovecraft’s stories more philosophical/reflective, but at the cost of drastically lowering the tension.
days later... I have finished reading this collection of HP Lovecraft's complete fiction. The master of weird fiction and cosmic horror delivers a range of different short stories and novellas, from chilling tales to the downright terrifying. The Tomb: Another jump to age 27; this is when Lovecraft started writing in earnest. It's a wonderfully creepy story, with only a questionable supernatural element, focused on the narrator's possible madness as he recounts his obsession with a certain abandoned family tomb from his asylum. The five star rating for this book is not because I think every story (or even most of them) were 5 stars, or because Lovecraft was a great writer (though I do think he was a better writer than he's often given credit for). It's because these stories are essential reading. Like him or hate him, Lovecraft casts a long, dark shadow over all of American fantasy and horror, and in fact, the stories are mostly pretty good, in a very dated way. Yes, Lovecraft wrote purple. Yes, his characterization is usually pretty thin. And yes, he was a horrible racist and it shows in his writing. But no one who touched this genre after him has been untouched by it, and if you have ever been awed or frightened or scared by a tale of eldritch horrors, unfathomable beings from beyond time and space, bubbling squamous obscenities so horrible that the very sight of them will erode your sanity, or vast, alien, cosmic gods inimical to humans and regarding us the way we regard germs... well, that's all Lovecraftian influence. Este volumen contiene algunos de los mejores relatos de Lovecraft. Como el título indica, todos mencionan o incluyen en alguna forma el Necronomicón, un libro ficticio de magia negra y conocimientos prohibidos. Naturalmente, Lovecraft no inventó el concepto de los libros malditos. Ha existido desde hace siglos. Hay varios ejemplos de la vida real: entre ellos, el Codex Gigas, también conocido como Códice Gigas o la "biblia del diablo". Se trata de un manuscrito medieval que pesa 75 kilos y que contiene un dibujo enorme de Satanás, y según la leyenda, fue escrito por el Diablo en persona a cambio del alma de un monje.As for the monsters themselves, like I said, they're barely, BARELY present. Lovecraft's imagination is strong enough to dream up so many fantastic terrors, yet he seems more keen on keeping them to himself. Even his protagonists are stingy with details; their accounts of the horrors they witnessed are usually along the lines of: "And then I saw something that was so frightening that I can't even describe how frightening it was because its frightening-quotient was utterly indescribable but trust me, it was really frightening, so you should totally faint now." Lovecraft loved him a fictional New England town full of inexplicable phenomena. The Dunwich Horror follows the development of Wilbur Whateley, a child who matures at a freakish rate, becoming a full-grown man in just a few years. His grandfather, Old Whateley, takes Wilbur under his wing, as Wilbur’s mother is crippled and unstable and his father is mysteriously absent. Old Whateley teaches Wilbur the ways of dark sorcery and witchcraft; the locals fear and avoid them. However, they do take note of the odd circumstances surrounding the Whateleys’ cattle, which occasionally disappear. To the Members of the United Amateur Press Association from the Providence Amateur Press Club [c. January 1, 1915]
I guess I could go on like this forever, as there are many other stories in this collection that are worth reading and rereading, but I will stop here for now. It’s late, and I think I heard something scurrying in the walls. Wonder what it is… The Temple: A good early example of Lovecraft's epistolary tales. Nautical, set in WWI on a German U-boat, with mounting but barely-seen horror, and underwater structures that may be considered to later morph into R'lyeh. Mysteries of the Heavens Revealed By Astronomy in XIV Parts". Asheville Gazette-News. February 16, 1915. p.4. Archived from the original on May 28, 2021 . Retrieved May 28, 2021– via newspapers.com. THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH is yet another effective horror story set waist-deep in the Cthulhu mythos, and from what I’ve heard, a favorite of many Lovecraft aficionados. Told once again in the first person, the story is about a student (whose name is never revealed) who goes to the ruined seaside town of Innsmouth, Mass., for what he thinks will be a one-day trip. Lovecraft spares no words in describing the cursed town, and we soon understand that the nature of the curse boils down to an invasion of Innsmouth many years ago by the Deep Ones, an ancient people that came ashore from the bottom of the sea. From the town drunk with whom the narrator has a long (perhaps overlong?) conversation, we learn that the Deep Ones used to practice human sacrifices in Innsmouth and also did not hesitate to mate with local women, hence the fishy appearance of many of the inhabitants. The whole thing ends up with a big reveal, which for once isn’t as bad as one might expect for a Lovecraft story, and the author even gives us a long, very-well-written action scene toward the end, which is something rare enough to be mentioned and relished.
H.P. Lovecraft Collection
The Shadow over Innsmouth - creepy, creepy, creepy. The tension and dread is built and sustained for the majority of this one, and it also has one of my favourite endings.
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