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Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales
H.P. Lovecraft's reputation has grown tremendously over the decades, and he is now commonly regarded as one of the most important horror writers of the 20th century, exerting an influence that is widespread, though often indirect.
H.P. Lovecraft's tales of the tentacled Elder God Cthulhu and his pantheon of alien deities were initially written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and '30s. These astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when they were first published.
This handsome tome collects together the very best of Lovecraft's tales of terror, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were originally published. It will introduce a whole new generation of readers to Lovecraft's fiction, as well as being a must-buy for those fans who want all his work in a single, definitive, highly attractive volume.
Contents:
� Night-Gaunts
� Dagon
� The Statement of Randolph Carter
� The Doom The Came to Sarnath
� The Cats of Ulthar
� The Nameless City
� Herbert West - Reanimator
� The Music of Erich Zann
� The Lurking Fear
� The Hound
� The Rats in the Walls
� Under the Pyramids
� The Unnamable
� In the Vault
� The Outsider
� The Horror at Red Hook
� The Colour Out of Space
� Pickman’s Model
� The Call of Cthulhu
� Cool Air
� The Shunned House
� The Silver Key
� The Dunwich Horror
� The Whisperer in Darkness
� The Strange High House in the Mist
� The Dreams in the Witch-House
� From Beyond
� Through the Gates of the Silver Key
� At the Mountains of Madness
� The Shadow Over Innsmouth
� The Shadow Out of Time
� The Haunter of the Dark
� The Thing on the Doorstep
� The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
� The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
� To a Dreamer
� Afterword: A Gentleman of Providence by Stephen Jones
See also: Eldritch Tales.
H.P. Lovecraft's tales of the tentacled Elder God Cthulhu and his pantheon of alien deities were initially written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and '30s. These astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when they were first published.
This handsome tome collects together the very best of Lovecraft's tales of terror, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were originally published. It will introduce a whole new generation of readers to Lovecraft's fiction, as well as being a must-buy for those fans who want all his work in a single, definitive, highly attractive volume.
Contents:
� Night-Gaunts
� Dagon
� The Statement of Randolph Carter
� The Doom The Came to Sarnath
� The Cats of Ulthar
� The Nameless City
� Herbert West - Reanimator
� The Music of Erich Zann
� The Lurking Fear
� The Hound
� The Rats in the Walls
� Under the Pyramids
� The Unnamable
� In the Vault
� The Outsider
� The Horror at Red Hook
� The Colour Out of Space
� Pickman’s Model
� The Call of Cthulhu
� Cool Air
� The Shunned House
� The Silver Key
� The Dunwich Horror
� The Whisperer in Darkness
� The Strange High House in the Mist
� The Dreams in the Witch-House
� From Beyond
� Through the Gates of the Silver Key
� At the Mountains of Madness
� The Shadow Over Innsmouth
� The Shadow Out of Time
� The Haunter of the Dark
� The Thing on the Doorstep
� The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
� The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
� To a Dreamer
� Afterword: A Gentleman of Providence by Stephen Jones
See also: Eldritch Tales.
878 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
4,277 people are currently reading
28.8k people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
5,472books18.5kfollowersHoward 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.
�
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.
�
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 940 reviews
November 17, 2021
“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.�
Excellent collection of Lovecraft's stories, you've got most of his best ones in this collection; but it's such a big and somewhat cumbersome book.
Took me years to get through it, bought it in 2014 (crazy I know) but obviously that wasn't continuous reading, I'd read a story from it and leave it for ages with the bookmark in; he can be difficult to read sometimes due to his writing style - it's slow-paced and sometimes difficult for me to interpret because sometimes it seems to me like he starts rambling and I'm like..what's going on?
But I've been on a Lovecraft kick lately and I'm glad I finally finished most of his work, moving onto Eldritch Tales soon and that's me completed all of his fiction - as far as I know.
My favourite stories in Necronomicon were..
'The Rats in the Walls'
'The Tomb'
'The Dunwich Horror'
'The Shunned House'
'At the Mountains of Madness'
Excellent collection of Lovecraft's stories, you've got most of his best ones in this collection; but it's such a big and somewhat cumbersome book.
Took me years to get through it, bought it in 2014 (crazy I know) but obviously that wasn't continuous reading, I'd read a story from it and leave it for ages with the bookmark in; he can be difficult to read sometimes due to his writing style - it's slow-paced and sometimes difficult for me to interpret because sometimes it seems to me like he starts rambling and I'm like..what's going on?
But I've been on a Lovecraft kick lately and I'm glad I finally finished most of his work, moving onto Eldritch Tales soon and that's me completed all of his fiction - as far as I know.
My favourite stories in Necronomicon were..
'The Rats in the Walls'
'The Tomb'
'The Dunwich Horror'
'The Shunned House'
'At the Mountains of Madness'
September 9, 2022
All right, with this one under my belt, I think I can safely say that I’ve read everything Lovecraft has ever written in his life. I will then skip introducing the author––who doesn’t need any introduction, anyway––and go through a rundown of some of my most beloved horror stories of his, which you can find in this collection.
THE OUTSIDER is my favorite Lovecraft story bar none. It is also one of his shortest. Written in the first-person narrative (as is often the case in his fiction), it tells of a man (or is it?) who, after having lived as a recluse for what seems like a very long time in his darkened and lifeless castle (or is it?), decides one day to go out into the world and explore. There ensues a series of discoveries––with a devastating although somewhat anticipated reveal––which will seal the narrator’s fate forever. As said, this story is super short but masterfully executed, woven around the themes of loneliness, abnormality and the afterlife. The prose is as it should given the genre––divinely gothic, deliciously verbose and darkly purple. All in all, a masterpiece.
THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH-HOUSE is my second favorite and the only one that actually gave me goosebumps while reading it for the first time in bed at night. This story of a math student who decides to rent a room in a cursed house in which a witch and her hellish amalgam of a familiar are said to have lived is downright disturbing and creepy and just too well written for comfort. Which makes it yet another masterpiece in the Lovecraft canon.
THE HAUNTER OF THE DARK is my third most beloved Lovecraft story and also the last one he ever wrote (that we know of). Eschewing the first person for the third limited, Lovecraft treats us to a chilling account of what the protagonist, Robert Blake, discovers when, driven by his penchant for the occult, he decides to go and explore a haunted church in the town of Providence, RI. Here again the writing is on point as Lovecraft knows better than anyone how to create an atmosphere of claustrophobia and paranoia, playing unashamedly with the fear of the unknown and impending doom. Deeply steeped in the Cthulhu mythos, this story is a prime example of how curiosity can kill a cat.
THE CALL OF CTHULHU. Although not the first Lovecraft story to introduce an element of the Cthulhu mythos (that would be Dagon, also included in this collection), this one is the first to feature the foul-smelling, tentacle-wielding and potbellied deity in all its greasy and nasty glory. Written as an epistolary short story, it gives an account of the discovery of Cthulhu via a series of documents left behind by the great uncle of the narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston. Three words: groundbreaking, masterful, perfect.
THE RATS IN THE WALLS is another gothic masterpiece recounting the tale of Delapore, an American who decides to cross the pond and move to England into his ancestral manor, the ill-fated Exham Priory. After restoring it, Delapore soon discovers that something isn’t quite right about the place and, prompted by scurrying noises in the walls, decides to investigate. Lovecraft juggles many balls in this one––the haunted house, genetic mutations, cannibalism, forbidden worships and eldritch (doesn’t Lovecraft just love this word?) cults, the inescapability of heredity, mental disorder, etc.––providing us with nail-biting scenes of exploration and horror, and tying it all together (albeit loosely) into his infamous Cthulhu mythos. Definitely a winner.
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.
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�
OLIVIER DELAYE
Author of the SEBASTEN OF ATLANTIS series
THE OUTSIDER is my favorite Lovecraft story bar none. It is also one of his shortest. Written in the first-person narrative (as is often the case in his fiction), it tells of a man (or is it?) who, after having lived as a recluse for what seems like a very long time in his darkened and lifeless castle (or is it?), decides one day to go out into the world and explore. There ensues a series of discoveries––with a devastating although somewhat anticipated reveal––which will seal the narrator’s fate forever. As said, this story is super short but masterfully executed, woven around the themes of loneliness, abnormality and the afterlife. The prose is as it should given the genre––divinely gothic, deliciously verbose and darkly purple. All in all, a masterpiece.
THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH-HOUSE is my second favorite and the only one that actually gave me goosebumps while reading it for the first time in bed at night. This story of a math student who decides to rent a room in a cursed house in which a witch and her hellish amalgam of a familiar are said to have lived is downright disturbing and creepy and just too well written for comfort. Which makes it yet another masterpiece in the Lovecraft canon.
THE HAUNTER OF THE DARK is my third most beloved Lovecraft story and also the last one he ever wrote (that we know of). Eschewing the first person for the third limited, Lovecraft treats us to a chilling account of what the protagonist, Robert Blake, discovers when, driven by his penchant for the occult, he decides to go and explore a haunted church in the town of Providence, RI. Here again the writing is on point as Lovecraft knows better than anyone how to create an atmosphere of claustrophobia and paranoia, playing unashamedly with the fear of the unknown and impending doom. Deeply steeped in the Cthulhu mythos, this story is a prime example of how curiosity can kill a cat.
THE CALL OF CTHULHU. Although not the first Lovecraft story to introduce an element of the Cthulhu mythos (that would be Dagon, also included in this collection), this one is the first to feature the foul-smelling, tentacle-wielding and potbellied deity in all its greasy and nasty glory. Written as an epistolary short story, it gives an account of the discovery of Cthulhu via a series of documents left behind by the great uncle of the narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston. Three words: groundbreaking, masterful, perfect.
THE RATS IN THE WALLS is another gothic masterpiece recounting the tale of Delapore, an American who decides to cross the pond and move to England into his ancestral manor, the ill-fated Exham Priory. After restoring it, Delapore soon discovers that something isn’t quite right about the place and, prompted by scurrying noises in the walls, decides to investigate. Lovecraft juggles many balls in this one––the haunted house, genetic mutations, cannibalism, forbidden worships and eldritch (doesn’t Lovecraft just love this word?) cults, the inescapability of heredity, mental disorder, etc.––providing us with nail-biting scenes of exploration and horror, and tying it all together (albeit loosely) into his infamous Cthulhu mythos. Definitely a winner.
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.
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�
OLIVIER DELAYE
Author of the SEBASTEN OF ATLANTIS series
April 26, 2019
I suppose the two best words to describe my feelings on the work of the 20th century's most prolific horror writer are "mostly disappointing".
THE GOOD
I wasn't disappointed with everything. A bunch of stories stood out for me as being genuine, page-turning excitement: The Colour Out of Space, The Dunwich Horror, The Whisperer in Darkness, Dreams in the Witch House, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward were all outstanding pieces of spookery that still managed to give me chills nearly 100 years after the time of writing, and that is one heck of an accomplishment.
THE BAD
Maybe it's the generation gap, but I find it very hard to get accustomed to stories written with little or no dialogue. Wave after wave of endless paragraphs -broken only ever so slightly by the odd letter or telegram -is a tedious way to tell a story. This book contains 34 short stories, and by the end of the 4th one I was begging for some actual character work and dialogue, rather than: "And then I went here, and then this happened, and by the way here are some lovely descriptions of New England architecture for no particular reason". Every one of these stories -ESPECIALLY Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath -is less a work of prose and more of a steady ramble intermittently made all the more jarring when Lovecraft tosses in unwieldy words like "Shub-Niggurath" or "Ia Azathoth Ia Ia Yargoth Leng-Zok", because phrases like that add so much to the story.
The horror itself works occasionally, and when it does it's friggin awesome! But 80% of the time it's a melodramatic mess. I totally understand the "Jaws" method of horror, wherein the less you see of the monster, the more effective it is. But in Lovecraft's case, not only do we barely ever glimpse his infamous creatures, but whenever we DO catch a fleeting glimpse our protagonists -who are narrating these encounters -faint. Every. Single. Time. Did people in the 1920s just...FAINT a lot? Was fainting a nation-wide epidemic back then, like polio, or selfies? People in these stories faint at the drop of a fucking hat. I saw a rat. Faint! I heard a scary noise. Faint! I think there might be a piece of carrot stuck between my teeth. Faint!
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 is also wont to repeat himself. A LOT. Yes, Howard, I know Arkham has "gambrel roofs". I know Nyarlathotep is a "crawling chaos", and I know Abdul Al-Hazred was known to be a "Mad Arab". I know this because after the first several hundred times you brought it up, it happened to stick. In "At The Mountains of Madness", if I'd had a dollar for every time Lovecraft used the words "decadent" and"demoniac", I could have purchased a very big yacht, or a very small country.
Considering that these stories are supposed to make up The Cthulu Mythos, I was a little miffed (to say the least) when I turned the final page and realized that I could only recall Cthulu's name popping up twice. TWICE, in 850 pages. And even then it was probably in some context like: "And I thought I saw Cthulu, but then I fainted."
I guess I was just hoping for something grander. Maybe Arkham Horror spoiled me, but I bought this book expecting an intricate tapestry of characters scattered throughout the same town, slowly unravelling the ancient mysteries of some hitherto-unknown supernatural force encroaching upon them from beyond time & space, finally uniting in some epic conclusion that would pit man against monster. Kinda like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, except instead of robots & superheroes it would be cosmic octopus monsters & hard-boiled 1920s detectives, embarking on their own unique individual adventures before coming together Avengers-style for the final curtain. Unfortunately, neither the monsters nor the humans receive much characterization. As mentioned, the monsters exist not on the page but solely in Lovecraft's mind, and the humans are usually dull & interchangeable. A few of these heroes seemed like they were ABOUT to get interesting, but then a cool breeze blew through their windows, naturally causing them to faint.
The cover of this book states that these are "the best weird tales of H.P. Lovecraft". Here's hoping I never have to read the worst.
THE GOOD
I wasn't disappointed with everything. A bunch of stories stood out for me as being genuine, page-turning excitement: The Colour Out of Space, The Dunwich Horror, The Whisperer in Darkness, Dreams in the Witch House, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward were all outstanding pieces of spookery that still managed to give me chills nearly 100 years after the time of writing, and that is one heck of an accomplishment.
THE BAD
Maybe it's the generation gap, but I find it very hard to get accustomed to stories written with little or no dialogue. Wave after wave of endless paragraphs -broken only ever so slightly by the odd letter or telegram -is a tedious way to tell a story. This book contains 34 short stories, and by the end of the 4th one I was begging for some actual character work and dialogue, rather than: "And then I went here, and then this happened, and by the way here are some lovely descriptions of New England architecture for no particular reason". Every one of these stories -ESPECIALLY Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath -is less a work of prose and more of a steady ramble intermittently made all the more jarring when Lovecraft tosses in unwieldy words like "Shub-Niggurath" or "Ia Azathoth Ia Ia Yargoth Leng-Zok", because phrases like that add so much to the story.
The horror itself works occasionally, and when it does it's friggin awesome! But 80% of the time it's a melodramatic mess. I totally understand the "Jaws" method of horror, wherein the less you see of the monster, the more effective it is. But in Lovecraft's case, not only do we barely ever glimpse his infamous creatures, but whenever we DO catch a fleeting glimpse our protagonists -who are narrating these encounters -faint. Every. Single. Time. Did people in the 1920s just...FAINT a lot? Was fainting a nation-wide epidemic back then, like polio, or selfies? People in these stories faint at the drop of a fucking hat. I saw a rat. Faint! I heard a scary noise. Faint! I think there might be a piece of carrot stuck between my teeth. Faint!
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 is also wont to repeat himself. A LOT. Yes, Howard, I know Arkham has "gambrel roofs". I know Nyarlathotep is a "crawling chaos", and I know Abdul Al-Hazred was known to be a "Mad Arab". I know this because after the first several hundred times you brought it up, it happened to stick. In "At The Mountains of Madness", if I'd had a dollar for every time Lovecraft used the words "decadent" and"demoniac", I could have purchased a very big yacht, or a very small country.
Considering that these stories are supposed to make up The Cthulu Mythos, I was a little miffed (to say the least) when I turned the final page and realized that I could only recall Cthulu's name popping up twice. TWICE, in 850 pages. And even then it was probably in some context like: "And I thought I saw Cthulu, but then I fainted."
I guess I was just hoping for something grander. Maybe Arkham Horror spoiled me, but I bought this book expecting an intricate tapestry of characters scattered throughout the same town, slowly unravelling the ancient mysteries of some hitherto-unknown supernatural force encroaching upon them from beyond time & space, finally uniting in some epic conclusion that would pit man against monster. Kinda like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, except instead of robots & superheroes it would be cosmic octopus monsters & hard-boiled 1920s detectives, embarking on their own unique individual adventures before coming together Avengers-style for the final curtain. Unfortunately, neither the monsters nor the humans receive much characterization. As mentioned, the monsters exist not on the page but solely in Lovecraft's mind, and the humans are usually dull & interchangeable. A few of these heroes seemed like they were ABOUT to get interesting, but then a cool breeze blew through their windows, naturally causing them to faint.
The cover of this book states that these are "the best weird tales of H.P. Lovecraft". Here's hoping I never have to read the worst.
February 10, 2024
Najpre, želim da pohvalim izdavačku kuću Orfelin na divnoj knjizi, predivnim ilustracijama, kvalitetu papira i same knjige kao i za izgled korica. Ovo je knjiga koji bi svaki ljubitelj horora trebalo da ima u svojoj kolekciji, iako jeste malo skuplja od ostalih ali isto tako ovde se pokazuje kako cena jeste kvalitet. Naime, čitalac se (pričam o Orfelinovom izdanju knjige) najpre suočava sa kratkom biografijom autora, odnosno Lavkrafta, zatim se prelazi na Istoriju Nekronomikona, veoma retke ali poznate mračne knjige koja igra ključnu ulogu u većini odabranih priča, nakon toga sledi 25 divno prevedenih horor priča autora Lavkrafta, i tek na kraju susrećemo se sa napomenama i čudnim pojmovima koje je upravo Lavkraft pominjao kroz priče, koje potpomažu čitaocu duboko shvatanje priče.
Želim napomenuti takođe da je u ovu knjigu utkana svaka moguća pažnja, od samog početka odnosno korica knjige, do realističnih i mračnih ilustracija svake priče, preko veoma informativnih beležaka koje Vam upotpunjuju pročitanu priču i na osnovu kojih možete naći filmove i stripove zasnovane na istim.
Mogu reći da sam veoma zadovoljna većinom priča, te bih volela da ih ocenim posebno sledećim ocenama:
Niarlototep 3 �
Dagon 4�
Hram 3�
Otpadnik 4�
Čudna visoka kuća u izmaglici 5�
Izjava Randolfa Kartera 5�
Srebrni ključ 5�
Činjenice vezane za pokojnog Artura Džermina i njegovu porodicu 5�
Festival 5�
Gonič 4�
Herbert Vest, Reanimator 4�
S one strane 5�
Pikamnov model 5�
Muzika Eriha Zana 5�
Ispod piramida 2�
Ukleta kuća 5�
Pacovi u zidovima 5�
Snovi u veštičijoj kući 5�
Zov Ktulua 5�
Danički užas 3�
Senka nad Insmutom 5�
Stvar na pragu 5�
Boja iznad ovog svemira 5�
U zidinama Eriksa 4�
Stanovnik tame 4�
Neke sam ocenila sa slabijom ocenom, odnosno Danički užas i Ispod Piramida, naime Piramide jeste da je dobra priča, lepo zamišljena ali jednostavno ima puno istorijskih informacija da mi je došlo da preskočim čitavu priču ali ipak je završih do kraja. Dok Danički užas je na sva zvona nahvaljen, jeste dobra složena priča sa dobrim likovima ali jednostavno meni u trenutku nije prijala, stoga planiram da je u budućnosti ponovo pročitam i možda joj povećam ocenu.
Favoriti ove knjige su mi definitivno Festival, Muzika Eriha Zana, Senka nad Insmutom, Stvar na pragu i Boja iznad ovog svemira. Mogu reći da čitajući ove favorite nisam ni trepnula, takođe su veoma zarazne za čitanje tako da jedva čekate da saznate na koji način će se završiti ovo svemirsko ludilo.
Želim napomenuti takođe da je u ovu knjigu utkana svaka moguća pažnja, od samog početka odnosno korica knjige, do realističnih i mračnih ilustracija svake priče, preko veoma informativnih beležaka koje Vam upotpunjuju pročitanu priču i na osnovu kojih možete naći filmove i stripove zasnovane na istim.
Mogu reći da sam veoma zadovoljna većinom priča, te bih volela da ih ocenim posebno sledećim ocenama:
Niarlototep 3 �
Dagon 4�
Hram 3�
Otpadnik 4�
Čudna visoka kuća u izmaglici 5�
Izjava Randolfa Kartera 5�
Srebrni ključ 5�
Činjenice vezane za pokojnog Artura Džermina i njegovu porodicu 5�
Festival 5�
Gonič 4�
Herbert Vest, Reanimator 4�
S one strane 5�
Pikamnov model 5�
Muzika Eriha Zana 5�
Ispod piramida 2�
Ukleta kuća 5�
Pacovi u zidovima 5�
Snovi u veštičijoj kući 5�
Zov Ktulua 5�
Danički užas 3�
Senka nad Insmutom 5�
Stvar na pragu 5�
Boja iznad ovog svemira 5�
U zidinama Eriksa 4�
Stanovnik tame 4�
Neke sam ocenila sa slabijom ocenom, odnosno Danički užas i Ispod Piramida, naime Piramide jeste da je dobra priča, lepo zamišljena ali jednostavno ima puno istorijskih informacija da mi je došlo da preskočim čitavu priču ali ipak je završih do kraja. Dok Danički užas je na sva zvona nahvaljen, jeste dobra složena priča sa dobrim likovima ali jednostavno meni u trenutku nije prijala, stoga planiram da je u budućnosti ponovo pročitam i možda joj povećam ocenu.
Favoriti ove knjige su mi definitivno Festival, Muzika Eriha Zana, Senka nad Insmutom, Stvar na pragu i Boja iznad ovog svemira. Mogu reći da čitajući ove favorite nisam ni trepnula, takođe su veoma zarazne za čitanje tako da jedva čekate da saznate na koji način će se završiti ovo svemirsko ludilo.
October 27, 2017
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn... ulnagr Yuggoth Farnomi ilyaa... ch'yar ul'nyar shaggornyth... Iä Hastur cf'ayak'vulgtmm, vugtlagln vulgtmm... Hastur cf'tagn... mglw'nafh fhthagn-ngah cf'ayak 'vulgtmm vugtlag'n... ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthugha Fomalhaut n'gha-ghaa naf'lthagn...
July 23, 2018
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear.�
-H.P. Lovecraft
This collection of weird fiction short stories and novellas is slightly inconsistent in terms of quality, but it contains so many genuinely original and thoroughly harrowing, sinister tales that, on the whole, I found it a highly enjoyable—and often exquisitely eerie—reading experience. That said, I’d really only recommend it for hardcore fans of Lovecraft; for everyone else, there are far better—by which I really mean far shorter—ways to get acquainted with him. At nearly 900 pages, this volume is better suited to those who’ve already explored his more famous stories, although you’ll find all of his most popular works here, too, and they are incredibly fun to revisit. If you’re also interested in delving deeper into his oeuvre, in dwelling amongst “all the snarling chaos and grinning fear that lurk behind life,� you will find much to savor here. Lovecraft was a very dark, very strange little monkey.
List of Stories:
Night-Gaunts
Dagon
The Statement of Randolph Carter
The Doom The Came to Sarnath
The Cats of Ulthar
The Nameless City
Herbert West - Reanimator*
The Music of Erich Zann*
The Lurking Fear*
The Hound
The Rats in the Walls*
Under the Pyramids
The Unnamable
In the Vault*
The Outsider
The Horror at Red Hook
The Colour Out of Space
Pickman’s Model*
The Call of Cthulhu*
Cool Air
The Shunned House
The Silver Key
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Strange High House in the Mist
The Dreams in the Witch-House
From Beyond
Through the Gates of the Silver Key
At the Mountains of Madness
The Shadow Over Innsmouth*
The Shadow Out of Time
The Haunter of the Dark
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
To a Dreamer
Afterword: A Gentleman of Providence by Stephen Jones
* = personal favorite
May 7, 2020
It seriously took a publisher how much of a century to title a collection of Lovecraft's stories "Necronomicon"? Like seventy years? Did it really just not occur to anyone? Shouldn't the first collected volume of his stories have been called that? I blame August Derleth.
Speaking of whom, I don't believe this edition features the re-edited versions of the texts available in the Library of America edition of Lovecraft. Necronomicon includes the older editions as published by Derleth's Arkham House, featuring Derleth's... let's call them "bold typographical choices", including italicizing the second half of the final sentence in many stories to heighten tension and irritate me.
Oh also! There's a rather nice map of Arkham, Massachusetts printed on the front and back endpapers. Admittedly it's very similar to the map accompanying the Arkham entry in The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, but never mind that. Endpaper maps! Whooooo. At least it's rather better than Necronomicon's other illustrations, which are for some reason the same three pictures of a shifty-lookin' guy, a pile of old books and papers, and a megalith, repeated fairly randomly at the first and last pages of many stories. Why not? Also it's bound really poorly, basically a paperbound book with hard boards, but this is true of virtually all hardcover editions published these days, which is lamentable but hardly unique to this book.
I sound like I'm being pretty hard on Necronomicon, but I was totally pleased with it. I like having a single-volume hardcover edition of most of Lovecraft's stories with the single most appropriate title possible. Not all stories are included--notable omissions include "Nyarlathotep" and "Beyond the Wall of Sleep"--but it includes most important works, such as "The Call of Cthulhu", "At the Mountains of Madness", "The Whisperer in Darkness", "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", and so on. That's really all I ask of a Necronomicon.
Also the italics are kinda like eldritch alien text, yeah? Sure.
*Edit* - Ok, looking back, there are more than just those three repeating illustrations.
There are also pictures of some houses.
Speaking of whom, I don't believe this edition features the re-edited versions of the texts available in the Library of America edition of Lovecraft. Necronomicon includes the older editions as published by Derleth's Arkham House, featuring Derleth's... let's call them "bold typographical choices", including italicizing the second half of the final sentence in many stories to heighten tension and irritate me.
Oh also! There's a rather nice map of Arkham, Massachusetts printed on the front and back endpapers. Admittedly it's very similar to the map accompanying the Arkham entry in The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, but never mind that. Endpaper maps! Whooooo. At least it's rather better than Necronomicon's other illustrations, which are for some reason the same three pictures of a shifty-lookin' guy, a pile of old books and papers, and a megalith, repeated fairly randomly at the first and last pages of many stories. Why not? Also it's bound really poorly, basically a paperbound book with hard boards, but this is true of virtually all hardcover editions published these days, which is lamentable but hardly unique to this book.
I sound like I'm being pretty hard on Necronomicon, but I was totally pleased with it. I like having a single-volume hardcover edition of most of Lovecraft's stories with the single most appropriate title possible. Not all stories are included--notable omissions include "Nyarlathotep" and "Beyond the Wall of Sleep"--but it includes most important works, such as "The Call of Cthulhu", "At the Mountains of Madness", "The Whisperer in Darkness", "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", and so on. That's really all I ask of a Necronomicon.
Also the italics are kinda like eldritch alien text, yeah? Sure.
*Edit* - Ok, looking back, there are more than just those three repeating illustrations.
There are also pictures of some houses.
May 1, 2013
New life goal:
to write a cult book about another book that doesn't exist.
to write a cult book about another book that doesn't exist.
March 14, 2023
A fantastic collection of Lovecraft's best tales.
May 7, 2023
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.
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.
Esta edición contiene "El horror de Dunwich", "El ser en el umbral", "El sabueso", "Historia del Necronomicón" y algunos relatos más.
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.
Esta edición contiene "El horror de Dunwich", "El ser en el umbral", "El sabueso", "Historia del Necronomicón" y algunos relatos más.
August 20, 2020
You know I picked this up because I'd been told it gathered the Cthulhu mythos stories. Actually we start off with some of his early horror work (Cool Air, The rats in the Walls, etc.). Later on we do get into the Cthulhu stories. These are (as always with Lovecraft) reliably horrific and very well written.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
April 30, 2018
Necronomicon: the Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft was my first taste of true classic horror—I mean I’ve read Poe, Irving, Shelley, etc. but for some reason I don’t think about classic horror when I think of those author’s stories. Lovecraft is the epitome of classic horror in my book. I haven’t read any of Algernon Blackwood’s spooky tales but from what I just read no one can beat Lovecraft.
I finished reading Jane Austen’s seven large novels not too long ago, and I was astounded by her writing ability. I think I just read someone who can not only rival her but top her. Lovecraft’s writing prose is one of the best of the classic writers I’ve read this year. The way he describes his monsters and establishes a creepy scene is definitely something worth studying if you’re a writer.
If you didn’t know, the Necronomicon is a collection of his best works. They aren’t all of his works. There were a few stories that took a while before getting to the “good stuff� but most immediately drew you into the story. My favorite is Herbert West—Reanimator. Not only did it have a necromancy-like feel to it like Frankenstein, but Lovecraft went into how West began his studies in bringing the dead to life and it completely drew my interest! It was not only creepy but cool as F%#K! I also liked the Doom that Came to Sarnath, The Colour out of Space, and the Call of Cthulhu (to name a few!).
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.
I also loved some of the audiobooks. If I forgot my book at home I would listen to one on youtube. The first youtube page I listened to was Horror Babble (with readings by Ian Gordan). What. A. Treat!!
The next youtube page I came across that was just as good, if not better, was Horror Readings by G.M. Danielson. His introduction to each of the books is a bit much. I don't like the modern demonic horror stuff, but his readings are AMAZE-Ballz!
I hope you enjoy these stories just as much as I did!
Don’t let the shadows bite!
I finished reading Jane Austen’s seven large novels not too long ago, and I was astounded by her writing ability. I think I just read someone who can not only rival her but top her. Lovecraft’s writing prose is one of the best of the classic writers I’ve read this year. The way he describes his monsters and establishes a creepy scene is definitely something worth studying if you’re a writer.
If you didn’t know, the Necronomicon is a collection of his best works. They aren’t all of his works. There were a few stories that took a while before getting to the “good stuff� but most immediately drew you into the story. My favorite is Herbert West—Reanimator. Not only did it have a necromancy-like feel to it like Frankenstein, but Lovecraft went into how West began his studies in bringing the dead to life and it completely drew my interest! It was not only creepy but cool as F%#K! I also liked the Doom that Came to Sarnath, The Colour out of Space, and the Call of Cthulhu (to name a few!).
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.
I also loved some of the audiobooks. If I forgot my book at home I would listen to one on youtube. The first youtube page I listened to was Horror Babble (with readings by Ian Gordan). What. A. Treat!!
The next youtube page I came across that was just as good, if not better, was Horror Readings by G.M. Danielson. His introduction to each of the books is a bit much. I don't like the modern demonic horror stuff, but his readings are AMAZE-Ballz!
I hope you enjoy these stories just as much as I did!
Don’t let the shadows bite!
June 2, 2018
H.P. Lovecraft has been on my list for years now. Horror fiction isn't usually my genre of choice, but I've heard people cite Lovecraft for so long that I felt a duty to read him and see what all the fuss is about. To be clear, after reading him I still don't understand what all the fuss is about.
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.
However, I do believe that with Lovecraft it's different. The man's racism is clearly evident in his stories. I wouldn't watch a Roman Polanski film in which the protagonist raped a 13-year-old, and the protagonists here often serve as mouthpieces for Lovecraft's racist views (and no, "he was a product of a racist society" does not and should not excuse him).
There is no purpose, as far as I could tell, for any of the racism present in these stories. They don't advance the plots in any way and the overtly racist characters - like one who calls his dog "niggerman" - are not portrayed as villains. No, they're the good guys.
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.
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.
Once I'd gotten halfway through I just started skimming the remaining stories. I'm confident I didn't miss anything because I read them all in the first half.
Overrated, repetitive, and boring are the three words that I'll associate with "Lovecraft" from here on. Oh, and racist.
Don't waste your time.
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.
However, I do believe that with Lovecraft it's different. The man's racism is clearly evident in his stories. I wouldn't watch a Roman Polanski film in which the protagonist raped a 13-year-old, and the protagonists here often serve as mouthpieces for Lovecraft's racist views (and no, "he was a product of a racist society" does not and should not excuse him).
There is no purpose, as far as I could tell, for any of the racism present in these stories. They don't advance the plots in any way and the overtly racist characters - like one who calls his dog "niggerman" - are not portrayed as villains. No, they're the good guys.
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.
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.
Once I'd gotten halfway through I just started skimming the remaining stories. I'm confident I didn't miss anything because I read them all in the first half.
Overrated, repetitive, and boring are the three words that I'll associate with "Lovecraft" from here on. Oh, and racist.
Don't waste your time.
December 22, 2019
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Lavkraft je genije. "Velike i grandiozne" reci kod mnogih ljudi koji se bave pisanjem cesto zvuce jeftino dok ih Lavkraft tako magicno koristi da opise svaku nijansu zlog ludila. Njegov svet je svet mracnih planeta, njegov stil pisanja je jednostavan, pun epiteta i poetski. Pesnik je Ponora i uz E. A. Poa cini kamen temeljac horor zanra. Lavkraftova kosmologija je zbir crnih suza razasutih po kosmosu i do njegovih izmastanih dimenzija se stize kroz kapije srebnog kljuca. THE GREAT OLD ONES <3
Lavkraft je genije. "Velike i grandiozne" reci kod mnogih ljudi koji se bave pisanjem cesto zvuce jeftino dok ih Lavkraft tako magicno koristi da opise svaku nijansu zlog ludila. Njegov svet je svet mracnih planeta, njegov stil pisanja je jednostavan, pun epiteta i poetski. Pesnik je Ponora i uz E. A. Poa cini kamen temeljac horor zanra. Lavkraftova kosmologija je zbir crnih suza razasutih po kosmosu i do njegovih izmastanih dimenzija se stize kroz kapije srebnog kljuca. THE GREAT OLD ONES <3
February 9, 2021
Niarlatotep 4�
Dagon 4�
Hram 5�
Otpadnik 5�
Čudna visoka kuća u izmaglici 3�
Izjava Randolfa Kartera 5�
Srebrni ključ 4�
Činjenice vezane za pokojnog Artura Džermina i njegovu porodicu 5�
Festival 5�
Gonič 4�
Herbert Vest - Reanimator 5�
S one strane 5�
Pikmanov model 5�
Muzika Eriha Zana 4�
Ispod piramida 5�
Ukleta kuća 5�
Pacovi u zidovima 5�
Snovi u veštičijoj kući 5�
Zov Ktulua 5�
Danički užas 5�
Senka nad Insmutom 5�
Stvar na pragu 5�
Boja izvan ovog svemira 5�
U zidinama Eriksa 4�
Stanovnik tame 5�
Dagon 4�
Hram 5�
Otpadnik 5�
Čudna visoka kuća u izmaglici 3�
Izjava Randolfa Kartera 5�
Srebrni ključ 4�
Činjenice vezane za pokojnog Artura Džermina i njegovu porodicu 5�
Festival 5�
Gonič 4�
Herbert Vest - Reanimator 5�
S one strane 5�
Pikmanov model 5�
Muzika Eriha Zana 4�
Ispod piramida 5�
Ukleta kuća 5�
Pacovi u zidovima 5�
Snovi u veštičijoj kući 5�
Zov Ktulua 5�
Danički užas 5�
Senka nad Insmutom 5�
Stvar na pragu 5�
Boja izvan ovog svemira 5�
U zidinama Eriksa 4�
Stanovnik tame 5�
September 25, 2024
If the Horror genre had a Mount Rushmore, H.P. Lovecraft would be on it along with Poe, King, and James. The stories he wrote came to define an entire sub genre � Cosmic Horror, which is more commonly labeled with his own name, Lovecraftian. These are creepy, atmospheric tales that emphasize the unknowable and incomprehensible, that combine legends of diabolical pre-human races and cults with unimaginable alien beings from beyond the stars, and suggest that just being exposed to these unclean mysteries leads to madness. Lovecraft’s unique tales have had a major impact on a host of famous writers, including Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Robert Block, Laird Barron, and Fritz Leiber. And this is a particularly strong collection of those tales.
Two things to note � Lovecraft often goes into frenzied flights of purple prose, but the more I read him the more I view this as a charming feature rather than a flaw. The second thing isn’t charming at all and is far more problematic. Lovecraft was blatantly racist, and that often appeared in his writings, manifesting anywhere from his descriptions of debased races following the cult of the Old Gods to his naming of a pet cat in a story. This is a real issue in several stories, and readers should be aware before they chose whether or not to read.
Dagon: A castaway sailor lands on an island newly heaved up from the ocean floor on which are monstrous monuments carved with hideous depictions of fish-like humanoids. But it was the gigantic thing which emerged from the waves that sent him screaming in mindless terror, and that would drive him toward self destruction by its very memory.
”I cannot think of the deep sea without shuddering at the nameless things that may, at this very moment, be crawling and floundering on its slimy bed, worshipping their ancient stone idols and carving their own detestable likenesses on submarine obelisks.�
3 1/2 ⭐️
Herbert West: Reanimator: A longer tale, relating the obsessive life work of Dr. West to perfect a procedure to restore life to the dead, its terrible consequences, and his evolving madness.
”Memories and possibilities are ever more hideous than realities.�
”Damn it! It wasn’t quite fresh enough.�
4 ⭐️
The Lurking Fear: A slaughtered village, a local legend, an abandoned estate on a thunderous mountain, and an investigation leading to cannibalistic madness
”A burst of multitudinous and leprous life, a loathsome night spawn flood of organic corruption, more devastatingly hideous than the blackest congregations of mortal madness and morbidity…Shrieking, slithering, torrential shadows of red, viscous madness chasing one another through endless ensanguined corridors of purple, fulgurous sky, formless phantasms and kaleidoscopic mutations of a ghoulish, remembered scene�
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Rats in the Walls: An American restores the abandoned estate of his ancestors in England, only to discover that the locals view both estate and his family line accursed. The sound of rats in the newly restored walls oppress both the protagonists and his cats, though no one else can hear them. Deep underneath lies a hidden horror, and blood will tell.
4 ⭐️
The Whisperer in Darkness: A long tale, where the bulk of the story consists of a correspondence between our narrator and a man he has never met. The exchanges are giving information about a secret mining colony of crab-like, telepathic aliens secretly hidden in remote Vermont hills who are threatening the letter writer who lives nearby. Both correspondents are portrayed as exceptionally intelligent, but Lovecraft has both make blatantly stupid choices to serve the needs of his story, which took me right out of the tale and left me shaking my head.
2 1/2 ⭐️
Cool Air: An odd, genius doctor, discovers a method to cheat death…for a while, until it all falls apart, so to speak.
3 1/2 ⭐️
In the Vault: A small town undertaker becomes trapped in a holding vault and stacks the coffins there in to gain access to escape. One of those coffins contained the corpse of an old man famous for his revenge, and the undertaker had done him wrong�
4 ⭐️
The Call of Cthulhu: From the papers of a deceased professor and the diary of a dead sailor an unspeakable horror is revealed of a Great Old One arising from the depths.
”We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.�
”In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming"
3 ⭐️
The Color Out of Space: SciFi horror. A strange meteor lands on an isolated farm invoking wonder and curiosity. Professors from Arkham study it in vain. Soon a menace spreads from its impact. Fruits and vegetables grow large but inedible. Wild life changes in disturbing ways. The farmer’s well is tainted. An eerie phosphorescence glowing with indescribable color covers the area. The farmer’s family begin to go mad.
”It was just a color out of space, a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity, from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black, extra-cosmic gulfs open before our frenzied eyes…Something terrible came to the hills and valleys on that meteor.�
5 ⭐️
The Horror at Red Hook: Perhaps the most offensive of Lovecraft’s stories, this tale of an Irish policeman broken by his investigations into criminal cult activity fronts Lovecraft’s racism and classism. The fear of the outsider, the other, here is clearly seen as a fear and repugnance of darker, non WASP peoples, with an emphasis on Asiatic and African races, though Italians and Greeks get lumped in as well. On top of that, the story is convoluted and overwrought, even by Lovecraft’s standards, and the protagonist does stupid things for the purpose of advancing the story.
1 ⭐️
The Music of Erich Zann: My favorite of all of Lovecraft’s tales. The creepy Parisian boarding house on an ancient, steep street that the protagonist can unaccountably no longer locate, the strange old fiddle player in his garret, frantically playing otherworldly music into the night, the frenzied climax with its chilling reveals, and the unresolved mystery of it all � every element of this story is perfectly chilling. It’s a miniature masterpiece.
”I often heard sounds that filled me with an undefinable dread � the dread of vague wonder, and brooding mystery…they held vibrations suggesting nothing on this globe of Earth, and that at certain intervals they assumed a symphonic quality which I could hardly conceive as produced by one player. Certainly, Erich Zann was a genius of wild power.�
5 ⭐️
The Shadow Out of Time: An outstanding, original and complex SciFi novella � an extraterrestrial super race of ancient time travelers that effects its time travel by consciousness swapping through space and time. The tale’s protagonist, Professor Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee has his consciousness replaced in the manner, for more than five years replaced in his own body. Restored to his body without memory of the previous five years, Peaslee begins to investigate what happened to him, as strange and troubling dreams give him clues of a staggering nature.
5 ⭐️
The Dunwich Horror: Lovecraft trots out all his tricks � dilapidated town with degraded residence, ancient superstitions of the pre-European natives, isolated, inbred family practicing dark wizardry, strangely inhuman child, unclean rites, Miskatanic University, and a mysterious and otherworldly huge horror. Problem is, it’s all delivered in stilted, awkward prose that fails to weave together any real terror or chills, and it just goes on and on like that for too damn long.
”The Old Ones were. The Old Ones are. And the Old Ones shall be.�
2 1/2 ⭐️
The Haunter of the Dark: An ill-fated artist and author of weird tales, becomes obsessed with a crumbling pile of an abandoned stone church viewed from his window. Investigation shows it to be of foul reputation, once home to a heretical and unclean cult. All those in its neighborhood fear the failure of the street lamps, for terrible things happen in the Dark.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Outsider: A perfect little horror story � a masterpiece of dream logic. The strange, first person narrator has no memories other than always living alone in a crumbling, twilit castle in the middle of a foreboding, dark forest, without companion or caretaker. Determined to see the light that never penetrates, he climbs endlessly the tallest, decaying tower and at its top finds a stone trap door that opens, not onto tower top, but onto the floor of a tomb. Things just get creepier, stranger, and more nightmarish from there.
5 ⭐️
The Shunned House: A house where death comes to too many, too often. Something fetid and unhealthy dwells there, something unwholesome in the basement for generations. Lovecraft’s take on the vampire tale is brilliant, and his 20th century vampire hunter a true man of science.
4 1/2 ⭐️
The Unnameable: This clever tale does a lot of work. A writer of weird tales narrates a conversation in a churchyard with a skeptical critic of his writing, as the two sit upon an ancient grave slab. Lovecraft manages to defend his writing and humorously tweak his critics, all while telling another of his weird tales of the indescribable.
”We know things,� he said, “only through our five senses, or our religious intuitions. Wherefore it is quite impossible to refer to any object or spectacle which cannot be clearly depicted by the solid definitions of fact, or the correct doctrines of theology, preferably those of the Congregationalist with whatever modifications tradition and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may supply.�
”Common sense, in reflecting on these subjects,� I assured my friend with some warmth, “is merely a stupid absence of imagination and mental flexibility.�
4 ⭐️
The Thing on the Doorstep: Another tale that hinges on mental transference from body to body, similar to The Shadow Out of Time, but not nearly as effective, because rather than have the subject be the first person narrator, this story is describing the process second hand. Other than that, it has the usual tropes of an evil sorcerer attempting to live on beyond death, strange and sinister cults, and nasty people from Innsmouth. Not one of his better stories.
2 ⭐️
Under the Pyramids: This story was commissioned by Weird Tales magazine, and written in collaboration with Harry Houdini (and was originally published only attributing Houdini as author) It tells a fictionalized story of the stage magician’s trip to Africa and his kidnapping by an Arab tour guide (said to resemble a pharaoh). It features a midnight fist fight duel on top of a pyramid, and a unique escape by the famed magician from an unholy nightmare.
”Then the dream faces took on human resemblances, and I saw my guide in the robes of a king with the sneer of the sphinx on his features. And I knew that those features were the features of Khafre the Great, who raised the second pyramid, carved over the sphinx’s face in the likeness of his own, and built that titanic, gateway temple.�
”It was of these, of Khafre and his consort and his strange armies of the hybrid dead that I dreamed.�
3 ⭐️
Two things to note � Lovecraft often goes into frenzied flights of purple prose, but the more I read him the more I view this as a charming feature rather than a flaw. The second thing isn’t charming at all and is far more problematic. Lovecraft was blatantly racist, and that often appeared in his writings, manifesting anywhere from his descriptions of debased races following the cult of the Old Gods to his naming of a pet cat in a story. This is a real issue in several stories, and readers should be aware before they chose whether or not to read.
Dagon: A castaway sailor lands on an island newly heaved up from the ocean floor on which are monstrous monuments carved with hideous depictions of fish-like humanoids. But it was the gigantic thing which emerged from the waves that sent him screaming in mindless terror, and that would drive him toward self destruction by its very memory.
”I cannot think of the deep sea without shuddering at the nameless things that may, at this very moment, be crawling and floundering on its slimy bed, worshipping their ancient stone idols and carving their own detestable likenesses on submarine obelisks.�
3 1/2 ⭐️
Herbert West: Reanimator: A longer tale, relating the obsessive life work of Dr. West to perfect a procedure to restore life to the dead, its terrible consequences, and his evolving madness.
”Memories and possibilities are ever more hideous than realities.�
”Damn it! It wasn’t quite fresh enough.�
4 ⭐️
The Lurking Fear: A slaughtered village, a local legend, an abandoned estate on a thunderous mountain, and an investigation leading to cannibalistic madness
”A burst of multitudinous and leprous life, a loathsome night spawn flood of organic corruption, more devastatingly hideous than the blackest congregations of mortal madness and morbidity…Shrieking, slithering, torrential shadows of red, viscous madness chasing one another through endless ensanguined corridors of purple, fulgurous sky, formless phantasms and kaleidoscopic mutations of a ghoulish, remembered scene�
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Rats in the Walls: An American restores the abandoned estate of his ancestors in England, only to discover that the locals view both estate and his family line accursed. The sound of rats in the newly restored walls oppress both the protagonists and his cats, though no one else can hear them. Deep underneath lies a hidden horror, and blood will tell.
4 ⭐️
The Whisperer in Darkness: A long tale, where the bulk of the story consists of a correspondence between our narrator and a man he has never met. The exchanges are giving information about a secret mining colony of crab-like, telepathic aliens secretly hidden in remote Vermont hills who are threatening the letter writer who lives nearby. Both correspondents are portrayed as exceptionally intelligent, but Lovecraft has both make blatantly stupid choices to serve the needs of his story, which took me right out of the tale and left me shaking my head.
2 1/2 ⭐️
Cool Air: An odd, genius doctor, discovers a method to cheat death…for a while, until it all falls apart, so to speak.
3 1/2 ⭐️
In the Vault: A small town undertaker becomes trapped in a holding vault and stacks the coffins there in to gain access to escape. One of those coffins contained the corpse of an old man famous for his revenge, and the undertaker had done him wrong�
4 ⭐️
The Call of Cthulhu: From the papers of a deceased professor and the diary of a dead sailor an unspeakable horror is revealed of a Great Old One arising from the depths.
”We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.�
”In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming"
3 ⭐️
The Color Out of Space: SciFi horror. A strange meteor lands on an isolated farm invoking wonder and curiosity. Professors from Arkham study it in vain. Soon a menace spreads from its impact. Fruits and vegetables grow large but inedible. Wild life changes in disturbing ways. The farmer’s well is tainted. An eerie phosphorescence glowing with indescribable color covers the area. The farmer’s family begin to go mad.
”It was just a color out of space, a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity, from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black, extra-cosmic gulfs open before our frenzied eyes…Something terrible came to the hills and valleys on that meteor.�
5 ⭐️
The Horror at Red Hook: Perhaps the most offensive of Lovecraft’s stories, this tale of an Irish policeman broken by his investigations into criminal cult activity fronts Lovecraft’s racism and classism. The fear of the outsider, the other, here is clearly seen as a fear and repugnance of darker, non WASP peoples, with an emphasis on Asiatic and African races, though Italians and Greeks get lumped in as well. On top of that, the story is convoluted and overwrought, even by Lovecraft’s standards, and the protagonist does stupid things for the purpose of advancing the story.
1 ⭐️
The Music of Erich Zann: My favorite of all of Lovecraft’s tales. The creepy Parisian boarding house on an ancient, steep street that the protagonist can unaccountably no longer locate, the strange old fiddle player in his garret, frantically playing otherworldly music into the night, the frenzied climax with its chilling reveals, and the unresolved mystery of it all � every element of this story is perfectly chilling. It’s a miniature masterpiece.
”I often heard sounds that filled me with an undefinable dread � the dread of vague wonder, and brooding mystery…they held vibrations suggesting nothing on this globe of Earth, and that at certain intervals they assumed a symphonic quality which I could hardly conceive as produced by one player. Certainly, Erich Zann was a genius of wild power.�
5 ⭐️
The Shadow Out of Time: An outstanding, original and complex SciFi novella � an extraterrestrial super race of ancient time travelers that effects its time travel by consciousness swapping through space and time. The tale’s protagonist, Professor Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee has his consciousness replaced in the manner, for more than five years replaced in his own body. Restored to his body without memory of the previous five years, Peaslee begins to investigate what happened to him, as strange and troubling dreams give him clues of a staggering nature.
5 ⭐️
The Dunwich Horror: Lovecraft trots out all his tricks � dilapidated town with degraded residence, ancient superstitions of the pre-European natives, isolated, inbred family practicing dark wizardry, strangely inhuman child, unclean rites, Miskatanic University, and a mysterious and otherworldly huge horror. Problem is, it’s all delivered in stilted, awkward prose that fails to weave together any real terror or chills, and it just goes on and on like that for too damn long.
”The Old Ones were. The Old Ones are. And the Old Ones shall be.�
2 1/2 ⭐️
The Haunter of the Dark: An ill-fated artist and author of weird tales, becomes obsessed with a crumbling pile of an abandoned stone church viewed from his window. Investigation shows it to be of foul reputation, once home to a heretical and unclean cult. All those in its neighborhood fear the failure of the street lamps, for terrible things happen in the Dark.
3 1/2 ⭐️
The Outsider: A perfect little horror story � a masterpiece of dream logic. The strange, first person narrator has no memories other than always living alone in a crumbling, twilit castle in the middle of a foreboding, dark forest, without companion or caretaker. Determined to see the light that never penetrates, he climbs endlessly the tallest, decaying tower and at its top finds a stone trap door that opens, not onto tower top, but onto the floor of a tomb. Things just get creepier, stranger, and more nightmarish from there.
5 ⭐️
The Shunned House: A house where death comes to too many, too often. Something fetid and unhealthy dwells there, something unwholesome in the basement for generations. Lovecraft’s take on the vampire tale is brilliant, and his 20th century vampire hunter a true man of science.
4 1/2 ⭐️
The Unnameable: This clever tale does a lot of work. A writer of weird tales narrates a conversation in a churchyard with a skeptical critic of his writing, as the two sit upon an ancient grave slab. Lovecraft manages to defend his writing and humorously tweak his critics, all while telling another of his weird tales of the indescribable.
”We know things,� he said, “only through our five senses, or our religious intuitions. Wherefore it is quite impossible to refer to any object or spectacle which cannot be clearly depicted by the solid definitions of fact, or the correct doctrines of theology, preferably those of the Congregationalist with whatever modifications tradition and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may supply.�
”Common sense, in reflecting on these subjects,� I assured my friend with some warmth, “is merely a stupid absence of imagination and mental flexibility.�
4 ⭐️
The Thing on the Doorstep: Another tale that hinges on mental transference from body to body, similar to The Shadow Out of Time, but not nearly as effective, because rather than have the subject be the first person narrator, this story is describing the process second hand. Other than that, it has the usual tropes of an evil sorcerer attempting to live on beyond death, strange and sinister cults, and nasty people from Innsmouth. Not one of his better stories.
2 ⭐️
Under the Pyramids: This story was commissioned by Weird Tales magazine, and written in collaboration with Harry Houdini (and was originally published only attributing Houdini as author) It tells a fictionalized story of the stage magician’s trip to Africa and his kidnapping by an Arab tour guide (said to resemble a pharaoh). It features a midnight fist fight duel on top of a pyramid, and a unique escape by the famed magician from an unholy nightmare.
”Then the dream faces took on human resemblances, and I saw my guide in the robes of a king with the sneer of the sphinx on his features. And I knew that those features were the features of Khafre the Great, who raised the second pyramid, carved over the sphinx’s face in the likeness of his own, and built that titanic, gateway temple.�
”It was of these, of Khafre and his consort and his strange armies of the hybrid dead that I dreamed.�
3 ⭐️
March 22, 2023
“Niarlatotep� 3/5
“Dagon� 4/5
“Hram� 4/5
“Otpadnik� 5/5 💛
“Čudna visoka kuća u izmaglici� 2/5
“Izjava Randolfa Kartera� 5/5
“Srebrni ključ� 3/5
“Činjenice vezane za pokojnog Artura Džermina i njegovu porodicu� 3/5
“Festival� 5/5 💛
“Gonič� 5/5
“Herbert Vest - Reanimator� 3/5
“S one strane� 5/5
“Pikmanov model� 4/5
“Muzika Eriha Zana� 4/5
“Ispod piramida� 3/5
“Ukleta kuća� 4/5
“Pacovi u zidovima� 5/5
“Snovi u veštičijoj kući� 4/5
“Zov Ktulua� 5/5 💛
“Danički užas� 4/5
“Senka nad Insmutom� 5+/5 💛
“Stvar na pragu� 5/5
“Boja izvan ovog svemira� 5/5 💛
“U zidinama Eriksa� 2/5
“Stanovnik tame� 4/5
“Nekronomikon� - 4/5
Svaka čast izdavačkoj kući Orfelin na ovakvoj luksuznoj knjizi, izuzetnom dizajnu, savršenim ilustracijama i zanimljivim dodacima!
“Dagon� 4/5
“Hram� 4/5
“Otpadnik� 5/5 💛
“Čudna visoka kuća u izmaglici� 2/5
“Izjava Randolfa Kartera� 5/5
“Srebrni ključ� 3/5
“Činjenice vezane za pokojnog Artura Džermina i njegovu porodicu� 3/5
“Festival� 5/5 💛
“Gonič� 5/5
“Herbert Vest - Reanimator� 3/5
“S one strane� 5/5
“Pikmanov model� 4/5
“Muzika Eriha Zana� 4/5
“Ispod piramida� 3/5
“Ukleta kuća� 4/5
“Pacovi u zidovima� 5/5
“Snovi u veštičijoj kući� 4/5
“Zov Ktulua� 5/5 💛
“Danički užas� 4/5
“Senka nad Insmutom� 5+/5 💛
“Stvar na pragu� 5/5
“Boja izvan ovog svemira� 5/5 💛
“U zidinama Eriksa� 2/5
“Stanovnik tame� 4/5
“Nekronomikon� - 4/5
Svaka čast izdavačkoj kući Orfelin na ovakvoj luksuznoj knjizi, izuzetnom dizajnu, savršenim ilustracijama i zanimljivim dodacima!
June 14, 2018
Cyclopean.
p. 454: Carter now spoke with the leaders int he soft language of cats, and learned that his ancient friendship with the species was well known and often spoken of in the places where cats congregate. He had not been unmarked in Ulthar when he passed through, and the sleek old cats had remembered how he petted them after they had attended to the hungry zoogs who looked evilly at a small black kitten. And they recalled, too, how he had welcomed the very little kitten who came to see him at the inn, and how he had given it a saucer of rich cream in the morning before he left. The grandfather of that very little kitten was the leader of the army now assembled, for he had seen the evil procession from a far hill and recognized the prisoner as a sworn friend of his kind on earth and in the land of dream. [The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath]
What can I say, I've become a Lovecraft fan.
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!).
I stole the following from /r/lovecraft: "One time, this guy went to a place, and it was SO spooky. But, being a man of science, and of an inquisitive mind, he continued going to the spooky place, and damn was it spooky.
Eventually, he became obsessed with the spooky place, and the locals, who know about but don't speak of spooky things, shunned him.
Then he died under mysterious circumstances that everybody knew was because of the spooky thing, but nobody would admit." :'D
Before Lovecraft, horror was about killers, kidnappers, ghosts - human faults and sins and divine (or other) punishment in the sense of you reap what you sow. Lovecraft instead creates a vision of a vast cosmos completely indifferent to humans, and their earthly bullsh*t, filled with forces before which we are helpless, which we cannot hope to understand, and which would destroy our minds if we only saw or knew. We could categorize him as a writer of cosmic horror.
Obviously, he wrote a lot so not all stories fall under this category, but the best ones do.
I recommend The Cats of Ulthar, The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Call of Cthulhu, The Outsider, The Thing on the Doorstep, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and the Whisperer In Darkness.
P.S. I listened to many of these stories on youtube, there's a fantastic channel who does readings of various horror writers:
p. 454: Carter now spoke with the leaders int he soft language of cats, and learned that his ancient friendship with the species was well known and often spoken of in the places where cats congregate. He had not been unmarked in Ulthar when he passed through, and the sleek old cats had remembered how he petted them after they had attended to the hungry zoogs who looked evilly at a small black kitten. And they recalled, too, how he had welcomed the very little kitten who came to see him at the inn, and how he had given it a saucer of rich cream in the morning before he left. The grandfather of that very little kitten was the leader of the army now assembled, for he had seen the evil procession from a far hill and recognized the prisoner as a sworn friend of his kind on earth and in the land of dream. [The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath]
What can I say, I've become a Lovecraft fan.
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!).
I stole the following from /r/lovecraft: "One time, this guy went to a place, and it was SO spooky. But, being a man of science, and of an inquisitive mind, he continued going to the spooky place, and damn was it spooky.
Eventually, he became obsessed with the spooky place, and the locals, who know about but don't speak of spooky things, shunned him.
Then he died under mysterious circumstances that everybody knew was because of the spooky thing, but nobody would admit." :'D
Before Lovecraft, horror was about killers, kidnappers, ghosts - human faults and sins and divine (or other) punishment in the sense of you reap what you sow. Lovecraft instead creates a vision of a vast cosmos completely indifferent to humans, and their earthly bullsh*t, filled with forces before which we are helpless, which we cannot hope to understand, and which would destroy our minds if we only saw or knew. We could categorize him as a writer of cosmic horror.
Obviously, he wrote a lot so not all stories fall under this category, but the best ones do.
I recommend The Cats of Ulthar, The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Call of Cthulhu, The Outsider, The Thing on the Doorstep, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and the Whisperer In Darkness.
P.S. I listened to many of these stories on youtube, there's a fantastic channel who does readings of various horror writers:
April 30, 2023
Edition Review:
I realise i’ver never actually reviewed this edition. Its a giant black tome with the word Necronomicon written on it, that is about all i really needed ;) . However i don’t necessarily recommend it to others.
I’ve only read this book 3, maybe 4 times? but there are a lot of sections coming loose from the binding glue already. So not the highest quality but you get what you pay for i guess.
Larger issues are the giant sticker on the back, its 2 inches high and the full width of the book and took me weeks to get rid, really annoying.
The main issue however is the artwork. Nothing in here is story specific, apart from a couple of pieces at the start. Its just a bunch of generic ‘lovecraftish� stuff. What’s worse is that there also isn’t enough of it, so they end up using the same pictures over and over.
There’s one of a fat faced man they use in like three different stories to represent three different people etc. The worst one for me is an image of a tentacle coming through a wall holding a skull, they must have used that at least 4 times despite it being utterly incongruous with every story they used it in.
Anyway, still good enough for my purposes but you have been warned :) .
Reread Review
I've never really reviewed Lovecraft properly and don't intend to start, i just really like his oeuvre overall, warts and all.
However different things strike me each time i read it so for this section of this collection, my previous favourites would be Dunwich Horror, Colour out of Space, the Shunned House and Rats in the Walls. With my least favourites being Under the Pyramids and Call of Cthulhu, the latter while iconic, i maintain isn't that well told.
First 3rd
Anyway on this read i actually liked Under the Pyramids a lot more than previous with other highlights being the Hound and the Silver Key
Second 3rd
This section contains mostly longer works and while i like them all it was actually one of the shortest stories the Strange High House in the Mist which i enjoyed most on this go around.
Final 3rd
So i just eye-balled the splits in this reread so only 3 stories left in this final section and the afterword. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and the Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath are both pretty lengthy though.
The afterword has some ok biography stuff but you'll probably forget its good points by the end as it starts listing every publishing and adaptation of Lovecrafts work to the point of near unreadability.
I realise i’ver never actually reviewed this edition. Its a giant black tome with the word Necronomicon written on it, that is about all i really needed ;) . However i don’t necessarily recommend it to others.
I’ve only read this book 3, maybe 4 times? but there are a lot of sections coming loose from the binding glue already. So not the highest quality but you get what you pay for i guess.
Larger issues are the giant sticker on the back, its 2 inches high and the full width of the book and took me weeks to get rid, really annoying.
The main issue however is the artwork. Nothing in here is story specific, apart from a couple of pieces at the start. Its just a bunch of generic ‘lovecraftish� stuff. What’s worse is that there also isn’t enough of it, so they end up using the same pictures over and over.
There’s one of a fat faced man they use in like three different stories to represent three different people etc. The worst one for me is an image of a tentacle coming through a wall holding a skull, they must have used that at least 4 times despite it being utterly incongruous with every story they used it in.
Anyway, still good enough for my purposes but you have been warned :) .
Reread Review
I've never really reviewed Lovecraft properly and don't intend to start, i just really like his oeuvre overall, warts and all.
However different things strike me each time i read it so for this section of this collection, my previous favourites would be Dunwich Horror, Colour out of Space, the Shunned House and Rats in the Walls. With my least favourites being Under the Pyramids and Call of Cthulhu, the latter while iconic, i maintain isn't that well told.
First 3rd
Anyway on this read i actually liked Under the Pyramids a lot more than previous with other highlights being the Hound and the Silver Key
Second 3rd
This section contains mostly longer works and while i like them all it was actually one of the shortest stories the Strange High House in the Mist which i enjoyed most on this go around.
Final 3rd
So i just eye-balled the splits in this reread so only 3 stories left in this final section and the afterword. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and the Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath are both pretty lengthy though.
The afterword has some ok biography stuff but you'll probably forget its good points by the end as it starts listing every publishing and adaptation of Lovecrafts work to the point of near unreadability.
March 16, 2022
Absolutely Classic Tales of Occult Horror - Lovecraft Created His Own Cthulhu Mythos, A True Original
Lovecraft's name is synonymous with creepy, occult tales of horror, one of several legendary writers who made the Weird Tales pulp magazines famous in the 1920s and 30s: H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, etc. But I had ever actually read any of his work, and when I found a large collection of his stories available from the Audible Plus Catalogue (free for members), it seemed a perfect opportunity to finally give this legendary writer a chance.
The first story featuring Cthulhu is "The Call of Cthulhu" was published in Weird Tales in 1928, and it really does capture all the great aspects of Lovecraft's fertile and dark imagination, as well as his undeniable racism against the "darker, primitive " races. It's an inescapable part of his writing and personal beliefs that he firmly believed in the superiority of white Europeans over other races and cultures, so if this will prevent you from appreciating his other achievements, it's understandable but unfortunate. Basically that same attitude was widespread throughout Western societies in the Victorian age of England and early centuries of the colonial period (and long afterward as well). But to judge those authors from a current perspective is a bit unfair, as we have come so far since then. It's still quite overt at times, but it's just a part of his legacy.
These stories really blew me away with the relentless fertility of grotesque images and compelling stories, each a self-contained and skillfully written tale, though again the purple, over-the-top prose may not be to everyone's taste. It's like a very, very rich dessert of grotesqueries, quite impressive but a bit overwhelming at times. Still, his unique Cthulhu melting of a huge range of dark Elder Gods mythology is a truly unique experience, and I found myself really drawn into his world, and found these stories just as vivid now after almost a century, which cannot be said of many older authors.
Just for a little taste, feast on this:
"Shrieking, slithering, torrential shadows of red viscous madness chasing one another through endless, ensanguined corridors of purple fulgurous sky... formless phantasms and kaleidoscopic mutations of a ghoulish, remembered scene; forests of monstrous overnourished oaks with serpent roots twisting and sucking unnamable juices from an earth verminous with millions of cannibal devils; mound-like tentacles groping from underground nuclei of polypous perversion... insane lightning over malignant ivied walls and daemon arcades choked with fungous vegetation.... Heaven be thanked for the instinct which led me unconscious to places where men dwell; to the peaceful village that slept under the calm stars of clearing skies."
Lovecraft's name is synonymous with creepy, occult tales of horror, one of several legendary writers who made the Weird Tales pulp magazines famous in the 1920s and 30s: H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, etc. But I had ever actually read any of his work, and when I found a large collection of his stories available from the Audible Plus Catalogue (free for members), it seemed a perfect opportunity to finally give this legendary writer a chance.
The first story featuring Cthulhu is "The Call of Cthulhu" was published in Weird Tales in 1928, and it really does capture all the great aspects of Lovecraft's fertile and dark imagination, as well as his undeniable racism against the "darker, primitive " races. It's an inescapable part of his writing and personal beliefs that he firmly believed in the superiority of white Europeans over other races and cultures, so if this will prevent you from appreciating his other achievements, it's understandable but unfortunate. Basically that same attitude was widespread throughout Western societies in the Victorian age of England and early centuries of the colonial period (and long afterward as well). But to judge those authors from a current perspective is a bit unfair, as we have come so far since then. It's still quite overt at times, but it's just a part of his legacy.
These stories really blew me away with the relentless fertility of grotesque images and compelling stories, each a self-contained and skillfully written tale, though again the purple, over-the-top prose may not be to everyone's taste. It's like a very, very rich dessert of grotesqueries, quite impressive but a bit overwhelming at times. Still, his unique Cthulhu melting of a huge range of dark Elder Gods mythology is a truly unique experience, and I found myself really drawn into his world, and found these stories just as vivid now after almost a century, which cannot be said of many older authors.
Just for a little taste, feast on this:
"Shrieking, slithering, torrential shadows of red viscous madness chasing one another through endless, ensanguined corridors of purple fulgurous sky... formless phantasms and kaleidoscopic mutations of a ghoulish, remembered scene; forests of monstrous overnourished oaks with serpent roots twisting and sucking unnamable juices from an earth verminous with millions of cannibal devils; mound-like tentacles groping from underground nuclei of polypous perversion... insane lightning over malignant ivied walls and daemon arcades choked with fungous vegetation.... Heaven be thanked for the instinct which led me unconscious to places where men dwell; to the peaceful village that slept under the calm stars of clearing skies."
November 29, 2011
NOTES ON THE STORIES
The Colour Out Of Space = WIN. And it's a stand-alone story. You don't need to know anything about the mythos for this one.
Pickman's Model = WIN. Another stand-alone story, without reference to the mythos. Actually very creepy.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth = WIN. A good introduction to the mythos, and a great introduction Lovecraft's story-telling. A perfectly crafted, perfectly creepy tale.
The Colour Out Of Space = WIN. And it's a stand-alone story. You don't need to know anything about the mythos for this one.
Pickman's Model = WIN. Another stand-alone story, without reference to the mythos. Actually very creepy.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth = WIN. A good introduction to the mythos, and a great introduction Lovecraft's story-telling. A perfectly crafted, perfectly creepy tale.
September 26, 2013
This is my H P. Lovecraft's Dream Book! The book design is grand, it also contents most of Lovecraft's major short novels. I borrowed the book from library but I still totally want to own it!
May 23, 2023
Det tog mig ungefär 1½ år att läsa hela rasket, men nu är det gjort. Det är mycket som är problematiskt med Lovecraft, och det är många historier som inte är särskild läs- eller minnesvärda, så jag kan inte med gott samvete rekommendera någon att ta sig an hela den här samlingen. Antagligen är det så att Lovecrafts arv är större än det han själv någonsin skrev, men jag ska inte vara alltför negativ. Det finns en hel del här som är så bra att det är svårt att sluta tänka på det. Om jag får tillåta mig att rekommendera några noveller skulle jag tipsa om The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow over Innsmouth och min absoluta favorit som jag har burit med mig sedan jag första gången läste Lovecraft någon gång där i de febriga tonåren; The Colour out of Space.
March 11, 2022
There is no denying that Lovecraft set the benchmark for American horror for generations and he is rightly acknowledged by those who followed him. However, due to the densely packed stories which deserve to be thought over and the intensely bleak and gloomy aspect which threatens to overwhelm readers, this is a volume which is quite a trek to read in one sitting.
'Necronomicon: The Best Weird Fiction' collects some great stories, but is probably best experienced when dipped into between other books.
'Necronomicon: The Best Weird Fiction' collects some great stories, but is probably best experienced when dipped into between other books.
May 7, 2017
Not really my thing.
March 19, 2023
Prvo, da se razumemo, sve ove price zasluzuju da budu ocenjene sa peticom, ali ako ih poredimo medjusobno, postoje neka odstupanja:
1. Niarlatotep 3 ⭐️
2. Dagon 3 ⭐️
3. Hram 3 ⭐️
4. Autsajder 2 ⭐️
5. Cudna visoka kuca u izmaglici 3 ⭐️
6. Izjava Randolfa Kartera 5 ⭐️
7. Srebrni kljuc 4 ⭐️
8. Cinjenice vezane za Artura Dzermina i njegovu porodicu 4 ⭐️
9. Festival 5 ⭐️
10. Gonic 5 ⭐️
11. Herbert Vest, Reanimator 5 ⭐️ (uhh, ova je bila bas dobra)
12. S one strane 4 ⭐️
13. Pikmanov model 5 ⭐️😍
14. Muzika Eriha Zana 3 ⭐️
15. Ispod piramida 3 ⭐️
16. Ukleta kuca 5 ⭐️
17. Pacovi u zidinama 4 ⭐️
18. Snovi u vesticijoj kuci 5⭐️
19. Zov Ktulua 5 ⭐️🐙
20. Danicki uzas 5 ⭐️
21. Senka nad Insmutom 5 ⭐️
22. Stvar na pragu 5 ⭐️
23. Boja izvan ovog svemira 5 ⭐️
24. U zidinama Eriksa 3 ⭐️ (vise sci-fi)
25. Stanovnik tame 3 ⭐️
Kao sto se da primetiti, meni se vise dopala druga polovina knjige, ali to je svakako zato sto su price u drugoj polovini duze, pa samim tim je i razvoj likova i atmosfere kompleksniji i slikovitiji. Od omiljenih prica bih izdvojila: 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 :) Takodje bih pohvalila i ovo izdanje Nekromonikona, izdavacke kuce Orfelin, kao i pogovor dr Dejana Ognjanovica. Ovo izdanje vredi svake pare i svako treba da ga poseduje u svojoj biblioteci 🕸️🕷️
1. Niarlatotep 3 ⭐️
2. Dagon 3 ⭐️
3. Hram 3 ⭐️
4. Autsajder 2 ⭐️
5. Cudna visoka kuca u izmaglici 3 ⭐️
6. Izjava Randolfa Kartera 5 ⭐️
7. Srebrni kljuc 4 ⭐️
8. Cinjenice vezane za Artura Dzermina i njegovu porodicu 4 ⭐️
9. Festival 5 ⭐️
10. Gonic 5 ⭐️
11. Herbert Vest, Reanimator 5 ⭐️ (uhh, ova je bila bas dobra)
12. S one strane 4 ⭐️
13. Pikmanov model 5 ⭐️😍
14. Muzika Eriha Zana 3 ⭐️
15. Ispod piramida 3 ⭐️
16. Ukleta kuca 5 ⭐️
17. Pacovi u zidinama 4 ⭐️
18. Snovi u vesticijoj kuci 5⭐️
19. Zov Ktulua 5 ⭐️🐙
20. Danicki uzas 5 ⭐️
21. Senka nad Insmutom 5 ⭐️
22. Stvar na pragu 5 ⭐️
23. Boja izvan ovog svemira 5 ⭐️
24. U zidinama Eriksa 3 ⭐️ (vise sci-fi)
25. Stanovnik tame 3 ⭐️
Kao sto se da primetiti, meni se vise dopala druga polovina knjige, ali to je svakako zato sto su price u drugoj polovini duze, pa samim tim je i razvoj likova i atmosfere kompleksniji i slikovitiji. Od omiljenih prica bih izdvojila: 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 :) Takodje bih pohvalila i ovo izdanje Nekromonikona, izdavacke kuce Orfelin, kao i pogovor dr Dejana Ognjanovica. Ovo izdanje vredi svake pare i svako treba da ga poseduje u svojoj biblioteci 🕸️🕷️
September 22, 2014
Technically, as I averaged out each specific story, the rating turned out to be a 3.5, but given Lovecraft's literary impact and some genuinely great tales of horror, I decided to boost it up to a four instead of downgrading it to a three. It was difficult to continue at certain times as Lovecraft's tales are often formulaic, following the same basic storytelling structure, but fortunately as it progressed the style became more varied. My favorites were: The Statement of Randolph Carter, The Cats of Ulthar, The Nameless City, Herbert West - Reanimator, The Lurking Fear, The Hound, The Outsider, The Color Out Of Space, Cool Air, The Dunwich Horror, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Strange High House in the Mist, From Beyond, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Shadow Out of Time, and finally, the Thing on the Doorstep.
The others were in my opinion either mediocre, or in some cases just plain awful. I'm still glad I read this collection, however, as I've always wanted to read Lovecraft's body of work.
The others were in my opinion either mediocre, or in some cases just plain awful. I'm still glad I read this collection, however, as I've always wanted to read Lovecraft's body of work.
May 24, 2011
A collection of Lovecraft, and what better collection is there? To reiterate and reflect the thoughts of countless individuals: this is essential supernatural horror. But, to put forward my own commentary, I shall endeavour:
The tales laid-out here are a trove of flawless narrative, impeccable originality and are told with such flair for language and charm; stories interweave, threads unravel and sanity is wholly drained throughout. Such keen attention to the progression of the stories, the hints of the grotesque therein and the pacing is paid that never is the sense of foreboding lost and never does the tentative withdrawal of information subtract from the unfolding hideousness. Lovecraft leads the imagination to places of grandiose terror that none other can parallel, of classic horror there is simply no better. There's a reason why Lovecraft is often cited as the master of the macabre, and this is it.
The tales laid-out here are a trove of flawless narrative, impeccable originality and are told with such flair for language and charm; stories interweave, threads unravel and sanity is wholly drained throughout. Such keen attention to the progression of the stories, the hints of the grotesque therein and the pacing is paid that never is the sense of foreboding lost and never does the tentative withdrawal of information subtract from the unfolding hideousness. Lovecraft leads the imagination to places of grandiose terror that none other can parallel, of classic horror there is simply no better. There's a reason why Lovecraft is often cited as the master of the macabre, and this is it.
April 19, 2021
Relato breve que simula ser un texto real sobre la procedencia y situación actual del Necronomicón, desde su origen a manos del árabe loco Abdul Alhazred hacia el 700 d.C. hasta las copias actuales que se conocen, pasando por todas las ediciones y traducciones que se han sucedido a lo largo de los siglos entre acontecimientos perturbadores y censuras del manuscrito.
Resulta muy interesante conocer el trasfondo del libro maldito que tanto aparece en la literatura de Lovecraft y en otras obras (tanto dentro como fuera del universo lovecraftiano).
Resulta muy interesante conocer el trasfondo del libro maldito que tanto aparece en la literatura de Lovecraft y en otras obras (tanto dentro como fuera del universo lovecraftiano).
October 30, 2021
he Picture in the House - 4�
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family - 3�
Herbrt West, reanimator - 5�
The Music of Erich Zann - 5�
The Lurking Fear - 4�
The Rats in the Walls - 4�
The Outsider - 3�
The Colour Out of Space - 3�
Pickman's MOdel - 5�
The Call of Cuthulhu - 5�
The Dunwich Horror - 3�
The Whisperer in darkness - 5�
The Shadow over Innsmouth - 5�
The Haunter of The Dark - 5�
The Thing on the Doorstep - 4�
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family - 3�
Herbrt West, reanimator - 5�
The Music of Erich Zann - 5�
The Lurking Fear - 4�
The Rats in the Walls - 4�
The Outsider - 3�
The Colour Out of Space - 3�
Pickman's MOdel - 5�
The Call of Cuthulhu - 5�
The Dunwich Horror - 3�
The Whisperer in darkness - 5�
The Shadow over Innsmouth - 5�
The Haunter of The Dark - 5�
The Thing on the Doorstep - 4�
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