This is an excelent collection of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, one of the originators of modern wierd fiction and horror. He wrote primarily during the first several decades of the 1900's, and has become the inspiration to many sci-fi, fantasy and horror writers. The major focus of his stories centers around the Cthulhu Mythos, an abhorrent group of beasties from other places and times. These are creatures who have their own agendas that humanity cannot possibly understand and, in most of the stories, gets corrupted by. In light of these horrifyingly, hideous abominations humanity is seen as having little if any real purpose. Humanity seems to be a gnat in comparison to what lies in the other dimensions of the universe.

This book is good for those evenings when the weather has taken a divr for the worse and you just want to freak yourself out at every little shadow. You might want to make sure there is someone in the next room though in case there actually are rats in the walls.

I cannot choose any one story in the book as my favorite, but I will say that each story has its own flavor. I like each story for its unique character from all the others. You will understand when you read this book.

The only thing you might not like is Lovecraft's verbosity. He does get to be long winded. A couple times I have had to reread a paragraph to remember that the description was for. But, don't let this hold you back from picking this book up for your library.

I whole-heartedly recommend this book because H.P. Lovecraft had such a profound impact on the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres. He is the master of the macabre even though people of his day often dismissed him as a hack who wrote to the pulp magazines.

Beware, the writing is very verbose and intentionally vague in its descriptions of the menaces of the universe. If you have read Poe then you have a good idea of Lovecraft's verbosity. However, Lovecraft has little symbolism in his stories. Humanity just does not rate high enough for symbolism.

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Created Jun 12, 2004 at 10:52am • Submit your own review...