Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft

4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 · rating details · 1,509 ratings · 74 reviews

From the publisher's website: The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft contains all the original stories which Lovecraft wrote as an adult. It begins in 1917 with “The Tomb” and ends in 1935 with his last original work “The Haunter of the Dark.” The book is ordered chronologically by the date the story was written. Because Lovecraft was a terrible businessman and left no heirs...more

ebook, 1114 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by CthulhuChick (first published November 1st 1983)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 12, 2013 Evgeny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

As the title says this is complete work from the classic of horror genre. It is difficult to review a book with 62 different stories in it as they are quite diverse. The general idea in the majority of the stories is the forbidden knowledge. Some of the things are not meant to be known to the mankind, and meddling with them will lead to madness in the best case, or unleashing a great evil in the worst.

Having said that, I need to mention that H.P.Lovecraft was quite diverse in his writings. His...more As the title says this is complete work from the classic of horror genre. It is difficult to review a book with 62 different stories in it as they are quite diverse. The general idea in the majority of the stories is the forbidden knowledge. Some of the things are not meant to be known to the mankind, and meddling with them will lead to madness in the best case, or unleashing a great evil in the worst.

Having said that, I need to mention that H.P.Lovecraft was quite diverse in his writings. His novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is pure fantasy in the style of Lord Dunsany while another novella At the Mountains of Madness is pure sci-fi which most probably inspired John W. Campbell to write Who Goes There? which in turn was the base for a horror/sci-fi movie The Thing.

Other than these two novellas - both of which are excellent - I need to mention The Call of Cthulhu as one of the best example of his horror works. Actually, the majority of his work is good, and it is hard to pick up the best examples.

Lovecraft's influence on modern culture cannot be underestimated. He created such commonly used terms as Chtulhu (an entity of unspeakable evil), Necronomicon (a book with dark and forbidden knowledge), Arkham (a mysterious city in New England with dark lore), and countless others. Lovecraft's imagination runs really wild in his writings.

My minor complains would be the following. Lovecraft never uses dialog in his stories which is kind of unusual for a modern reader; he just gives a review of what was said. His use of vernacular language can be annoying as well; the only one who was able to pull it off successfully was Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Still its uses are far and between and are not too distracting.

All in all, this is a book from the classic of genre deserving a 5 star rating. Lovecraft's works do not have copyright protection, so this book can be freely downloaded from its GR page.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: "Chtulhu for president! Why choose the lesser evil?"(less)

10 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2012 Larry Kollar rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, horror

A complete collection of H.P. Lovecraft's solo works (no collaborations), arranged by date. It's a huge work, no doubt.

My only gripe about the stories is that Lovecraft was overfond of a narrative style. If dialogue were water, I'd have died of thirst. And yet, the best of them read like a confession whispered through the cell door bars of an insane asylum.

One thing that surprised me was that Cthulhu was a prominent character in only one story… and from that has been built a massive edifice of f...more

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 05, 2011 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Probably one of the best indexed versions of H.P. Lovecraft's works, this has every story he's even written, except for Imprisoned With The Pharaohs. As a complete collection, this is indeed as good as it gets. It has some of his best known stories (At the Mountains of Madness, Herbert West — Reanimator, The Dreams in the Witch House) and some of the harder to find stories (In the Walls of Eryx, Through the Gates of the Silver Key, The White Ship). So, while previously you may have had to get a...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2011 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of all, if I was rating the work that Ruth at cthulhuchick.com has done in compiling this collection, I'd give it a full 5 stars. She did an excellent job creating the e-book.

I had some very good memories of reading Lovecraft, and most of the stories still hold up well. What I could not get over though was the blatant racism. I realize that it was written in a different time, but it left me unable to fully appreciate the stories.

It was great to finally read the full Cthulhu mythos in order...more

4 likes · like · see review

Oct 30, 2012 Batgrl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lovecraft, owned-ebooks-aquired-in-2012, favorites-i-do-reread

Best ebook version of Lovecraft with contents linked such that you can easily hop to the story you need. Other Lovecraft compilations on Amazon (at the time I bought this) don't have that linked contents, and you don't want to have to page through an entire book of this size just to get to one story.

Also worth the purchase because it was given away free (and you can still find it) - but I'd urge you to kick some money over to the woman who did the formatting (CthulhuChick), it's worth it.

As for...more Best ebook version of Lovecraft with contents linked such that you can easily hop to the story you need. Other Lovecraft compilations on Amazon (at the time I bought this) don't have that linked contents, and you don't want to have to page through an entire book of this size just to get to one story.

Also worth the purchase because it was given away free (and you can still find it) - but I'd urge you to kick some money over to the woman who did the formatting (CthulhuChick), it's worth it.

As for the stories themselves? Possibly an acquired taste. Some are much better than others, and Lovecraft does have certain tropes he uses again and again - narrator faints when the horror appears (it's just too horrific!), something is indescribable (usually a horror), and words like eldritch and non-euclidian appear repeatedly, etc. But there's something fun and occasionally creepy in Lovecraft's stories that really is charming, and I often enjoy his over the top descriptions and bizarre scenes.

Not so much enjoyment for the racism and xenophobia - which I never shy away from warning people does pop up in Lovecraft and which I really hate. I can't say he's the only author from his time period that has this dis-likable trait, and I'm of two minds about it. I'd rather avoid authors like this - yet at the same time, the words are there, and he's not the only one spewing this sort of thing - and I think we're better off not forgetting that this sort of writing was common. (I can't say that Lovecraft is the most disturbingly casually racist content I've read, but that certainly doesn't excuse it.) I don't think it's the kind of thing we should forget, and it should be held up as an example of what we don't want to go back to.

Another author with racism that I found disturbing: G. K. Chesterton, in one of his Father Brown stories.

[I went into a longer discussion of race and Lovecraft here, when I was trying to explain why some people are attracted to Lovecraft in spite of these issues, and why it's problematic to toss out literature with these issues. Short version: there's a lot of lit with this issue.](less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 13, 2013 Palindrome Mordnilap marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-books

In defence of the early stories, I've read "The Tomb" and "Dagon" and enjoyed both. I agree that stories like "The Dunwich Horror" (for example) are superior, but that's no reason to write off the early works. The image of the immense, slippery fish-god wrapping its arms around the stone monolith and the dark simplicity with which Lovecraft writes "I think I went mad then." gave me a shudder.

I shall continue with interest.

UPDATE: "Polaris" was very good indeed, and once again demonstrates what g...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 21, 2013 Steve Goble rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

This Kindle edition is great. Well done, ChthulhuChick.com.

I run hot and cold on Lovecraft. His protagonists are dull and mostly interchangeable. He avoids dialogue like mice avoid cats. He loves antiquated words. He tells stories obliquely, often through the voice of someone relaying things that purportedly happened to someone else.

On the other hand, his vision of horror is more applicable to real life than the vampires, werewolves and ghosts of old -- it is a better metaphor for the doom we al...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 08, 2012 D.M. Dutcher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, horror, short-stories

The complete works of a master at the price of 99 cents. A steal at ten times the price.

Seriously, if you have a Kindle, get this. It's formatted near perfectly for an insane amount of content, and the stories are arranged by date so you get the entire feel of Lovecraft's work. There's a lot of repetition if you try and read the entire thing, but you can trace the development of the Mythos, and appreciate all the self-referencing each of his works has. If you've just read Dream-Quest of Unknown...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 19, 2012 Steve Cran rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

HP Lovecraft is just awesome. He takes you literally to another world and sometimes he will bring you back and at other times he will leave you. Lovecraft's writing go beyond horror. He seem to have intimate knowledge of the occult and witchcraft and he applies that well to his own mythos. After reading this collection I personally believe that Mr. Lovecraft was a prophet of sorts and that he in fact really has traversed to these other worlds. I would also like to thank Cthullhu Chick for puttin...more HP Lovecraft is just awesome. He takes you literally to another world and sometimes he will bring you back and at other times he will leave you. Lovecraft's writing go beyond horror. He seem to have intimate knowledge of the occult and witchcraft and he applies that well to his own mythos. After reading this collection I personally believe that Mr. Lovecraft was a prophet of sorts and that he in fact really has traversed to these other worlds. I would also like to thank Cthullhu Chick for putting together this awesome collection. I really got a feel for it and it opened up many avenues. Bravo!

Most of H.P. Lovecraft's writing centers around the Cthullu mythos and the Deep Ones. All around the world there are various cults that are dedicated to Cthullhu and the other deep ones. They want to resurrect him so he can take his diabolical control. Cthullhu and Nyalatharotep are from somewhere out in deep space even beyond our dimension. Their leader is the blind idiot god , Azazoth, who is at the center of Chaos. Nyalatharotep is known as the dark pharoah and he is the one who leads most of the witch craft cults. Most of Mr. Lovecraft's stories take place in Arkham a fictional city with a fictional university called Miskatonic. Left behind from the deep ones are such dreaded grimoires as the "Necronomicom" and the "Book of Eibon"

Mr. Lovecraft details his mythical version of history rather well in the story "Mountains of Madness" I will not give you a summary of the story but I will share something rather important. The story contains a time line of different period of aliens colonizing the Earth. The Old Ones came first many millions of years ago. They built cities that could best be described as cyclopean. They had starfish like heads and tentacles for arms. They lives both on land and under the sea. They created life of which humanity is just an offshoot or accident. They created the Shuggoth who are hard to describe but can take on many different shapes. They were made as slave. Later on the Shuggot would rebel but their rebellion would be short lived. Next came the deep ones with Cthullhu at the lead. They drove the old ones into the sea while they took over the land. Eventually flooding would entrap them in their cities and they would be trapped. The Old One would reassert control. Much later the Migo, crablike beings would fly in from the planet Pluto. They have the ability to take human brain, preserve them and keep them conscious and take them to that Planet Pluto. Remanant of each of these aliens still exist and they have hidden follower. In another LoveCraft story the author predicts our end and a species of Beetle will run the planet.

Enjoy the book everyone it is well worth the investment. This book has now prompted me to explore the Cthullhu mythos much further.(less)

like · see review

Apr 28, 2013 Graziano is currently reading it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

The Tomb (1917)
"... echoes of a forgotten prehistoric past beat insistently upon the enthralled consciousness." (location 101)

Dagon (1917)
"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 of water-soaked granite. I dream of a day when they may rise above the billows to drag down in their reeking...more

like · see review

May 19, 2012 knig rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, dream-like, disturbia

A little daunted by the prolific proclivities of Lovecraft, I decided to cherry pick. General consensus pointed out the following five tales as being the cream of the crop:

1. The Dragon
2. The Outsider
3. The Lurking Fear
4. The call of Cthulu
5. The Colour of outerspace

And, from my GR friend Bennet I picked up on ‘The thing on the doorstep’ which otherwise gets few mentions but turned out to be my favourite of the bunch. Then I stopped, because GR Chris told me too. And, because Lovecraft simply ca...more A little daunted by the prolific proclivities of Lovecraft, I decided to cherry pick. General consensus pointed out the following five tales as being the cream of the crop:

1. The Dragon
2. The Outsider
3. The Lurking Fear
4. The call of Cthulu
5. The Colour of outerspace

And, from my GR friend Bennet I picked up on ‘The thing on the doorstep’ which otherwise gets few mentions but turned out to be my favourite of the bunch. Then I stopped, because GR Chris told me too. And, because Lovecraft simply can’t be read in one sitting. Or, in summer. The similar tone of his stories, the atmosphere he creates can get samey if consumed in one glut. Pacing must surely be the key here. The rest to be revisited piecemeal, in darkest winter, with mulled wine and bundled under goose-down. Fire crackling in an open hearth optional . OK I only say this because burning real fires where I live is forbidden. Our fireplaces are now only elaborate conversation pieces. (which is an actual new compound word I learned last weekend at a National Trust Property and have been dying to plug into use somewhere). (Ok, I may have actually used it 100 times this week. People around me tell me to shut up, in order to protect the public). What the hell, whilst I’m at it, here is a conversational piece:

description

The idea is that if you’re an 18c toff having dinner at the Manor, this cornucopia would hang in front. As every body has done the Grand Tour , this painting is your opening conversation gambit with the partner to your left, whom you haven’t met before. Just for the record, this has nothing to do with Lovecraft. Although, he might have liked it: he seems fond of travel.

The stories, then: verbose, vague, and full of people losing their minds over indescribable horrors. My personal preference was for an actual description of the object of horror, which Lovecraft only indulges sporadically. But when he does, it was definitely edge of the seat stuff. The Lurking Fear and The thing on the Doorstep particularly stand out, despite bringing dated concepts to the table. Its to Lovecraft’s credit that he kept me bated even though I knew what was coming: the horror genre has come a long way since 1920. The call of Cthulu was overlong and tedious, can’t see why it keeps getting voted up on the charts.

To be savoured intermittently for full effect.
(less)

10 likes · like · see review

Jan 20, 2013 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Last year I read "Tales," the H.P. Lovecraft collection put together by the Library of America. That was my first exposure to Lovecraft and it was fantastic. It included most of his best known and longer works. I figured the stories they had excluded were probably the best of the best. Were they? Well, for the most part, yes. But there are some gems out there. With that being said, here's my review of the rest of Lovecraft's writing:

The Tomb: Lovecraft's first published work. A creepy tale of a...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 19, 2013 David Webb rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

This is a very good collected works edition. I have the Kindle version. This edition was very well formated for the Kindle. It contains all of Lovecraft's stories. The active table of contents works very well. Everything is very well organized. To have such a good, well formatted ebook edition for only $3 is a very good deal. Great October reading from one of the masters of horror and suspense.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 01, 2012 Hydra Star rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: satanic-literature, all-time-favorites

What can I say about H.P. Lovecraft and his work that hasn’t been said a million times before?...nothing most likely, but here we go with a review anyway.

Lovecraft is a must read for anyone with an appreciation for horror or science fiction. He was a master story teller and the mythoses he created are so inspiring that there are people who have actually built religions around them. That’s some powerful stuff and this collection bring together all his solo works in a powerful way.

Does that mean t...more What can I say about H.P. Lovecraft and his work that hasn’t been said a million times before?...nothing most likely, but here we go with a review anyway.

Lovecraft is a must read for anyone with an appreciation for horror or science fiction. He was a master story teller and the mythoses he created are so inspiring that there are people who have actually built religions around them. That’s some powerful stuff and this collection bring together all his solo works in a powerful way.

Does that mean that the man and his work did not have flaws? Absolutely not. Lovecraft, much like the gods and creatures he wrote about, was a complex individual with conflicting thought processes. On the one hand it is clear from his writing that he prized logic and science over religion and superstition, even if usually superstition won the day in his stories. On the other hand, he also expressed a racist and classist attitude towards non-English, non-White, and non-upper class peoples.

Most of his main characters are from very well off families of old New England stock, able for months or even years to go without needing to hold a job while they pursued some occult obsession. All of them are male. However, throughout much of Lovecraft’s work it is the well-educated scientifically minded wealthy White males he writes as his leads that in the end are made the fools when the ‘silly’ superstitions of the ‘lower’ classes and races are proven out to be true and the main character realizes their disbelief and scoffing was a mistake only once it is too late. So, one must ask, honestly, was he painting even his own sort in a ‘good’ light?

There are some other aspects of Lovecraft’s style that I could nitpick about. For example, all too often situations and creatures are described as not being able to be described and characters state that they dare not tell all that they know. This gets a bit annoying and is often accompanied by someone having a fainting spell. However, over all his style is, as mentioned above, masterful. The only ‘problem’ I found with this collection that truly bothers me is that Lovecraft didn’t find time to write more during his lifetime.(less)

like · see review

Jun 01, 2013 Jim Dooley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The works of Lovecraft are an acquired taste...but, once acquired, so many of them are haunting. Yes, there are a number of "misses" as the author's craft develops and experiments aren't fully realized. The writings are also a reflection of the author's prejudices. While this may put off modern readers, there is no doubt that they make the characters (usually the narrators) seem more real. Lovecraft also had a fondness for archaic words, so the avid reader is likely to develop an expanded vocabu...more

like · see review

May 14, 2013 Miklos Hargitay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was fortunate to find this for .99 in the nook store and I am so glad I did. I had no exposure to Lovecraft and got the full Lovecraftian universe in all its glory-from Arkham, MA to Miskatonic U. to Cthulhu and even the Mad Arab and more. It was fascinating to note the consistent appearance of various lore, settings, and even characters throughout his stories, in such a way that made his works more entrancing.
Most of the stories were good but not significant or frightening in any way. Others...more

like · see review

Jan 13, 2013 Molly Ison rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: westeros-sff-book-list

I am rating this as an entire book, rather than an opinion of the author in general or of any given stories. And that may be the main problem I had with this book, or the main problem I have as a reader. When I get a book, I like to read it cover to cover. I don't like to quit books that I've started. So I read every story. If you don't have my compulsions, this would be a good reference book to HP Lovecraft. As a complete collection, one quickly discovers that Lovecraft is quite repetitive, bot...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 28, 2012 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If ever you need some non-euclidian, Cyclopean, eldritch, madness-inducing, un-nameable horror in your life, then Lovecraft is the man for you!

I hadn't read Lovecraft since high school, but I dove back in after playing Elder Signs dice game. he has a very singular style, very dry and repetitive - a one-trick pony, but what a trick!

I recently heard that Guillaume del Toro's pet project was a film version of At the Mountains of Madness which he had been working on for decades, but recently gave up...more

like · see review

Sep 11, 2012 Robin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have finished as much as I can for now. It's a good read and since it is a collection, seems to work best in small sips and bites.

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 31, 2013 Aleina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This was really something else. I got this book and read this book because of its tie to the boardgame Arkham Horror.
I'm really glad I did get this and read this. It was well worth the time and money (though I spent more time reading it than I initially expected). the book I got was beautiful, the stories were great, though some were very slow to start. My favorites in particular would be the Cats of Ulthar, At the Mountains of Madness, the Shadow over Innsmouth, the Colour out of Space, and th...more

like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Lucas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Chronological gradient of some real awful early work and the best horror ever put to paper.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 24, 2012 Rich Tate rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

This is quite possibly the easiest review of a book I’ll ever write.

Howard Phillip Lovecraft is the father of the modern horror genre as we know it today, being cited time after time by numerous contemporary masters of the craft. If you are a fan of Stephen King, Richard Matheson or any author of their ilk you owe it to yourself to read this collection.

Lovecraft is the master of odd, organic horror with an ethereal blend. These are literally the stories that bred countless nightmares throughout...more

like · see review

Apr 07, 2013 B J Burton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

H P Lovecraft is known as the master of horror. There is no need for me to comment on his writing, so this is a review of the quality of this Complete Works edition for Kindle. I have bought a lot of the Delphi Classics range and been very pleased with the quality of the production. Like a couple of the reviewers on Amazon I was initially taken aback by all of the punctuation and spelling errors in the first few, very short, stories - until I realised what I was reading.
These 'errors' are very e...more

like · see review

Nov 19, 2012 Andrew Barger rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Horror Fans

Lovecraft is often portrayed as the successor to Poe in the genre of short horror stories, but after reading Lovecraft's stories (and editing Edgar Allan Poe Annotated and Illustrated Entire Stories and Poems), I can tell you that he is no Poe. Lovecraft is much less a pioneer than Poe in both character and Gothic atmosphere. Lovecraft gave us the Cthulhu Mythos of cosmic horrors, of ancient horrors lying dormant, of horrors that transcend space and time and dimensions. He holds his rightful pla...more

like · see review

Apr 14, 2013 Knut Sigurd rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

Merknad: Denne opplistinga svarte ikkje heilt til uttrykksbehovet, så eg har like godt skrive ein bloggpost: Iä! Iä! Shub-Niggurath!

Neimen ikkje sikker på om eg kjem til å lese alt, men eg har no starta med Ctulhu-mytosen etter ein guide eg fann på avclub.com. Så eg har altså lest

The Call of Ctulhu
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Shadow out of Time
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Shadow over Innsmouth
At the Mountains of Madness

Så langt liker eg måten han bygger opp sogene på, med berr...more

like · see review

Apr 25, 2013 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: horror fans

Shelves: cthulhu, horror, 5-stars

Now that time has given us some perspective on his work, I think it is beyond doubt that H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.
-Stephen King

This is a collection of everything H. P. Lovecraft ever wrote, arranged as an ebook in chronological order and internally linked to make it easy to jump to any individual story. It's available for free at Cthulhuchick's website.

And you should definitely download it. Lovecraft's inf...more

like · see review

Jan 01, 2013 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Disclosure: I picked up a free copy formatted for Nook on CthulhuChick.com. You can pick up a Kindle copy at the same place.

Synopsis: The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft contains all the original stories which Lovecraft wrote as an adult. It begins in 1917 with “The Tomb” and ends in 1935 with his last original work “The Haunter of the Dark.” The book is ordered chronologically by the date the story was written. Because Lovecraft was a terrible businessman and left no heirs to his intellectual...more

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 01, 2013 Shaun Baker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-story-collections

I really enjoy Lovecraft's stories and ideas. I think they capture a very specific moment in the history of fiction that really appeals to me - the pulp movement of the 20's and 30's is the source of a lot of my favorite authors (Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard chief among them).

The Tomb (1917) ***
Dagon (1917) ****
Polaris (1918) **
Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1919) ****
Memory (1919) **
Old Bugs (1919) **
The Transition of Juan Romero (1919) ***
The White Ship (1919) **
The Doom That Came to Sarnath (191...more

like · see review

Jul 30, 2012 W.E. Linde rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Master of Madness: Review of The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft

If you have any inclination toward horror or classic authors, you've probably at least heard snippets of H.P. Lovecraft's literary legacy. Strange words like Cthulhu and the Necronomicon have worked their way into a horror subculture that has endured for nearly a century now. I've heard that there are some devotees who claim that the forbidden tome Necronomicon is an actual book. I tell you, that's a legacy,

I had never read any...more The Master of Madness: Review of The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft

If you have any inclination toward horror or classic authors, you've probably at least heard snippets of H.P. Lovecraft's literary legacy. Strange words like Cthulhu and the Necronomicon have worked their way into a horror subculture that has endured for nearly a century now. I've heard that there are some devotees who claim that the forbidden tome Necronomicon is an actual book. I tell you, that's a legacy,

I had never read any of this master horror writer's work before. But as I mentioned in my review of The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, I'm making a point to read more classics. This particular collection is a well put together eBook, compiled by CthulhuChick.com, that publishes Lovecraft's non-collaborative short story writings from 1917 - 1935.

Lovecraft creates an amazing mythology over the course of nearly two decades. Ageless horrors that transcend time and space lie at the core of a majority of his stories. Various daemons haunt the deep, dark places of the earth (often popping up in New England), and spill over into our realm. His true skill lay in placing his characters, and therefore the reader, in the midst of horror that transcends understanding, thereby amplifying that horror. What I mean is, Lovecraft knew that true terror comes from the unknown. His protagonists are confronted with ancient evils and cults that often predate the creation of the earth, creating a fearful sense that one is battling something that is not fully understood. This magnifies the tension, and is a hallmark of H.P. Lovecraft.

I loved most of the stories in this collection. To my surprise, I was disappointed with two of his signature stories, The Call of Cthulhu, and At The Mountains of Madness. I don't believe in spoilers, but I feel that the former was anticlimactic, and the latter violated his trademark mastery of the unknown: he gives away too much. One of the longer stories, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, became almost unbearable for me. But aside from some stumbles, there is authentic horror in this book, and lavish writing. Some may get turned off by the descriptions, and I doubt that Lovecraft intended anyone to read these back to back as I did. Some of his favorite descriptors became predictable and annoying (he loves to describe "gabled roofs", "cosmic gulfs", and the like). But I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for horror done right.

I feel compelled to add an unfortunate note that I'm sure Lovecraft stalwarts will groan over, but I would be remiss to mention. As I read through these short stories, occasional elements would crop up that were unsettling, in that they came across as incredibly racist. The first time this occurred, I shook my head and thought it may have been a singular reference that had some other meaning in the early twentieth century. But then after a few more such story elements, usually names or unflattering descriptions of some races, I had to do some digging. Sure enough, Lovecraft had well established reputation as a racist, which was more evident in some letters of his that have been published.

My purpose in mentioning it here is just to let the reader know that, though Lovecraft was without a doubt an incredible writer, capable of powerful and dark horror, there are flies in the ointment. As a horror writer, Lovecraft's legacy is secured. But I think it is impossible to completely ignore some of the taint that was intentionally inserted in a few of the stories in this book.
(less)

like · see review

May 22, 2012 Nathan Shumate rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What? Three stars? Unfortunately, yes. In reading the entirety of Lovecraft's fictive output in chronological order (a more accurate title would be "The Complete Non-Collaborative/Ghostwritten Fiction Works of H.P. Lovecraft"), I've come both to appreciate more and criticize more his storytelling skill. I cannot deny that his often-used conceit of things which are so far beyond our conception of "evil" or "the supernatural" that they would challenge the sanity of a poor beknighted human who trie...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (17)

More editions...

Genres

Horror

108 users

Short Stories

32 users

Classics

26 users

Fantasy

26 users

Science Fiction

11 users

Lovecraftian > Cthulhu Mythos

5 users

Literature > American

4 users

Fantasy > Weird Fiction

4 users

Horror > Lovecraftian

4 users

Fantasy > Supernatural

4 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird
by Paula Guran (Editor)
The Mask of Cthulhu
by August Derleth
Hauntings and Other Fantastic Tales
by Vernon Lee
Occultation and Other Stories
by Laird Barron
Noctuary
by Thomas Ligotti

About H.P. Lovecraft

Howard 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...more

More about H.P. Lovecraft...

Books by H.P. Lovecraft

The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories

At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Complete Work...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from The Complete Works of ...

“Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men.” — 5 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft
avg rating	preview: The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft Goodreads rating: 4.33 (1509 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13562832-the-complete-works-of-h-p-lovecraft?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332865423l/13562832.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13562832-the-complete-works-of-h-p-lovecraft?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft by H.P. Lovecraft[/url]

The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website