The Dunwich Horror and Others
by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Robert Bloch
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1539)
Read in January, 2001
recommends it for:
Fans of "horror" and of horrific science fiction
Not well-appreciated in his own time, reclusive and eccentric New England writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft became a household word in the world of weird fiction after his death. His prose style was greatly influenced by Poe, and like Poe, he preferred natural causes for his horror ("supernatural," in one of the alternate titles listed above for this collection, means "uncanny" or "unearthly," not supernatural per se). While his genre was science fiction, he was wh...more
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Read in January, 1992
I've read the Lovecraft stories in this volume and others a bunch of times. I caution the reader, though, that every time I have recommended Lovecraft to an adult, the adult has scoffed at him as overblown and baroque. I don't disagree with this sentiment but I find that Lovecraft's self-conscious ornamentation adds rather than detracts from the world he creates. For historical reasons, Lovecraft is a must-read. He is generally credited as being the forerunner of modern horror and one of the...more
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H. P. Lovecraft is a peculiar writer. His stories are extremely predictable. The first-person narrator, a sober man of reason and science, will halfway through the story start noticing something odd about his surroundings: "It was almost as though [horrifying revelation from the end of the story], but I knew that could not be the case." And then, at the end, when all his reason has been denied, "It was then I knew the terrible truth: [horrifying revelation that we all guessed thi...more
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Read in September, 2000
recommends it for:
People who aren't afraid to look into the abyss ( because it might be looking back).
Lovecraft has put a name to my fears. He has explored fear with his language and uncovered what really rankles humanity: nothing. It is the unknown nothing, the something at the edge of the darkness, the idea that maybe we are alone or even more frightening, maybe we're not.
It has been said his dialogue is archaic and unformed and that certainly is a valid criticism, but his writing shines in other methods and the sense of grandeur, of dread, of vastness is captured perfectly.
I'll giv...more
It has been said his dialogue is archaic and unformed and that certainly is a valid criticism, but his writing shines in other methods and the sense of grandeur, of dread, of vastness is captured perfectly.
I'll giv...more
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Read in March, 2008
okay. so this is the third time i've read this book in the last 10 or 12 years, and every time, it almost feels completely new. it's just so dense that it takes a long time to read and what you absorb one time really only makes up a fraction of what you remember. maybe after reading it 3 or 4 more times, i'll remember certain stories in full. who knows.
either way, it's a wonderful book, and a great selection of lovecraft's work. it's dripping and oozing with paranoia, revulsion, and hor...more
either way, it's a wonderful book, and a great selection of lovecraft's work. it's dripping and oozing with paranoia, revulsion, and hor...more
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After years of hearing references to Lovecraft and the mythos he created, I finally decided to check it out. I'm about half way through this collection of short stories. It's easy to see how influential he's been to modern horror writers. For instance, many of his tales take place in or mention a city called Arkham, which might have inspired the creation of Stephen King's Castle Rock. The scope of the whole thing is actually pretty amazing. The stories themselves stand the test of time, and ...more
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Read in June, 2007
Lovecraft is one of the writers people tend to either obsess about or dismiss without a second glance. His writings vary tremendously, in terms of quality. Some of it is really horrible, actually, with absurdly "purple" prose and overwrought hysteria. But there are also really incredible stories among his work too, which conjure up fascinating mythology and alien races, as well leaving utterly disturbing images in the reader's imagination. "The Dreams in the Witch House" ...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Lovecraft fans
I tried reading this book about a year ago but, I ended up leaving it in my bio lab and I never saw it again. Fortunately, my roommate's boyfriend is a big Lovecraft fan and let me borrow his entire collection. I glad he did.
I enjoy a good horror story on occasion and Lovecraft's are ok. However, for every story that I read and enjoyed in this volume, there were two that I didn't. I found a lot of these stories very tedious and now that I think about it, those that I didn't like were the one...more
I enjoy a good horror story on occasion and Lovecraft's are ok. However, for every story that I read and enjoyed in this volume, there were two that I didn't. I found a lot of these stories very tedious and now that I think about it, those that I didn't like were the one...more
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Lovecraft has an annoying habit of not actually revealing his climactic moments in great detail a lot of the time. He does the "it could not be named...it could not be described...it drove men mad to look upon it!" thing. But that said, it kind of makes sense when you consider the time period he was writing in and the fact that his irrational, illogical, and supposedly incomprehensible storyscapes and monsters are a rebellion against the rational, scientific trend that was going on at ...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Sci-Fi, Fantasy fans, horror fans
This is a collection of H.P. Lovecraft's stories. Lovecraft is the most famous author you've never heard of. He is deemed one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. That said, this book is a good read but not all the stories.
Some of these stories are fantastic. "The Colour out of Space" gave me chills as I read it, even for the second time. But for every thought-provoking and dark horror piece, there's a formulaic one behind it. Sometimes they're frustrating in ...more
Some of these stories are fantastic. "The Colour out of Space" gave me chills as I read it, even for the second time. But for every thought-provoking and dark horror piece, there's a formulaic one behind it. Sometimes they're frustrating in ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
horror fans
I like this book against my will. Written by a racist, sexist, pretentious old coot who is more afraid of Africans than he is of the giant alien squid he has mythologized, I want to hate these stories because I can see the author in the subtext and I very personally and with vitriol dislike him.
But dammitall, even with the annoying pseudoarchaic writing style, I'm sucked into the stories, and they stay with me. Since I've been reading this book I've had more weird dreams. I've eaten m...more
But dammitall, even with the annoying pseudoarchaic writing style, I'm sucked into the stories, and they stay with me. Since I've been reading this book I've had more weird dreams. I've eaten m...more
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Well...I'm not at all a horror fan either in movies or in books, but Lovecraft was introduced to me by a friend when I was 18-ish and has had a deep impact on my mind. Maybe because I was working in an old 19th century brick building in the stormy darkness of late autumn while listening to some crazy music when I read it. Every year when it gets dark and windy I think of this book.
Lovecraft's writing is from the 1920's and consists of a mixture of dark science fiction and wh...more
Lovecraft's writing is from the 1920's and consists of a mixture of dark science fiction and wh...more
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This is the first collection of Lovecraft’s work I ever read, and it’s a great primer for someone interested in his fiction. The best of the stories include "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Colour out of Space," "The Dunwich Horror" (my personal favorite), "The Dreams in the Witch-House," "Pickman's Model," and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."
Several of the stories in the book have been translated to film. "The Call of Cthulhu&q...more
Several of the stories in the book have been translated to film. "The Call of Cthulhu&q...more
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For me, this is the ultimate measure of quality in horror writing. No one before or since has matched the atmospherics that Lovecraft employs in this collection of his short stories. Whereas more recent decades seem to confuse horror with violence and gore, Lovecraft had the good sense to acknowledge that the unknown is infinitely more terrifying than the known. If your only familiarity with the genre is Stephen King and similar writers, you have no idea what Lovecraft is like. Bring your di...more
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Read in June, 2006
Falling between two horror masters (in my opinion) Poe and King, Lovecraft takes a simple formula and to great effect creates terrifying and amazing landscapes. Although the language takes a bit of dictionary work to get used to, it's well worth it.
My favorite stories (I have two short story collection books, I can't remember if they are all in this one) are "The Colour Out of Space", "At the Mountains of Madness", "Shadow out of Time", "Whisper in the Dark&q...more
My favorite stories (I have two short story collection books, I can't remember if they are all in this one) are "The Colour Out of Space", "At the Mountains of Madness", "Shadow out of Time", "Whisper in the Dark&q...more
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Lovecraft was mediocre at description and terrible at dialogue, but his narration is great in its understated charm. He slowly leads you in on just what is going on in the story, and the full scope of it can dawn on you just at the end so that you go, "Whoa..."
"Ia! Ia! The Goat with a Thousand Young! Cthulhu f'thagn! Ia!" [descends into incoherent screaming]
Oh yeah, and if you have a problem with "accidentally racist" writers, there are a few Lovecraft stori...more
"Ia! Ia! The Goat with a Thousand Young! Cthulhu f'thagn! Ia!" [descends into incoherent screaming]
Oh yeah, and if you have a problem with "accidentally racist" writers, there are a few Lovecraft stori...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
classic horror fans
I'm embarrassed to say that I only started reading Lovecraft recently but I don't think I would have enjoyed his creepy tales of eldritch horror as much if I had read them when I was younger... it takes a sense of historical perspective to realize how radical his stuff was. He was a man ahead of his time but it may be hard to see it since so much of his style has been co-opted by those who came after. Stephan King, Mike Mignola, Sam Rami, Metallica (to name but a few)… books, comics, movies, m...more
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This was the first Lovecraft book I read and the collection that made him my favorite author. He would probably hate the titles that editors have since given to his collections of short stories. I wouldn't really call any of his stories "bloodcurdling" or horrific. They are more like dark, suspenseful tales that combine fantasy and some sci-fi elements. Not sci-fi like Star Trek, but some of the elements of his stories arise from outer space or other dimensions. He combines scienc...more
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If you're expecting the kind of horror found in movies like Saw then stay the hell away from this book -- you won't be pleased. If, however, you are expecting the kind of horror that nearly drives you mad, the kind of horror that compels you to look under your bed at night or quickly scamper up the stairs, then this is the book for you.
H.P. Lovecraft has the twisted-tale down to a science. He weaves his tales much like a serial killer would go about the task of dismembering their vict...more
H.P. Lovecraft has the twisted-tale down to a science. He weaves his tales much like a serial killer would go about the task of dismembering their vict...more
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The world is finally acknowledging the HPL as a world class writer. His impact on horror fiction is so far-reaching.
Sure, some of his writing is kinda stilted, but it is with that stilted, antiquarian language that he slowly draws you into a dark, dark world.
Oddly, one of his "nicest" works, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, is one of my favorites. That a humans dreams could be so compelling even the Gods are drawn into it is - breath-taking.
Perhaps the idea that the cold, cru...more
Sure, some of his writing is kinda stilted, but it is with that stilted, antiquarian language that he slowly draws you into a dark, dark world.
Oddly, one of his "nicest" works, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, is one of my favorites. That a humans dreams could be so compelling even the Gods are drawn into it is - breath-taking.
Perhaps the idea that the cold, cru...more
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