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31st out of 78 books
—
8 voters
Herbert West: Reanimator
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, known then simply as weird fiction. His major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. He has deve...more
Paperback, 48 pages
Published
October 1st 2008
by Dodo Press
(first published 1922)
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Aug 23, 2012
Katy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of movie "Reanimator"; fans of Lovecraft; fans of the weird & bizarre
Note: This story is part of The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft, made available in ebook format at CthulhuChick.com.
Synopsis: The narrator tells the story, in multiple vignettes, of Herbert West's obsessive quest to reanimate the recently dead.
My Thoughts: When I lived in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, my husband at the time and I developed an obsession with B-movies of all ilk, watching them for hours. Among those we particularly enjoyed were the "Reanimator" series of films, based upon this short s...more
Synopsis: The narrator tells the story, in multiple vignettes, of Herbert West's obsessive quest to reanimate the recently dead.
My Thoughts: When I lived in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, my husband at the time and I developed an obsession with B-movies of all ilk, watching them for hours. Among those we particularly enjoyed were the "Reanimator" series of films, based upon this short s...more
6 likes · like · see review
view all 10 comments
This would have been a 5 star rating, but for a slightly irritating narrative technique that Lovecraft used.
Each different chapter seems to recap the basic premise, in a similar fashion to some modern day tv programmes: "Before the break..." etc
Now this may be due to the fact that it was initially serialised in some publication, a fact which has just occurred ot me at the point of writing this, so maybe I'll just shut up on the subject!
That aside, the story is quite compelling. The idea of zombi...more
Each different chapter seems to recap the basic premise, in a similar fashion to some modern day tv programmes: "Before the break..." etc
Now this may be due to the fact that it was initially serialised in some publication, a fact which has just occurred ot me at the point of writing this, so maybe I'll just shut up on the subject!
That aside, the story is quite compelling. The idea of zombi...more
1 like · like · see review
The brilliant Herbert West is a medical student. His fellow student chronicles his rise and subsequent fall into disgrace as his theories devolve into hideous experiments to reanimate the dead!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Creepy story. Some real moments of horror in it.
Why did I not like this more?
Because Lovecraft backs up and goes over the same ground again and again in this story. It begins to feel like he started the story, then re-started it and came at it many times from various angle...more
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Creepy story. Some real moments of horror in it.
Why did I not like this more?
Because Lovecraft backs up and goes over the same ground again and again in this story. It begins to feel like he started the story, then re-started it and came at it many times from various angle...more
Lighthearted.
Fun.
Zany.
This story is all of these compared to his more verbose stories.
That suits my tastes just fine.
Fun.
Zany.
This story is all of these compared to his more verbose stories.
That suits my tastes just fine.
I'm in the middle of it after 3 chapters. I've seen the movie before, but thankfully mostly forgot about it -- though I remember it being set in more modern times rather than Miskaton University in the very first decades of the 1900's.
This is a Lovecraftian take on Frankenstein, but with a bit more scientific rigour into it -- namely, Lovecraft questions what would happen if you could bring back the dead to life after cells and synapses in the brain rot. The result is well-known: this tale faith...more
This is a Lovecraftian take on Frankenstein, but with a bit more scientific rigour into it -- namely, Lovecraft questions what would happen if you could bring back the dead to life after cells and synapses in the brain rot. The result is well-known: this tale faith...more
"H.P. Lovecraft. Toda a gente já ouviu falar deste génio da literatura do horror. Provavelmente, já viram algum filme de terror baseado em criações dele, ou algo deste género. Mas o que é que já leram dele?
Herbert West: Reanimador é um pequeno livro que, a juntar a este conto, tem ainda Celephais e A Oliveira. Pareceu-me uma boa ideia na minha exploração de Lovecraft. Sendo esta a minha primeira experiência lida deste autor, estava com grandes expectativas, construídas a partir de todo o mito ci...more
Herbert West: Reanimador é um pequeno livro que, a juntar a este conto, tem ainda Celephais e A Oliveira. Pareceu-me uma boa ideia na minha exploração de Lovecraft. Sendo esta a minha primeira experiência lida deste autor, estava com grandes expectativas, construídas a partir de todo o mito ci...more
Reading a smattering of Lovecraft as research for a contest.
Also read: "The Shunned House"
"The Cats of Ulthar"
"Nyarahellospellingnightmareotep"
Breezed through: "Cool Air"
I'm trying not to judge him too harshly, since I bet most of my problem with his writing is that his ideas have been re-treaded so many times, better, at later dates. Some good ideas, but I just keep thinking: "Just like Mary Shelley, only not as good. Or Poe, only really not as good. Or Stephen King, only archaic."
Also, HO LEE...more
Also read: "The Shunned House"
"The Cats of Ulthar"
"Nyarahellospellingnightmareotep"
Breezed through: "Cool Air"
I'm trying not to judge him too harshly, since I bet most of my problem with his writing is that his ideas have been re-treaded so many times, better, at later dates. Some good ideas, but I just keep thinking: "Just like Mary Shelley, only not as good. Or Poe, only really not as good. Or Stephen King, only archaic."
Also, HO LEE...more
Probably the best audiobook presentation I have ever listened to. Combs is amazing.
For this book to be frightening, I had to put my mind back in Lovecraft's time, where reanimating the dead was still viewed as an unholy and abyssal practice. The story centers around Herbert West and his obsession with reanimating the dead, but through a series of trial and errors that leave several of these walking corpses "alive" in the world to haunt him.
Great depiction of a "evil genius" archetype done completely right, Herbert West is viewed as an eccentric but completely believable charac...more
Great depiction of a "evil genius" archetype done completely right, Herbert West is viewed as an eccentric but completely believable charac...more
H.P. Lovecraft é considerado como um dos grandes mestres da fantasia e do horror gótico. Uma leitura absorvente e fantástica.
Os dois maravilhosos contos seguintes que compõem este pequeno livro são 'Celephais' e 'A Oliveira'. O primeiro é sobre um homem que sonha com uma deslumbrante cidade, na qual, por fim, se torna o rei. 'A Oliveira' descreve a amizade entre dois escultores. Após a morte de um deles, o amigo enterra junto ao seu sepulcro uma oliveira.
Os dois maravilhosos contos seguintes que compõem este pequeno livro são 'Celephais' e 'A Oliveira'. O primeiro é sobre um homem que sonha com uma deslumbrante cidade, na qual, por fim, se torna o rei. 'A Oliveira' descreve a amizade entre dois escultores. Após a morte de um deles, o amigo enterra junto ao seu sepulcro uma oliveira.
The second bit of Lovecraft I've checked out recently. Not as compelling as The Call of Cthulhu, but still a fun read - especially as a big fan of the movie adaptation. If you have seen the 1985 film, then this story is going to seem pretty tame (no exploding entrails or severed heads going down on hapless women). Still, it was interesting to see familiar themes, details, and plot points from the first two movies, as originally envisioned by Lovecraft.
As usual, I'm not a big fan of Lovecraft's first person 'looking back over the years' style of narration. For me, it depletes the scenes of almost all atmosphere, urgency and tension, despite some moderately creepy imagery now and then. Besides, he had a great chance for an unreliable narrator here, and he fluffed it.
Presumably this was originally released periodically, as each chapter begins with a few paragraphs of recap.
Presumably this was originally released periodically, as each chapter begins with a few paragraphs of recap.
This story was the inspiration behind the movie Reanimator. (Thank you Mr. Combs). Lovecrafts take on bringing back the dead, a mad scientist and the people (narrator) and other dr who get caught up in the insanity.
Just reread this yesterday. It's such an awesome story and I loved it more reading it again. West gets a little carried away with his experiments but he has such a great idea. Give the man a lab!
Just reread this yesterday. It's such an awesome story and I loved it more reading it again. West gets a little carried away with his experiments but he has such a great idea. Give the man a lab!
This is definitely one of my most favorite Lovecraft stories. "Reanimator" is more classicly horrific than many of Lovecraft's other works. There is a frankenstein/zombie motif with the amazing tone and truly terrifying prose that is only mastered by Lovecraft. The characters of Herbert West is incredibly real and just as scary as the horrors he creates. I'm sure that I will read this every October.
Apr 26, 2013
Shamus
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovecraft Fans
Shelves:
grimdark
A point often raised by others, with each chapter came a small re-cap of the previous. I did not necessarily mind this, but the method became tiresome through the latter chapters.
Of COURSE, if you go and research the book, this was actually an episodic of sorts, as Lovecraft was only being paid $5 for each one made. He personally didn't like the work done on it, but I beg to differ.
This is also a very good book to listen to as well. I'd recommend one to listen to it on Spotify if given the chanc...more
Of COURSE, if you go and research the book, this was actually an episodic of sorts, as Lovecraft was only being paid $5 for each one made. He personally didn't like the work done on it, but I beg to differ.
This is also a very good book to listen to as well. I'd recommend one to listen to it on Spotify if given the chanc...more
A truly creepy horror novella by Lovecraft. I thought I'd read it years ago, but clearly hadn't, as so much of it surprised me. The ending, in true Lovecraft fashion, leads us to doubt the sanity of the author, so we don't know for certain whether events unfolded as he described them. Very different from the film by Stuart Gordon (though I recommend that, too).
This is one of Lovecraft's more quick paced stories. While its not a sprinter, the action doesn't drown in Lovecraft's tendency to over-elaborate. However, the language is still as beautiful as a reader would expect from Lovecraft, the mood is there and it's great for a pre-Halloween read.
Now this is creepy. I'd like to see a big screen adaptation of this one.
We get a few chapters in the life of Herbert West, a man who studies the possibility of raising the dead. He, of course, ends up creating zombies, but this whole thing is built up rather nicely by Lovecraft so you don't see what's really going to happen til the end, while at the same time you see West's slow decent into darkness.
We get a few chapters in the life of Herbert West, a man who studies the possibility of raising the dead. He, of course, ends up creating zombies, but this whole thing is built up rather nicely by Lovecraft so you don't see what's really going to happen til the end, while at the same time you see West's slow decent into darkness.
Very funny, by classic Poe-type author. Concise and much easier to read than a lot of Lovecraft's works. Fans of the movie should check this out, as the plot differs quite a bit. My favorite phrase is "corpse of a doubtful vintage". Hilarious.
Most of the people I've talked to about this argue that it is one of Lovecraft's lesser quality books. I would argue back that all of his stories are pretty pulpy in quality and shouldn't be treated like serious literature the way everyone seems to want to. He does Charles Dickens style writing where you can tell that he was being paid by the word (flowery to the max!)
Lovecraft is a very inventive story teller but I think that he doesn't do his concepts creative justice by writing in such a pul...more
Lovecraft is a very inventive story teller but I think that he doesn't do his concepts creative justice by writing in such a pul...more
This classic story was actually originally serialized in six parts, and I have to admit that each section was creepier than the last. The classic movie, Re-animator, was based on the first and second of these, and compare favorably with the stories. Very good and actually mildly humorous.
This was oddly written. Each section steps back and briefly restates what has happened to that point in the story. There was one scene in this story which was a bit too horrific I thought.
Este livrinho contém, além do conto titular, os contos Celephais e A Oliveira. HB:R, de horror, pareceu-me estranhamente deslocado do que já li do autor. Este tem muito pouco de misterioso e subtil, é tão in-your-face que consegue tornar enfadonho um final que deveria ser horripilante e tal. Celephais é engraçado porque me fez lembrar a história da Vendedora de Fósforos, é curto, adocicado, e fica no cantinho da memória. A Oliveira é uma espécie de lenda à maneira clássica, que tem lugar precisa...more
Nunca tinha lido nada deste autor mas devo dizer que me cativou!
É uma história de terror sobre um médico e do seu amigo que decidem fazer experiências para reanimar corpos de pessoas recentemente falecidas.
A imaginação atribuída à história, as descrições terroríficas dessas experiências de tal modo que parece que participamos nas mesmas, o medo que começa a invadir o amigo de Herbest são factores-chave neste livro!
Vou com certeza ler mais livros deste escritor e recomendo aos fãs de histórias de...more
É uma história de terror sobre um médico e do seu amigo que decidem fazer experiências para reanimar corpos de pessoas recentemente falecidas.
A imaginação atribuída à história, as descrições terroríficas dessas experiências de tal modo que parece que participamos nas mesmas, o medo que começa a invadir o amigo de Herbest são factores-chave neste livro!
Vou com certeza ler mais livros deste escritor e recomendo aos fãs de histórias de...more
Such a fantastic horror story about the limits of science and its relationship with death.
Very creepy and well written, just not the best Lovecraft I've read so far
Una de mis historias favoritas de Lovecraft, deliciosamente cómica y oscura.
Apr 14, 2011
Lola
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Horror fans
Recommended to Lola by:
Stephen King
I was surprised at how gruesome and grosteque this story was as it was written quite awhile ago. Lovecraft is an amazingly talented author and I can cleary see where a lot of the horror writers get their inspiration from. I also love that this was where Bob Kane took the idea of Arkham Asylum from, makes the reading more enjoyable being a Batman fan. The zombies in the novel were more frightening then any other story or film I have seen and it was really hard to put the book down.
This story gave me so many nightmares I had to stop reading H.P. Lovecraft.
Incrível. A melhor história de Lovecraft que li por enquanto!
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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...
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
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