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Lovecraft Short Stories
H.P. Lovecraft was the inventor of cosmic horror, of weird fiction and the Cthulhu mythology. His stories, incubated by a lonely and febrile childhood, found purchase in the fertile earth of pulp fiction where he inspired many other writers, from Robert E. Howard, to Robert Bloch and Clark Ashton Smith, many of whom also collaborated on the several short stories, some of which are also included here, in this special deluxe edition.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2017
131 people are currently reading
824 people want to read
About the author
S.T. Joshi
795 books455 followersSunand Tryambak Joshi is an Indian American literary scholar, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors. Besides what some critics consider to be the definitive biography of Lovecraft (H. P. Lovecraft: A Life, 1996), Joshi has written about Ambrose Bierce, H. L. Mencken, Lord Dunsany, and M.R. James, and has edited collections of their works.
His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question; his The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.
Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.
In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.
Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.
In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.
Joshi, who lives with his wife in Moravia, New York, has stated on his website that his most noteworthy achievements thus far have been his biography of Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life and The Weird Tale.
His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question; his The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.
Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.
In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.
Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.
In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.
Joshi, who lives with his wife in Moravia, New York, has stated on his website that his most noteworthy achievements thus far have been his biography of Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life and The Weird Tale.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 10, 2021
I feel like anthologies are not the best way to experience Lovecraft (the same with Edgar Allan Poe), unless you are an experienced reader of his style. It gets too heavy and I feel like I would have had a better experience if I spaced these stories more. There were a few short stories I enjoyed, but I admit that most of them are now intertwined in my head in a great intergalactic mess.
The haunting atmosphere was captivating throughout the book, however At the Mountains of Madness is by far my favorite story and unfortunately it isn’t complete in this edition.
Anyways, H. P. Lovecraft is indisputably a master of this genre (although a terrible person, but I have always been in favor of separating the artist from the art). I am curious to see if there is a movie or a short film which succeeded in transcribing these great concepts and feelings of unease and inadequacy.
The haunting atmosphere was captivating throughout the book, however At the Mountains of Madness is by far my favorite story and unfortunately it isn’t complete in this edition.
Anyways, H. P. Lovecraft is indisputably a master of this genre (although a terrible person, but I have always been in favor of separating the artist from the art). I am curious to see if there is a movie or a short film which succeeded in transcribing these great concepts and feelings of unease and inadequacy.
August 22, 2020
I liked this partial collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories, but
Something to be aware of is that one of the stories is not all there!
'At the Mountains of Madness' , it only has Chapters I & II, which I don't understand why they did that, I think It would have been better to have left it out all together or used a different story.
The non Lovecraft written stories were excellent, and the book itself was excellent quality.
Something to be aware of is that one of the stories is not all there!
'At the Mountains of Madness' , it only has Chapters I & II, which I don't understand why they did that, I think It would have been better to have left it out all together or used a different story.
The non Lovecraft written stories were excellent, and the book itself was excellent quality.
August 26, 2020
Esta é uma coletânea que conta com 35 contos do mestre do horror cósmico H. P. Lovecraft, além de histórias de autores que se passam no universo lovecraftiano: "A Pedra Negra" e "A Coisa no Telhado", de Robert E. Howard; "Os Caçadores do Além", de Clark Ashton Smith; e "O Errante das Estrelas", de Robert Bloch.
Apesar deste livro ser em inglês, a maioria desses contos podem ser encontrados na nossa língua, pois são bem conhecidos entre os leitores que gostam de terror e que são familiarizados com as obras de Lovecraft.
Essa edição, em particular, é lindíssima! Mas o seu maior destaque, pra mim, é como, ao final de cada conto, encontramos referências de outras histórias - uma ótima maneira para quem quer estudar mais desse universo lovecraftiano compartilhado.
Alguns de seus contos mais essenciais são encontrados aqui: "O Chamado de Cthulhu", "Dagon", "Nyarlathotep" - aquelas tramas próprias para que o leitor iniciante explore mais os mitos de Cthulhu, as criaturas interdimensionais e o horror construído pelo autor.
Esta leitura foi uma jornada árdua, gostosa e revoltante (tudo ao mesmo tempo!): enquanto alguns escritos são mais complicados, não tanto pelo linguajar, mas por serem longos, descritivos, e lotados de imagens psicodélicas (como "Nas Montanhas da Loucura"), outros, que eu nem conhecia, se tornaram favoritos por me causarem muitos arrepios e um medo do desconhecido e do inominável ("Um Sussurro nas Trevas", "Ar Frio", "O Intruso", etc...).
É importante ressaltar que é difícil não se sentir chocado e enojado com a maior parte dessas tramas, não por conta dos enredos, mas devido aos preconceitos que sangram por toda as criações de Lovecraft, já que tantas formas de intolerância estão presentes em seus livros (e até mesmo na composição de seus seres mitológicos - que representam tudo que difere do escritor).
No final das contas, percebemos que, esteticamente, o trabalho do autor é incrível... Mas seria ainda mais se não tivesse essa carga horrível de preconceitos.
Mais resenhas no instagram literário @livre_em_livros
Apesar deste livro ser em inglês, a maioria desses contos podem ser encontrados na nossa língua, pois são bem conhecidos entre os leitores que gostam de terror e que são familiarizados com as obras de Lovecraft.
Essa edição, em particular, é lindíssima! Mas o seu maior destaque, pra mim, é como, ao final de cada conto, encontramos referências de outras histórias - uma ótima maneira para quem quer estudar mais desse universo lovecraftiano compartilhado.
Alguns de seus contos mais essenciais são encontrados aqui: "O Chamado de Cthulhu", "Dagon", "Nyarlathotep" - aquelas tramas próprias para que o leitor iniciante explore mais os mitos de Cthulhu, as criaturas interdimensionais e o horror construído pelo autor.
Esta leitura foi uma jornada árdua, gostosa e revoltante (tudo ao mesmo tempo!): enquanto alguns escritos são mais complicados, não tanto pelo linguajar, mas por serem longos, descritivos, e lotados de imagens psicodélicas (como "Nas Montanhas da Loucura"), outros, que eu nem conhecia, se tornaram favoritos por me causarem muitos arrepios e um medo do desconhecido e do inominável ("Um Sussurro nas Trevas", "Ar Frio", "O Intruso", etc...).
É importante ressaltar que é difícil não se sentir chocado e enojado com a maior parte dessas tramas, não por conta dos enredos, mas devido aos preconceitos que sangram por toda as criações de Lovecraft, já que tantas formas de intolerância estão presentes em seus livros (e até mesmo na composição de seus seres mitológicos - que representam tudo que difere do escritor).
No final das contas, percebemos que, esteticamente, o trabalho do autor é incrível... Mas seria ainda mais se não tivesse essa carga horrível de preconceitos.
Mais resenhas no instagram literário @livre_em_livros
October 26, 2021
Not a complete collection. "At the mountains of madness" is incomplete. Nice quality production but an incomplete core lovecraft story was a negative for me. I read most of his works digitally and this WAS meant to be my hardcopy. It has since been replaced and this one was gifted to a newcomer of HPL.
October 15, 2022
Vissa noveller var bättre än andra. Jag hade svårt att hitta någon spänning i de flesta. Det hände inte så mycket, utan det var bara en massa beskrivningar. Såklart fanns den gotiska, mystiska känslan i novellerna, men själva "berättartekniken" var inte min favorit.
April 5, 2022
Honestly more of a 2,5
Favorites (4/5)
- Polaris
- The temple
- The picture in the house
- The music of Erich Zane
- The shadow over Innsmouth
- The thing on the doorstep
Favorites (4/5)
- Polaris
- The temple
- The picture in the house
- The music of Erich Zane
- The shadow over Innsmouth
- The thing on the doorstep
May 18, 2020
Book Quality
----------
3/5
Overall: This book is a very good value since it can be had from Halfprice Books for $7 USD.
Cover: The cover design is a bit gauche, with embossing and lots of foil print. Taste aside, the cover fails the longevity test. The foil print easily rubs off. The endpapers are quite nice.
Binding: This is a proper machine-made hollow spine binding with sewn signatures. You would expect some junk perfectbind at this price, so this is a very pleasant surprise.
Paper: Apparently this is where the money was saved, as the paper is very cheap. Nigh translucent.
Layout: The layout sucks. The margins and linespacing are way too small. Font size probably too small also. It makes a very dense text block. It is up to the reader whether these choices are good or not since you may value this trade-off resulting in a smaller book. Personally I prefer prioritizing the readability of the text block.
Book Content
-----------
3/5
This collection has some good things going for it. For starters, an intro from S.T. Joshi. It is not controversial to claim him the world's foremost expert on both Lovecraft the man, and his writings.
The selections are ordered chronologically by the times they were penned. Surely the best way to study the development of an author's style and skills. Also included are a few stories from Lovecraft's contemporaries, ostensibly to provide some examples of how HPL shared his mythos with other writers. The back of the book contains very short biographies of all these persons I have mentioned. Additionally, they printed a list of the contained stories with the dates of their authorship as well as how they were first published. A nice detail.
Overall I'd say this is a nice anthology. The only reason I don't rate it higher is its seemingly arbitrary selection of stories and finding the dense text block outright difficult to read.
Who Should Buy This?
This is a good choice for someone who wants to casually read some Lovecraft stories.
Who Should Not Buy This?
Dedicated cosmic horror or HPL enthusiasts will probably not find a strong enough niche that this book fulfills.
----------
3/5
Overall: This book is a very good value since it can be had from Halfprice Books for $7 USD.
Cover: The cover design is a bit gauche, with embossing and lots of foil print. Taste aside, the cover fails the longevity test. The foil print easily rubs off. The endpapers are quite nice.
Binding: This is a proper machine-made hollow spine binding with sewn signatures. You would expect some junk perfectbind at this price, so this is a very pleasant surprise.
Paper: Apparently this is where the money was saved, as the paper is very cheap. Nigh translucent.
Layout: The layout sucks. The margins and linespacing are way too small. Font size probably too small also. It makes a very dense text block. It is up to the reader whether these choices are good or not since you may value this trade-off resulting in a smaller book. Personally I prefer prioritizing the readability of the text block.
Book Content
-----------
3/5
This collection has some good things going for it. For starters, an intro from S.T. Joshi. It is not controversial to claim him the world's foremost expert on both Lovecraft the man, and his writings.
The selections are ordered chronologically by the times they were penned. Surely the best way to study the development of an author's style and skills. Also included are a few stories from Lovecraft's contemporaries, ostensibly to provide some examples of how HPL shared his mythos with other writers. The back of the book contains very short biographies of all these persons I have mentioned. Additionally, they printed a list of the contained stories with the dates of their authorship as well as how they were first published. A nice detail.
Overall I'd say this is a nice anthology. The only reason I don't rate it higher is its seemingly arbitrary selection of stories and finding the dense text block outright difficult to read.
Who Should Buy This?
This is a good choice for someone who wants to casually read some Lovecraft stories.
Who Should Not Buy This?
Dedicated cosmic horror or HPL enthusiasts will probably not find a strong enough niche that this book fulfills.
January 18, 2022
The Tomb - 5 Stars
Dagon - 5 Stars
Polaris - 3.5 Stars
Beyond the Wall of Sleep - 5 Stars
The White Ship - 3.5 Stars
The Doom that Came to Sarnath - 4 Stars
The Statement of Randolph Carter - 4 Stars
The Cats of Ulthar - 4 Stars
The Temple - 4.5 Stars
From Beyond - 4.25 Stars
Nyarlathotep - 3 Stars
The Picture in the House - 5 Stars
The Nameless City - 4.5 Stars
The Outsider - 4 Stars
The Other Gods - 3 Stars
The Music of Erich Zann - 4 Stars
The Hound - 5 Stars
The Lurking Fear - 5 Stars
The Rats in the Walls - 5 Stars
The Unnamable - 3 Stars
The Festival - 3.5 Stars
The Shunned House - 5 Stars
Cool Air - 4 Stars
The Call of Cthulhu - 5 Stars
Pickman’s Model - 5 Stars
The Strange High House in the Mist - 5 Stars
The Colour Out of Space - 5 Stars
The Dunwich Horror - 5 Stars
The Whisperer in Darkness - 4.5 Stars
The Black Stone by Robert E. Howard - 4 Stars
The Thing on the Roof by Robert E. Howard - 3 Stars
At the Mountains of Madness - 5 Stars
The Hunters from Beyond by Clark Ashton Smith - 4 Stars
The Shadow Over Innsmouth - 5 Stars
The Dreams in the Witch House - 5 Stars
The Thing on the Doorstep - 5 Stars
The Shadow out of Time - 5 Stars
The Shambler from the Stars by Robert Bloch - 3 Stars
The Haunter of the Dark - 5 Stars
Dagon - 5 Stars
Polaris - 3.5 Stars
Beyond the Wall of Sleep - 5 Stars
The White Ship - 3.5 Stars
The Doom that Came to Sarnath - 4 Stars
The Statement of Randolph Carter - 4 Stars
The Cats of Ulthar - 4 Stars
The Temple - 4.5 Stars
From Beyond - 4.25 Stars
Nyarlathotep - 3 Stars
The Picture in the House - 5 Stars
The Nameless City - 4.5 Stars
The Outsider - 4 Stars
The Other Gods - 3 Stars
The Music of Erich Zann - 4 Stars
The Hound - 5 Stars
The Lurking Fear - 5 Stars
The Rats in the Walls - 5 Stars
The Unnamable - 3 Stars
The Festival - 3.5 Stars
The Shunned House - 5 Stars
Cool Air - 4 Stars
The Call of Cthulhu - 5 Stars
Pickman’s Model - 5 Stars
The Strange High House in the Mist - 5 Stars
The Colour Out of Space - 5 Stars
The Dunwich Horror - 5 Stars
The Whisperer in Darkness - 4.5 Stars
The Black Stone by Robert E. Howard - 4 Stars
The Thing on the Roof by Robert E. Howard - 3 Stars
At the Mountains of Madness - 5 Stars
The Hunters from Beyond by Clark Ashton Smith - 4 Stars
The Shadow Over Innsmouth - 5 Stars
The Dreams in the Witch House - 5 Stars
The Thing on the Doorstep - 5 Stars
The Shadow out of Time - 5 Stars
The Shambler from the Stars by Robert Bloch - 3 Stars
The Haunter of the Dark - 5 Stars
December 31, 2021
Me gusta leer terror aunque rara vez puedo decir que realmente me hagan sentir miedo o incomodidad de algún tipo, este fue mi primer acercamiento a Lovecraft e inteligentemente decidí comprar una antología y en inglés.
¿Cuál es el problema con eso? Número uno, leer antologías me cuesta trabajo porque cuando ya estoy entrando en situación cambias de cuento a algo distinto, problema especialmente evidente en la primera mitad del libro. Problema número dos, Lovecraft es un autor clásico, viejo y aunque leerlo en inglés, su idioma nativo, te permite apreciar su escritura también lo vuelve una lectura muy pesada.
Empecé este libro en septiembre y lo terminé a finales de Diciembre, luego de un bloqueo lector de 3 meses. La primera mitad del libro me pareció increíblemente pesada, los cuentos variaban de temática y locación de una forma veloz y sin relación aparente, me tomó casi 200 páginas tomar un ritmo consistente.
Sin embargo, a partir del cuento "The Color out of Space" empecé a encontrar el gusto y el ritmo, especialmente ya que empezó a centrarse en un área específica, repetir locaciones, lo que me permitía trazar una línea mental de los hechos.
Puedo admitir sin temor a equivocarme que Lovecraft es de los pocos autores que ha puesto una imagen mental en mi cabeza lo suficientemente desagradable para incomodarme o hacerme sentir escalofríos, sus descripciones son tan detalladas que realmente te hace sentir que algo así podría suceder o al menos existir.
¿Cuál es el problema con eso? Número uno, leer antologías me cuesta trabajo porque cuando ya estoy entrando en situación cambias de cuento a algo distinto, problema especialmente evidente en la primera mitad del libro. Problema número dos, Lovecraft es un autor clásico, viejo y aunque leerlo en inglés, su idioma nativo, te permite apreciar su escritura también lo vuelve una lectura muy pesada.
Empecé este libro en septiembre y lo terminé a finales de Diciembre, luego de un bloqueo lector de 3 meses. La primera mitad del libro me pareció increíblemente pesada, los cuentos variaban de temática y locación de una forma veloz y sin relación aparente, me tomó casi 200 páginas tomar un ritmo consistente.
Sin embargo, a partir del cuento "The Color out of Space" empecé a encontrar el gusto y el ritmo, especialmente ya que empezó a centrarse en un área específica, repetir locaciones, lo que me permitía trazar una línea mental de los hechos.
Puedo admitir sin temor a equivocarme que Lovecraft es de los pocos autores que ha puesto una imagen mental en mi cabeza lo suficientemente desagradable para incomodarme o hacerme sentir escalofríos, sus descripciones son tan detalladas que realmente te hace sentir que algo así podría suceder o al menos existir.
November 7, 2018
I thought that this was a very good book. Lovecraft has some very interesting ideas which are conveyed in these stories. I also enjoy his suspense and the oddness of his writing. This said, I think that the stories followed a similar structure, but the details were differentiated, so it was not boring.
June 7, 2022
So interesting at times while also being a tough, dense read. You can tell how far ahead of his time Lovecraft was, and how unique the horror elements he used are. You have to be in a certain mood to read Lovecraft in my opinion due to his writing style, and I couldn’t read this for long periods of time in a single sitting. But there are still some great stories in this!
April 9, 2024
A real thought-provoking, thoroughly entertaining collection of short stories by the godfather of lovecraft horror. Stories were mixed in quality, with some getting slightly lost in metaphors and euphemism that it struggles to stay even somewhat grounded in HP's warped sense of reality. But when the stories were good, they were absolute masterpieces of abstract horror.
May 3, 2021
Lovecraft deserves his reputation. Cosmic horror is my new addiction. All the movie jumpscares and serial killer documentaries in the world couldn't make me feel even 1/10 of the existential dread I felt while reading Lovecraft.
January 1, 2020
I found I was not a fan
June 23, 2022
Great. I've learned lots of old English words too.
January 30, 2023
Obviously these were 100% re-reads for me, and I consider them my version of METV. They are where I go for the good ol' feel good tales!
July 16, 2023
Some short stories were a bit boring to me. I had to remember that for readers back then they were enthralling. Other stories had me hooked though!
September 4, 2024
Remarkable and impressive but not actually at all immersive. Lovecraft created scary scenarios but utterly failed at writing scary stories.
May 23, 2021
God, reading this was like pulling teeth at times. Lovecraft doesn't skimp on his descriptions, and it probably isn't the best idea to read so many of his short stories at once. The repetition starts to feel hypnotic and it wasn't always easy to keep reading. Regardless, I can't deny Lovecraft was a master of imagination, to an extent both admirable and awful.
June 13, 2020
So unsettling, but so good.
Want to read
March 17, 2019So far, I love The Tomb and Polaris, the doom that came to sarnath, the statement of randolph carter, the cats of ulthar, the temple
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews