The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, Vol 2

The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft #2

by H.P. Lovecraft, Wayne June (Narrator)

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, has been hailed by literary critics as the inventor of modern horror, and a cultivating force behind such modern writers as Robert Bloch (Psycho), Wes Craven (The Craft, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), and Stephen King (Pet Semetary, Carrie, Children of the Corn), just to name a few.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth - originally published in the winter of 1931 - and Dagon -originally published in the summer of 1917. The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dagon, arguably the most mind provoking stories by H. P. Lovercraft, are read by Wayne June (The Dunwich Horror and the Call Of Cthulhu) bringing to life the horrors from the mind of the Master himself, in a way that only he can. Approx. 3.5 Hours.

Runtime: 3 hours, 8 minutes, 32 seconds.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Short Stories, Classics, Horror Thriller

4 pages, Audio CD

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

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 series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.

Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

— Wikipedia

Reviews

[Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I always say when I review one of Lovecraft's books, they are a product of a SUPER racist guy, and some of those beliefs bleed through. However, given that fact, I believe it is possible to still appreciate the fact that these stories have a massive influence on modern horror.

That all being said, the main story in this volume seemed more overtly racist then most, so this one was harder to enjoy. The world-building was cool though.

[Rich Hasler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty incredible descriptions and suspense! Great October reading!

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, The Shadow over Innsmouth is so good. I truly wish I could enjoy it without seeing Lovecraft’s so very blatant racism, but he’s not even trying to hide it here.

The story itself though is such good horror — a disturbing place with bone deep horror and an earth shattering history that becomes all too personal. It’s so well done, and it’s easy to see why it’s become such a beloved classic of Lovecraft’s canon.

Dagon is one of his earlier works, and it reads almost like a first draft of the end of The Call of Cthulhu… for the time it was written, I’m sure it was excellent, but in context of the whole canon it seems lacking.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shadow over Innsmouth: This is one of my absolute favorite Lovecraft stories. It has all the good elements that Stephen King would later use to great effect: Normal (seeming) guy stumbles upon a strange small town and proceeds to uncover dark secrets at his own peril. The twist at the end always turns my blood cold!

Dagon: This one does have as much of a punch. Premise: Shipwrecked sailor stumbles upon a mysterious island and...sees...something...and then faints. It just feels like Lovecraft could have fleshed this one out a little bit more.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Cool story, but man it was weirdly racist at the beginning" I think I've hit upon the tag line for Lovecraft's work.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main story in this collection of two, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", gives an excellent creepy chill while maintaining a little distance for the horrible subjects it is about. Highly descriptive. I swear I smelled a fishy odor while reading it... The audio was done in an appropriately horror-ly manner. The second story was told in about 5 minutes and was forgettable in comparison.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovecraft is always amazing!

[Kereesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well.

That was fun.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first listen of The Shadow over Innsmouth, I think this is the preferred way to experience HP Lovecraft, reading HP Lovecraft is an endurance test. Highly recommended.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wayne June and H.P. Lovecraft go together like a wink and a smile. Like a pounce and a scream? Like a shamble and a moan? Anyway, this series of audiobooks of Lovecraft's stories are very well-performed. Some of you may know Mr. June from his work as the narrator of the computer game Darkest Dungeon, and he is equally excellent in this performance. Highly recommended for my friends who love ol' H.P., and for those of you who haven't read Lovecraft before, this series would be a good place to start, although not necessarily this volume. I'd probably start on volume five with "The Haunter of the Dark" and if that catches your interest, move on to others. This particular volume is just "Dagon", a very short, somewhat unremarkable story that is mostly just an exploration of an interesting setting, and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" which is very good and literally made me gasp at one point, but still probably isn't his best.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume contains The Shadow over Innsmouth and Dagon.

The Shadow over Innsmouth is my favourite Lovecraft work, hands down. So far, anyway. It paints a beautiful but grim picture of a quaint New England seaside town with terrible secrets. That appeals to me, as I come from a quaint fishing town, currently live in another, and work in yet another. The main character is doing genealogical research in this town, as well as historical research, and I too have significant interest in those two fields as well. As far as I know, I have not descended from underwater gods introduced to North America from South Seas islands by merchant traders, but I have also not exhausted my personal research either. :D

Lovecraft sets the scene so well in Innsmouth, but the twists and turns are hardly surprising in today's modern age, having seen the plot a hundred times in movies. Still, it's an entertaining story, which I intend to revisit time and again.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovecraft's trademark racism and cosmic horror is on full display here. Too bad there's not much substance.
The first story, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" has an intriguing concept and the most boring delivery of almost anything I've ever read. What a slog. Lovecraft has two characters (I think two but I zoned out for a long while) deliver PAGES (or long drawn out minutes if you listen to this) of exposition that muddle together into murky, incomprehensible horror and not of the Clthulu kind. (All hail the Old Ones.)
God it was SOOOO boring. Not even the finale of our protagonist fleeing fish people, which was actually good, could redeem the story.
"Dagon" is shorter and punchier and works so much better. No fluff, no extraneous dialogue. Just a character going mad and recounting the cause of his madness.

[Ryen James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horror over Innsmouth was probably one of the better stories I have read so far from H. P. Lovecraft. It was creepy. atmospheric, and had some great moments of suspense and action that I had not found present in some of Lovecraft's other work.

Dagon was passable through a bit short in terms of story. I liked but it definitely felt like a repeat of a lot of visual motifs he did much better in his other works. As Dagon is one of his earlier works in makes sense he was still working on his Nascent style.

Overall I thought this book was a decent entry in this collection through I enjoyed the original more.

[Ggcd1981⁷]

I don’t feel comfortable rating Lovecraft stories because the racism and xenophobia of the author shows on his work. But do I like his kind of atmospheric, out of this world Horror? Yes. The man could write bleak, gloomy atmosphere with touches of madness. However, I cannot recommend his stories without making it clear that at some points in his text you do see his racist and Xenophobic inclinations. There is no denying it. So BIG Trigger Warnings for those, though in recent editions of his works I can see the effort from editors to “clean” the offensive language.

[B.P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the disappointment of memory lane and the Goosebumps books I was recommended some Lovecraft and the library had this one so I gave it a try. It wasn't bad, I was debating between three and four stars and decided on three, it was good, just not quite to four stars for me. It rather reminded me of a twilight zone episode. I could envision the whole town and the layout as the main character was fleeing the fish people and the end of Shadow over Innsmouth was a good twist. I didn't really care for Dagon, but it was short so I listened to it anyway.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second one was better than the first, in my opinion. Yet, still, the age shows. I learned some about writing by listening to parts of this intently, and Lovecraft was clearly WAY ahead of his time in his ability to capture human emotion. There are more engaging stories out there, yet I still recommend this for those who want to experience a broad spectrum of styles and learn how to word things yourself. Yet, it's not for everyone.

[Ani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly not nearly as fun or horror filled as The Horror of Dunwich, the two stories in this volume are about what I can only assume is Mr Lovecraft’s deep distrust of the ocean and things with fins and gills. Like I’m sorry, but I don’t find undying fish-frog-people all that scary, even if they do perform ritualistic sacrifices. I did like the twist at the end of Innsmouth, but not enough to justify how long this tale of frog terror is.

[Kathy Allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This volume is basically The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and what a great story it is. As expected, there's a lot of atmosphere, but also a bit of action and a twist at the end. I continue to wonder why I had never read HPL previously. On to volume 3!

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Lovecraft must have been afraid of the sea as so many of his stories center around the unknown in the depths. These two stories were not quite as intense as those in volume 1, but I still thoroughly enjoyed them.

[Nathan Chrastil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great piece! Readers should definitely take into consideration the time period this was produced. The plot is elaborate and well thought out. Creepy, suspenseful, a fun read; definitely read Call of Cthulhu first. Listening to the narrator added to this book; the perfect amount of gruff.

[Jason Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wayne is the perfect voice for this! Andrew Leman and Sean Branney get awesome runner up awards for their narrations.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always great fun...H.P. Lovecraft is not for everyone.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compromised of two of my favorite Lovecraft stories, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “Dagon,” this is an excellent small collection.

[Jordan Estes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just... can’t.

[miha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ribji ljudje, ribji vonj, grozote iz morskih globin in ljudje k se jim zmeša...

[Michael Asteriou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh those Lovecraftian monsters...what's not to love about his stories? They are dark, brooding morose, sinister, evil and altogether without any hope...simply lovely :)

[Rickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadow of Innsmouth - 5 Stars - (95% of the book)
Dagon - 5 Stars - very short story, beautifully written, just really short

[Bryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this in the car on a drive to Necronomicon Providence. Which doesn't make ol' HP less racist or overly verbose, but was part of a funass experience.

[Sean Irwin]

The shadow over innsmouth is a classic.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

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