The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft: 12 (Knickerbocker Classics)

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If you are new to the works of Lovecraft, this may be a bit overwhelming, but may also be a sound choice for the same reason. It contains just about all of his works of fiction. All of the stories within being placed chronologically, it is apparent that Lovecraft improved upon both his writing abilities and his cosmological mythos, which is not to say that some of his early stories, in their simplicity, don't hit home just as powerfully. The tales gradually grow longer as one reads through the book, with Lovecraft's three novellas appearing in the middle and end of the book. It was these tales that I found to be the most enjoyable, the most thorough in their ability to draw me in and engage me in the alternate universe that Lovecraft structured. It is also these three short novels that one can use to divide Lovecraft's entire collection of fiction into three categories of theme: men stumbling through the realm of dreams, men meddling in necromancy and dark arts, and men confronting the godless, Darwinian truths of the universe, hints of which lie hidden in obscure corners of the earth. Not in the visceral way that most modern audiences think of horror, but in the subtleties that lie between the lines. There is every bit as much left unsaid as there is said, and in a world where everyone seems to just want to see the monster and its carnage, these stories are a refreshing change of pace and scenery.

We largely went with Mr. Joshi’s determination as to the contents of this collection. The first volume includes stories written just by HPL himself, with the exceptions of “Under the Pyramids” and “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”. The famed magician Harry Houdini gets a minor credit for “Under the Pyramids” as the general concept was his, but the writing of the story itself was left to Lovecraft. E. Hoffman Price also gets a minor credit for “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”. Price wrote a 6,000 word draft of the story and sent it to Lovecraft, who then expanded the story to some 14,000 words, out of which Price estimated that only about 50 were words from his original draft.The Tomb: Another jump to age 27; this is when Lovecraft started writing in earnest. It's a wonderfully creepy story, with only a questionable supernatural element, focused on the narrator's possible madness as he recounts his obsession with a certain abandoned family tomb from his asylum. This is the best reading of H.P. Lovecraft I have ever heard. Leman and Branney's passion for the material make it captivating to listen to and I often forgot that I was listening to a non-dramatized version. The narration is well enunciated and well paced. In conclusion, if you are looking for a collection of Lovecraft's fiction that doesn't include forced contextual or bibliographical information I would recommend this audiobook everytime.

In the story, the evil creature that haunts the church can't function except in complete darkness (hence the story's title), so it kind of reminded me of the vampire novels I've been reading recently. I'm unaware of Lovecraft ever writing about vampires, so I guess this is as close as it gets. It follows his common theme of deep time and elder gods, with a little bit of a twist that most of his stories have. I was also expecting to come across a few duds (stories that were just not well done), but all the stories were very well written, there was a few that I didn’t like as much as the others, but that is to be expected.I don’t think I’d call this Lovecraft’s most iconic story – that one must be Call of Cthulu – but I might consider it his most prototypical. Many consider it his best. You have an otherworldly visitor. In this case, it’s a comet or meteor with an, umm, let’s say a chromatic passenger (Dexter reference...). It strikes in a rural New England locale. And it’s largely told by proxy. That is, the (outer) narrator himself didn’t experience the primary events of the story. Even the (inner) narrator can only offer a first-hand account of SOME aspects. So the story is actually a frame-within-a-frame! This second-hand, third-hand approach just drains the tension from the story. That said, I had great fun because it’s dripping with horrific wonder, a uniquely Lovecraftian emotion. There's honestly so much more complexity to the Mythos than I ever expected and I love it so much! I can't wait to take a deeper dive into what other writers have added to the Mythos over the years. i read this because robert anton wilson used the illoigor and Old Ones and such to great effect in The Illuminatus Trilogy, and the scene therein where robert putney drake meets h.p. lovecraft is one of the book's finest, and RAW clearly thought the man deeply talented. i mean, there was no real point in dragging ol' Ctulu and Kadath in the cold wastes and all that into the Illuminatus! Trilogy, but it was all wonderful. when Fission Chips was getting dragged through the deadlights of Tsathoggua... well, RAW does it best, after all: The Lurking Fear is a bit different than others on the list, and consequentially, I found it refreshing. For one thing, it’s less of a frame story. The narrator is the one who actually experienced the events of the story, which grants it a much better immediacy than the other stories. For another, instead of the horrors coming from outside of us, this is more about the horrors that dwell within us. Overshadowed by Lovecraft's reputation as a master of horror is his unique contribution as a science fiction visionary. There are no supernatural elements in his stories. None. All of his horrifying creations are creatures of an incomprehensible but strictly materialistic science.

I've read Dagon several times, even though that doesn't mean much, considering its length. Some stories I enjoyed more the second time around, although Dagon wasn't really that amazing the third or fourth time around. I believe he covered a lot of the same ideas in different stories in an attempt to improve and write the perfect story. Some are better than others. The White Ship: A terrific early contribution to the Dreamlands. The first of many Lord Dunsany-inspired tales.The Temple: A good early example of Lovecraft's epistolary tales. Nautical, set in WWI on a German U-boat, with mounting but barely-seen horror, and underwater structures that may be considered to later morph into R'lyeh. While this is contrary to what modern readers will likely have experienced, in Lovecraft's style it actually works surprisingly well. First off, this collection is FAR better than the other Lovecraft anthologies available on audible. The HP Lovecraft Historical Society handles his works lovingly and their performances leave, to me, absolutely nothing to be desired. They hit the 'hysteria of mind numbing horror' feel far better than I imagined any would be able to going into the stories.