Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories

I really wanted to like this. I love the idea of cosmic horror... Unknowably large and mysterious beings that could crush us out of existence with barely a thought... That idea is terrifying!

Unfortunately, the writing style was hard for me to follow. There were many words I had to look up, and many phrasings that had me rereading sentences or even paragraphs to follow what happened. Hell, in the climax of the namesake story in this book, I MISSED a crucial part, because it was described so strangely. I only realized later when I read a review online!

That said, I know this is classic writing, and I know it inspired many later horror writers, so I have to give some credit there.

THAT said, I also learned Lovecraft was a very racist person, and it showed through in some of the stories.

I did not read all the stories here. I recommend not starting at the first one, but instead doing research about which ones people liked. Out of those I read, I'd say Rats In The Walls was probably my favorite.

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briereader's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

My first time reading any of Lovecraft's work, and I wasn't really impressed. Even beyond the blatant xenophobia that pervades his work, I simply didn't find the horrors he described quite that horrifying. I don't think time treated the wok kindly (once more, even beyond the BLATANT and PERVASIVE xenophobia)--the once titillating and unimaginable horrors are honestly well within my understanding.

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wikibam's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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erikwmj's review

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Decided that I want to individually log all of thr longer stories at the end: The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour Out of Space, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Haunter Of the Dark. So technically I will be finishing this book. 34% is the point where the shorter stories stop and the longer ones begin.

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jemappellecat's review

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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commander_zander's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Call of Cthulhu is the least appealing of these stories. The others i'd recommend for those who want to learn more about the history of science fiction, or to discover largely-forgotten horror tropes. Not recommended to general readers (because of predictable plotlines & racism).

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