Reviews

Eerie, creepy and frightening. I admire the ability to instil severe terrors of a world unknown through carefully strung words that you suddenly are mysteriously teleported to the world where the Necronomicon and the Chulthu are alive and kicking.

ninj's review against another edition

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4.0

From the very short to the fairly lengthy, these are all cthulhu mythos stories. Some merely hint at things, and others such as the Mountains of Madness are more explicit - in fact, I would argue that in some cases more is less, and that detailing things out removes some of the horror and mystery. A few of the longer ones (Whisperer in Darness, Charles Dexter Ward) had slow burn lead-ins, and in fact I actually found the latter to be rather uneven, at times ponderous but at others really diving into its lore and mystery.

prelina's review against another edition

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4.0

Well, I could sum up all the stories with:

"The dread was so intense, I can't even describe the sheer amount of it! But if you saw it with your own eyes, you would certainly be changed forever!"

But they were good, despite the fact that I grew somewhat tired of Lovecraft's manner of conveying horror.
I especially enjoyed the last one "At the mountains of madness", since it felt like here Lovecraft gave away more about his universe.
I had read "The call of Cthulhu" before, but it did nothing for me the first time. Seems like it was necessary to re-read after getting to know Lovecraft's alien universe a bit more. And it can really get a hold on your imagination, if you let it.

renart's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

anjoupair's review against another edition

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4.0

This was my first essay into Lovecraft. I am not sure whether all of his fiction is so formulaic as this collection or whether instead it was a conscious effort of the editor to select similar stories in an effort to familiarize the reader with Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. In any case, the formula works well, though I enjoyed some more than others. One of Lovecraft's strategies is to heighten suspense by having his narrators seem reluctant to tell their horrifying tales. One might think this tactic would become tiresome in a longer work, but "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," the longest piece of fiction Lovecraft ever wrote, was the most enjoyable.

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