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theesotericcamel's review against another edition
3.0
Just to be clear, the cover says by H.P Lovecraft, and to a technical degree, they are mostly right... Let me explain. Any H.P. Lovecraft fan can tell you that his works were't exactly lucrative in his lifetime. He had his circle of acolytes, to be sure, but he was eking out a living as a writer. As explained in the introduction to this book, a large part, if not most, of his income came as a revisionist and editor of other people's written work. This is a collection of some of the more inspired ones. Basically, ones where he took his client's ideas and wrote the story for them.The book is divided into Primary Revisions, and Secondary Revisions.
The Primary Revisions are ones were Lovecraft basically wrote the story, taking his client ideas as inspiration. These tend to read like one of Lovecraft's own originals, with many even being part of the Cthulhu mythos. It is in these stories that we first hear mention of Yig, the serpentine God, who is often mentioned in Lovecraft inspired stories, but not in any of H.P. Lovecraft originals. Well, this collection solves the mystery behind that. Some of the notable ones, in my opinion, were "The Mound," "Medusa's Coil," and of course the title story "The Horror in the Museum."
The secondary revisions are more varied in their style, and it becomes clear that Lovecraft tried to keep his client's writing more or less intact than in the first batch, to varying degrees of success. "The Tree on the Hill" was particularly memorable to me. I remember it being very spectrally beautiful.
An interesting collection, but only recommended to true fans of Lovecraft's work. This is not his best, and arguably not even his. Although, as August Derlerth says in one of the introductions, "Lovecraft wrote the most memorable parts in the stories anyways."
The Primary Revisions are ones were Lovecraft basically wrote the story, taking his client ideas as inspiration. These tend to read like one of Lovecraft's own originals, with many even being part of the Cthulhu mythos. It is in these stories that we first hear mention of Yig, the serpentine God, who is often mentioned in Lovecraft inspired stories, but not in any of H.P. Lovecraft originals. Well, this collection solves the mystery behind that. Some of the notable ones, in my opinion, were "The Mound," "Medusa's Coil," and of course the title story "The Horror in the Museum."
The secondary revisions are more varied in their style, and it becomes clear that Lovecraft tried to keep his client's writing more or less intact than in the first batch, to varying degrees of success. "The Tree on the Hill" was particularly memorable to me. I remember it being very spectrally beautiful.
An interesting collection, but only recommended to true fans of Lovecraft's work. This is not his best, and arguably not even his. Although, as August Derlerth says in one of the introductions, "Lovecraft wrote the most memorable parts in the stories anyways."
paigewright079's review against another edition
3.75
i thought the stories were so creative but man this took me literal months to read. i found it so difficult but it’s very different from what i’m used to reading
taliesinpendragon's review against another edition
It was honestly just too graphic for me. I also wasn’t expecting it to be so centered on gruesome gods and priests and stuff but that’s on me for not doing more research. The stories themselves were very well written I just wasn’t a fan of the horror
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Violence, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
commie_orbit's review against another edition
found too difficult and long. i had goals! might reread since it is october!
bubblescotch's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
3.75
bthegood's review against another edition
read title story - underwhelmed, will start with a different Lovecraft novella.
nightmarekitty13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
erichart's review against another edition
4.0
The stories are uneven, and can't be compared to Lovecraft's own stories. But the historical value makes this a worthwhile read for Lovecraft's fans and scholars.