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jayrothermel's review
1.0
A cheap trade paper back printed on quickly yellowing pages. All the tales are free online nowadays.
otterno11's review
3.0
First off, what’s with that ridiculous cover? That buggy eyed green walrus man, er, Cthulhu, totally looks like some schlubby guy in a rubber suit! Not really the best image to set up an eerie atmosphere.
Anyway, this Barnes and Noble edition reprints H.P. Lovecraft’s long essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, and then anthologizes some of the stories praised by Lovecraft in this piece. While glimpses of Lovecraft’s tastes and philosophies of horror writing is showcased in the piece, it can be a little dry and rambling. From its roots in ancient folklore, Lovecraft traces the development of supernatural horror to his time, and shares some writers that he felt exemplify the genre, including their strengths and flaws. While an important piece of literary criticism in the history of the horror and weird tale genre, expressing the state and styles of the form, it is rather dated both in its critiques and the authors included. This is particularly the case in the way that Lovecraft himself revolutionized and influenced the path of the genre throughout the rest of the twentieth century. Still, the essay is a good overview of the genre through the lens of Lovecraft’s own take on it.
The stories themselves do provide a good sampling of works Lovecraft found inspiring, ranging from classics in the genre from Poe, Bierce, and James, (including some rarer and more obscure works like Benson’s “Negotium Perambulans” and Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman’s “The Shadows on the Wall”) to a few lesser pieces (in particular Edward Lucas White’s “Lukundoo” and Kipling’s “Mark of the Beast”), tawdry in their reliance on hoary period racism in their plots. Still, there’s quite a few interesting, little known stories collected here.
Anyway, this Barnes and Noble edition reprints H.P. Lovecraft’s long essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, and then anthologizes some of the stories praised by Lovecraft in this piece. While glimpses of Lovecraft’s tastes and philosophies of horror writing is showcased in the piece, it can be a little dry and rambling. From its roots in ancient folklore, Lovecraft traces the development of supernatural horror to his time, and shares some writers that he felt exemplify the genre, including their strengths and flaws. While an important piece of literary criticism in the history of the horror and weird tale genre, expressing the state and styles of the form, it is rather dated both in its critiques and the authors included. This is particularly the case in the way that Lovecraft himself revolutionized and influenced the path of the genre throughout the rest of the twentieth century. Still, the essay is a good overview of the genre through the lens of Lovecraft’s own take on it.
The stories themselves do provide a good sampling of works Lovecraft found inspiring, ranging from classics in the genre from Poe, Bierce, and James, (including some rarer and more obscure works like Benson’s “Negotium Perambulans” and Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman’s “The Shadows on the Wall”) to a few lesser pieces (in particular Edward Lucas White’s “Lukundoo” and Kipling’s “Mark of the Beast”), tawdry in their reliance on hoary period racism in their plots. Still, there’s quite a few interesting, little known stories collected here.
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