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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was definitely difficult to get through. Some stories were brilliant, my favorites are as follows:
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Temple
Rats in the Walls
The Colour out of Space
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Statement of Randolph Carter
At the Mountains of Madness
Towards the last 10 stories I hit a brick wall. 90% of what I read I thought was just OK. Lovecrafts prose, though brilliant, can be painful sometimes. I seriously do not like the story beats that many of the stories share, I.E being "character retelling tale that already happened, and some details are to horrific to mention here."
After a while that specific way of writing drove me kind of insane. All in all, H.P Lovecraft is a writer that told some amazing stories, but those stories will always be accompanied by 4 others that don't impact me personally.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Temple
Rats in the Walls
The Colour out of Space
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Statement of Randolph Carter
At the Mountains of Madness
Towards the last 10 stories I hit a brick wall. 90% of what I read I thought was just OK. Lovecrafts prose, though brilliant, can be painful sometimes. I seriously do not like the story beats that many of the stories share, I.E being "character retelling tale that already happened, and some details are to horrific to mention here."
After a while that specific way of writing drove me kind of insane. All in all, H.P Lovecraft is a writer that told some amazing stories, but those stories will always be accompanied by 4 others that don't impact me personally.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
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:
Complicated
Worth reading?
If you already know about H.P. Lovecraft's works and want to dive deeper than the complete works will probably satisfy you.
If you, like me, never read anything by H.P. Lovecraft before, but don't just want to read the most popular works but rather all of his works to understand lovecraftian even better, then this read will satisfy you.
If you either don't want to read something too long (600+ pages) or just want to get a general idea of H.P. Lovecraft works, then sticking to the most popular works will probably be satisfying enough.
Introduction
H.P. Lovecraft influenced many writers nowadays. Below you will find my reviews of each fictional work and my opinions and thoughts while I read them.
I originally wanted to include all my reviews to each one of his 50+ fictional works here, but since it was above the character limit of 15k I decided to refrain from doing so. You may click on the links of each title below to read my Goodreads review of each one individually.
I marked all spoilers, so that one doesn't need to proceed with caution.
My reviews to his works (sorted by publication order)
Please visit my Goodreads page to view it. You may find my Goodreads account linked in my StoryGraph profile.
Average rating
2.62 ≈ 3
Final thoughts
While I read, I noticed that H.P. Lovecraft is indeed a great writer but that he also had some weaker stories. There were some stories I didn't like even though the majority did, for instance ‘At the Mountains of Madness’. I only rated five of them with 5 stars but way more with only one star. So overall one could conclude that my experience wasn't the best, but I still enjoyed it as it was interesting to see how each short story unfolded. Most likely will the one star and also two star ratings become an afterthought before I even notice, but the five star reads will definitely be remembered dearly.
(I'm also sad now 'cause I didn't know until now that anyone would have come up with the same idea to use one's own dreams to write stories and now I feel less special. I thought writing stories based on my dreams would be something new, but now I came to the realisation that it isn't).
If you already know about H.P. Lovecraft's works and want to dive deeper than the complete works will probably satisfy you.
If you, like me, never read anything by H.P. Lovecraft before, but don't just want to read the most popular works but rather all of his works to understand lovecraftian even better, then this read will satisfy you.
If you either don't want to read something too long (600+ pages) or just want to get a general idea of H.P. Lovecraft works, then sticking to the most popular works will probably be satisfying enough.
Introduction
H.P. Lovecraft influenced many writers nowadays. Below you will find my reviews of each fictional work and my opinions and thoughts while I read them.
I originally wanted to include all my reviews to each one of his 50+ fictional works here, but since it was above the character limit of 15k I decided to refrain from doing so. You may click on the links of each title below to read my Goodreads review of each one individually.
I marked all spoilers, so that one doesn't need to proceed with caution.
My reviews to his works (sorted by publication order)
Please visit my Goodreads page to view it. You may find my Goodreads account linked in my StoryGraph profile.
Average rating
2.62 ≈ 3
Final thoughts
While I read, I noticed that H.P. Lovecraft is indeed a great writer but that he also had some weaker stories. There were some stories I didn't like even though the majority did, for instance ‘At the Mountains of Madness’. I only rated five of them with 5 stars but way more with only one star. So overall one could conclude that my experience wasn't the best, but I still enjoyed it as it was interesting to see how each short story unfolded. Most likely will the one star and also two star ratings become an afterthought before I even notice, but the five star reads will definitely be remembered dearly.
(I'm also sad now 'cause I didn't know until now that anyone would have come up with the same idea to use one's own dreams to write stories and now I feel less special. I thought writing stories based on my dreams would be something new, but now I came to the realisation that it isn't).
Okay so it’s really a 2.5 but since it’s a collection I have it some leniency.
But the question is, is it worth reading lovecraft in the modern day?
The answer: no. Not really
There’s just so much better cosmic horror that exists now and the classics from lovecraft just don’t really hold up.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few good stories in there and the further away I get from the call of Cthulhu the more fond I am of it, so it’s not like there’s nothing to gain here. Just not as much as the hype would suggest.
And even though he had a story in here defending it, the way literally EVERYTHING is absolutely indescribable does get old and same-y.
My least favorite part was the Prose. They were old for the time of writing and what for? Just doesn’t do anything for me.
But I’m glad it exists and I don’t hate it
But the question is, is it worth reading lovecraft in the modern day?
The answer: no. Not really
There’s just so much better cosmic horror that exists now and the classics from lovecraft just don’t really hold up.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a few good stories in there and the further away I get from the call of Cthulhu the more fond I am of it, so it’s not like there’s nothing to gain here. Just not as much as the hype would suggest.
And even though he had a story in here defending it, the way literally EVERYTHING is absolutely indescribable does get old and same-y.
My least favorite part was the Prose. They were old for the time of writing and what for? Just doesn’t do anything for me.
But I’m glad it exists and I don’t hate it
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail
Bored out of my skull reading this. If everything is “indescribable” don’t frikking bother, Mr Lovecraft, or, to say it nicely “this book is not for me”. Clear case of whatever was inspired by him being ten times better.
Not gonna read anything else until I finish this book. See you guys in a year.
Edit: This book is so insufferable. I had to go back on my word and read all the other seven books I am currently reading just so I could feel happiness again.
Edit: This book is so insufferable. I had to go back on my word and read all the other seven books I am currently reading just so I could feel happiness again.