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The Best of H. P. Lovecraft

Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre

By H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch (Editor)

(16)

| Paperback | 9780345350800

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Book Description

This is the collection that true fans of horror fiction have been waiting for: sixteen of H.P. Lovecraft's most horrifying visions, including Lovecraft's masterpiece, THE SHADOW OUT OF TIME--the shocking revelation of the mysterious forces that hold all mankind in their fearsome grip.
"I think itContinue

2 Reviews

1 person find this helpful

Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror - H. P. Lovecraft's Legacy Is Clearer Now!

An affordable collection for beginners to get if you wish to start on the path toward reading H. P. Lovecraft. I've read other stories that people have compared to Lovecraft, so I have always wanted to read some of his actual work.
With the amount of 'Cthulhu Mythos' writings out there on the ... (continue)

An affordable collection for beginners to get if you wish to start on the path toward reading H. P. Lovecraft. I've read other stories that people have compared to Lovecraft, so I have always wanted to read some of his actual work.
With the amount of 'Cthulhu Mythos' writings out there on the horror bookshelves, it was only a matter of time before I ran into it. After reading some of these collections and stories by other writers, I felt it was time for me to go to the source and check out just what they were talking about.
It took a descent amount of time for me to finish this collection as some of the language threw me and I would have to reread a page or two to understand. Also, until the character names (especially the gods and such) stick in your head, it will be a little difficult to follow because you don't really remember what happened previously to them. But eventually they do, and about midway through the collection I was enthralled. With such stories as Call Of The Cthulhu, Colour Out Of Space, Shadow Over Innsmouth, and others...I am dying to read more.
After finishing this collection and reading yet another, I am constantly amazed at just how much Lovecraft has influenced society. I knew he was a major influence on horror fiction, but I was not prepared for this! Movies, music, novels, religions, my mind just started reeling when I finally saw what he has influenced and could identify the little bits of everything Lovecraftian.
Bloodcurdling Tales is a great introduction to his work. It has a little bit of the author's celebrated 'Cthulhu' stories, some of his less celebrated 'Dreamlands' (but my personal favorites, yes, even over Great Cthulhu himself) stories and just some normal (is there a such thing?) weird tales.
If you are a horror fan and aren't just one of those types who only read Stephen King, check our Mr. Lovecraft. How can so many writers who have carried on his work be wrong? August Dereleth, Stephen King, Brian Lumley, the list goes on. Think about the directors of films like Re-Animator, In The Mouth Of Madness, or musicians heavily inspired by him. The list goes on and on. Until I started reading Lovecraft, I was kidding myself. I knew nothing of the horror genre and who has influenced it so greatly.
Lovecraft is the horror genre!
Contents:
Introduction: Heritage of Horror by Robert Bloch
The Rats in the Walls
The Picture in the House
The Outsider
Pickman's Model
In the Vault
The Silver Key
The Music of Erich Zann
The Call of Cthulhu
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Colour Out of Space
The Haunterer of the Dark
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Dreams in the Witch-House
The Shadow Out of Time

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CaptHowdy said on Sep 9, 2007 | Add your feedback

In another attempt to read something scary, I checked this out of the library. I was really, really, really bored with this book. Every story just dragged on and I have to be honest, I didn't finish all of them because I was sooo bored. I have no idea what was supposed to be scary about any of th ... (continue)

In another attempt to read something scary, I checked this out of the library. I was really, really, really bored with this book. Every story just dragged on and I have to be honest, I didn't finish all of them because I was sooo bored. I have no idea what was supposed to be scary about any of the stories. To me they were equally scary as saying, "Hey, there's a pretend monster over there." I don't know, maybe I'm missing something since my copy of the book has a quote from Stephen King saying the author has yet to be surpassed as the greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale. But this definitely was a waste of time for me.

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Deanna Kyre said on May 5, 2009 | Add your feedback