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zach_collins's review against another edition
3.0
Lovecraft had some great thoughts on humanity's fragile, transient existence and the sheer size and complexity of the cosmos. Instead of ghosts, witches and vampires, Lovecraft's tales include entities that defy comprehension. There is a certain brilliance to this line of thought; we all fear what we don't know, but that fear vanishes instant we can label and name the unknown other.
However, Lovecraft's stories themselves are fairly bland and formulaic. Most of the stories end with a main character (who is invariably a dry, academic, white male) witnessing some sort of monstorous, indescribable horror that instantly drives him insane. While the idea is unique, it is quickly bludgeoned to death through endless repetition. After a while, the stories begin to blur together as they all have roughly the same plot and the same dry narrative voice. Lovecraft also repeats the same words incessantly; the first time he describes something as "eldritch" was kind of cool, as I had never seen or heard that word used before, but after its tenth use in the same story I started to grimace every time I came across it.
With the exception of The Outsider and The Music of Eric Zahn, the stories in this collection are bloated with minute details that quickly kill both the pacing of the story and the interest of the reader. I skipped whole pages of the "short" story At the Mountains of Madness after realizing I really don't care about the differences between Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian rocks.
Lovecraft had some interesting ideas, but most of his stories are a bit underwhelming. Out of this collection, I consider The Outsider, The Music of Eric Zahn and The Shunned House worth reading; these three stories are original and engaging. The rest are boring, overwritten tales that overstay their welcome.
However, Lovecraft's stories themselves are fairly bland and formulaic. Most of the stories end with a main character (who is invariably a dry, academic, white male) witnessing some sort of monstorous, indescribable horror that instantly drives him insane. While the idea is unique, it is quickly bludgeoned to death through endless repetition. After a while, the stories begin to blur together as they all have roughly the same plot and the same dry narrative voice. Lovecraft also repeats the same words incessantly; the first time he describes something as "eldritch" was kind of cool, as I had never seen or heard that word used before, but after its tenth use in the same story I started to grimace every time I came across it.
With the exception of The Outsider and The Music of Eric Zahn, the stories in this collection are bloated with minute details that quickly kill both the pacing of the story and the interest of the reader. I skipped whole pages of the "short" story At the Mountains of Madness after realizing I really don't care about the differences between Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian rocks.
Lovecraft had some interesting ideas, but most of his stories are a bit underwhelming. Out of this collection, I consider The Outsider, The Music of Eric Zahn and The Shunned House worth reading; these three stories are original and engaging. The rest are boring, overwritten tales that overstay their welcome.
yodisborg's review against another edition
3.0
An inconsistent collection filled with some truly great and different stories, Call of Cthulhu, Colournout of Space. Unfortunately some of the stories reaching for the occult and arcana read more like tropes. To be fair, Lovecraft was responsible for creatinine many of those tropes but reading a collection of stories you see too often some of his tools: a horror that cannot be described, the narrator fear that writing this truth will expose too much but keeping secret will be worse, a revelation in the last paragraph. Nonetheless, the mythos building by itself make Lovecraft worth reading and his tools while overused are effective in creating dread and fear in the reader.
izumisano's review against another edition
I just can't get into Lovecraft's writing. I find myself spacing out and when I finally do pay attention to what I'm reading I have no clue what he's going on about. He doesn't grip me at all.
spellingbean's review against another edition
4.0
Great compilation, and I'm still trying to get through it. My favorite story out of the lot is the color of out of space. It just blew me away.
midnighterbae's review against another edition
5.0
A true master of atmospheric horror. Call of Cthulhu, Dunwich Horror, At the Mountains of Madness, and Shadow Out of Time are standouts.
mothgender's review against another edition
3.0
After years, I finally finished this book. Thank the stars.
shegotlost's review against another edition
4.0
5 *****
The color out of space
Call of Cthulhu
Tha shadow over Innsmouth
The dreams in the witch house
At the mountains of madness
Pickman’s Model
Herbert West—Reanimator
The Thing on the Doorstep
4****
The music of Erich Zann
The Haunter of the Dark
3***
The shadow out of time
The dunchwich horror
Dagon
Cool air
In the vault
The lurking fear
2**
The whisperer in darkness
The statement of randolph carter
The case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Rats in the Walls
The color out of space
Call of Cthulhu
Tha shadow over Innsmouth
The dreams in the witch house
At the mountains of madness
Pickman’s Model
Herbert West—Reanimator
The Thing on the Doorstep
4****
The music of Erich Zann
The Haunter of the Dark
3***
The shadow out of time
The dunchwich horror
Dagon
Cool air
In the vault
The lurking fear
2**
The whisperer in darkness
The statement of randolph carter
The case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Rats in the Walls
books4reese's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
heggs's review against another edition
4.0
Once every year and a half I get into a need for some good scares. Who better than the man that invented modern horror? Some of it is quite wordy today, but the mood he conveys is one that will stick with you. All of his classics are here: The Call of Cthulu, Shadows over Innsmouth, Beyond the Mountains of Madness. If you are looking for something to make you wonder about what could be lurking in the dark, this is for you.