Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

16 reviews

romi98's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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oddityoverseer's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

2.5

I really wanted to like this. I love the idea of cosmic horror... Unknowably large and mysterious beings that could crush us out of existence with barely a thought... That idea is terrifying!

Unfortunately, the writing style was hard for me to follow. There were many words I had to look up, and many phrasings that had me rereading sentences or even paragraphs to follow what happened. Hell, in the climax of the namesake story in this book, I MISSED a crucial part, because it was described so strangely. I only realized later when I read a review online!

That said, I know this is classic writing, and I know it inspired many later horror writers, so I have to give some credit there.

THAT said, I also learned Lovecraft was a very racist person, and it showed through in some of the stories.

I did not read all the stories here. I recommend not starting at the first one, but instead doing research about which ones people liked. Out of those I read, I'd say Rats In The Walls was probably my favorite.
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briereader's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

My first time reading any of Lovecraft's work, and I wasn't really impressed. Even beyond the blatant xenophobia that pervades his work, I simply didn't find the horrors he described quite that horrifying. I don't think time treated the wok kindly (once more, even beyond the BLATANT and PERVASIVE xenophobia)--the once titillating and unimaginable horrors are honestly well within my understanding. 
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lmy612's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I’ve never read anything by H. P. Lovecraft before and now I don’t know if I will. 

The Call of Cthulhu is one of H. P. Lovecraft’s best known stories but it was a big flop for me. I guess people in the 1920s were scared by different things than people in the 2020s. 

And let it be known, I scare easily! I rarely read horror because I generally can’t handle them and scare myself senseless. Especially at night. This wasn’t that. 
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aspeights's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

a foundational horror text, could do with less overt racism though. 
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henrygravesprince's review against another edition

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medium-paced

0.25

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wikibam's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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kay_ne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

First foray into reading something from H.P. Lovecraft and not knowing anything about him so why not read about Cthulu- well the story was good but honestly was not expecting
Spoilerthe racism and the members of the Cthulu cult to be minorities -- quote is from when Legrasse and his men bring the cultists back to headquarters, "..., the prisoners all proved to be men of a very low, mixed-blooded, and mentally aberrant type. Most were seamen, and a sprinkling of negroes and mulattoes..." -- I really don't know a lot about Lovecraft and currently can only chalk this up to times being different.
Was not really sure what I was expecting when I started reading it, but I guess it made me disappointed. Other than that, I'll try reading his other stories to see if I want to continue readings his works.
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loreleilee's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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erikwmj's review against another edition

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Decided that I want to individually log all of thr longer stories at the end: The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour Out of Space, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Haunter Of the Dark. So technically I will be finishing this book. 34% is the point where the shorter stories stop and the longer ones begin.
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