Reviews with content warning for Racism - L'appel de Cthulhu

my first and last h. p. lovecraft story.
he can keep his white supremacist ravings and i'll stick to subsequent more accomplished explorations of undersea cosmic horror like 'our wives under the sea' and kristen stewart with a buzzcut battling cthulhu in a submarine.

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scoads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I found this to be unfortunately mediocre. Definitely a product of its time, and not as scary as I would have liked. I really liked the writing style though.

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theoretically_reading's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It's a cosmic horror classic for a reason, but Poe & Melville did it better for my money. This being unabridged Lovecraft, unabashedly racist nonsense from the 1st-person protagonist abounds, though I did get a laugh from the idea that the truly alarming thing about the death rituals beneath the blood moon on the bayou was the heterogenity of the cultists. Yeah, that's the really scary thing - the different people being pals. I mean, it's Lovecraft - it's not subtext with this guy, and anyone unintetested in navigating that B.S. can and hopefully shall seek a dose of cosmic horror elsewhere. If you give it a shot, the novella is structurally clever and well-suited to audio - and this narrator is hugely skilled and just as OTT as the story increasingly demands. I love the touch of the protagonist's self-led education having him pronounce some words just a little off-key. Nice work from the narrator.

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harryjordan42'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? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This story is told in 3 parts, each a recounting of some events or discussion of documents, each building on the last. While it’s compelling and I enjoyed it, it’s laced with constant racism that falls pretty poorly in 2024.

I’m honestly a little disappointed that there was a genuine encounter with Cthulhu that people lived to tell the tale of, but it was well written and leaned into the idea that Cthulhu and how he operates doesn’t make sense to human brains. The first two parts are arguably better at building the mythos and mystery, with the third being slightly more action oriented, something I didn’t expect and didn’t enjoy as much as the more academic approach earlier on.

I listened as an audiobook narrated by Jonathan Keeble, who did an excellent job. I’m not sure I’d have enjoyed it as much if I’d read it.

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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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dark inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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clarissa_pos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

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