kitkattapang's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
pbickhaus's review against another edition
2.0
This book was one of the hardest I’ve ever had to slog through, but I forced myself because Lovecraft has been so influential. I won’t make that mistake again.
The stories themselves are okay, but the writing is awful. Lovecraft had a pretty interesting premise for each story, but there was no character development at all, the same predictable formula in every single story, and the book could have been at least 25% shorter and not a single story would have suffered. Of all the stories in this book, I only truly enjoyed 2 of them, and even then I had some harsh critiques.
All this is to say nothing of the racist remarks throughout the book.
If you’re toying with the idea of reading something by Lovecraft, save yourself the trouble and don’t.
The stories themselves are okay, but the writing is awful. Lovecraft had a pretty interesting premise for each story, but there was no character development at all, the same predictable formula in every single story, and the book could have been at least 25% shorter and not a single story would have suffered. Of all the stories in this book, I only truly enjoyed 2 of them, and even then I had some harsh critiques.
All this is to say nothing of the racist remarks throughout the book.
If you’re toying with the idea of reading something by Lovecraft, save yourself the trouble and don’t.
karaheiss's review against another edition
3.0
H.P. Lovecraft has a very unique writing style. I enjoy his stories and the influence they have over modern sci-fi/horror pop culture. I understand why Eldrich Horrors has inspired so authors
ohlaur's review
DNF'ed after reading at the mountain of madness, the cult of cthulhu and the color out of space.
dasha_of_a_land's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ghostofabook's review
slow-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
thelostvoid's review against another edition
2.0
Overall this was like a solid 2, or maybe 2.5.
I went into this really wanting to like the stories, but I found many to be kind of boring and the writing style was very difficult to find enjoyable. I did enjoy some of the stories more than others, but other than that I was really just reading/listening for the sake of getting it over with so that I can tick it off and be done with it.
I am glad that I gave this a go, and it was nice but not great or particularly enjoyable. I am interested in the upcoming film adaptation of The Colour Out of Space to see how they use the source material.
I went into this really wanting to like the stories, but I found many to be kind of boring and the writing style was very difficult to find enjoyable. I did enjoy some of the stories more than others, but other than that I was really just reading/listening for the sake of getting it over with so that I can tick it off and be done with it.
I am glad that I gave this a go, and it was nice but not great or particularly enjoyable. I am interested in the upcoming film adaptation of The Colour Out of Space to see how they use the source material.
tropicsbear's review
4.0
This was the first time I'd ever read any of Lovecraft's works and my enjoyment of it was more or less as expected. I've always been fond of weird, creepy stories so these were right up my alley. I especially liked the world- and myth-building that ties the stories together, and how the tidbits of myth that we're given are just enough to pique your curiosity and make you want to dig deeper.
The archaic writing style made it difficult to read the book for long, uninterrupted stretches. Despite that, I often found myself getting sucked into the stories once they reach their climax.
Things I didn't like: The racism. I think the only story in the collection that didn't have any passing racist remarks was The Colour Out of Space. The worst story in terms of racism was The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
The archaic writing style made it difficult to read the book for long, uninterrupted stretches. Despite that, I often found myself getting sucked into the stories once they reach their climax.
Things I didn't like: The racism. I think the only story in the collection that didn't have any passing racist remarks was The Colour Out of Space. The worst story in terms of racism was The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
elenancalima's review
3.0
(I actually finished this like a week and a half ago but I didn't have a chance to update.) Y'know? I had high hopes for this book, and it utterly disappointed me. The worldbuilding was really cool, but the writing was mind-numbingly slow. It was so, so boring. And since there wasn't a female character in the book, I ended up just imagining the guys with ambiguous names to be women. So yeah.
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