I read this pretty much straight through. By the time you are several hundred pages in, you start rolling your eyes a bit at yet another reference to "cyclopean" architecture. ( )

A superb collection of HP Lovecraft fiction. Brilliantly narrated with great gusto by the HPLS. This works well on many levels and is both gripping, intriguing, and exciting. If you’ve not heard HPLovecraft read before then you are in for a treat, and even if you have the version that is performed, here is extremely good. For any mythos, Lovecraft, or horror fans, this is a must. ( )

What can we say about HP Lovecraft. Racist?....No. Misanthropic would be better term. It is far too easy to say he was a product of his generation. That would be an easy way out. We have to use our brains and understand just how he viewed the world. For as educated as he may have been; he was stunted socially. The language and attitude he used in his work came mostly from the fact that he really and truly never left his back yard. But I do believe as he approached the latter years of his life he began to see the world through a broader lens. Either way. His work, storytelling and the central idea of mankind being a small blip on the rear of the cosmic detail works. We are humans, we are small. Brilliant, flawed and special...but not impervious to the grand scheme that all must fall victim to. Is this really a review of a book...well yes it is. It is his world. This volume is very well put together. Nice thick and full of cosmic grief. ( )

I really vacillated on the score of this one. The earlier stories are rough, and it's obvious how much better a writer Lovecraft was toward the end. On the other hand, he didn't vary too much from the

1 - Meet a tortured soul
2 - Get vague hints as to why he's tortured (and it's always a "he")
3 - A lot of description of architecture
4 - Find out either he, or a peer has been dabbling in the dark arts
5 - Get a mention of their impressive occult library, including the Necronomicon
6 - Find out which particular indescribable horror is responsible for the torture

Yes, I understand some of the stories do, at times, leave this well-trodden path, but not a lot of them. On the other hand, there are times when it just all comes together and clicks, such as in The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or The Dunwich Horror, or The Haunter of the Dark, or my personal favourite, The Colour Out of Space>.

I think what I admired most about reading all these stories over the past year--and make no mistake, there's no way I could have read them back to back to back--was the ultimate universe the man created. It's more the idea of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos than the actual execution of it. He's not the best of writers, focusing more fascination on the buildings and architecture than the characterization. However, the naming of his various Old Ones and the other beasts of his stories is wonderful and the language of the Old Ones is amazing.

And his influence goes without question. Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Stephen King...and so many more have borrowed and built upon his creations.

So, overall, while I can't say I was knocked out by the stories most of the time, I definitely walk away from his collection of stories humbled and impressed by what he was able to accomplish. ( )

I don't know if it was me looking for something new and unknown in my next reading adventure, but, whatever it is, there could not be a better introduction to the American Gothic Horror than this. The kind of cosmic terror that Lovecraft invented, embarking on the arcane, forbidden and ancient worlds, was as authentic and fearless and fits perfectly within my own existentialist beliefs. Being as this is a voluminous book, there was an unrealistic long wait list for the ebook version from the library and so I ordered the hardcover edition on Amazon. Now halfway through the book and so far my favourite is The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. A story about Randolph Carter's search for the city beyond the cold waste and the ancient gods and his encounters with fantastical but ungodly beings, shapeless and unnamable creatures, crawling chaos, ghouls, shantaks, moon beasts, you name it, which really pushes the envelope of imagination.

And The Call of Cthulhu? No wonder it has spawned such a cult and entire mythos. ( )