Short review here. Not much to say about this other than it was enjoyable reading. The book contained 18 short stories by H.P. Lovecraft. They seemed to get better and better. My favorites were

  • The Rats in the Walls
  • The Call of Cthulhu
  • The Color Out of Space
  • The Outsider

Author

Three things of note about the author, one he was reciting poetry by two, reading by three, and writing stories by six years of age. Secondly, his adult life was incredibly unstable. He didn’t ever seem to have much money and reading how he lived, he seemed a little bit like a loser. As in living with his mom, and then with a sugar mamma, and then moved in with his aunt. Makes me realize that maybe getting “Employee of the Year” for 40 years isn’t always the definition of success. Thirdly, he was a very materialistic thinker. It was this that partially attracted him to the strange and weird as a sort of escape from a bland clockwork world.

Writing

Clearly one of the most influential writers in American history he has inspired countless people. His imagination and ability to create that special other worldly feel is fantastic. This being said his writing when consumed one story after another bears some repetitive themes. For example, the idea of someone going insane over something they see/learn. Someone being horrified by something, but not knowing why they are horrified. A troupe where the author is too afraid to put into words what he saw, but by necessity has to, because otherwise what am I reading? Many plot twists are fairly predictable. If I laid these critiques at a normal author’s feet it would signal to me, that their work isn’t worth reading. This is not the case for Lovecraft. He somehow manages to make entertaining stories in spite of all these cliches. I found myself slightly more immersed with each story of his I read. Embedded a little deeper with each tale. It is nice to get swept away into a world, where there are other conscious beings that have been around eons before us and will outlive us. It is nice to not be at the top, just for a couple hours.