The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft: 12 (Knickerbocker Classics)

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Well, what can I say, I have been a big fan of Lovecraft for years now, but I've never really gotten to read many of his works yet, which has been long overdue. This one's dumb, too. This, like the one before it, has the HUGE CAPS WITH !!!!? at the climax which is I know of the time, but no less hokey. Again, his writing style I enjoy, but like, there's not really even any suspense in this one. The Horror at Red Hook: Often cited as Lovecraft's most racist story, I didn't see that. It was definitely xenophobic, and maybe the broadness of the fear of the other, of all immigrants, diluted that effect for me. Dagon: An early hint at the later mythos tales that would capture the public's interest. Obviously the name points to later work. It contains story elements that would later be seen expanded in the iconic The Call of Cthulhu. There is also an essay written by Lovecraft on Supernatural Horror in Literature, which was excellent, it clearly showed just how knowledgeable and passionate he was about supernatural literature, reading almost like a who’s who of supernatural Horror leading up to and including his time, which gave me a few more names to add to my ‘to read’ pile.

Missing only one Story which was "In the walls of Eryx" co-written by Lovecraft and Kenneth J. Sterling. The Temple: A good early example of Lovecraft's epistolary tales. Nautical, set in WWI on a German U-boat, with mounting but barely-seen horror, and underwater structures that may be considered to later morph into R'lyeh. Q: Does the Collaboration Stories include the so-called "posthumous collaborations" with August Derleth? Dagon was one of his earliest writings, and it's a good introduction to the philosophy behind the Cthulhu mythos. Since I've become so familiar with his work, I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of it. Dagon is more important as a supplement than as a stand-alone. I wouldn't have enjoyed the other Cthulhu stories as much without it. It gives you a taste of what's to come, like deep time and space, the dream world, fish gods, and unimaginable horror. A wonderful collection excellently narrated by Andrew Leman and Sean Branney. Admittedly, HPL can be a bit heavy going at times but he had an incredible imagination and ability to describe both the horrors and beauty of the earth and other worlds.

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The Tomb: Another jump to age 27; this is when Lovecraft started writing in earnest. It's a wonderfully creepy story, with only a questionable supernatural element, focused on the narrator's possible madness as he recounts his obsession with a certain abandoned family tomb from his asylum.

I don’t think I’d call this Lovecraft’s most iconic story – that one must be Call of Cthulu – but I might consider it his most prototypical. Many consider it his best. You have an otherworldly visitor. In this case, it’s a comet or meteor with an, umm, let’s say a chromatic passenger (Dexter reference...). It strikes in a rural New England locale. And it’s largely told by proxy. That is, the (outer) narrator himself didn’t experience the primary events of the story. Even the (inner) narrator can only offer a first-hand account of SOME aspects. So the story is actually a frame-within-a-frame! This second-hand, third-hand approach just drains the tension from the story. That said, I had great fun because it’s dripping with horrific wonder, a uniquely Lovecraftian emotion. It does, however, include Through the Gates of the Silver Key which was in fact a collaboration with E. Hoffman Price, and Under the Pyramids which was a collaboration with Harry Houdini. The Horror at Red Hook: Often cited as Lovecraft's most racist story, I didn't see that. It was definitely xenophobic, and maybe the broadness of the fear of the other, of all immigrants, diluted that effect for me. The story didn't stand out for me. The only thing I have noticed is that under the Juvenilia section of the Wikipedia bibliography is that it lists The Haunted House, John, the Detective, The Noble Eavesdropper, and The Picture. These are not in the volume under main fiction or the Juvenilia appendix - but on Wikipedia is says these are unpublished anyway. As has been pointed out (many times, I'm certain), much of Lovecraft's work tends to ignore the character on the personal level and focus on the overarching plot, especially in the Cthulhu Mythos stories.This is a dumb story, but it's still quite atmospheric, so some of the writing I enjoy from his later stories is here, but it's still a dumb story. This is the best reading of H.P. Lovecraft I have ever heard. Leman and Branney's passion for the material make it captivating to listen to and I often forgot that I was listening to a non-dramatized version. The narration is well enunciated and well paced. In conclusion, if you are looking for a collection of Lovecraft's fiction that doesn't include forced contextual or bibliographical information I would recommend this audiobook everytime. The Shadow over Innsmouth - creepy, creepy, creepy. The tension and dread is built and sustained for the majority of this one, and it also has one of my favourite endings. The stories are arranged alphabetically but I couldn't find a proper Table of Contents so I've included one below :