Dreams of Terror and Death : The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft

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Summary: Contents of this book
Review: Azathoh, The Descendant, The Thing in the Moonlight, Polaris, Beyond the Wall of Sleep, The Doom That Came to Sarnath, The Statement of Randolph Carter, The Cats of Ulthar, Celephais, From Beyond, Nyarlathotep, The Nameless City, The Other Gods, Ex Oblivione, The Quest of I ranon, The Hound, Hypnos, What the Moon Brings, Pickman's Model, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Silver Key, The Strange High House in the Mist, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Dreams in the Witch-House, Through the Gates of the Silver Key.

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Summary: I dont know about everyone else...
Review: But I enjoyed this book. Lovecrafts writing is strange but it takes a complicated,intelligent mind to comprehend what is going on. So if you couldnt figure it out or hated it for its 'floweryness' maybe you should stop doing your coke and drugs.:| I could argue all day about good and bad of Lovecraft but I shall not, for first time readers of Lovecraft have an open mind and read in this book, The Cats of Ulthar.

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Summary: Lovecraft Turns In his Grave
Review: Del Ray Publishing have made themselves a life long enemy. This, and their other two Lovecraft collections ( Transition and Best of ) are the most poorly conceptualized and poorly edited anthologies currently on the market. I have no doubt Lovecraft would have gravely resented the stigma of "Dreams of Terror and Death" being tacked on to his dream cycle, in which terror and death take a far, far back seat to beauty and idealism. The cover art is puerile and innapropriate and the foreward insults your intelligence. Finally, the whole flow of the book just seemed really awkward and uncomfortable. Rather than explain what I mean by this, I recommend you read "Dagon and Other Macabre Tales", a highly superior anthology put out by the people at Arkham House, in my opinion the only publisher who has done justice to the Lovecraft name. Like "Terror and Death", it also details Lovecrafts dream cycle, but does it in a much more mature and intelligent manner, due to the thoughtful editing of S. T. Joshi, the worlds leading expert on Lovecraft's work. It also has a positively brilliant and very extensive foreword. "Dagon" is the third book of four in Arkham House's collected works of H.P. Lovecraft series. They are hardcover, and hard to come by, but can be found at amazon for a decent price. (The others are: Dunwich Horror & Others, Mountains Of Madness & Other Novels, & The Horror In the Museum.) Unlike Del Ray, who seem to be attempting to appeal towards adolescents, or fans of schlock horror with their anthology, the Arkham House books are most undoubtably directed towards grownups and readers with more discerning tastes. It's sad to see Lovecraft misrepresented by those who can't comprehend the true nature and value of his work, and who appreciate him for all the wrong reasons. I would rather have Lovecraft go unread than see someone be introduced to him through Del Ray's anthology.

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Summary: magnificent collection of Lovecraft's sweetest visions
Review: During one of my hometown's long, snowed-in winters, my personal discovery of H.P.Lovecraft (I think I'd heard he liked cats or something and decided to check him out) breathed a stellar spell of spiritual fantasy back into the sober statsis of pristine atheism and devotion to mathematical truth where I'd settled. I've since then read everything I know to exist of his work. Dreams of Terror and Death contains all of my favourite Lovecraft tales; coming across this particular selection was how I found out I wasn't alone in having journeyed far out into the infinite vistas of his universe-expanding dreamscape. Lovecraft is far more than just a writer of horror; read this collection through and find yourself enchanted by the beauty and wonder of his timeless vision.

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Summary: Great book
Review: H.P. Lovecraft created such a complex and fully functioning world, a world made of the dreams of his characters. His ability to create Poe-esque mood is incredible. So engrossing that you ignore the racism.

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Summary: Great Author, Great Book
Review: H.P. Lovecraft is one of those authors that is mysterious at first, but once you get to know his style and rhythm you get so fully engrossed that the stories become extremely vivid. I first read "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" in my youth, but I rediscovered it again in this collection. Lovecraft weaves a world so real and engrossing, that lovers of more recent works like Lord of the Rings, would really appreciate his work. His ideas are disturbing, and each story he weaves an ever deepening plot that somehow connects them all into a terrifying whole. If you like fantasy and horror, told by the greatest horror writer of this century, I recommend you read Lovecraft, even if you do not get this specific book.

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Summary: Great Author, Great Book
Review: H.P. Lovecraft is one of those authors that is mysterious at first, but once you get to know his style and rhythm you get so fully engrossed that the stories become extremely vivid. I first read "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" in my youth, but I rediscovered it again in this collection. Lovecraft weaves a world so real and engrossing, that lovers of more recent works like Lord of the Rings, would really appreciate his work. His ideas are disturbing, and each story he weaves an ever deepening plot that somehow connects them all into a terrifying whole. If you like fantasy and horror, told by the greatest horror writer of this century, I recommend you read Lovecraft, even if you do not get this specific book.

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Summary: Disappointing at best
Review: I discovered Lovecraft a few years ago through an anthology of his best work. I enjoyed the anthology, but I did not think as highly of it as I did of other authors I had been reading (Ligotti) or re-reading (Poe) at the time. Thus I submerged myself in the deeper waters of weird fiction, becoming acquainted with Lovecraft's predecessors (such as M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany and Arthur Machen) and contemporaries (Clark Ashton Smith), as well as more modern weird fiction authors (such as Robert Aickman and Ramsey Campbell). I finally decided to explore Lovecraft's oeuvre more fully, so I picked this book up. I was sorely dissapointed with it. Many of the stories are shoddy Dunsany pastiches, which lack any feel for the English language (a problem observable even in Lovecraft's later work). Some of the prose was so egregiously purple (at times as bad or worse than second-rate Mythos authors) that I almost put the book down. However, one can see Lovecraft developing his idiosyncratic sense of the grotesque which would go on to become his hallmark, even though few of the stories amount to the sum of his influences. Many of the stories towards the end of this collection (such as "The Dreams in the Witch-House" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward") are tolerable to good, but are nowhere near as interesting as any of Lovecraft's later, more fully realized tales. My advice to the Lovecraft neophyte: find a compilation which contains "The Colour out of Space" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth." If you are obsessively hooked, you might find this book interesting. If, however, you are merely slightly impressed, there are other authors of weird fiction worth exploring who have produced work equal to or surpassing Lovecraft's in quality. Lovecraft is not, as some of his less objective fanatics would have you believe, the last word in the genre.

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Summary: Lovecraft in a Developmental Stage
Review: I discovered Lovecraft through an anthology of his best work, but a few years passed before I finally decided to explore his oeuvre more fully, so I picked this book up. At first I was dissapointed until I realized that these stories should not be judged against Lovecraft's better offerings. Many of the stories are shoddy Dunsany pastiches which lack a good feel for the English language (a problem observable even in Lovecraft's later work, though as time went on he learned how to make egregiously purple prose an insanely enjoyable aspect of his work rather than a drawback). However, in these stories one can see Lovecraft developing his idiosyncratic sense of the grotesque which would go on to become his hallmark, even though few of the stories amount to the sum of their influences. Many of the stories towards the end of this collection (such as "The Dreams in the Witch-House" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward") are quite good, though not on the same level as Lovecraft's later, more fully realized tales, except (of course) for "Pickman's model" which is downright awe-inspiring and a must-read for the afficianado. My advice to the Lovecraft neophyte: find a compilation which contains "The Colour out of Space" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth." If you are hooked (which is quite probable), then explore the rest of his oeuvre, but I'd recommend working in reverse chronological order: start with the later, better stuff and work your way backwards to his earlier, more derivative stories.

Rating:
Summary: Lovecraft in a Developmental Stage
Review: I discovered Lovecraft through an anthology of his best work, but a few years passed before I finally decided to explore his oeuvre more fully, so I picked this book up. At first I was dissapointed until I realized that these stories should not be judged against Lovecraft's better offerings. Many of the stories are shoddy Dunsany pastiches which lack a good feel for the English language (a problem observable even in Lovecraft's later work, though as time went on he learned how to make egregiously purple prose an insanely enjoyable aspect of his work rather than a drawback). However, in these stories one can see Lovecraft developing his idiosyncratic sense of the grotesque which would go on to become his hallmark, even though few of the stories amount to the sum of their influences. Many of the stories towards the end of this collection (such as "The Dreams in the Witch-House" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward") are quite good, though not on the same level as Lovecraft's later, more fully realized tales, except (of course) for "Pickman's model" which is downright awe-inspiring and a must-read for the afficianado. My advice to the Lovecraft neophyte: find a compilation which contains "The Colour out of Space" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth." If you are hooked (which is quite probable), then explore the rest of his oeuvre, but I'd recommend working in reverse chronological order: start with the later, better stuff and work your way backwards to his earlier, more derivative stories.