Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely stunning! The best horror writing I've ever read.
Review: My original review for "The Transition of H.P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness" was posted on January 10th 1999. The title and review was written as follows:Title:
A true master of the macabre. Review:
My only complaint about the writings of H.P. Lovecraft would be that many of his stories are of a similar nature and theme. Irregardless of this I found most of his stories to be extremely impressive works of fantasy and horror. H.P. Lovecraft is a true past master. If you like anything that has ever dealt with horror, fantasy, or sci-fi, then you would be doing yourself a great disservice to not read a collection of Lovecraft stories at least once in your life. I was very, very impressed by my first encounter with Lovecraft's work. I will read more of his material before my life is over.
End of original review. I am very pleased with my original review and have re-reviewed it to properly put it under my correct name and Amazon.com identity. The only thing new that I would like to add to this re-review would be this: the last story in this collection is called "At The Mountains of Madness." This story is hands down the best horror story I have ever read in my entire life. Nothing I have read since has equaled it, and nothing ever will. I consider it a profound pleasure that back in 1999 I read a horror story that will stand for the rest of my life as the greatest horror story I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Contents of this book
Review: The Beast in the Cave, The Alchemist, Poetry and the Gods, The Street, The Transition of Juan Romero, The Book (excerpt), Dagon, The Tomb, Memory, The White Ship, Arthur Jermyn, The Temple, The Terrible Old Man, The Crawling Chaos, The Tree, The Moon-Bog, Herbert West--Reanimator, The Lurking Fear, The Festival, The Unnamable, Imprisoned with the Pharaohs, The Shunned House, He, The Horror at Red Hook, Cool Air, Nathicana, At the Mountains of Madness, In the Walls of Eryx, The Evil Clergyman.
Rating:
Summary: The godfather of horror
Review: The works of H.P. Lovecraft loom like a shadow over today's modern horror fiction. His brilliance forshadowed the likes of Stephen King, Clive Barker and many others. The works here in "The Road to Madness" only reinforce this fact. Included is the outstanding "Herbert West: Re-Animator." Lovecraft was a master of the realistic setting which makes the eruption of the irrational that much more unnerving. Indeed, when Lovecraft is at his best -- no one can touch him. At an early age, Lovecraft rejected religious belief and came to adopt a nihilistic philosophy where humans have no importance in the cosmos but to serve as the playthings of incomprehensible and uncaring forces. Lovecraft was indeed racist as well; one can find sinister Africans and wicked Jews amongst his writing. Only the politically corrected will run away from this. The rest of us will enjoy his work.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and very serious at times.
Review: This book has some enjoyable stories in it and I liked the poem. However, the tales with the greatest interest are "The White Ship" and "The Tree". Both of them show that when he took himself seriously, Lovecraft was a truly great short story writer.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book and inspiration.
Review: This book is excellent for mature readers 12+. When kids (like me, I'm 14) find that ghost stories start to seem a little childish... these stories are a step up. After I read this book, I would sometimes find myself staring off into space, thinking about one of the stories... this book will put so many ideas into your head, you will look at the entire world differently. Lovecraft is a master author.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating Tales for Collectors and Other Freaks!
Review: This collection of stories by H.P. Lovecraft apparently was put together for hardcore collectors, but it does have many treasures for those who are just beginning to discover his work. The book begins with several "Early Tales" from Lovecraft's formative period. Some go as far back as his teenage years. In these early stories Lovecraft was still nailing down the style that would later become so influential. Unfortunately some of these tales aren't very good, especially the very predictable "The Beast in the Cave," and the others are high on stiff prose and low on ideas. So this early stuff is a real treasure for collectors but may be a struggle for everyone else. However, once you get over that hurdle, this book starts to pick up steam with a steady supply of fascinating and freaky tales of horror and the supernatural. As the title indicates, most of these short stories contain people going mad, and you may be wondering about your own sanity at the end. Highlights include the Frankenstein-style tales "Herbert West-Reanimator" and "Cool Air." My favorites appear toward the end of the book, with the sci-fi style "In the Walls of Eryx," in which Lovecraft shows a surprising flair for conceptual science fiction. The mini-novel "At the Mountains of Madness" may be Lovecraft's all-time best - a masterpiece of occult history that leaves you with a very spooky feeling afterwards. For those who are just discovering Lovecraft: while you're reading the stories, sometimes you'll find yourself struggling through his dense, slow-moving prose (which hardly ever contains dialogue), and his obscure references to the occult. But once you put the book down, and the stories work their way to the back of your mind, you'll start feeling creeped out. VERY creeped out.
Rating:
Summary: pure lovecraft
Review: this first book in a planned tetrology scores high. Mostly, I suppose, because it's true Lovecraft, no latter day additions. If you're new, check out the humongous catalog of modern writers influenced by the strange Howard Phillips, (King fans try "Jerusalems Lot", or "Crouch End") "Imprisoned with the Pharoahs" may be thee best horror story of the 20th century!!
Rating:
Summary: he's mad, i tells ya, mad!
Review: This volume contains a lot of reprints from the smaller books published a few years ago, but if you don't have them, pick this up: it takes up less space. This volume includes Lovecraft's first stumbling attempts at writing (they're still a helluvalot better than I could do) and some fragments, but not all of them (it doesn't include 'Azathoth' which is tied with 'The Rats in the Walls' for my favorite story by Lovecraft). It does include 'Herbert West - Reanimator', which is way classier than the movie 'Reanimator', even though Lovecraft thought the story was garbage. It also includes 'the Lurking Fear' (once again, way classier than the movie) and 'At the Mountains of Madness', which wins my 'Story I Most Want to See Made Into a Movie' award. All in all, a great volume if you don't already have the aforementioned stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful prose. Weak plots.
Review: Yes, Lovecraft was a racist. Talent is not reserved for those whose ethics are palatable to our society. And Lovecraft did have talent. These stories are filled with wondrous descriptions, the likes of which inspired many current authors, filmakers and visual artists. Personally though, I find his plots to be rather weak. His common theme "man is lucky not to know the truth" is at best annoying and at worst overly predictable. Don't get me wrong. His work is worth a look. I just prefer his fantasy and dream cycle to these stories. The idea of the restriction of knowledge is repellant to me.
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