Rating: 
Summary: The Smallest Gems...
Review: ...oft shine the brightest.This is a gorgeous selection of H. P. Lovecraft's most often ignored gems, his short-short stories. His sole novel (albeit a short one), "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" - and one of his better long classics, The Shadow Over Innsmouth - are also included, along with some of the less frequently anthologized straight horror pieces of the author's body of work, such as "The Lurking Fear." But it's the inclusion of the horror master's best short-shorts that makes this collection really shine, never seen together under a single cover. "The Hound" - perhaps the first of the famous Cthulhu Mythos, as the original story to feature the dreaded Necronomicon - finds a pair of foolhardy occult collectors using the black magic tome to track down and grave-rob a buried occult amulet, with disastrous results. "The Outsider" is the unforgettable tale of an imprisoned man coming to a soul-shattering self discovery. "The Unnamable" is what two idle philosophers, discussing the formless nature of fear, find themselves unexpectedly confronting in the flesh. "Herbert West: Reanimator" concocts a serum which reanimates dead flesh, only to have it start tracking him down. And a terrified refugee from a vanished scientist's house relates the man's horrible fate due to creatures "From Beyond." This is an excellent companion volume to Del Rey's "The Best of H. P. Lovecraft," essentially containing the complementary balance of stories missing from that collection. It's also a great Lovecraft primer - anyone unfamiliar with the author's work couldn't ask for a better first exposure to it. A very handsome and compact volume, Waking Up Screaming is sure to be a welcome addition to any collector of Lovecraftiana. Beware - for "That is not dead, which can eternal lie / And with strange aeons, even death may die..."
Rating:
Summary: The Smallest Gems...
Review: ...oft shine the brightest. This is a gorgeous selection of H. P. Lovecraft's most often ignored gems, his short-short stories. His sole novel (albeit a short one), "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" - and one of his better long classics, The Shadow Over Innsmouth - are also included, along with some of the less frequently anthologized straight horror pieces of the author's body of work, such as "The Lurking Fear." But it's the inclusion of the horror master's best short-shorts that makes this collection really shine, never seen together under a single cover. "The Hound" - perhaps the first of the famous Cthulhu Mythos, as the original story to feature the dreaded Necronomicon - finds a pair of foolhardy occult collectors using the black magic tome to track down and grave-rob a buried occult amulet, with disastrous results. "The Outsider" is the unforgettable tale of an imprisoned man coming to a soul-shattering self discovery. "The Unnamable" is what two idle philosophers, discussing the formless nature of fear, find themselves unexpectedly confronting in the flesh. "Herbert West: Reanimator" concocts a serum which reanimates dead flesh, only to have it start tracking him down. And a terrified refugee from a vanished scientist's house relates the man's horrible fate due to creatures "From Beyond." This is an excellent companion volume to Del Rey's "The Best of H. P. Lovecraft," essentially containing the complementary balance of stories missing from that collection. It's also a great Lovecraft primer - anyone unfamiliar with the author's work couldn't ask for a better first exposure to it. A very handsome and compact volume, Waking Up Screaming is sure to be a welcome addition to any collector of Lovecraftiana. Beware - for "That is not dead, which can eternal lie / And with strange aeons, even death may die..."
Rating:
Summary: I Must Tell Of His Genius
Review: first of all, i've yet to read all of the stories in this book (there are sixteen of them). but i will change my review once it is finished, because from the stories i have read i must go ahead and post my praise for the genius of lovecraft.
as i knew not much of howard phillips lovecraft for most of my life, reference to him in the Necromonicon gave me interest. he was an early 1900's author (i love stories and movies from back then), who wrote mostly short stories for a small magazine. after his death, he was remembered as one of the greatest horror writers of all time (he even got extraordinary praise from stephen king). so, i just had to read something by him. on discovery of the tale of Herbert West - Reanimator, i was very interested. that is the number one reason why i bought this inexpensive book. while Reanimator was an amazing scientific-horror story (no, i have not seen the movie), it wasn't his best. from all that i have read of his works, he has never hit a low in a story where i could say that it wasn't good. his work ranges from good to unbelieveably excellent. this book is an arrangement of 16 of his stories (which most you will find put in other books with a few different stories).
one thing he succeeds in in his writing is something that is extremely difficult to do with writing (in my opinion), and that is actual horror. while authors like stephen king can leave you chilled with an imaginative picture that can make you want more, lovecraft passes that. through his writings, he can actually scare you just as a movie can. it is genius. upon reading something like some of these stories, you can't figure out why you don't read more of this more often. he makes it seem so simple, yet too many writers fail in producing the pure horror and fantastic edge of the lovecraft stories. if you like horror, if you like mentally stimulating ideas, or if you simply like a good read that will make you appreciate talent, then this is the book for you. i love it and will continue reading all of his stories whenever i can.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent collection of Lovecraft's works
Review: H.P. Lovecraft is an underappreciated horror writer. Though flawed in many ways, such as his habit of finding a handful of unusual adjectives and using them over and over and over again, he was an incredible storyteller. He created an entire universe of wonder and at the same time mind-blowing fear which became known as the Cthulhu Mythos, named for the behemoth god-like entity which has become iconic of his works. That said, there are a lot of great stories here to showcase Lovecraft's talent. Cool Air is a particularly creepy story inspired by the fledgling science of cryogenics which was first talked about in the early 20th century. From this first story, the reader is introduced to one of Lovecraft's signature techniques: using the last line of the story as the climax. Though he did not use it in every story, it proved devastatingly effective in so many of his works such as The Lurking Fear and Pickman's Model. Herbert West- Reanimator gave me chills the first time I read it. It really is quite a brilliant story, taking the concepts in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and putting a darker, more horrible bite to them. Written in chapters, each one but the last uses the previously stated technique. And each one is more bone-chilling than the last. The Shadow Over Innsmouth, one of the few stories in this book that officially contributes to the Cthulhu Mythos itself, has a few low points, but is overall a very creepy story with an ending that never ceases to entertain no matter how many times I read it. This is one of the stories I highly recommend to those new to Lovecraft and the Mythos, as it gives one a very good idea of what goes on in this universe of horrors beyond the stars. Lovecraft also wrote extensively of a world of dreams where the journeys of the mind were made manifest in a land so strange and exotic, it would be impossible to describe it all. The book includes several such stories such as Beyond the Wall of Sleep which introduces the reader to this dreamland. Sadly, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kaddath is not in here. Though a fairly long story, it was one of the best. I can understand it being left out for the sake of brevity however. The same with At the Mountains of Madness. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is one of the best stories Lovecraft ever wrote in my opinion. I won't give anything away, suffice to say that it really showcases how well he could bring out the darkest depths of your fears. In Lovecraft's stories, there really are things that man was not meant to know. Anyway, there are a few low points to the book. Dagon, though a nice little story, wasn't really one of Lovecraft's best. Something just seemed to be missing. The Terrible Old Man is a similar case. Though creepy, it's not up to the writer's usual standards. I do have to say I'm a little irritated with the back cover. It totally gives away the plots and major dramatic points of several stories! The Lurking Fear is supposed to have a shocking ending when you realize where the monsters came from, but the cover just tells you right there! What fun is that? It does the same for The Terrible Old Man and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Overall, this is a four-and-a-half star book. Though it showcases a lot of Lovecraft's finer works, there are a few stories that could have been cut to make room for better ones such as Pickman's Model and The Colour Out of Space. I still highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of classic horror literature.
Rating:
Summary: Meet a founding father
Review: H.P. Lovecraft was, it must be admitted, a horrible snob and a racist to boot but he was also one the greats of horror. What he wrote was so frightening, and so vivid that the fans of his work never forgot it. To this day movies based on his stories continue to be made and some of your favorite horror writers from Poppy Brite to Stephen King all acknowledge Lovecraft's mastery of the genre. This book is a good introduction to Lovecraft for anyone who has read references to him but never thought to pick up one of his books before. It's like a literary hit parade. Goodies like The Outsider, Dagon and Herbert West: Reanimator are all included.
Rating:
Summary: The Book That Turned Me On To Lovecraft
Review: I'll be honest -- while I admire Lovecraft's innovative ideas as much as the next horror writer/aficionado, I've always found him over-rated as a storyteller. His prose is often needlessly dense and academic, and while he's great at describing a horrific image, he rarely creates an effective plot to wrap around it, or lets me connect with the characters experiencing all this on any human level* * -- Poppy Z. Brite's "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood," available in the story collection, erm, "Wormwood." Both are essentially the same tale; in fact, Brite seems to have written the latter in homage to the former (further suggested, since she wrote the gushing forward to this volume). But Brite's work is far different in detail, concerned with bringing you into the heads and worlds of the two main characters, so you honestly care about them when the weird fit hits the shan. Well, in a conversation regarding imaginative fiction, a friend mentioned how Lovecraft's style is honestly an acquired taste, but once you let yourself get used to the prose style, the heart of the tales grows more accessible. So I idly picked up this volume, and man, was he ever right! Also, before, I'd mostly only read HP's shorter works, which don't do justice to longer pieces. Numbers like "Herbert West - Reanimator" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" are where the author's real talent lies, since this is where he lets himself develop a proper narrative. I guess I'd avoided them 'til now, 'cause while I enjoyed the shorter pieces, I thought I'd only be able to enjoy the writing style in such small doses. I should have bypassed all that, and gone straight to the good stuff, a lot of which you'll find in this volume.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice collection, good author
Review: In my Fiction Workshop class we got to the subject of genre in literature, and eventually we started talking about Edgar Allen Poe. Well, the name "H.P. Lovecraft" began to get dropped around, and I started to get an interest in this fellow. I had only heard of him with regards to the roleplaying game centered around his Arkham, but never had I ventured to read his books. One night I went online and read his story "Daigon" - it was the shortest of his stories I could see, and I was tired at the time. His style enthralled me, so I headed down to my local Books-A-Million and bought this exact book. Well, within days I was pouring page over page of "Herbert West: Re-Animator" like I had never done with a full novel! I went on to read "Cool Air" and "A Shadow Over Innsmouth" and eventually to the entire book. H.P. Lovecraft is truly a remarkable author, and while I wouldn't call his plotlines ingenious or on par with Charles Dickens, this man can certainly write! His narrations get into my mind like they're my own and stay there. He's kind of humorous too, in his own manner. Want to know what I mean? Well all right, I'm going to teach you how to use his sense of description. First, start your own horro story. Now, when you get to the scary part, this is how to describe your monster: "What I saw before me I cannot describe in words, for it is too horrible to recollect..." OK, those aren't Lovecraft's exact words, but I couldn't help notice a pattern. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with that pattern. I was scared during the "Innsmouth" story with its tale of fish-people, and some parts of "Re-Animator" gave me some nice goosebumps. I have to add that the latter also had one of the most humorous twist endings ever. I won't ruin it for those reading the review but...trust me its worth a read. In fact, this whole book is worth a read. Trust me. Make a postumously famous author happy.
Rating:
Summary: Nice collection, good author
Review: In my Fiction Workshop class we got to the subject of genre in literature, and eventually we started talking about Edgar Allen Poe. Well, the name "H.P. Lovecraft" began to get dropped around, and I started to get an interest in this fellow. I had only heard of him with regards to the roleplaying game centered around his Arkham, but never had I ventured to read his books. One night I went online and read his story "Daigon" - it was the shortest of his stories I could see, and I was tired at the time. His style enthralled me, so I headed down to my local Books-A-Million and bought this exact book. Well, within days I was pouring page over page of "Herbert West: Re-Animator" like I had never done with a full novel! I went on to read "Cool Air" and "A Shadow Over Innsmouth" and eventually to the entire book. H.P. Lovecraft is truly a remarkable author, and while I wouldn't call his plotlines ingenious or on par with Charles Dickens, this man can certainly write! His narrations get into my mind like they're my own and stay there. He's kind of humorous too, in his own manner. Want to know what I mean? Well all right, I'm going to teach you how to use his sense of description. First, start your own horro story. Now, when you get to the scary part, this is how to describe your monster: "What I saw before me I cannot describe in words, for it is too horrible to recollect..." OK, those aren't Lovecraft's exact words, but I couldn't help notice a pattern. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with that pattern. I was scared during the "Innsmouth" story with its tale of fish-people, and some parts of "Re-Animator" gave me some nice goosebumps. I have to add that the latter also had one of the most humorous twist endings ever. I won't ruin it for those reading the review but...trust me its worth a read. In fact, this whole book is worth a read. Trust me. Make a postumously famous author happy.
Rating:
Summary: LOVECRAFT RISES AGAIN IN 2003!
Review: Just when it looked like Mundania would steal our sanity, thank
Cthulhu H.P.Lovecraft's best short horror tales have been
reissued by DelRey/Ballantine! This essential collection contains
the short novel HERBERT WEST:REANIMATOR and the full novel THE
CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD. Add in the classic Cthulhu Mythos
tale THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH and such gems as THE HOUND and
THE LURKING FEAR and you have the ultimate read for HPL fans in
2003! ...
Rating:
Summary: A Unique Talent
Review: Lovecraft's contribution to supernatural horror in literature was not primarily as a writer-it was his creation of what is usually called "The Cthulu Mythos"-a fictional connection between the stories he wrote.He created a mythology involving creatures that might be aliens or might be demons,who are worshipped by an intensely secret, violent cult."The Call of Cthulu" takes up loose ends from happenings literally all over the world and weaves them into a rope that will eventually hang the fictional writer of the story.I loaned several collections of Lovecraft's books to a friend. After he returned them, I asked "Have you noticed that there is no dialogue in any of these stories?" The answer was no.Lovecrafts' dialogue,when it appears,is awful. The pep talk that the main charector in "The Dunwich Horror" gives his men is ludicrous.But his power as a storyteller and the amazing mythology he develops are so powerful that the reader simply doesn't notice that none of the charecors ever say anything. One of his best works is an essay on horror fiction called "Supernatural Horror in Literature." Anyone interested in fiction-any kind of fiction-should read this brilliant essay. Lovecraft was a deeply troubled man, a racist,usually broke, and a writer who was simply incapable of writing believable dialogue. He was also a towering figure who's ability to leap from writing horror stories to creating a completely convincing cult based on supernatural creatures stranded on earth remains breathtaking. A complicated man who demands study
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