Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps the best story in Lovecraft's bulging canon
Review: A critic once said that whereas Lovecraft fails as literature, it succeeds as psychological case-history. Lovecraft stories are all the same -- the same horrible monsters squish wetly down from the attic/up from the basement in response to the same predictable incantations of occult lore. Having said that, the critic notes that when all the hysterical words of eldritch and unspeakable cliche have been stripped away, there still lurks a residuum of power. And so it is with this novella -- perhaps the best worked-out of all HPL's weird stories. If you don't like creaky tales of horror, you'll hate this. But if you are into spine-tingling atmosphere and don't mind the over-wrought prose, you'll love it. You won't be able to put it down. The story will stick fast in your brain and cycle round and round as if to the idiot pipers of Nyarlathotep until it drives you MAD and you are reduced to a gibbering THING capable of uttering only the dread syllables YOG SOTHOTH! YOG SOTHOTH!
Rating: 
Summary: It's not a horror novel, it's a horrible novel!
Review: Although Lovecraft's book is interesting when read as a psychyatrical case study, it lacks even the most basic elements of the horror genre. The fact that there is no central character with which one can associate and sympathise is one of the worst features of The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward for it prevents the reader from being involved in the story (something that the horror novel needs to do to captivate the reader).Still, I believe that this book is worth reading (127 quick pages). But it's a shame that Lovecraft did not have a litterary skill that matched his spectacular imagination.
Rating: 
Summary: A good old fashioned horror story!
Review: Although The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward is one of the few old-fashioned horror books I have read, I found it quite interesting. The plot isn't as far-fetched as so many plots of modern-day horror stories are, but it's still fiction. The horror/action doesn't unfold too early in the story, but when it does you won't stop reading. The descriptions, in the book, of different regions are so clear and imaginable you will be able to draw pictures and design maps. The ending is unique, almost predictable, that's what makes you want to hurry-up and finish the book. Another thing I like about the book is the use of language. I think it goes perfect with the setting even though I had to read some lines over in order to understand them. To write this book in modern-day language would set it apart from other horror stories in that it wouldn't be as good.
Rating:
Summary: Lovecraft's Masterpiece
Review: At 48,000 words, this is the longest tale that H.P. Lovecraft ever wrote. It is also his best. This novel has both good plotting and an otherworldly atmosphere that pervades the book. The setting is 1920's New England where there was a revival in interest in the occult. However, the key to the tale is the 18th Century New England scene that Lovecraft had a lifetime interest in. The character of Charles Dexter Ward was based on Lovecraft himself: a lonely intellectual who was an antiquarian who detested the Industrial Revolution. Ward's research into the occult leads to the reincarnation of one of his ancestors who in turn hatches a plot with both Ward and one of Ward's friends for a mass resurrection of the dead who would become mindless zombies dedicated to both the destruction of heavy industry in America as well as the forced expulsion, if not mass murder, of the Roman Catholic immigrants who Lovecraft detested so much from America. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a fantasy/horror novel that tells you a lot about its author. H.P. Lovecraft was a self-styled aristocrat from a decadent Old Money family who bitterly hated the Roman Catholic Church and especially the Irish and Italian immigrants who by 1928, when this novel was first published, had already assumed a position of political power at the expense of the WASP elite that Lovecraft was a member of. Clearly, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward was reflective of Lovecraft's religious bigotry and his hateful tendencies towards certain ethnic and religious groups. It should come as no surprise that during the 1930's, Lovecraft frequently praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a uniquely powerful and compelling work by a master of horror fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Lovecraft's Masterpiece
Review: At 48,000 words, this is the longest tale that H.P. Lovecraft ever wrote. It is also his best. This novel has both good plotting and an otherworldly atmosphere that pervades the book. The setting is 1920's New England where there was a revival in interest in the occult. However, the key to the tale is the 18th Century New England scene that Lovecraft had a lifetime interest in. The character of Charles Dexter Ward was based on Lovecraft himself: a lonely intellectual who was an antiquarian who detested the Industrial Revolution. Ward's research into the occult leads to the reincarnation of one of his ancestors who in turn hatches a plot with both Ward and one of Ward's friends for a mass resurrection of the dead who would become mindless zombies dedicated to both the destruction of heavy industry in America as well as the forced expulsion, if not mass murder, of the Roman Catholic immigrants who Lovecraft detested so much from America. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a fantasy/horror novel that tells you a lot about its author. H.P. Lovecraft was a self-styled aristocrat from a decadent Old Money family who bitterly hated the Roman Catholic Church and especially the Irish and Italian immigrants who by 1928, when this novel was first published, had already assumed a position of political power at the expense of the WASP elite that Lovecraft was a member of. Clearly, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward was reflective of Lovecraft's religious bigotry and his hateful tendencies towards certain ethnic and religious groups. It should come as no surprise that during the 1930's, Lovecraft frequently praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a uniquely powerful and compelling work by a master of horror fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Lovecraft at his best
Review: Charles Dexter Ward is a young man in Providence, RI who is fascinated by antiquities --- too fascinated, perhaps. He becomes obsessed with an ancestor, an alleged warlock named Joseph Curwen who escaped persecution in Salem over 200 years before and fled to Providence. A unusually long-lived ancestor, I might add.
If you aren't used to reading Lovecraft, or other writers of the same time period, the language and writing style might be a little tough at first, but it is well worth getting into. Lovecraft leaves a lot to the imagination of the reader --- a device that works quite well in this story.
This is one of my favorite novellas --- actually, one of my favorite stories, even. I first read when I was in high school, and I have re-read it every few years ever since. I re-read it again a couple of days ago and I still love it. This is Lovecraft at his best.
Rating:
Summary: archetypical HPL novella
Review: Copyright 1941 Weird Tales, this story did not see publication during HPL's brief lifetime. A pity, as it encompasses many of HPL's favorite motifs, notably predestination, elder gods, and the sin of hubris or false pride. Also an excellent example of HPL's tendency to understate. For those of you slasher afficianados who need blood to keep reading, I recommend "The Lurker At The Threshold" by HPL finished by August Derleth. In this book all the unspoken is spoken, and frankly, I fell it is the lesser because. Same concept as "Charles Dexter Ward", however. Oh well, the truly great stories are not written once, but we as readers only remember the ONE good version.
Rating:
Summary: Beware Ye Who Enter
Review: For fear is around the corner. For Howard Phillips Lovecraft, death was never a worry. For many of the characters in his books, death was almost a relief from the torture. It was fear and madness that was always being confronted head on. The mind of man is quite fragile when placed in situation of unexpected terror. And Charles Dexter Ward, occultist and antiquarian is no exception. Ward was a quiet man who moved into his great great grandfathers house eventually to investigate his past. Set in New England to give it the right mixture of genuine fright and eeriness. Lovecrafts masterful style, remiscent of Por, is gorgeous, rich in detail and content. Full of information on the history of New England. One can get the sense that Lovecraft knew his locales almost better than his characters. Aside from his historical geography, Lovecraft also had a very good understanding of occultism and the ancient languages of Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Well versed in many of the ancient texts. Of course, this book also brings out the controversial book the 'Necronomicon.' Some of the finest in horror written to date that will make you squeamish with fear, for the most part without the blood and guts. The imagination is more powerful than the written word, and Lovecraft knows this as well.
Rating:
Summary: A very nice thriller!!
Review: I believe that H.P. Lovecraft is a master in writting thrillers. He keeps you in mystery up to the last paragraph and he describes his characters in every detail. An excellent writer!
Rating:
Summary: Sucks you In
Review: I love HP Lovecraft, and this novella is no exception. Its thoughtful and creative and i could not put it down for anything. i loved it.
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