The Lurker at the Threshold

Rating:
Summary: Inept
Review: "The Lurker at the Threshold" is listed with H.P. Lovecraft as the first author--in fact, one finds August Derleth's name only in the small print on the back cover. This is a shame, for two reasons: first, it tends to hide the fact that the book is almost entirely made up of Derleth's writing, since Lovecraft's only (and posthumous) contribution was a sketchy outline in his notes; second, while Lovecraft was far from a great writer, or often even a good one, his best work was miles above this bit of trash.

The book is divided into three parts that fail completely to make a seamless whole. In the first part, a third-person narrator describes the arrival of Ambrose Dewart at his ancestor's home in Rhode Island, near Lovecraft's invented towns of Arkham, Dunwich and Innsmouth. He begins to carry out research into the life of his ancestor, and finds dark intimations that he was a sorcerer or conjurer of some sort. In the second part, the point of view becomes that of Dewart's cousin in Boston, who spends some time with Dewart and provides his own point of view on the strange mental state that appears to have come upon the man. In the final section, we are presented with the narrative of an assistant of some sort to a learned professor in Arkham who is called in to clean up Dewart's mess.

The third section reads like a sloppy, last-minute wrap-up by a writer too lazy to see his story through. The professor is, conveniently enough, an erudite scholar of just the sort of occult weirdness that Ambrose Dewart has let overtake him, and so we are treated to long paragraphs of explication as to just what sort of powers he is dealing with. [As a side note, it is worth pointing out that the explication here is indicative of Derleth's rather belabored systematization of Lovecraft's "mythos," with references to "elemental" beings and like inventions that really fail to fit in with Lovecraft's original vision, such as it was.] The situation is resolved with only the mildest of struggles, and the final paragraph utterly fails to carry any of the horrific import Derleth clearly intended it to have, especially if you have only the foggiest of ideas of exactly what "Yog-Sothoth" was supposed to be.

The remainder of the book is run-of-the-mill Lovecraftian pastiche. Overall, "Lurker" is worthwhile, and then marginally so, only for Cthulhu completists and lovers of Lovecraftiana; anyone else is advised to stick to the original--"The Best of H.P. Lovecraft" is a fine starting point.

Rating:
Summary: The usual Derlethian mess
Review: August Derleth's "posthumous collaboration" with his idol H.P. Lovecraft (despite the credit, Lovecraft's contributions are merely snippets of his writing journal) is just all over the map, trying to tie three unrelated plot strands together through the usual Derlethian haunted house mumbo-jumbo. Some chilling sequences, but Derleth has jimmed so much mythos information into the story that it reads less as a horror novel and more like some junior high school kid's diary of all the "neat stuff" in Lovecraft. Derleth did this much better in his short stories, especially "The Dweller in Darkness."

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read (even if it's not really Lovecraft)
Review: BEWARE! Carroll & Graf are lying to you! This book is really by long-time friend of H.P.'s August Derleth! DO NOT BE FOOLED! I was, and I'm frankly a bit pissed, but nevertheless...It's true: Derleth merely uses a few snippets of Lovecraft's stuff to embellish it with his own. Granted, it is a fine book, but it really should say, at least, "by Derleth and Lovecraft." It's false advertising - no more, no less. The text is approximately 2% Lovecraft's!!! But enough bitching, it's a great book, quite chilling..

Rating:
Summary: A Nice Mythos Overview is the best that can be said
Review: Having read two books chocked full of REAL Lovecraft short stories, I was looking forward to a "book length" story of his horror. Sadly, I was fooled by a "Derleth Knockoff," and should have known better.

For real Lovecraftian horror read, "Call of Cthullu," "The Shadow over Innsmouth," "Dagon," "The Thing on the Doorstep," "The Picture in the House," "The Outsider" and you will be rewarded will true chills down your spine... not this insipid drivel.

The first section, which is told in third person narrative isn't too bad, and sets up the story nicely. It is actually a fair representation of Lovecraft, however, there is not a word of dialogue uttered for 39 pages!! Now once the dialogue starts, the story starts to move, and that familiar Lovecraftian "buildup" starts.

However...just when things are getting interesting, Derleth moves to the next section which is told from Dewart's cousin first person narrative. I found the change in narrative styles in mid story a little disconcerting, but I managed to adjust, and found it interesting, but I was still waiting for the pay off.

Then Derleth ineptly moves to the third section, which is first person again, but told from the perspective of assistant Winfield Phillips. The previous narrator(Dewart's cousin Steven Bates) is summarily dispatched via a NOTE in one paragraph. Derleth obviously wrote himself into a trap with his narrative, and couldn't figure out how to bring about Bates death in a suitably gruesome and terrifying way as the story was currently being told from the wrong perspective. How could the narrator know of Bates horrible fate as he wasn't present at the scene. Thus the death of a major character has little impact or horror that it should in a story such as this.

The biggest issue I had with this third section was it
seemed "dumbed down." the narrator goes into a long tirade of Mythology, and explanation, which if the reader was paying attention, would have already figured most of it out from the previous two narratives! Then, Dewart is summarily shot, and buried, and the "horror" comes to an end. The third section was a complete let down from the build up of the previous two. There was no payoff in the end, and absolutely no shock value at all as the narrator took great pains to over explain everything.

The best I can say about this is that there is some reasonable "Mythos" background, albeit slightly contradictory that might interest the Lovecraftian enthusiast.

Rating:
Summary: Don't make the same mistake I did!
Review: I purchased this book under the pretense that it was written by Lovecraft. After hearing so much praise about HPL, I couldn't wait to start reading it. After the first few chapters, it became a chore to read. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. It was like eating a bowl of tofu when you expected Captain Crunch. When I finished it I was convinced all the hype about HPL was blown out of proportion and that he was nothing more than a less than mediocre author. Little did I know he didn't even write it! It took me over 3 years to find this out. When I finally did get my hands on an authentic Lovecraft book I was floored by the way he drew me right into the story-the dark and shadowy world of Innsmouth. Don't buy "The Lurker at the Threshhold". Save your time and money and be sure to check the copywrite before you buy any Lovecraft book(Derleth is sneaky).

Rating:
Summary: Good story, well done
Review: It's a good read. It's not an action-packed, thrill-a-minute magnum opus, as it seems some wish it wouldve been. It's a rich, Gothic story... not trendy modern neo-Gothic. There is a vast distinction.

It has a good pace. It's nicely done. It's enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Stray From Derleth
Review: Like "the Watcher Out of Time" and "Innsmouth Clay" this book is entirely written by August Derleth. Derleth studied the works of Lovecraft but NEVER did he write in collaboration with the master of horror. August Derleth's first story wasn't written until the early 1950's. Howard Philips Lovecraft died in 1937. August Derleth has many failed attempts at immitating Lovecraft and prints Lovecraft's name on the cover of all his books because if people knew that Derleth wrote the stories, they wouldn't buy a single copy. If you wish to read horror by the greatest horror author of all time, be sure to check the coyright lines for each story. Stray from the failures of Derleth and follow the guiding light of Lovecraft.

Rating:
Summary: see "inept," above.
Review: Mostly written by Auggie, and representing a dramatic departure from Lovecraft's cosmology. Bad prose, characterization, development, etc. Buy ANYTHING else by Lovecraft before this, preferably from Arkham house.

Rating:
Summary: see "inept," above.
Review: Mostly written by Auggie, and representing a dramatic departure from Lovecraft's cosmology. Bad prose, characterization, development, etc. Buy ANYTHING else by Lovecraft before this, preferably from Arkham house.

Rating:
Summary: The best Lovecraft story not written by the master.
Review: NOW THE GATES ARE OPEN FOR YOG-SOTHOTH.

Amazing book...