THE DUNWICH HORROR AND OTHERS The Dunwich Horror and others is the first of a four volume set of books collecting the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft published by Lovecrafts long time home in print, Arkham House Publishers. As such, it contains what is widely regarded as the best and most popular of the authors short fiction between its covers. Despite new notes on the texts and textual corrections by scholar S. T. Joshi and an introduction from Robert Bloch replacing August Derleths original, the book maintains the out-of-chronological-order arrangement of the Derleth era, presumably for overall feel of the work as a whole (i.e. The Shadow Out Of Time is a much more dramatic and all-encompassing finale than The Haunter of the Dark - Lovecrafts final story - is in actuality). The volume is likely the most indispensable for newcomers to the author as well as those who just want the greatest hits, containing much of Lovecrafts most hailed and influential work such as The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, Pickmans Model, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Lovecraft was, of course, an idiosyncratic and eccentric author with his own strange tendencies that sometimes affected his work in negative ways, and this volume is no exception in presenting it here and there. Early tale The Outsider - widely famous and reprinted and often discussed as a sort of supernatural fictional biography of the author himself - is redolent with far, far too many adjectives; The Whisperer in Darkness, while an awesome and ambitious tale, has quite probably the stupidest narrator/protagonist in the entire Lovecraft canon; The Thing on the Doorsteps narrator is close to the same level of obliviousness to the obvious, and the story begs the question as to what sort of, ahem, love life Asenath and Derby engaged in; and the ambitious The Shadow Out Of Time is somewhat deflated as it works up to its climax by a great load of repetitive walks through dark, abandoned corridors that could really have used being trimmed to not lose story momentum. One also has to wonder why The Terrible Old Man is included in this volume at all. But these are minor quibbles in this major collection. Most of Lovecrafts strongest work is contained within its pages, and The Colour Out Of Space may be the unrivaled masterpiece of his cosmic horror aesthetic, at least in its purest concept. Stories include: - In The Vault - Pickmans Model - The Rats In The Walls - The Outsider - The Colour Out Of Space - The Music Of Erich Zann - The Haunter Of The Dark - The Picture In The House - The Call Of Cthulhu - The Dunwich Horror - Cool Air - The Whisperer In Darkness - The Terrible Old Man - The Thing On The Doorstep - The Shadow Over Innsmouth - The Shadow Out Of Time
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 02:35:11 +0000
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