The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft: 12 (Knickerbocker Classics)

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days later... I have finished reading this collection of HP Lovecraft's complete fiction. The master of weird fiction and cosmic horror delivers a range of different short stories and novellas, from chilling tales to the downright terrifying. In fact, hey wow, actually, what? Did I just roll a 20 with that phrase, that ‘horrific wonder’? Was that a critical hit? I'd honestly say that Lovecraft's Dream Cycle works are not worth the read at all and can simply be skipped.

It does, however, include Through the Gates of the Silver Key which was in fact a collaboration with E. Hoffman Price, and Under the Pyramids which was a collaboration with Harry Houdini. Some stories I waited too long to add to this review so I don’t have much noteworthy to say:Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family (there’s a title for you); Celephaïs (a wonderful dreamlands story); From Beyond (so cheesy, I saw the movie based on this); Nyarlathotep; The Picture in the House; Ex Oblivione. This is a short and fairly simple story that, while undeniably atmospheric, is also undeniably juvenile. It all builds toward a twist that is – these days at least – a bit overdone. Whereas many of these other stories are uniquely Lovecraftian, I found this one derivative.Both narrators have an impressive array of voices that are distinct and well crafted. Both are extremely skilled with vocal inflections, using tones that match the text perfectly. And these two might have the tightest control of reading tempo I've ever heard. Every sentence is read at a pace that makes it obvious exactly how much tension is in the scene.

The Colour out of Space - this one blew me away, and possibly might be my favourite tale. Highly recommend.I think it is beyond doubt that H.P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale,” writes Stephen King. Neil Gaiman declares, “H.P. Lovecraft built the stage on which most of the last century's horror fiction was performed.” A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson: Naturally, in such a collection there will be stories of interest only to the Lovecraft scholar, and this is one of those. From the introduction, “It is a brilliant send-up of Lovecraft’s well-known fondness for the eighteenth century and is written in a flawless imitation of the prose of Samuel Johnson.” Insert ‘sure, Jan’ gif here. This wit of this ‘whimsy’ flew over my head a hundred years ago.

I can say that in general I enjoy Lovecrafts writing, since it is quite fitting for the types of stories he writes. He uses a wide range of vocabulary and often tends to use more antiquated words than simple ones. This is often fitting, due to his characters often being educated man, students of philosophy or similar characters. Still though, at times even I have to say that his lengthy descriptions and his lingering on certain unimportant details can be annoying. And yes, there’s a whole bunch of criticisms to be made of Lovecraft’s writing style, a number of which I’m sure hold some academic weight. He was after all published in pulp and mostly self-taught, aspiring to the level of social, scholarly and artistic respect owed to an M.R. James but having no means of achieving it in his lifetime. Whether any of his work counts as ‘literature’ is a debate which could go on indefinitely. Overshadowed by Lovecraft's reputation as a master of horror is his unique contribution as a science fiction visionary. There are no supernatural elements in his stories. None. All of his horrifying creations are creatures of an incomprehensible but strictly materialistic science. They were, instead, the letters of our familiar alphabet, spelling out the words of the English language in my own handwriting."

SAMPLES

The Shadow over Innsmouth - creepy, creepy, creepy. The tension and dread is built and sustained for the majority of this one, and it also has one of my favourite endings. I love this collection. It's one of those Barnes & Noble editions they feature in-store. I don't know if later editions were made with the same quality. I bought it at a time when I virtually never bought new books (I raided the library instead) and only because I received a gift card from a workplace holiday exchange and this was the only thing to capture my interest at the time. All of the stories within being placed chronologically, it is apparent that Lovecraft improved upon both his writing abilities and his cosmological mythos, which is not to say that some of his early stories, in their simplicity, don't hit home just as powerfully. The tales gradually grow longer as one reads through the book, with Lovecraft's three novellas appearing in the middle and end of the book. It was these tales that I found to be the most enjoyable, the most thorough in their ability to draw me in and engage me in the alternate universe that Lovecraft structured. It is also these three short novels that one can use to divide Lovecraft's entire collection of fiction into three categories of theme: men stumbling through the realm of dreams, men meddling in necromancy and dark arts, and men confronting the godless, Darwinian truths of the universe, hints of which lie hidden in obscure corners of the earth. Although at times I felt like the POV jumped about a little too much or was focused on the wrong (ie: not the most compelling) character, in the end Lovecraft always brings the tale to a close that signifies exactly why those story choices were made and in many cases presents that it couldn't have worked in any other way. Over the last 20+ years I've read and re-read almost all of the short stories and novellas contained within, but it is quite nice to have them all compiled into one large volume, and I'm enjoying re-reading them yet again.