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

Product Information

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society produced the first complete audio recording of all of Lovecraft's stories. These are NOT dramatizations like our Dark Adventure Radio Theatre - rather, these are audiobooks of the original stories, in all-new, never-before-heard recordings made by the HPLHS' own Andrew Leman and Sean Branney exclusively for this collection. Working from texts prepared by Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi, we offer all of HPL's works from his earliest surviving works of childhood to stories completed shortly before his death. We also offer all available collaboration stories which he wrote with other writers. All of the recordings include original music by HPLHS composer Troy Sterling Nies. With a collection this big, I could write a full novel just summarizing the plots of each story. So instead, here are my general impressions. The Colour out of Space - this one blew me away, and possibly might be my favourite tale. Highly recommend. After having read and become familiar with the Cthulhu mythos, this story just seemed like a super-condensed version of that, without adding anything. Perhaps this might serve as an introduction to Cthulhu for somebody who is unfamiliar, but I doubt it. I had to immerse myself in Lovecraft's world to understand it. I've been reading him consistently for years now and appreciate it more than I did before.

Dagon was one of his earliest writings, and it's a good introduction to the philosophy behind the Cthulhu mythos. Since I've become so familiar with his work, I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of it. Dagon is more important as a supplement than as a stand-alone. I wouldn't have enjoyed the other Cthulhu stories as much without it. It gives you a taste of what's to come, like deep time and space, the dream world, fish gods, and unimaginable horror.

Table of Contents

Beyond the Wall of Sleep: It turns out the term ‘white trash’ was in use as early as 1919. Who knew? Another dream-world tale, more cosmic than the last, in which a psychiatrist receives a six-month paid vacation for taking on too much stress from his patient, a degenerate from that famous hotbed of brutish hillbillies, the Catskills. Points for ‘ululation’, ‘effulgent’ (twice), and ‘architraves’.

The Music of Erich Zann: Now this is the type of mythos tale I remember best, with a nightmarish realm adjacent to our own, always threatening, and barely held at bay by brilliantly insane and esoteric means. HP Lovecraft didn’t know Sumerian, Babylonian, or Aramaic. But that didn’t stop him from making up incantations in other worldly languages. ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn! Yi-nash Yog-Sothoth-he-lgeb-fi-throdog-Yah! A wonderful collection excellently narrated by Andrew Leman and Sean Branney. Admittedly, HPL can be a bit heavy going at times but he had an incredible imagination and ability to describe both the horrors and beauty of the earth and other worlds. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath: I read this in recent years and didn’t love it, but I enjoyed it more now. It marvelously pulled in places and events from years-ago prior stories, ever more firmly establishing a Cthulhuverse. Lovecraft's first (short) novel-length fiction.The only thing I have noticed is that under the Juvenilia section of the Wikipedia bibliography is that it lists The Haunted House, John, the Detective, The Noble Eavesdropper, and The Picture. These are not in the volume under main fiction or the Juvenilia appendix - but on Wikipedia is says these are unpublished anyway. As for the stories I liked most of them. Many of his earlier works that were not yet of his typical cosmic horror genre were still quite enjoyable as short scares or twisted tales. Dagon: An early hint at the later mythos tales that would capture the public's interest. Obviously the name points to later work. It contains story elements that would later be seen expanded in the iconic The Call of Cthulhu.