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Liked It “T” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I was really hoping to love this, esp since Lovecraft is the inspiration of many of my current favorite authors. Unfortunately I could only get into one or two of the stories. The main story in this edition, The Mountain of Madness, bored me to tears. Part of it was the writing, being that the...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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sfharper wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I came across H.P. Lovecraft’s short story collection about four years ago and I found them to be very intriguing and extremely creepy – not creepy like Stephen-King-creepy but creepy in a very – I would even say extremely – weird way (IMHO more scary than the mentioned works of Stephen King because everything takes part in minds of people and everything is only hinted – very rarely you see actual monsters roaming around – so at the end you do not know if there truly is anything strange going around or everything is just a product of a very deranged mind). Not being fan of horror genre I moved on to other genres I like and never came across Lovecraft’s work again.
Zare I wrote this review Monday, April 27 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Well, until last Friday when I found this gem on a local book fair. Being fan of “lost-civilization” kind of stories I got hooked up immediately after reading summary on the back of the book.
Story is rather short (some 200 pages) but reader is very fast immersed into it (and to be honest entire feeling is like the story itself was written just a few years ago – just one of the proofs of Lovecraft’s qualities as a writer). Story is being told by one of the survivors of Antarctica expedition as a warning that no man should be sent to that distant region again (another expedition is being planned as the survivor begins his story). As a proof survivor discloses events and findings previously kept secret – for fear of all surviving members of the original expedition that they may be declared lunatics if they publish them. After finding out that new expedition is planned they decide that humanity would be endangered if whatever lurks the Antarctica wastelands is set free (as it surely would be if new expedition continues the research), so they put aside their personal fears and start campaign to warn the public.
This one you’ll read in one breath.
Recommended.”“I was really hoping to love this, esp since Lovecraft is the inspiration of many of my current favorite authors. Unfortunately I could only get into one or two of the stories. The main story in this edition, The Mountain of Madness, bored me to tears. Part of it was the writing, being that the main characters are on a scientific expedition the writing is very scientific. Which kept putting me to sleep, and also prevented me from fully developing a good imaginative picture while reading. Also I couldn't get scared by it. The best thing about this was the creepiness of the blind penguins, that was it. I couldn't identify with any of the characters, I couldn't feel or get scared with them. Such a let down.
Christal N wrote this review Wednesday, March 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The following short stories however were better. I especially loved The Shunned House, which had it not come right after MoM I would have most likely stopped reading and gave this away. ”
“This volume contains "At the Mountains of Madness" and three other stories; I've reviewed them below separately.
Steve C wrote this review Sunday, March 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
At the Mountains of Madness:
I had really looked forward to reading this, since I've been curious about the Cthulu mythos for a long time now, and wanted to see Lovecraft's work directly.
What an amazing disappointment.
This story was all about our protagonist telling us he was scared. What was he scared *of*??? Stuff that he's too distraught to talk about. Stuff that, if known, would shatter the sanity of all humanity. But this kind of description doesn't make *me* scared... It makes me *curious*. And that curiosity is never answered by the story, in any way at all. Very disappointing. 2 stars.
The Shunned House:
This was an exercise in mood setting, I suppose. This story is about a man learning about something horrible, and which seems more and more horrible as he learns more. But what he learns more about are the effects of this horror, rather than the horror itself. And even in the conclusion, the horror itself is hardly described at all; rather the effects of that thing are what Lovecraft makes clear. As a whole, the story was moderately enjoyable, but I'm getting tired of "some things man shouldn't learn". 3 stars.
The Dreams in the Witch-House:
This was a story of a man studying "too hard" and breaching into the evil spaces beyond our own. I liked this story a lot better than the others, because the antagonist is made much more clear and concrete, while still maintaining that sense of dread. 4 stars.
The Statement of Randolph Carter:
This is a really short, seven-page story. And it is in a similar style of not presenting the evil, but presenting the reaction to that evil. And when kept to seven pages, it works. I guess I just can't handle that descriptive mode when the tale goes on for hundreds of pages... 3 stars.
”
“Very disappointing. Virtually no dialogue, overly detailed landscape descriptions...and...oversized albino penguins?!?! “Bone-chilling” MY A*S!”
Bekkah wrote this review Tuesday, October 21 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“While I appreciate the historical nature of Lovecraft's works (having inspired many modern day horror movies and authors), I must say that I had a hard time dealing with horror stories that seemed to be driven by the old pay by the word style of writing. I found myself many times zoning out within my own mind while reading and then coming back into focus some pages later to find that I hadnt missed anything important as Lovecraft tends to spend a good deal of space merely describing the scenery of his stories. While the scenery is an important element, it seems that after reading a compilation of stories, that they are all basically the same story with different names and sometimes different "evil" encounters that ultimately torture the minds of the protagonists.
Marcus W wrote this review Friday, July 25 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Overall, Im glad I got the background so that I can understand the references in other works however, I must admit that I found this style a bit hard to get through...I felt it was more of a chore than a pleasure to read.”
“Apparently I am not to be a Lovecraft fan. I have tried reading his fiction several time and never seem to get into it. Good selection of his stories in this book both long and short. Several good ideas for plots but the writing seems to drag. ”
Little Timmy B wrote this review Tuesday, February 26 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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