The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories

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An unnamed protagonist encounters a fishy god-like entity, drives him batty of course. This is a very short and atmospheric story. People who encounter the Lovecraftian creatures do not usually get to keep their marbles.

I wish I could rate this book purely on the merits of literary talent, but to do so would be irresponsible to those who might be swayed by my recommendation. I don't see many references to Lovecraft's personal flaws in this review section, so I feel obligated to at least mention some. Has the makings of a great horror setting, but the ending falls incredibly flat. The decrepit house where the protagonist is forced to seek shelter during a horrible storm, the ravings of a crazed old man, the blood dripping from the ceiling. It was all building up to something fantastically scary. Physical improbabilities are rampant. In The Rats in the Walls, there’s an enormous lair complete with bottomless ravines underneath an old manor. Uh, why? Enormous mile-high structures will be completely unnoticed in the wild by the world around them, which I find highly unlikely for the 1920’s setting.Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Philips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the 1920s, discarding ghosts and witches and instead envisioning mankind as a tiny outpost of dwindling sanity in a chaotic and malevolent universe. S. T. Joshi, Lovecraft's preeminent interpreter, presents a selection of the master's fiction, from the early tales of nightmares and madness such as "The Outsider" to the overpowering cosmic terror of "The Call of Cthulhu." More than just a collection of terrifying tales, this volume reveals the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style and establishes him as a canonical- and visionary-American writer. The concept of this story is one I can relate to on a very personal level. The more the protagonist grows to loathe the contemporary world, the more he begins to value the world of dreams and imagination, much like a modern person would prefer to lose themselves in the comfort of books and music rather than dealing with a painful and depressing reality. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-10-08 09:16:56 Associated-names Joshi, S. T., 1958- Boxid IA40255711 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories is Penguin Classics' first omnibus edition of works by seminal 20th-century American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was released in October 1999 and is still in print. The volume is named for the Lovecraft short story, " The Call of Cthulhu". This, the first of three volumes of Lovecraft tales edited by S.T. Joshi, is--as are the other two--chronological, featuring a selection of tales from the earliest to the very last. (An odd organizational principle for a complete tales, but I suppose Joshi did this so most of the best tales wouldn't be found in the last two volumes.)This anthology “The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories” of course contains most of his best stories. I will just run through them briefly, some of them I already reviewed in my The Best of H.P. Lovecraft review. I don't think he deserves all the hype, sorry. I definitely see how his style has remained popular because the aesthetic for most of his stories is very unique, but I don't think he is a very strong writer at all. He's a very tell-instead-of-show kind of guy. He just kind of describes what he wants you to know, but I never actually feel it. When he wants the reader to know that a place is spooky and eerie, he would just say, "it was spooky and eerie." Like ok, sure buddy. Also, so many times things would be described as "too horrible for words" or "too terrible to repeat," which was very frustrating as a reader. Just felt very lazy and unsatisfying.

Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Philips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the 1920s, discarding ghosts and witches and instead envisioning mankind as a tiny outpost of dwindling sanity in a chaotic and malevolent universe. S. T. Joshi, Lovecraft’s preeminent interpreter, presents a selection of the master’s fiction, from the early tales of nightmares and madness such as “The Outsider” to the overpowering cosmic terror of “The Call of Cthulhu.” More than just a collection of terrifying tales, this volume reveals the development of Lovecraft’s mesmerizing narrative style and establishes him as a canonical – and visionary – American writer. Afraid of death? No worries, just freeze yourself and gain immortality through artificial preservation. One of Lovecraft’s more down-to-earth tales that relies on traditional horror themes instead of his more dream-like and alien works.

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Ktulu aicinājums”– interesants vecmeistara stāsts, kas radīja Ktulu, un šeit ir par viņa atgriešanos. Kaut kur Jaunzēlandes krastu tuvumā parādās ne vairāk ne mazāk R’ljē pilsēta, tas viss sapīts kopā ar sapņiem un dīvainiem kultiem, stāsts ir pa pirmo. 9 no 10 ballēm. Jābrīdina, ka šis stāsts pēc mūsdienu standartiem ir ļoti rasistisks un autors nudien neslēpj savus uzskatus par kanakiem un citiem jaukteņiem. Neatkarīgi no stāsta novēroju, ka Jaunzēlandes cilvēkiem Kutulu nav svešs un mans t-krekls ar uzrakstu Obey Cthulhu zinātāju vidū tika uzņemts ar atzinību gan lielveikalā, gan vulkānu piekājē. “Ktulu fhtagn”, “Ktulu fhtagn” Collecting uniquely uncanny tales from the master of American horror, H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories is edited with an introduction and notes by S.T. Joshi in Penguin Modern Classics.