Everything, from the creator of the genre "Lovecraftian Horror"
5 stars
Some of my favorite videogames and tabletop RPGs are inspired by this genre, as well as countless other works of fiction since the author was publishing around 100 years ago. I believe that this is a comprehensive collection; it even includes alternative drafts of some of Lovecraft's stories.
The best parts of Lovecraft's work orient around the fantastic ideas, some of which will seem familiar to modern readers simply because of how important they have been in inspiring other works over the last 100 years. Lovecraft is a figure a bit like Tolkein for being the creator of so many fantasy elements. Story-wise I think the choice of language can be very monologue-heavy and some of the short stories are a little indigestible at first, I don't think he's the greatest writer in some respects. Once he gets going, though, it can feel like you're right there with the …
Some of my favorite videogames and tabletop RPGs are inspired by this genre, as well as countless other works of fiction since the author was publishing around 100 years ago. I believe that this is a comprehensive collection; it even includes alternative drafts of some of Lovecraft's stories.
The best parts of Lovecraft's work orient around the fantastic ideas, some of which will seem familiar to modern readers simply because of how important they have been in inspiring other works over the last 100 years. Lovecraft is a figure a bit like Tolkein for being the creator of so many fantasy elements. Story-wise I think the choice of language can be very monologue-heavy and some of the short stories are a little indigestible at first, I don't think he's the greatest writer in some respects. Once he gets going, though, it can feel like you're right there with the characters while their world comes falling apart at breakneck speed; I've stayed up into the small hours for a number of the stories, and the best ones (like Shadow over Innsmouth, Color our of Space, and the Whisperer in Darkness) haunt me months and years after first reading them, truly they are experiences which I expect to treasure for years to come.
Lovecraft wrote of his own stories: “All my tales are based upon the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos at-large.”