Specify Books In Pursuance Of Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus)
| Original Title: | Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus, #2) |
| ISBN: | 0870540394 (ISBN13: 9780870540394) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus, Mitos de Cthulhu #I |
| Characters: | Herbert West |
H.P. Lovecraft
Hardcover | Pages: 448 pages Rating: 4.21 | 4881 Users | 119 Reviews
Be Specific About Out Of Books Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus)
| Title | : | Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus) |
| Author | : | H.P. Lovecraft |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Fifth Arkham House printing |
| Pages | : | Pages: 448 pages |
| Published | : | October 28th 1986 by Arkham House Publishers, Inc. (first published 1965) |
| Categories | : | Horror. Fiction. Short Stories. Fantasy. Weird Fiction |
Explanation Supposing Books Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus)
Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my GIFTS AND GUILTY list.
Regardless of how many books are already queued patiently on my reading list, unexpected gifts and guilt-trips will always see unplanned additions muscling their way in at the front.
I hated this book.
I mean, I really hated this book.
Which took me by surprise because I quite liked the first in this series, Omnibus 1: At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror and was expecting more of the same here. I didn't find it.
Omnibus 1 collects Lovecraft's longer works, and these are goods. Given a proper plot to hang a few thousand words around, Lovecraft crafted some wonderfully tense, creepy tales, where the horror is hinted at more than seen directly. That is a book I can recommend.
Omnibus 2 collects Lovecraft's shorter works, and these are not so good. There are a few gems amongst the collection, but you have to trawl through a great deal of dross to unearth them. And because the stories are presented in chronological order, and Lovecraft undoubtedly improved with age, you have to wade through many of the weakest stories first.
What got to me the most is the repetition. I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but I've been impressed by collections by Miéville and Murakami which explore a diverse range of subjects and/or styles between their covers. This is not an approach Lovecraft embraces. He had a very narrow idea about what sort of atmosphere he wanted to evoke, and every piece of work is a different attempt to achieve the same ends. It gets repetitive. And after reading dozens of repetitive short stories in quick succession you start to feel the patterns emerging, the recurring underlying world-view - let's be frank; the racism. It's something I can attribute to the era, and set aside my objections to enjoy an individual story, but on mass like this it becomes distasteful... and then repellent.
The 'early works' and 'partial fragments' weren't worth it. As for the extensive essay which concludes Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (yes, I read every page because I'm frakking stubborn about finishing books once I've committed to them) - unless you're a serious student of Lovecraft-esque weird - just don't bother. There are no humorous little anecdotes to carry you through it; it's a dry, dated, (dull) and opinionated history of horror.
Do you know the best feeling about finishing this book?
"Thank frak that's over."
Now - get this book out of my house - donate it to the charity shop this second - maybe someone else will find inspiration where I found naught but drudgery and despair.
After this I read: Let the Right One In
Rating Out Of Books Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus)
Ratings: 4.21 From 4881 Users | 119 ReviewsRate Out Of Books Dagon and Other Macabre Tales (The H.P. Lovecraft Omnibus)
I turned to Lovecraft because I read some where that Stephen King (an author I enjoy) liked them/used them as inspiration. I can certainly see why King was drawn to them (or more accurately, elements here had echoes/ripples in King's work), it's just they sometimes felt... underdeveloped. I'd have liked to see these short stories turned into longer works that had a more developed stories (and characters), and were fully developed novels in their own right.The stories reminded me of the warningA great collection!
I forgot how short this one is. Definitely one of his earliest, it's a testing of the waters (pun intended) for Cthulhu and Innsmouth. I like the ending though it's a little hard to see why he thought this was such a threat to humanity. I suppose that goes back to it being to awful to describe. Also the final lines of: "The window! The window!" remind me of Monty Python. Aside from that, the lumbering at the door is quite disturbing. And why Dagon? It's like he just picked that water god at
Another classic set of tales by Lovecraft - an absolute must-read for any fan of the macabre. This volume contains some of my all-time favorite stories - lyrical and haunting: Herbert West - Reanimator, The Lurking Fear, The Hound. Ah, this is a delicious read. Why only four stars? Mostly because my favorite stories are his very early "macabre" works and his later mythos works. This anthology is chronological from 1917-1936. As such, it has a number of his dream-based works - From Beyond, The
3.5Written in 1917, Dagon announces both The Call of Cthulhu and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Inhabitants of Innsmouth were members of the Cult of Dagon. A short, but no less significant story.It is a testimony of a morphine addict of what brought him where he is and why he is contemplating suicide. 'I cannot think of the deep sea without shuddering at the nameless things that may at this very moment be crawling and floundering on its slimy bed, worshipping their ancient stone idols and carving
Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so Ive decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my GIFTS AND GUILTY list.Regardless of how many books are already queued patiently on my reading list, unexpected gifts and guilt-trips will always see unplanned additions muscling their way in at the front.I hated this book. I mean, I really hated this book.
Ah but who could fail to love the indescribable horrors and gothic terrors of Lovecraft? Well, quite a lot of people probably, but never mind them! These short stories are particularly interesting set out in chronological order they show a fair bit of the development of Lovecraft's innate style. And as you read ever more of his psychological horror stories one can't help but come to ponder the psychology of the man himself. Lovecraft was many things, conservative, anti-modernist and
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