The 2008 editon, published by Creation Oneiros, is not recommended. The copyediting is appallingly slack, and the ghastly Introduction must be read to be believed. Nevertheless, Lovecraft’s work remains compelling—and terrifying. Dr. Willett’s stumbling escape from the vault of horrors is genuinely frightening, as the horror mounts to a terrifying climax.
Lovecraft’s ghost pervades popular culture, but I hadn’t encountered his work directly until a couple of years ago, when I read Michel Houllebecq’s biography. Apart from being a fascinating read in its own right, H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life included several of Lovecraft’s short stories. One hears so much above his overwrought prose that I supposed his influence to be several orders of magnitude greater than his talent, and so I was pleasantly surprised by just how good they were. Ever since, I’ve had something of a hankering to delve more deeply into his oeuvre. Hopefully the gap between readings won’t be as long this time.
The 2008 editon, published by Creation Oneiros, is not recommended. The copyediting is appallingly slack, and the ghastly Introduction must be read to be believed. Nevertheless, Lovecraft’s work remains compelling—and terrifying. Dr. Willett’s stumbling escape from the vault of horrors is genuinely frightening, as the horror mounts to a terrifying climax.
Lovecraft’s ghost pervades popular culture, but I hadn’t encountered his work directly until a couple of years ago, when I read Michel Houllebecq’s biography. Apart from being a fascinating read in its own right, H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life included several of Lovecraft’s short stories. One hears so much above his overwrought prose that I supposed his influence to be several orders of magnitude greater than his talent, and so I was pleasantly surprised by just how good they were. Ever since, I’ve had something of a hankering to delve more deeply into his oeuvre. Hopefully the gap between readings won’t be as long this time.