The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft Review

For the month of April in Twitter Geek Girls' Book Club, we were to read The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft. It was stated in advance that if you could not read them all, it was fine. This should have clued me in to exactly how prodigious Lovecraft was, but it didn't. As you can see from the date of this post, I didn't quite make the deadline for the discussion of his works.

I tackled the whole collection on audiobooks while driving to work. Some of the readers were much better than others, both to the help and hindrance of the material at hand. The collection of 67 tales included poetry, short stories, novellas, and novels. Much to my surprise there was even a science fiction tale.

I had already listened to "Shadow Over Innsmouth" which I reviewed here, but I listened again for a complete experience. I will not rehash my impress of that story here, and choosing which stories from the myriad I wish to focus on is quite the challenge.

I really enjoyed the humor employed by Lovecraft in "Sweet Ermengarde". The tone was very different than his other tales. I kept expecting it to go to a terribly dark place, and though the humor was dark, it never followed the rest of his works into deep discomfort. I got a completely different twist than I expected in the end.

I think the creepiest story for me was "The Rats in the Walls", it literally made my skin crawl. The only thing worse that I could imagine would be giant spiders.

"The Street" was another favorite. It was slightly disturbing, yet I also found it strangely sentimental and sweet.

The majority of his works are related to the Cthulhu mythos and the Necronomicon, some directly so, others in a more subtle fashion that only becomes apparent when having listened to a majority of the stories. I want to say it reminds me of King's works and their almost universal connection to the Dark Tower series, but that would be incorrect. It seems that way from my perspective since I read King first, but it's much more likely that King's tendency to do this was inspired by Lovecraft and others of his era and ilk.

Lovecraft likes to take people to dark and uncomfortable places, both mentally and physically. He likes to tease the audience with descriptions of the horrors while letting them do most of the work by filling in the minute details. This is an interesting contrast to his elaborate descriptions of the settings and clothing of his characters. I quite enjoyed my experience listening to Lovecraft, though I wish that Jeffery Combs had read more of the pieces.

Cthulhu Comes to Cross-stitching

I am in the process of listening to the entirety of the Lovecraft library as part of the Geek Girl Book Club. I've read a couple of his stories, and I am enjoying hearing them again. I have a friend that is a huge fan of Lovecraft, he was part of a chain crafting meme on Facebook. You posted that you would make 5 hand made items for the first 5 people to comment, then they in turn are suppose to post the same on their wall, to infinity. So for him, I made the following bookmark in honor of his love for Lovecraft.

I think I may make several of them in honor of Lovecraft. Who better to hold your place in a book than an Elder God?

Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft

I still can't believe that it took me this long to read Lovecraft. I've seen many movies, and read many books, that utilize the Lovecraftian method of revealing the monster or evil. For the uninitiated, he would hint at the grotesqueness, or show small pieces, and let the reader's imagination do the rest.

Lovecraft's writing style took a little time to get use to. His cadence is that of the early 1900s, which is when it was written. This book is also set up as a memoir of the narrator, Robert Olmstead. He is writing this memoir, long after the initial experience so it has the natural randomness of someone remembering. Once I got use to those two things, the story grabbed me.

Mr. Olmstead is a young college man on summer break, he is taking the opportunity to explore his genealogy and his interest in architecture and history. He reaches the town of Newburyport, and hears intriguing tales about the formerly prosperous town of Innsmouth. He is warned against going, but his curiosity gets the better of him.

The bus to Innsmouth and its driver, give him pause, but he persists in going to Innsmouth. The driver shows the tell-tale deformities that citizens of this seaport town are known for. The closer they get to Innsmouth the more dilapidated the buildings become, the less signs of life there are, and the stronger the smell of old fish. Once in the town, his sense of unease grows. He interviews a boy working in the grocery store, who cautions him to avoid being nosy, and get out of town quickly. Again his curiosity overwhelms his reason and instincts to leave. Mr. Olmstead goes exploring, and searching for the town drunk to question about the local history. His plans to leave before dark are thwarted by the bus breaking down (though I get the feeling that it wasn't really broken).

Lovecraft gradually increases the oddness of the situation and people, building suspense and curiosity for the narrator and the reader alike. The story is just over 100 pages long, but it contains an intensity that surprised me for such a short work. He even provides a twist ending, it was at least surprising to me. I look forward to reading more Lovecraft.

But first, some YA steampunk.