The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories

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1. 

   J. N. Mohlman @ 2:29 am

   Edited by J. T. Joshi, “The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories” offers an excellent, even scholarly, introduction to the tales of H. P. Lovecraft. For those readers like myself who are relatively new to Lovecraft, this collection offers a nice broad brush look at some of his better know works. At the same time, the extensive commentary and foot-noting means that even long time fans should find something new in this collection.

   For those entirely unfamiliar with Lovecraft, this collection serves the additional purpose of explaining why one should read this enigmatic author. Put simply, Lovecraft’s merit lies as much in the ideas behind his stories as their actual execution. In fact there are many who argue (with some merit) that Lovecraft wasn’t much of an author. He routinely uses far too many words to make his point, an error compounded by his tendency to repeat himself, and many of his plot lines border on self satire. Nonetheless, he is revered because he reshaped the face of modern horror/fantasy. He removes man from the focal point of all previous storytelling, and finds horror in our insignificance. He creates a mythology (perhaps best personified in Cthulhu) in which beings both vastly older and infinitely more powerful than humans have lived and fought over untold eons. It is their complete indifference and capriciousness the mankind that inspires horror.

   At his best, Lovecraft captures this fear of the unknowable or unfathomable with an air of palpable menace. By arranging the stories found in this collection in chronological order, Joshi allows the reader to see Lovecraft’s growth as a writer, something that makes the final five entries all the more impressive. “The Call of Cthulhu”, “The Colour Out of Space”, “The Whisperer in the Darkness”, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, and “The Haunter of the Dark” all beautifully capture the depth of Lovecraft’s imagination. Hinting at things just beyond human ken, he taunts the reader with dark mysteries and an escalating level of paranoia in the seemingly mundane unknown.

   Hence, the breadth of his imagination exceeds his limitations as a writer. Like any collection, especially one that covers a significant period of a writer’s development, “The Call of Cthulhu” is a mixed bag. Nonetheless, more entries than not will have you glancing over your shoulder. Moreover, given Lovecraft’s influence on authors like Stephen King, not to mention emerging talents like China Mieville, it is interesting to explore his tales and consider their long term impact. In many ways it is like listening to Muddy Waters in order to understand the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Finally, editor S. T. Joshi’s fascinating notes help place both the author and his writings within a larger context.

   Jake Mohlman
   

   
2. 

   R. MCCOSKER @ 5:23 am

   Since there are so many different Lovecraft collections out there, it may be useful to prospective buyers to know what’s actually in this one:

   [First, preliminary material by S. T. Joshi:] Introduction; Suggestions for Further Reading; A Note on the Text; [Hereupon stories by H. P. Lovecraft:] Dagon; The Statement of Randolph Carter; Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family; Celephais; Nyarlathotep; The Picture in the House; The Outsider; Herbert West–Reanimator [a collected magazine serial]; The Hound; The Rats in the Walls; The Festival; He; Cool Air; The Call of Cthulhu; The Colour Out of Space; The Whisperer in Darkness; The Shadow Over Innsmouth; The Haunter of the Dark; [By Joshi again:] Explanatory Notes

   Unlike in THE ANNOTATED H. P. LOVECRAFT and MORE ANNOTATED H. P. LOVECRAFT, also edited and annotated (though in the latter case co-edited and co-annotated) by Joshi, the equally copious annotations here are collected at the back of the book (thereby being what are technically known as “endnotes”) rather than placed at the bottom of story pages where they’re referenced (known as “footnotes”). And also unlike the “ANNOTATED” volumes, THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES lacks photographs that highlight the relationships between the subjects in the stories and the persons and places of Lovecraft’s life; features smaller print, which makes it a bit harder to read but means more stories can be packed into the volume.

   THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES now has out a sequel, THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES, a similarly arranged collection of Lovecraft fiction with an introduction and endnotes by Joshi and put out by the same publisher, Penguin. Each of these Penguin volumes, as well as the two “ANNOTATED” volumes published by Dell, presents its selection of stories in the order they were written, a practical advantage when reading Lovecraft.

   
3. 

   Andrew McCaffrey @ 6:56 am

   This was my first exposure to the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and I enjoyed it so much that half way through, I went out and bought another collection, THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES. Lovecraft’s prose is creepy in a way that I really hadn’t experienced from other so-called horror writers. A lot of the stories follow the same basic structure, but that didn’t distract from the fact that these were some of the wildest and most chilling stories that I have read in a very long time.

   I had heard a lot about the types of stories that Lovecraft wrote, but I wasn’t really prepared for how creepy they would be. A lot of them really shouldn’t be as shocking as they are, but somehow Lovecraft gets away with it. He likes to use a lot of frivolous language and has the tendency to take short cuts by saying that the various creatures and entities are too frightening, too complicated, or too alien for the human mind to comprehend. While I’m usually the first person to roll my eyes at this sort of literary cop-out, I was completely enthralled by its use here. Lovecraft’s command of language is precise and effective. The monsters and Gods that he describes truly seem fearsome and unnerving.

   The actual plots of these stories seem to be vaguely repetitive. Since this is the first collection of Lovecraft that I have read, I’m not sure if these is indicative of his work in general, but it is certainly apparent that many of these stories follow the same basic structure. I didn’t really find this to be a problem though. There are enough major differences in the stories that they don’t all seem to blend together, despite their commonalities. This was helped, no doubt, by the fact that I only read a few stories at a time, managing to absorb the book slowly over a longer period of time.

   This edition is semi-annotated, though I’d advice against reading them if you’ve never encountered these stories before. They contain a lot of background detail, but also contain numerous spoilers. I found myself reading a story and then going back and safely reading the notes and references. Each story is also given a short write-up that gives a non-fictional account of the background. Interested readers can see what the circumstances were behind each of the writings, as well as their publishing history.

   To be honest, it’s difficult to review a short story collection. After all, there are eighteen different tales in this book, and the reviewer simply doesn’t have enough space to discuss each one individually. The best that I can do is to state that while there were one or two stories that failed to grab, the vast majority of these were spellbinding and genuinely unsettling.

   
4. 

   Charles S. Hague @ 9:42 am

   I don’t think that there’s a lot for me to add to what’s been said already about the quality of Lovecraft’s stories, except to agree with the assessment of Lovecraft as a stellar author of short horror fiction. The real question to ask about a collection of Lovecraft’s work, though, is: what distinguishes it from all the other many Lovecraft collections out there? That is why I would give the Penguin collection 5 stars: the selection of stories is very good, arranged chronologically and covering the Lovecraft “hits,” as well as some lesser-known earlier works. But what’s most impressive about this anthology, as compared to others, is the superb annotation by S.T. Joshi, the premier Lovecraft scholar. There are ample footnotes to each of the stories, describing the backgrounds of the tales, discussing where Lovecraft got his ideas, pointing out thematic links, etc. These footnotes also provide insights into the life of Lovecraft himself, who apparently was not the weird recluse that one might initially suspect when reading his stories. In fact, Joshi includes many quotes from Lovecraft’s correspondences, and some of these quotes are even very humorous (one quote deals with Lovecraft’s description of his attempts to make a vocal recording in the style of Enrico Caruso, the famous singer). That’s why this Penguin collection of stories is so good: you get many classic Lovecraft stories, along with Joshi’s illuminating commentaries and annotation.

   
5. 

   Beeblebrox @ 12:40 pm

   This was the first Lovecraft book I ever read. In keeping with Penguin’s tradition of scholarly presentations of literary masterpieces, this volume begins with an essay by Joshi on Lovecraft’s life and works. The stories themselves are fairly heavily laden with endnotes, which, while initially distracting, eventually lead the reader to discover richness in Lovecraft’s work which would not be evident at first blush. Prominent among the annotations are explanations of geographical places and names which appear in the stories, together with allusions to works by other authors (most prominently Poe and Bierce) which echo Lovecraft’s.

   This book is highly recommended for anyone wishing a good first glimpse of the masterful mind of Lovecraft.