Author: H.P. Lovecraft
Release date: May, 1987
Media: Paperback
ISBN: 0345350804
It is perhaps too limiting to simply define Lovecraft as a horror writer; his stories also demonstrate elements of fantasy, science fiction, satire, and "local color" fiction. You'll get all these "flavors" in this collection. And along the way you'll encounter strange monsters, weird cults, forbidden books of the blackest magic, snippets of an unknown language, and a disturbing warp in the fabric of space and time.
Many of these stories, while standing alone as compelling pieces of fiction, also work together towards creating Lovecraft's own personal mythos. Thus, certain elements turn up in multiple stories: Miskatonic University, Cthulhu, and the feared Necronomicon.
Lovecraft is a master of complex, collage-like texts that incorporate references to people, institutions and periodicals, both real and imaginary. His style has an unsettling way of warping the reader's grip on reality. In many stories there is a sense that Lovecraft is satirizing the world of academia (some of his narrators and other characters are college professors, or otherwise connected to academia). If you have not yet entered the weird, wondrous world of H.P. Lovecraft, check out this collection. Also recommended: Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror." - an Amazon customer review